Frequently Asked Questions
- What is the warranty policy?
- Can I extend the warranty after I've purchased the system?
- How do I get my system serviced? Can I have it serviced after the warranty is expired?
- What is Whisper Technology™?
- Can I use an external battery or power supply with your systems?
- How do I get a replacement drive if I work in a classified environment?
- What is FleXtreme™ architecture?
- Do your systems come with any pre-installed software?
- Can I add external drives to your systems?
- Can I get Firewire with any of your systems?
- What kinds of optical media can I use with your systems?
- What's the difference between a workstation and a PC?
Q: What is the warranty policy?
A: All standard hardware products are covered by a 1-year warranty including parts and labor. Battery products are warrantied for 6 months. Warranty is effective with date of initial product shipment. All repairs are done at the Nashua, NH facility with a typical repair turnaround time of 5-10 business days.
Please contact technical support at Support@NextComputing.com or if you encounter a problem with a system. We will make a technical diagnosis over the phone. If it is determined that hardware needs to be repaired, an RMA will be issued. The customer pays shipping on the RMA, and NextComputing will use the same shipping method, at the same cost, for return to the customer facility.
Our standard software products are covered by a ninety-day media and functionality warranty. Please note that the warranty period begins upon shipment from NextComputing. In addition, certain software products are eligible for the NextComputing Software Annual Maintenance Service, which is available upon request.
We also can create customized warranties for OEMs and other specific customers.
Q: Can I extend the warranty after I've purchased the system?
A: Yes, you can get the extended warranty after you have taken delivery of your NextComputing system. To do so, you must return the system to us for re-evaluation before an extended warranty is issued.
Q: How do I get my system serviced? Can I have it serviced after the warranty is expired?
A: You can return the system to:
Attn: RMA ______NextComputing LLC
4 Townsend West, Unit 17
Nashua, NH 03063
under a Return Merchandise Authorization provided by a NextComputing technician and with the issuance of a Repair Purchase Order. Customer pays shipping to the factory and back to customer location.
For any technical questions or to initiate a service request, contact technical support.
In the US: 
In Europe:
or at Support@NextComputing.com.
Service after warranty expiration is available via the same means and is quoted on a time-and-materials basis.
Q: What is Whisper Technology™?
A: Whisper Technology™ is a set of components that reduces the acoustic output of the portable workstation. It is available on all NextDimension models and the Vigor Evo HD.
This quieter model is especially useful for industries such as Video, Film, and Audio where reducing audible background noise from computer equipment is essential for recording clean audio tracks. It is also ideal for high-end ISV applications such as professional office meetings and collaborative work settings including application/solution demonstration, training, and proof of concept testing.
The following tests are from 1 meter away from the front of the system. Measurements are taken at three points; when the system is idle at the Windows XP Pro desktop, at 50% processing load, and at 100% processing load.
The system used for these tests is a NextDimension Pro HD with (2) quad-core Intel processors, (4) memory modules totaling 16GB, (1) 100GB 7200RPM SATA hard drive, integrated DVD-RW drive.
A system with Whisper Technology™ is fully functional in ambient operating temperatures up to 30°C/86°F. The option is disabled by an intelligent thermal module cooling subsystem at 40°- 45°C/104°F - 113°F.
Q: Can I use an external battery or power supply with your systems?
A: Yes, NextComputing recommends APC brand UPS/DC power pack bricks. These units usually provide 15–30 minutes of power, depending on your system's configuration.
Q: How do I get a replacement drive if I work in a classified environment?
A: Vendors will send you a drive to install at your site once you have obtained an RMA from them and explained that you work in a classified environment.
Q: What is FleXtreme™ architecture?
A: FleXtreme™ architecture is NextComputing's unique, open standards, modular implementation of COTS hardware, enabling quick easy upgrades as new processors and other components come to market.
The FleXtreme architecture powers our NextDimension, Vigor Pro SD and Vigor Evo HD, and NextServer products and is the distinguishing factor that allows NextComputing to deploy server-style workstation computing—anywhere, anytime.
Q: Do your systems come with any pre-installed software?
A: The Vigor Ultra comes with Gnome 2.0 Desktop Environment, Sun Star Office Suite, Adobe Acrobat Reader pre-installed when loaded with Solaris™ 8 (2/04), or Solaris™ 9 (4/04), or Solaris™ 10.
Other systems are loaded with the requested OS(s).
Q: Can I add external drives to your systems?
A: With the NextDimension, Vigor Pro SD, and Vigor Evo HD, there are:
- up to (2) external SATA ports to which you can connect external SATA drives
- up to (4) USB ports for use with external USB drives
- up to (2) or (3) GbE ports for use with external NAS storage devices
- additional RAID or storage controllers of various interfaces can be integrated to support external SAS, SCSI, etc. via the open standards PCI or PCI Express expansion slot
Q: Can I get Firewire with any of your systems?
A: The NextDimensions and Vigor Evo HD come standard with IEEE Std. 1394a or the newer IEEE Std. 1394b direct connectivity, and both are supported in our other systems via various 3rd-party plug-in PCI cards.
Q: What kinds of optical media can I use with your systems?
A: CD-RW, DVD-ROM, or DVD-RW drives are available options.
Q: What's the difference between a workstation and a PC?
A: A Workstation is a high-level stand-alone machine usually designed for a particular purpose, such as CAD engineering, digital content creation, or data modeling, where as a PC (personal computer) is not as sophisticated or powerful and is generally used for basic office and home applications.
- Can I run both 32-bit and 64-bit PCI / PCI-X cards on the dual PCI-X mid-plane?
- How is the NextDimension so quiet and while still avoiding overheating?
- What does "scalable" mean in terms of the NextDimension?
- Can I still run my 32-bit applications on the 64-bit NextDimension?
- What is the difference between "hot-swappable" and "quick-time removable"?
- Can I add external drives to your systems?
- Do I need any custom drivers with the NextDimension?
- What is the life expectancy of your NextDimension Quick-time hard drives?
- If I am using (4) or fewer hard drives, should I use the onboard firmware controller or an add-in hardware controller card?
Q: Can I run both 32-bit and 64-bit PCI / PCI-X cards on the dual PCI-X mid-plane?
A: PCI-X is backward compatible to support virtually any PCI card (even older legacy 5V 32-bit cards). In the dual PCI-X mid-plane, both cards can run up to the speed of the slowest card. For example, in a configuration with one 32-bit/33MHz PCI card and one 64-bit/66MHz PCI-X card, the speed would be "auto-negotiated" and both cards would run at 33MHz.
Q: How is the NextDimension so quiet and while still avoiding overheating?
A: The NextDimension incorporates our exclusive Cool-n-Quiet™ design which dramatically reduces the heat output and audible noise frequently found in larger, performance equivalent workstations.
The Cool-n-Quiet™ design incorporates a combination of active and passive cooling and is optimized by our unique thermal, electrical, and mechanical segmentation and separation of display, storage, I-O, processor, and power sub-systems, while maintaining an exceptionally robust yet surprisingly compact package.
Q: What does "scalable" mean in terms of the NextDimension?
A: Scalable in the case of the NextDimension means that you can add in standard COTS parts to expand the capabilities of your system. There is nothing proprietary about the NextDimension.
Q: Can I still run my 32-bit applications on the 64-bit NextDimension?
A: Yes, even though the NextDimension uses 64-bit AMD Opteron™ processors, you can definitely still run your 32-bit OS and applications, and without speed penalties.
This offers you the added advantage of not having to purchase another system when you decide to upgrade your OS and applications to 64-bit.
Q: What is the difference between "hot-swappable" and "quick-time removable"?
A: Hot-swappable means that a drive may be removed while the machine is still running.
Quick-time removable is a feature we developed that allows you to remove a drive very easily without a tool in a matter of seconds. A quick-time drive is cold-swappable or hot-swappable depending on your configuration.
For instance, when Windows XP/32 or XP/64 is loaded on the main HDD, the 2nd, non-OS, HDD is hot-swappable. If XP/32 or XP/64 is loaded on one of the optional fixed HDDs, both quick-time HDDs are hot-swappable.
Q: Can I add external drives to the NextDimension?
A: Yes, you can utilize up to (2) external 120GB SATA hard disk drives. The SATA HDDs measure 5.12" x 2.95" x 0.52" (130mm x 75mm x 13mm).
Q: Do I need any custom drivers with the NextDimension?
A: No custom drivers are necessary, since the NextDimension is designed using COTS components and open standards.
Q: What is the life expectancy of your NextDimension Quick-time hard drives?
A: The receiver mid-planes are rated to 500 insertion cycles, where an insertion cycle is the combination of installing and removing the Quick-Time Hard drive carrier.
The carriers are rated to 2000 insertion cycles, where an insertion cycle is the combination of installing and removing the Quick-Time Hard hard drive carrier from the system receiver.
Q: If I am using (4) or fewer hard drives, should I use the onboard firmware controller or an add-in hardware controller card?
A: The onboard firmware controller can support up to (4) SATA hard drives (as well as 2 IDE hard drives without RAID), however, it only offers RAID functionality under Windows, and it does not support RAID 5. If you use a different operating system, or require RAID 5, you will need a add-in hard drive controller.
- Do all of your notebook computers have internal batteries?
- What's the difference between a desktop replacement laptop (DTR) and a standard laptop?
- What are the storage options for your notebooks?
- What graphics cards are available for your notebooks?
- Do I need any custom drivers with the notebooks?
- What happened to the PowerBlade and the NextBlade15e?
- Can I still get service on them?
Q: Do all of your notebook computers have internal batteries?
A: Yes, our notebook models come with an internal lithium-ion battery.
The NextBook17i is designed as a high-performance notebook, or desktop replacement (DTR) computer, so the power draw significantly lessens the battery life. The battery provides approximately 15 minutes of power in the event of a power outage. This will allow time to save all work in progress and shut the system down.
Q: What's the difference between a desktop replacement laptop (DTR) and a standard laptop?
A: DTRs are somewhat larger versions of the typical laptop due to the incorporation of more powerful components. While the larger size means they can dissipate heat better than a standard laptop, DTRs still can not use the more high-end desktop components, so they are still not as powerful as a flextop or a standard PC-style desktop. Both DTRs and laptops rarely incorporate PCI expansion cards, and they use many proprietary components, which severely limits expandability and upgradability.
Q: What are my storage options with your notebook?
A: The NextBook17i offers up to (4) internal fixed HDDs (or (3) HDDs and an ExpressCard slot), and a DVD-R/RW (or Blu-Ray RW), as well as numerous USB options for external storage.
For more information, see the product page or datasheet.
Q: What graphics cards are available for your notebook?
A: The NextBook17i uses an NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 280M GPU
Q: Do I need any custom drivers with the notebook?
A: Since our notebooks are designed using COTS components, no custom drivers are necessary.
Q: What happened to the PowerBlade and the NextBlade15e?
A: Sun has discontinued their UltraSPARC™ II series of processors. While we were able to continue to offer the PowerBlade and the NextBlade15e while our inventory of the processors lasted, we have discontinued these 2 desktop replacement models as our inventory has now been depleted.
Q: Can I still get service on them?
A: Yes, you can still get service for your PowerBlade and NextBlade15e systems per our standard service and warranty policies.
- Do your blade servers support independent or clustered processors, and can I run independent operating systems on each processor? If so how is resource sharing handled?
- How easy is your blade server to maintain and manage?
- Can a blade network boot or have a local hard drive?
- How many PCI cards can I install in a blade?
- Can I do secondary networking in addition to Gigabit networking between blades?
- Can I separately route the video, mouse, and keyboard I/O from each of the blades to a dedicated display for each blade server?
- Does it support gigabit ethernet switching integration?
- What other storage options are available?
- Can I manage your blade server remotely?
- Is your blade server deployable?
- What makes the NextServer a better option than other rackmount or Blade Servers?
- Do I need any custom drivers with the NextServer?
Q: Do your blade servers support independent or clustered processors, and can I run independent operating systems on each processor? If so how is resource sharing handled?
A: Yes. Within a 4U rack space, NextServer supports up to 8 blade processors. Each blade can run independently and run any of the OS specified in the OS support section. They can also operate in a cluster or sub-cluster if using a common OS.
If your needs require more than one OS per blade, regardless of the number of processors, blades can be configured, via VMServer, with a host/guest OS combination so that supported OS versions can be run concurrently. AMD Opteron processors are SMP processors so independent operating systems can only be run via virtualization. See http://www.vmware.com/products/server/.
The host OS controls the hardware and the guest has use of most of the hardware I-O, with some exceptions.
Q: How easy are your blade servers to maintain and manage?
A: Our blade servers are designed with our FleXtreme™ architecture for blade serving or embedded distributed computing. Power supplies, fans, processor modules, and management modules are all hot-swappable.
Q: Can a blade network boot or have a local hard drive?
A : Each blade has an option of up to a 100GB bootable local disk. Blades can also (PXE) boot or network boot as well off of other blades.
Q: How many PCI cards can I install in a blade?
A: Each blade supports a half length PCI-X 64-bit 66MHz or 100MHz card. Dual-wide blades can come configured with up to (3) PCI slots to create application specific blade solutions on a mix and match basis.
Q: Can I do secondary networking in addition to Gigabit networking between blades?
A: Yes, with the available PCI slot on each blade, Infiniband, fibre channel, Myranet, reflective memory, and other networking I-O can be used on a mix and match basis between blades and/or servers.
Q: Can I separately route the video, mouse, and keyboard I/O from each of the blades to a dedicated display for each blade server?
A: Yes, the built-in KVM switch allows you to attach a single keyboard, mouse, and display to a rear port using a pigtail adaptor.
Q: Does it support gigabit ethernet switching integration?
A: Yes, standard is an integrated dual 12-port Gigabit Layer 2 switch with 2 copper and 2 fibre uplinks. Each blade has (2) Gigabit ports with the first port connected to the 1st internal Gigabit switch and the 2nd Gigabit port per blade connected to the 2nd internal 12-port Gigabit switch. Each 12-port switch is interconnected up to 20Gb rates for maximum sustained throughput.
Q: What other storage options are available?
A: External NAS storage connectivity is supported through the integrated Gigabit switch. NextComputing offers external 1U solutions with up to 1 Terabyte of storage in various RAID configurations. Also, SAN is supported by using a particular blade's PCI slot for the SAN controller.
Q: Can I manage your blade servers remotely?
A: Yes, our blade servers can be remotely managed via a CLI command interface or an available Windows application.
Q: Are your blade servers deployable?
A: Yes, NextComputing has a rugged shock mounted transit case option with removable end covers for deployable use.
Q: What makes the NextServer a better option than other rackmount or Blade Servers?
A: NextServer offers significant consolidation opportunities over legacy 1U, 2U, and 4U rackmount servers in that up to 16 Xeon or dual-core Opteron processors in up to 8 hot-swappable blades can fit in a 4U rack height. Each blade has an open standards PCI expansion slot, and the platform is virtually cable free for easy maintenance and higher MTBF.
When compared to Blade Server solutions, NextServer combines a small rack-height (4U) with PCI slot expansion per blade for application specific solutions on a blade by blade basis, as well as Intel® Xeon or AMD Opteron™ high performance 64-bit processing.
Q: Do I need any custom drivers with the NextServer?
A: Since the NextServer is designed using COTS components, no custom drivers are necessary.
- Are the keyboards on your Vigor series detachable, and can I use a 3rd-party keyboard or mouse instead of the onboard touchpad and/or keyboard?
- Can I run both 32-bit and 64-bit PCI / PCI-X cards on the dual PCI-X mid-plane?
- How many displays can I use?
- How rugged is your Vigor series?
- Can I add external hard disk drives to the Vigor systems?
- Aside from the integrated graphics card on the motherboard, does the Vigor Ultra-III support any other graphics cards? Does it support 3D graphics?
- Do I need any custom drivers with the Vigor systems?
- How many insertions are your Vigor Opteron Quick-time hard drive receiver mid-planes and carriers rated to?
- Is it true that the Vigor Evo HD is essentially a NextDimension Evo HD in a ruggedized chassis?
A: Yes, you can simply unhook the keyboard from the Vigor Pro SD and Vigor ULTRA-III, leaving it connected to the chassis via a cable, for convenient placement.
With all the Vigor systems, you can use any standard or ruggedized COTS USB 1.1 or 2.0 keyboard and mouse in place of the onboard keyboard and touchpad. Using a 3rd party keyboard or mouse with the Vigor ULTRA-III and the Vigor Pro SD will disable the original devices. More details are available in the system user manual, included when you purchase a system or online with your customer login.
Q: Can I run both 32-bit and 64-bit PCI / PCI-X cards on the dual PCI-X mid-plane?
A: Yes, PCI-X is backward compatible to support virtually any PCI card (even older legacy 5V 32-bit cards). In the dual PCI-X mid-plane, both cards can run up to the speed of the slowest card. For example, in a configuration with one 32-bit/33MHz PCI card and one 64-bit/66MHz PCI-X card, the speed would be "auto-negotiated" and both cards would run at 33MHz.
Q: How many displays can I use?
A: Vigor Pro SD and Evo HD can support up to (6) displays via the onboard AMD graphics card and (2) NVIDIA Quadro™ PCI Express x16 card.
Vigor ULTRA-III supports up to (2) displays using the onboard graphics controller or up to (4) displays with the installation of a compatible PCI card.
Q: How rugged is your Vigor series?
A: The Vigor series is designed, although not specified or guaranteed, to function in a variety of harsher conditions. Each system in the Vigor series has an aluminum alloy frame, mil-anodized scratch resistant paint, and rubber corner bumpers. They are rugged, deployable, mobile engineering workstation/servers; however, they are not mil-spec.
Vigor Pro SD and Vigor ULTRA-III:
- Temp:
- Operating: 5°C-50°C, 41°F-131°F
- Non-operating: -40°C-65°C, -40°F-149°F
- Relative humidity: (5-95%) non-condensing
- Shock: (half-sine wave) 200Gs/2ms
- Vibration:
- Operating: (sine-wave) 1G (5-500Hz)
- Non-operating: (sine-wave) 5G (22-500Hz)
Vigor Evo HD:
- Temp:
- Operating: 0°C–40°C, 32°F–104°F
- Non-operating: -40°C–65°C, -40°F–149°F
- Relative humidity: (5-95%) non-condensing
- Shock: Mechanical shock: ≤10g, 11ms, Terminal sawtooth, operating; Transit shock: 18” drop
- Vibration: ≤0.04g2/Hz, 20Hz–1,000Hz; -6dB/octive 1,000Hz–2,000Hz
Q: Can I add external drives to the Vigor systems?
A: Vigor Pro SD and Vigor Evo HD will accept up to (2) external 120GB SATA hard disk drives. The SATA HDDs measure 5.12" x 2.95" x 0.52" (130mm x 75mm x 13mm).
Vigor ULTRA-III has an external SCSI port, so any external SCSI storage enclosure can be attached.
A: The Vigor ULTRA-III has a 64 Bit/66MHz PCI expansion slot. This slot can be used to add an additional XVR100 (PCI based) graphics card for up to (4) display heads. It can also be used for 3D graphic cards such as the XVR600, and XVR1200 cards from Sun.
In the case of the XVR1200, this card is a full-length card with a 2nd slot daughter card for other I-O. The 2nd slot daughter card cannot be used in the Vigor ULTRA-III, only the primary XVR1200 graphics I-O. NextComputing has a modified I-O faceplate to support this.
With the XVR600, and XVR1200 cards, the primary internal LCD display can be connected to these cards, or the standard XVR100 graphics can remain connected. The orderable configuration options are completely flexible.
Q: Do I need any custom drivers with the Vigor systems?
A: No custom drivers are necessary.
In the case of the Vigor ULTRA-III, it is the same architecture as the SunFire V240 series as well as the SunBlade2500. Standard Sun distribution media and JumpStart are supported. Customers can re-load directly from Sun distribution media and load any new patches or cluster patches. Click here to find Solaris™ patches.
A: The receiver mid-planes are rated to 500 insertion cycles, where an insertion cycle is the combination of installing and removing the Quick-Time Hard drive carrier.
The carriers are rated to 2000 insertion cycles, where an insertion cycle is the combination of installing and removing the Quick-Time Hard hard drive carrier from the system receiver.
Q: Where can I get more information on the Vigor Evo HD?
A: We created the Vigor Evo HD by enclosing the NextDimension Evo HD in a floating, ruggedized chassis. Therefore, all information found on the site about the NextDimension Evo HD, including the NextDimension FAQ, applies to the Vigor Evo HD.
- What resolution do your displays support?
- What is the Quad-head configuration?
- What is the HydraGraphics configuration?
- Is it true that the Quadro FX 3500 can actually out perform the 4500?
- Would two 256MB cards in SLI mode equal the performance of one 512MB card of the same model?
- Can I run SLI mode and quad-head mode at the same time?
Q: What resolution do your displays support?
A: All of our portable displays, by default, are 17" WUXGA with a maximum resolution of 1920x1200.
However, NVidia Quadro graphics cards we offer come with utilities that allow you to adjust the display to, for example, a 1600x1200 fixed 4:3 aspect ratio, the exact size and aspect ratio of a 15" UXGA display. Our display will simply have left and right, black margins.
Q: What is the Quad-head configuration?
A: The Quad-head configuration comes with (2) NVIDIA Quadro™ FX3500 PCI Express x16 cards; the first card is connected to the internal LCD and can be connected to an external monitor, while the second card is available for (2) external monitors.
This configuration is for 3D intensive graphics environments and is available on the NextDimension, the Vigor Pro SD, and the Vigor Evo HD with all OS except Solaris™ and Microsoft® Windows® 2003 Advanced Server.
Note: The onboard AMD graphics card is disabled and can not be used for monitor support.
Q: What is the HydraGraphics configuration?
A: The HydraGraphics configuration comes with (2) NVIDIA Quadro™ FX3500 PCI Express x16 cards for connection of up to (4) external monitors. The onboard AMD graphics card is also enabled and connected to the 17" internal LCD screen (up to 1920x1200 resolution) and can be connected to a another external monitor for a total of 6 displays.
The HydraGraphics feature is currently only available on the NextDimension line as well as the Vigor Evo HD and the Vigor Pro SD with Windows XP Pro/64.
This configuration is designed for DCC, intelligence analysis, vizualization, oil & gas, and CAD industry requirements.
Q: Is it true that the Quadro FX 3500 can actually out perform the 4500?
A: True in many cases, but there are some application situations where the 4500 will outperform the 3500 because of the additional memory (512MB vs 256MB).
Q: Would two 256MB cards in SLI mode equal the performance of one 512MB card of the same model?
A: Graphics memory is not doubled in SLI mode. (more info at http://www.slizone.com/object/slizone_ask_mmm013.html).
Q: Can I run SLI mode and quad-head mode at the same time?
A: SLI mode is only capable of running one monitor per card at a time. To run in quad-head mode, you must disable SLI mode.
However, while older drivers required a reboot to switch modes, the NextDimensions and Vigor Evo HD use the latest drivers and does not require a reboot to switch modes.
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