Archive for the 'Hardware' Category

CPU Specification number or S-spec number

Published
by
Malgent
on October 24, 2008
in Hardware
. 0 Comments

Specification number, or S-spec number, is a five character code that uniquely identifies such CPU characteristics as core frequency, bus frequency, the size of level 2 cache, thermal design power, and so on. Specification numbers always start from letter ‘S’ and are usually printed on the top of the CPU. Intel Pentium, Pentium MMX and Celeron processors in plastic PPGA package have specification numbers printed on the bottom of the CPU. To find out processor characteristics from the specification number please use “Search by S-Spec” form on this page. We also recommend to use Intel processor finder tool.

Some examples of specification numbers: SL92C, SL7PW, SL3XX

NOTE: Intel engineering and qualification samples are marked with specification numbers that start from ‘Q’ - these are so called QDF numbers, and they are used to identify qualification and engineering samples.

Mean time between failures

Published
by
Malgent
on July 21, 2008
in Hardware and Reference
. 2 Comments

Mean time between failures (MTBF) is the mean (average) time between failures of a system, and is often attributed to the “useful life” of the device i.e. not including ‘infant mortality’ or ‘end of life’ if the device is not repairable. Calculations of MTBF assume that a system is “renewed”, i.e. fixed, after each failure, and then returned to service immediately after failure. The average time between failing and being returned to service is termed mean down time (MDT) or mean time to repair (MTTR).

It's just a matter of time.

It's just a matter of time.

Mathematically, the MTBF is the sum of the MTTF (mean time to failure) and MTTR (mean time to repair). The MTTF is simply the reciprocal of the failure rate, Continue reading ‘Mean time between failures’