Server motherboards are central to powering the internet and cloud computing. They are boards that house the computing “brains” of a server, typically handling billions of instructions per second. Cloud computing has driven the growth of server farms in data centers due to the proliferation of mobile devices such as smartphones, tablets, and streaming video devices that have exponentially increased demand for video, applications, and similar services over the internet.
Data centers are kept air conditioned so that server temperatures are kept within normal operating range, and a steady, always-on power source is critical. Electronics for server motherboards should be protected from overvoltage (e.g., surges, ESD) and under voltage (e.g., power dips, hot swaps, etc.) and others electrical noise. Protection is achieved through filtering (e.g., common mode rejection chokes), voltage clamping (e.g., using transient voltage suppressors), highly-integrated combination circuit protection chips, and other methods.
