Single-board computers (SBCs) are complete computers built on a single circuit board. The design is centered on a single or dual microprocessor with RAM, I/O and all other features needed to be a functional computer on the one board.

Single Board Computers are now commonly defined across two distinct architectures; no slots and slot support.

Embedded Single Board Computers are boards providing all the required I/O with no provision for plug-in cards. Applications are typically gaming (slot machines, video poker), kiosk, and machine control. Embedded Single Board Computers are much smaller than ATX motherboards, and provide an I/O mix more targeted to an industrial application such as on-board digital and analog I/O, on-board bootable flash so no hard drive is required, no on-board video, etc.

The term "Single Board Computer" now generally applies to an architecture where the Single Board Computer is plugged into a backplane to provide for I/O cards.

Single board computers are most commonly used in industrial situations where they are used in rackmount format for process control or embedded within other devices to provide control and interfacing. Because of the very high levels of integration, reduced component counts and reduced connector counts, SBCs are often smaller, lighter, more power efficient and more reliable than comparable multi-board computers.

Source: Wikipedia.org: Single-board computer

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