Industrial computers and boards are intended for use on factory floors or in other harsh environments. Unlike office computers, these systems are designed to withstand shock, vibration, humidity, EMI, RFI, dust, mist, and splash. Industrial computers are available in many configurations with a variety of CPUs, displays, and I/O interfaces. Industrial computer boards generally refer to single board computers (SBC) and to a lesser degree, the systems they control. Industrial computer boards need to be rugged and powerful. They are used in wide ranging, critical function, and applications, such as industrial control, in the military and aerospace industries, medical fields, and business.

Buses are collections of wires through which data is transmitted from one part of a computer to another. They are the functional part of industrial computers and boards that allow an entire network to maintain communication and function as a single unit. All buses consist of two parts - an address bus and a data bus. The address bus acts as a controller, directing the transfer of data to a specific location or group of locations, while the data bus carries out the actual transfer of data. Buses are able to transfer data based upon their size, which is generally referred to as their width. The width of the bus is stated in terms of bit size; the larger the bit the size, numerically, the larger the bus. For example, a 16-bit bus can transmit 16 bits of data, whereas a 32-bit bus can transmit 32 bits of data.

There are many industrial communication protocols used in industrial computers and computer boards systems. Generally, industrial computers and boards implement one protocol supported by a particular industry standard organization, and these may differ between American and European standards. Among the most common protocols are GPIB, CANBus, Fieldbus, Parallel and Serial interfaces Some others: LonWorks®, HART®, ControlNet, P-Net, AS-i, Seriplex, DT-Connect I and II, Interbus-S, Sensoplex, Beckhoff, etc.

The computer peripherals category encompasses all manner of devices that support or enhance the function of industrial computers and boards. This includes everything from displays (CRT monitors, LCD modules, flat panel displays, touch screens, etc.), to printers and plotters, input devices (including mice; and their singular form mouse; joysticks, trackballs, keyboards, etc.), disk drives, memory and other data storage devices.