The integrity of communication between Master and Slave modules is ensured via a handshaking scheme. This frees the standard from a speed requirement. This, of course, is not the case with broadcast commands where a Master talks to all Slaves in a segment, nor is it true for hardware block transfers where the Master must be able to operate as fast as the fastest Slave. The crate is a standard rack-mountable package with 26 slots. The cooling and power supply systems are non-integral with the crate.
Water cooling uses a heat exchanger to chill the forced air and is less commonly used.
Care should be taken to assure that the proper voltages are available in any given crate. It provides for the control and flow of data. On the rear of the crate are two cards are called Ancillary Logic. The Auxiliary Backplane is not normally employed for the transfer of data. The Master asynchronously requests use of the Segment, specifying the priority of the request.