18 Feb
2022
18 Feb
'22
9:16 a.m.
Paul,
What was the timeframe for the MPP?
Lee
On Fri, Feb 18, 2022 at 6:47 AM Paul Koning via cctalk <
cctalk at classiccmp.org> wrote:
--
Lee Courtney
+1-650-704-3934 cell
On Feb 18, 2022, at 7:08 AM, Joerg Hoppe via
cctalk <
cctalk at classiccmp.org> wrote:
Hi,
my computer club c-c-g.de could acquire the remains of a VAX9000 !
The machine ran at the GWDG computing center in G?ttingen, Germany,
around 1993.
Parts of it were in stock of their museum for 20+
years.
See lots of hires-pictures at
https://c-c-g.de/fachartikel/359-vax-9000-ein-starker-exot
(scroll to the bottom for a slide show).
Joerg
Excellent photos!
I didn't realize the 9000 had a vector processor.
One reason the design was so expensive is that it was originally planned
as a water-cooled machine -- code name "Aquarius". At some point that idea
was dropped and switched to air cooling -- code name "Aridus". I guess
those skinny pipes with red and blue markers carry jets of cooling air, but
were originally going to carry water.
The 9000 also had its own I/O bus, XMI, different from BI. I don't know
how its performance compares, whether it was worth the effort.
Speaking of vector processors: there's a very obscure DEC processor, the
DEC MPP. I remember seeing the processor architecture document when it was
being designed, not sure why. It's a very-RISC machine, just a few
instructions, but lots of cores especially for that time -- 256? More?
Recently I saw it mentioned in some documents, apparently it did get
produced and shipped, perhaps only in small numbers. I wonder if any have
been preserved. As far as I know there is no family connection between
that machine and anything else DEC did before or since.
paul