DEC 11/45 build - advice sought, parts requested possibly.

You can fit v6 onto a single RK05 with just barely enough room for the kernel source and enough space to compile it. It is tight but doable. In order to run most Unix varieties, you will likely need a KW11 (M787) line frequency clock, a full box of memory, the memory management (as noted by Al), etc. The later BSD releases require a rather large amount of disk space, depending on what all you install. They also become pretty slow on the machines which do not support more than 128KW of memory. As long as you leave enough room for air to enter the top of the BA11-F, you should be able to mount peripherals above the CPU bay. You will likely need to leave the back, sides, or front panels off in order to allow a space for the air to enter. DEC specified that no peripherals should be mounted above the CPU because with the sides, back, and front panels in place, there isn't enough remaining space to channel cooling air when a full size (e.g. RK05) box is mounted in the space above. If you do mount a peripheral above the CPU, be sure to space it up enough (perhaps 6") to allow room for air to enter... It won't be as neatly dressed as with the sides/back/etcetera on the rack, but it takes up half the space. --tom