----- Original Message ----- From: "Jeffrey S. Sharp" <jss(a)ou.edu> To: "ClassicCmp Mailing List" <classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org> Sent: Wednesday, March 07, 2001 3:55 PM Subject: Value of a small VAX farm if he but I am two. I need PDP-11 parts of the I think I saw these mentioned in the Linux/VAX mailing list. Considerable interest was expressed. $ value is always hard for stuff like this, but these are not beyond the reach of hobbyists either. While not high, $ value would be likely to exceed the $500 trip cost somewhat. If you find the right buyers, (especially for certain components) you could do fairly well. (The 7000 sans cpu's may be harder to flog.) But if you were to offer the other 5 complete for, say, $150-300 each, (more for the faster/SMP ones) (or PDP-11 stuff in lieu) you should find homes for them and/or PDP stuff for you. Ahem, I take it you know these system units weigh in around 500lbs each and have factored that in to your $500? Single CPU. 300 Series Speed 3.8vups (1VUPS ~=1MIPS) XMI ,VAXBI busses. CI capable where fitted. Calypso/XCP CPU Single CPU 400 Series Hmmm, dual cpu 400 series, combine the 2 and and you have a 4 cpu SMP system. Verrryy nice. Speed 7-36vups XMI,VAXBI busses, CI capable where fitted. Model 410-460 Calypso/XRP CPU The performance figures are a range as it varies according to the number of CPU's fitted. A 420 is around 12-13, a 440 (like the one at work here is around 24) Single CPU 500 series, again, combine the two into one chassis for a fairly slick 2 CPU SMP Box. Speed 13-58 VUPS XMI,VAXBI Busses, CI and DSSI where fitted. Model 510-560 Calypso/XMP CPU I believe there is a backplane difference between the 200/300/400 series and the 500/600 series, different power requirements IIRC. There is a kit to allow it 500/600 stuff to work in the 200/300/400 stuff I think. Out of the box, 200/300/400 series could interchange CPU cards, and I think the 500/600 series could with each other but not with the 200/300/400 stuff, unless it had the backplane mod done. Bugger. They really zip. Still got it's ram? Don't have the performance figures for these handy, bit academic minus the cpu cards. AFAIK, the 6000 class CPU's have different backplane power and are not compatible (or vice versa). ISTR that they are around 36 VUPS in single CPU configuration. Very similar to the 6000, and there are probably some common components. If there are other cards still in it, (particularly RAM) you should do ok. XMI bus cards of any kind are $$$, particularly ram and SCSI or other disk controllers. An XMI network card is worth a considerable amount too. I could give you a better idea if you were to provide a list of the cards in the slots of each machine. A basic off the shelf 6000 would be likely to have a minimum of 64Mb of ram, but could have more. Also the numbers on the cabinet don't mean a lot, if they were upgraded (extra/faster cpus added), only way to tell is to count the CPU cards and check the numbers. You don't mention ram or other adapters present. SCSI cards are particularly hard to find for these and quite expensive. A single XMI SCSI card (to the right people) would probably go close to covering your expenses. There are still quite a few of these in commercial service around the world. One of the more reliable larger Vaxen, and with quite modest power requirements. You also don't mention drives or HSC controllers or anything like that. Ex NASA stuff would have been clustered, so they probably have CI (Computer Interconnect) bus adapters, and would have been connected by that to each other and a HSC (or several probably) It's unlikely they have disk controllers, but you might get lucky and find a SCSI or DSSI in one or more of them. Unlikely to have SDI (KDB50) controllers in Ex NASA systems. Summary: There is certainly more than $500 worth of parts in the lot. Way more. Finding a buyer that needs what you have may be more difficult. I should point out that I would consider the machines worth saving in their own right. The fact that they are ex NASA gives them some additional historical significance. Perhaps they were a part of the Viking Mission, or some other landmark space exploration. OTOH, I suppose it could have been the payroll cluster, but you never know..... Patience is the key, if you look on it as being worth the $500 (they are IMHO) then you should recoup your capital in time, and should show a profit, in some form, in not too long. Likely. NASA was (still is) a big Digital/Compaq shop and had herds of Vaxen, which gave way to Alphas. These are pretty rugged anyway, my personal one is sitting in a dusty un-airconditioned corner shop, it still works good. Built like a panzerschiff. But if they were babied, so much the better. They usually do, unless badly handled. Probably as good as the day they were made. Better really, no infant mortality. Might want to power them up cautiously if they have been off a long time, capacitors can dry up and go 'bang!' They are 3 phase out of the box, but are moddable to 240vac single phase, and they draw around 500-600w depending on configuration. Hope this helps, Geoff Roberts Computer Systems Manager Saint Mark's College Port Pirie, South Australia geoffrob(a)stmarks.pp.catholic.edu.au ICQ: 1970476