Subject: Re: Drum vs. Core
From: Kevin Handy <kth at srv.net>
Date: Mon, 02 Jul 2007 14:04:24 -0600
To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts <cctalk at
classiccmp.org>
Chuck Guzis wrote:
On 2 Jul 2007 at 19:51, Roger Holmes wrote:
> That
processor benchmarks about the same as an IBM PC/AT (!)
>
[somehow I cannot see running 100 terminals off an AT]
Was it really that slow! We really put up with a lot back then.
Terminal speed can mask a lot. How many ASR33's did IIT run IITRAN
to using what, a 16K foreground partition on a 128K 360/40 running
DOS?
A lot of the increased speed has been eaten up by the
Graphical Interfaces. Consider that most home
PC's today operate faster and have more memory than a
Cray-1, and can barely keep up with e-mail.
We used to have 30+ users on a PDP-11 with max 4Mb
memory, and now dedicate a Dual Core system with more
than a Gb to a single web surfer. And using an 8 core CPU
machine (PS3), just to play games.
How large would a PDP-10 system have been that had
anywhere close to the disk/ram/... of a single PlayStation3?
Technology has really shrunk things down.
The BOCES LIRCS system (LINY Ca1970) was a PDP-10 running tops-10
64kW then later 128W of core with a 128K swapping drum. Number
of users on an average day was 300 (TTYs) with a PDP-8i handling
switching and a few other tasks. Disks were four of the removable
multiplatter washing machines (RP03) three active and the fouth holding
the backup pack. It was a very reponsive machine unless there
was contention for the disks (reads/writes).
It's size in an airconditioned false floor room was 5 "racks" wide
for the back row (mostly core boxes) and the front row was CPU, and
PDP-8.
Spent better part of a year there as a student just hacking on the
machine like most fo the other students that had access with one little
difference, I was hacking via a Hazeltine 1200 glass TTY and had access
to the programmers console and tty(asr35).
Allison