"The search for the lost Cray supercomputer OS" - test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

20 Jan 2014

From: allison <ajp166 at verizon.net>
...
  It was my understanding that a smaller machine managed
it and fed it and accepted
...
  fire hose rate data from it and there was likely no OS
but a framework that the specific
...
  application was supported by.  It was from all I read
not used as a general purpose
...
  machine like a VAX or CDC 6000.  So rather than OS you
likely looking for something
...
  like VAX ELN, PDP-11 IOX, or some other library of
"stuff". 
The original Cray OS (COS) was basically a batch OS.  More than just a
framework, but less of an OS than, say, OS/370.  They were indeed
front-ended by a host machine (the one at Pittsburgh had 2 (I think)
VAX/VMS hosts) where you'd write and compile your Fortran, stage your data,
and write a script to get everything submitted to the Cray run queue and
collect the results.   Later (mid 80s) they came out with UniCOS, which was
a SVR2-ish Unix port which let you eliminate the front ends.   I recall
some vi-v-emacs level internecine warfare between the "UniCOS is awesome"
and "all that Unix overhead is a waste of a perfectly good Cray" camps.
Internally, Cray was committed to UniCOS, so that's who "won".