VAX-11? and some C64 stuff - test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

31 May 2000

On May 31, Jason McBrien wrote:
...
  First, there was the PDP/8 which came out in the
sixties. It was a largish
 "Minicomputer" meaning it didn't fill a room like the IBM 360's, but
you
 couldn't exactly toss it in a closet either. Then came the PDP/11, which was
 a bit smaller and 16-Bit in the seventies. Then came the VAX 11/750,
 Digital's first 32-Bit mainframe, in the late seventies/early eighties, and
 dominated the minicomputer market for quite a while. The first VAXes where
 large cabinet sized affairs, needing wacky 380V power mains and hard drives
 the size of a decent size car transmission. Then came the VAXStation 2000,
 which had almost all the power of a VAX 11/750 in a case the size of a
 largish shoebox. The home minicomputer was born. Through the eighties DEC
 still made the huge company-running VAX 7000's, 8000's, 9000's, and
10000's,
 but also made smaller workstation-style counterparts, the VAX 3100's,
 4000's, MicroVAXes, VAXStations, and VAX-Servers. You can pick up a 3100 or
 2000 for under $50 if you look hard. 4000's are nicer and run upwards $100. 
  A few corrections here...the 11/750 was the second VAX model, not the
first.  The first was the 11/780.  The VS2000 was approximately the
performance of the 11/780, not the 11/750.  The 7000, 9000, 1000, etc
(not 8000) were mostly 90's machines, not 80's, if memory
serves...some of which are still available for new purchases from
DEC/Compuke, though not for much longer.

...
  You'll want to get a VAXStation, as opposed to a
MicroVAX, cause it supports
 a monitor, MicroVAX's are terminal controlled. Also, you'll need the special

  ...depends completely on the intended application.  Myself, I have
28 machines on my home network.  Only ONE of them, the one I sit in
front of every day, has a big tube and a framebuffer.  The other ones
are in the computer room making noise and belching out heat...where
they most certainly DO NOT need a big 19" monitor taking up space, or
a never-used framebuffer sucking up power and kernel code space.  A
single VT320 terminal with a very long serial cable sits in the side
of the room on top of an UPS.  When I need actual console access to
the machines (which is very rare, only during some reboots, which are
in themselves very rare here) I string the serial cable to the console
port of the machine in question and I'm set.

  In another week or so, a terminal server will be connected to all
the console ports, as well as the VT320 terminal.  Then I won't even
need to be downstairs (or in the house at all) to gain console access.

               -Dave McGuire