how fast were drum memories?

[Chuck Guzis]

On 05/10/2018 12:53 PM, ben via cctalk wrote:

> Can not be slower than modern computers, It takes 5 minutes for my mail
> program to load under windows and grab new mail.
> Once core memory became common, fast speeds are relative to other I/O
> at the time, of TTY and punch card speeds.

Actually, the FASTRAND was used on the 1107 machine which used thin-film
memory, so memory was pretty fast already.

Didn't the FASTRAND have "ping" detectors that would register a count
every time a head hit the surface?  I recall that the binary-encoded
positioner mechanism was composed of a bunch of solenoids and levers
that could convert a binary input to a head position. (The FASTRAND was
a moveable head, not a head-per-track drum).

--Chuck