VAX9000 unearthed

[Gary Grebus]

On 2/18/22 09:46, Paul Koning wrote:
> 
> 
>> On Feb 18, 2022, at 7:08 AM, Joerg Hoppe via cctalk <cctalk at classiccmp.org> wrote:
>>
>> Hi,
>>
>> my computer club c-c-g.de could acquire the remains of a VAX9000 !
>> The machine ran at the GWDG computing center in G?ttingen, Germany, around 1993.
>> Parts of it were in stock of their museum for 20+ years.
>>
>> See lots of hires-pictures at
>>
>> https://c-c-g.de/fachartikel/359-vax-9000-ein-starker-exot
>>
>> (scroll to the bottom for a slide show).
>>
>> Joerg
> 
> Excellent photos!
> 
> I didn't realize the 9000 had a vector processor.
> 
> One reason the design was so expensive is that it was originally planned as a water-cooled machine -- code name "Aquarius".  At some point that idea was dropped and switched to air cooling -- code name "Aridus".  I guess those skinny pipes with red and blue markers carry jets of cooling air, but were originally going to carry water.
> 
> The 9000 also had its own I/O bus, XMI, different from BI.  I don't know how its performance compares, whether it was worth the effort.
> 

XMI already existed as the system bus for the VAX 6000 series machines. 
   I/O on the VAX 6000's was via an XMI-to-BI bridge.  I don't remember 
the exact performance specs on XMI, but it was wider and faster than BI.

XMI was then also used as one of the possible I/O buses on the VAX 10000 
and AlphaServer 7000 and 8000 series machines, via a system bus to XMI 
bridge.   So the XMI I/O adapters were common across all these series of 
machines.

	Gary