anton (12/15/82)
The now demised Ontario (but in practice UofT, HCR & UofW) micro newsletter had Ian Darwin asking about people who were interested in a bulk buy of winchesters. I understood he was looking to the ones about 5Meg. Now that is about the size of a DEC rl01. I use of of these for the experimental root on our 11/23 (demo & experiment machine) and know that it really isn't enough. There are also a pair of rl02's on it at 10Meg each. Altogether it is a reasonable size system for up to 4 users. Now there are a number of winnies advertised in the glossies which are part of a compatable family that starts at the 5Meg and goes up by adding platters to 40Meg. These I am interested in since there is the same interface for easy upgrade; you buy the 5meg and trade it in for a 20meg next year, BUT HAVE THE SAME INTERFACE BOARD AND SOFTWARE, simply change the declaration of how big the disk looks. Secondly, this allows those of us who want bigger disks to participate in a group purchase without prejudicing those with more modest needs. Finally, this type of family will also have low access times. It is this, rather than the data rates, that limits the speed of the system. I see that on the 11/23 and on the ONYX with the IMI and its slow seek times. There are a number of manufacturers which fit in this class. Prices range from $800 to $1800 depending on size and source. Target systems range from cp/m, MARC up to small UNIX-like things. Not just homebrews, but also as extentions to ready built systems. If you are considering buying a micro, or have one and need more disk space please mail me with your interests and budget requirements. If the need arrises we may have to spawn a small sub-project to build cost effective controllers with parallel interface for 8255's or PIA's. /anton aylward HCRC ..utzoo!hcr!anton ..utzoo!hcr!hcrvax!anton ...hcr!hcrvax!anton ..decvax!hcr!hcrvax!anton or anything that can get to hcr or hcrvax
idallen (12/15/82)
5Mb isn't enough. The WICAT systems here at UW just barely get UNIX onto their disks, and they don't even have the source! It seems that any O/S with a reasonable set of system programs will quickly over-run 5Mb. -IAN!