rsk@stat-l (Rich Kulawiec) (12/14/84)
Our turn. There are three major organizations on campus;
the Engineering Computing Network (ECN), the Computing Center (PUCC),
and the Computer Science Department (CS). Each operates its own
network of machines. In addition, there are installations in several
other departments, such as Physics and Chemistry.
1. ECN: about 12 Vaxes, 4 Dual Vaxes, several Pdp-11's. All
run Unix. A Harris 800 and a Data General whatever. Accounts available
to students/staff/faculty in engineering. Machines "belong" to departments,
so EE's get accounts on EE machines, etc. Hacking time is just fine, if you
can find an idle machine...Most machines support max of 40=50 users; dual
vaxes support 100+. Most 11's used for research efforts.
2. PUCC: 4 Vaxes, 3 Pdp-11/70's running Unix. Three CDC-6000's
running MACE. 4 11/70's running RSTS. An IBM 3083. A Cyber 205.
Unix machines for instruction only; accounts issued to undergrads
for a particular class, expire in a semester. A few carry over...
hacking discouraged due to total lack of machine cycles. High loads
constantly throughout much of the semester. RSTS is for word proc,
some hacking is done. CDC 6000's on their way out, still used for
number crunching, some classes, printing output, tapes. 3083 is brand
new; will be used by Technology, Management, and other schools. The
Cbyer 205 is used for research by Purdue-ites and off-site folks.
3. CS: 3 Vaxes, several Suns, a Ridge, other workstations.
Faculty/grad students only. One Vax dedicated to a research project,
other two general-purpose. Hacking done constantly; network config
re-arranged every other week. (Just kidding, Chris.)
4. General comments: The campus is connected by various
networks; ECN runs their own PNET on Ethernet and DMR/DMC links;
PUCC runs TCP/IP on PCL-11's; CS runs TCP/IP on Pronet and Ethernet.
Cross-network links exist in several places; either Berknet on
twisted-pair or TCP/IP (serial line). Gradual trend towards increasing
interconnectivity, throughput, and reliability.
New machines arriving roughly quarterly; '85 should see
2-3 more Vaxes, perhaps an 8600, and a Gould whatever on campus.
Workstations (Suns, Masscomps, etc.) beginning to take hold in smaller
departments. PC's used by some students and in many departmental
offices; they're all isolated boxes, though; we have not been MacAttacked.
No plans for PC network. Dorm phones being rewired to support dialup.
Uucp available to almost everybody; Arpa/Csnet to some; Bitnet on the way.
Terminals occasionally in short supply in some places.
--
Rich Kulawiec @ Purdue University Computing Center Unix Systems Group
{decvax, ihnp4, uiucdcs} !pur-ee!rsk & {decwrl, hplabs, ucbvax} !purdue!rsk.uucp
Wombats are partially protected under the Wildlife Act of 1975.ac4@pucc-h (Tom Putnam) (12/14/84)
Just to clarify, in case you didn't notice in Rich Kulawiec's previous note,
there is also an Administrative Data Processing Center at Purdue, and
(thankfully) it runs on its own completely separate system (IBM 3033U).
The systems Rich discussed are strictly Instructional and Research systems.
It hasn't been clear to me in some of the postings from other centers whether
or not they have to perform their administrative computing using the same
facilities.
A few other notable omissions from Rich's list of facilities at Purdue:
CDC Cyber 170/720 with much ancillary equipment (particularly
graphics) supports a CAD/CAM research lab.
IBM 4341 with large terminal cluster for teaching and research
in Chemical Engineering.
2 Vax-11/780's running VMS in High Energy Physics.
PDP-11/70 "host" for statewide network of DEC mini-mini's
known as the Agricultural Data Network.
Another IBM (4341?) recently installed in Electrical Engineering
for CAD work.
...
... and the beat goes on!
Just trying to keep track of all of these "mid-sized" systems like VAXen and
IBM 43xx machines is a major undertaking.
--
Tom Putnam
{decvax|harpo|ihnp4|inuxc|seismo|ucbvax}!pur-ee!pucc-h:ac4