K538915%CZHRZU1A.BITNET@wiscvm.wisc.edu (12/05/86)
Here at the Physics Institute of the University Zuerich we are evaluating a new computer and have narrowed down the candidates to: - 'unconventional' solution Alliant FX/8 with Concentrix (a version of BSD 4.2) - 'conventional' solution DEC 8550 with VMS Now, as there are some people here which don't believe that a operating other than one from DEC can be/do anything useful, I would like to hear from anybody who has used or been manager of an Alliant system........ Pls e-mail to me directly as I do not subscribe to this mailing list. Thanks Simon Poole K538915@CZHRZU1A.BITNET
mike@BRL.ARPA (Mike Muuss) (12/06/86)
The Alliant FX/8 is a very interesting machine, extremely well implemented. For heavy floating-point calculations, especially where the code can be vectorized or operated in parallel (or both), the Alliant is a strong performer. Having lots of calculations that fall into this category, they are well worth considering. BRL presently owns four. There is a mailing list devoted to discussion of the Alliant machine, send submissions to <info-alliant@anl-mcs.arpa>. (Hope I got that right, it's not in the list-of-lists). Best, -Mike