[comp.arch] DECstation 3100 vs ISC box

lance@Roma.orc.olivetti.com (Lance Berc) (01/18/89)

Does anyone know which SCSI and ethernet controller chips are
used in the new DEC & ISC boxes and/or how they compare to the
throughput of the NCR 50C90 (SCSI) and custom ethernet support
of the NeXT machine?

lance





Lance Berc                lance@orc.olivetti.com       Beer as an alternate
Olivetti Research Center  lance%orc.uucp@unix.sri.com       currency!
Menlo Park, California    (415) 496-6248
< These opinions bear no resemblance to those of Ing. C. Olivetti & C. SpA. >

seenu@isieng.UUCP (Seenu Banda) (01/18/89)

In article <36181@oliveb.olivetti.com>, lance@Roma.orc.olivetti.com (Lance Berc) writes:
> Does anyone know which SCSI and ethernet controller chips are
> used in the new DEC & ISC boxes and/or how they compare to the
> ... 
> lance

ISI (and not ISC) uses an Adaptec 16-bit SCSI chip (6250) and the
AMD 7990 Lance chip for Ethernet. One of the DMA channels of the
NEC V50 (80186 compatible) services the Adaptec SCSI controller.
I would still like to know about the DECstation 3100 hardware. I
appreciate the discussion on UNIX implementation that the original
request fostered, but my interests at present are in the physical
(not metaphysical!) aspects of the new DEC entry, i.e. footprint,
basic system components, i.e. cache sizes, and peripherals (internal
or external). Has anyone other than DEC personnel seen or used the
DECstation 3100? 

seenu		..!pyramid!isieng!seenu
		#include <standard.disclaimer>

jg@jumbo.dec.com (Jim Gettys) (01/19/89)

In article <983@isieng.UUCP> seenu@isieng.UUCP (Seenu Banda) writes:
>In article <36181@oliveb.olivetti.com>, lance@Roma.orc.olivetti.com (Lance Berc) writes:
>> Does anyone know which SCSI and ethernet controller chips are
>> used in the new DEC & ISC boxes and/or how they compare to the
>> ... 
>> lance
>
>ISI (and not ISC) uses an Adaptec 16-bit SCSI chip (6250) and the
>AMD 7990 Lance chip for Ethernet. One of the DMA channels of the
>NEC V50 (80186 compatible) services the Adaptec SCSI controller.
>I would still like to know about the DECstation 3100 hardware. I
>appreciate the discussion on UNIX implementation that the original
>request fostered, but my interests at present are in the physical
>(not metaphysical!) aspects of the new DEC entry, i.e. footprint,
>basic system components, i.e. cache sizes, and peripherals (internal
>or external). Has anyone other than DEC personnel seen or used the
>DECstation 3100? 

It uses the same box as the VAXstation 3100,  10.33 cm (4.07") high by
46.38 cm (18.26") wide, by 39.42 cm (15.52) deep.  64K I cache, 64k D
cache.  Space for an internal 3.5" hard disk.  It uses an industry
standard chip for electrical interfacing to SCSI, and a DEC internal chip
for doing the SCSI work, good to around 4mbytes/second.  Internal disk can
be RZ23, 105mb formatted, or external RZ55, 332mb formatted.  Also takes
TK50Z 95MB tape in external box.  8mb main memory comes standard;
potentially upgradable in 4mb increments.  Both thin and thick wire
ethernet connectors provided, with switch to select which is active.  I
don't remember which ethernet chip is being used off hand, though I think
it is the Lance.  Max power consumption is 122 W. weight 9.47kg ( 20.14lb).
diskless. 1 bit mono display, or 8 bit color display, 1024x864 resolution.

<The usual disclaimers here>