mikes@sir-alan.UUCP (Mike Squires) (07/27/87)
I am a happy user of Tandy 68K hardware; for those of us far from the centers of computer innovation the 16/6000 is the only relatively cheap UNIX box with local support. The following information compares the 16/6000 under XENIX 1.3, 3.1, and the new and yet unreleased 3.2 to the Sun 2/160. It is taken from two sources. The benchmarks run on a 6000 (768K; 8MHz CPU) with a CMI 6640 primary and a 16 (1MB Snapp (piggy- backed 64K DRAMS; 6MHz CPU) with a Quantum 2080 primary were run here at Allegheny College. These were run under XENIX 3.1.1. The second set of benchmarks were run at Tandy on a 6000 running at 8MHz with no wait states and the Tandy 35MB primary, using XENIX 3.2 with the new MMU upgrade. The All systems had 4097K swappers. The original code and the Sun 2 timings came from the August 1984 issue of Byte ("Benchmarking UNIX Systems", by David F. Hinnant; pp. 132-135, 400-409). The times provided for the 6000 under XENIX 3.2 were not clearly identified as to whether they were real, system, etc; I made the best guess for comparison purposes. Conclusions: the 6000 with a reasonable hard disk (not necessarily a super-fast one; the 35MB Tandy and the CMI 6640 are, I think, 40ms average access drives) is now a reasonable substitute for many tasks for the Sun 2/160. The 6000 can be upgraded (I think) to 4MB fairly easily and the 16 to 2MB (with no graphics card or UART card); 256K cards can be upgraded to 1MB fairly easily. The additional space means that software such as GNUemacs, SCHEME, etc., can be run on a 16/6000. Maybe even X Windows with the graphics card? The 16/6000 under XENIX 3.2 would seem to be a reasonable system to keep in operation until the newer hardware gets stable. The 1400 Dhrystones/sec of the 6000 is comparable to the throughput of the PC AT and its clones, such as the 3000; only a 386 or 68020 system would provide a significant improve- ment. It would also seem clear that anyone operating a 16 or 16b under XENIX 1.3 would be well-advised to upgrade to XENIX 3.2 rather than scrap that system for a 3000 or AT clone under SCO XENIX. The MMU was tested and operating as of January 1987; it is functioning in a number of internal Tandy systems. XENIX 3.2 will support it. The parts cost for the MMU appears to be about $40, which translates to a $200 retail price in the consumer electronics industry; there is one PAL, so homebrew versions will be difficult. The final rumor this go-round: apparently some people have upgraded the newer CPU board to 12MHz. This seems to work in some cases and not in others, and appears to be "not recommended" except to the hobbyists. System Machine UNIX 1 2 3 4 5 6 Sun 2/160 4.2BSD 3.6 6.3 8.7 11.8 14.4 18.0 Tandy 16/2080 XENIX 7.7 10.5 16.8 20.0 21.4 25.6 Tandy 6000 CMI 6640 XENIX 6.3 8.6 10.6 18.3 31.4 50.7 Tandy 6000 XEN3.2 6.0 9.0 13.2 22.4 31.7 40.8 (512K) 4.3 6.0 8.6 11.6 13.6 16.3 (1MB) 2.6 4.6 6.9 9.2 11.4 13.8 (1.5MB) 2.6 4.6 6.9 9.3 11.5 13.8 (2MB) 2.6 4.7 7.0 9.4 11.7 14.2 (3MB) 2.8 4.8 7.1 9.4 11.8 14.2 (4MB) System Function Pipe System Call Call Machine Version Real User Sys Real User Sys Real Sun 2/160 4.2BSD 7.6 0.1 3.7 6.8 1.1 5.6 0.8 Tandy 6000 XEN 3.1 5.5 0.0 2.5 9.8 1.1 8.7 1.1 CMI 6640 Tandy 16 XEN 3.1 7.6 0.1 3.5 14.1 1.5 12.4 1.9 Q2080 Tandy 16 XEN 1.3 8.0 0.1 3.4 15.0 1.5 12.7 1.4 TM503(?) 6000 XEN 3.2 2.2 7.8 1.1 Tandy 35MB System Disk Disk Sieve Write Read Machine UNIX real user sys real real Sun 2/160 4.2BSD 5.1 2.8 0.4 1.8 4.9 Tandy 6000 XEN 3.1 3.2 3.1 0.0 6.3 2.2 CMI 6640 Tandy 16a XEN 3.1 5.2 5.1 0.0 4.3 2.3 Q2080 Tandy 16b XEN 1.3 6.0 4.8 0.3 8.0 22.0 TM503(?) 6000 XEN 3.2 3.1 3.8 9.5 (512K; 50 buffers) Tandy 35MB 3.2 8.0 (1MB; 100 buffers) 2.4 5.9 (1.5MB;202 buffers) 1.8 1.8 (2MB;302 buffers) 1.8 1.8 (3MB;302 buffers) 1.8 1.8 (4MB;302 buffers) System Shell Loop Machine UNIX real user sys real real sys Sun 2/160 4.2BSD 3.5 0.3 2.0 7.4 7.0 0.1 Tandy 6000 XEN 3.1 5.8 0.3 1.9 7.9 7.8 0.0 Tandy 16a XEN 3.1 6.8 0.5 2.8 13.4 13.2 0.1 Tandy 16b XEN 1.3 18.0 0.4 2.6 14.0 12.5 0.5 Tandy 6000 XEN 3.2 NA NA NA 7.9 Michael L. Squires Office: 814-724-3360 Department of Political Science Home: 814-337-5528 Allegheny College ubbs: 814-333-6728 login: ubbs Meadville, PA 16335 uucp: ..!decvax!cwruecmp!ncoast!{mikes,peng!sir-alan!mikes} ..!pitt!sir-alan!mikes BITNET: mikes%sir-alan@pitt.UUCP MIKES AT SIR-ALAN!PITT.UUCP (IBM BITNET Mailer)