leland@dragonfly.wri.COM (09/25/90)
> Date: Sat, 22 Sep 90 15:09:56 -0500 > From: thompson@pan.ssec.honeywell.com (John Thompson) > Message-Id: <9009222009.AA24527@pan.ssec.honeywell.com> > To: apollo@umix.cc.umich.edu > Subject: New 9000 series 400t nodes > > > Well, we got our Mentor upgrades to the HP9000 series 400t. I still want > to call it a DNxyzz name -- guess I prefer Apollos.... :-) > They should put out a 420, then we can all be nostalgic. (*smile*) > Some initial comments on them -- > They are blazing fast. Our configurations are 16MB, 2x210MB SCSI disk, > with mainly monochrome, but 2 19" color (lowest end graphics speed). Our > initial Dhrystone checks list it at 20833 Dhrystones. By comparison, our > DN10000 is 41666 (yes, exactly 2x!). our DN4500 lists at 15625, our DN3550 > gets 7936, our VMS Vax 8800 gets 12500, Sun 3/50 gets 2976, and the > venerable Apple IIe has 39! That's interesting. What code were you running, and how did you compile it? > The $%^#$ color monitors do NOT SWIVEL!!! Apparently, for about $350, > you can buy a swivel (and tilt?) stand for it. The resolution on them is > fantastic compared to the 1024x800 monitors. HP chose the Sony monitor for the 400. It is a beautiful creature. I know the monitor is available in tilt/swivel because Sony ships the identical monitor with their 3860 workstation. Why HP didn't chose the version with the t/s stand is a mystery to me. > Most software seems to run perfectly fine on them. We have encountered > a floating point error (crashed the program) in one of our packages, but > it's too early to say whether that's our problem or theirs. Forewarned is forearmed. The SR10.2 PSK for the 400, in part because of the new ANSI compatibility stuff, seems quite different from older versions of Domain/OS. All I can say is, "read the release notes." > The nodes themselves don't look like Apollos any more. They look kinda > like HP or Sun systems. <sigh> Wait until you see a 400s. It looks like someone dropped an Apollo on an HP, and froze the results. > ... The SCSI connector is a > high-density pin arrangement, unlike the Western Digital controller or the > DN2500 connector. Its the same as Sun uses on the Sparc 1,1+ and SLC. > There's some redundancy in connectors, with an HP keyboard > connector as well as the Apollo one, and a speaker port that only works with > HPUX. The HP style keyboard is used when you are running HPUX. You can get the 400 with two keyboards and switch OS if you have two disks. The tricky part is knowing when to switch keyboards during the boot process. > > All in all, I like 'em. > They are very nice. Here's hoping HP sells a lot of them, and that everyone who buys a 400 buys a copy of Mathematica (of course, waiting until WRI announces support for the 400). > John Thompson (jt) > Honeywell, SSEC > Plymouth, MN 55441 > thompson@pan.ssec.honeywell.com > Leland Ray Systems Administrator -- Unix platforms Wolfram Research, Inc. Internet: leland@wri.com Bellnet: (217) 398-0700