HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: tzs@stein.u.washington.edu (Tim Smith)
Newsgroups: comp.arch,comp.lang.misc
Subject: Re: Goals, Cost, and Flexibility (was Re: "Training" of programmers)
Date: 7 Oct 92 03:12:15 GMT
Article-I.D.: u.1992Oct7.031215.10225
Organization: University of Washington, Seattle

doconnor@sedona.intel.com (Dennis O'Connor) writes:
>] What we need to introduce in the computer industry is Modular Architectures.
>]   If for a certain application you need more buffer space, you add one or
>] two more 'buffer chips'. If you need more registers you add more 'register
>] chips', if you need another floating point unit, say a true 256-bit
>] multiplier, you call the salesman and ask for a '256-bit FP multiplier chip'
>] ...
>
>Except :
>	1) crossing chip boundaries is very slow ( 5ns ), sucks power,
>	   generate noise and there's only so many pins available
...
>
>	3) it would cost a bunch : packages are expensive, as is board space
>
>	4) many users would put the "module" chip in the socket backward,
>	   even if they had to use a sledgehammer to do so.

Cleary, don't use pins, board space, and sockets.  Each chip should be
self contained.  It would be powered by broadcast power.  The chips
communicate via a wireless LAN.

If you want more RAM, you open the box and toss in some RAM chips.  If
you want a floating point co-processor, you open the box and toss in
a co-processor.

I'm just a software person, so I'll leave the details to you EE types...

--Tim Smith
Newsgroups: comp.arch
From: jan@pallas.neuroinformatik.ruhr-uni-bochum.de (Jan Vorbrueggen)
Subject: Re: Fujitsu VPP500
In-reply-to: borasky@ogicse.ogi.edu's message of 22 Sep 92 17:51:03 GMT
Organization: Inst. f. Neuroinformatik, Ruhr-Universitaet Bochum, FRG
Date: 28 Sep 92 12:08:24

In article <43035@ogicse.ogi.edu> 
borasky@ogicse.ogi.edu (M. Edward Borasky) writes:
   1. First of all, Fujitsu had the courage to implement a full crossbar
      for the communication network.  We teach our students that a full
      crossbar is too costly to put in a real machine, yet there it is 
      a 224x224 full crossbar!  

Interesting. A few days ago, I saw the layout of the T9000 transputer.
It contains a 9x4 port crossbar to connect up all the functional units
of the chip to the cache. Its datapath thus is 32 bits times 4 wide.
Nonetheless, it seems to take up 68% of chip area. David May remarked
that "nobody should tell you anymore that crossbars are too costly or
can't be implemented".

BTW, can anybody tell me whether the T9000 cache refill engine does
critical word first on a miss?

	Jan
From: jinx@zurich.ai.mit.edu (Guillermo J. Rozas)
Newsgroups: comp.arch
Subject: Re: What was the intended advantage of using 36bits CPU?
Date: 5 Oct 92 16:04:35 GMT
Reply-To: jinx@zurich.ai.mit.edu
Organization: M.I.T. Artificial Intelligence Lab.

In article <ld0gv1INNfh9@news.bbn.com> fwebb@star-trek.bbn.com (Fred Webb) writes:

|   In article <869@felix.Sublink.Org> eb@felix.Sublink.Org (Enrico Badella) writes:
|   >... DEC Systems 10 and 20 ...
|   >I was wondering what was the advantage of having 36 bits instead of 32
|   >or other 8*n (n>4) architecture.
|   >Was is just a hardware problem because 48 bits was to difficult to 
|   >manufacture at that time.
|   >
|   >On the DEC Systems 10 and 20 subject, why did they fade away in those
|   >days when nobody news what Open Systems were?
|
|   The DecSystem 20 had 36 bits becuase the DecSystem 10 had 36 bits.  The
|   DecSystem 10 (originally the PDP-10) had 36 bits becuase the PDP-6 did. The
|   PDP-6 probably had 36 bits because the PDP-1 had 18 bits (36 = 2*18).
|
|   The PDP-6 was designed and built before the days of 8 bit character codes -
|   at that time most character codes used 6 bits, so there was something to be
|   said for word widths that were a multiple of 6.  There were machines around
|   with word widths of 12, 18, 24, 30, 36 and 48 bits.  (Anybody know of a 42 bit
|   word? I never heard of one.)  Note that 24 and 48 are multiples of 8, but
|   that's just a coincidence - it was more important that they were multiples of
|   6.
|

Actually the 10 dealt perfectly well with other character sizes.
It was a word-addressed machine (incrementing an 18-bit address
referred to the following 36-bit word in memory, not to any given
byte).

However, it had byte-pointer instructions where a byte pointer (36 bits)
contained a full 18-bit address, a byte size (in bits) and a position
into the current word.  The byte-pointer manipulation instructions
(ldb and dpb if I remember correctly) masked appropriately, and there
were instructions for incrementing byte pointers that would bump the
position or the address depending on the byte size and current
position.

ITS running on the 10s simultaneously dealt with 6 (6 to a word), 7 (5
to a word) and 9 (4 to a word) character sets without any trouble.
From: solman@athena.mit.edu (Jason W Solinsky)
Newsgroups: comp.arch
Subject: Re: >>>>>> Best Grad Schools for Computer Engineering?
Date: 30 Sep 92 14:08:33 GMT
Organization: Massachusetts Institute of Technology

In article <ssimmons.717769562@convex.convex.com>, ssimmons@convex.com (Steve Simmons) writes:
|> 
|> Ugh.... Don't choose a grad school!!!! Choose an advisor!!!!!
|> 
|> Graduate work is not like undergraduate work.  The most important work 
|> that you do is the research, not taking tests.

There is no doubt that this is true, but...

There are a hundred things that can go wrong with choosing a grad school this way:

You may change your mind about what areas you are interested in over the course
of your PhD (fancy that).
You may get tired of your advisor.
He may get tired of you.
He may transfer to another school, or retire or be denied tenure or die.

Given this, there is a VERY good chance that you will not finish with the advisor
that you think you want after getting your BS.

Additionally, your research is going to be strongly affected by the other
faculty who can provide invaluable assistance if the university has quality
faculty in the areas you are interested in. The quality of the other graduate
students is also extremelly important.

My point is that although research is the most important element of your
graduate education, it does not necessarily follow that a graduate school
should be chosen based on an advisor.

Jason W. Solinsky
Newsgroups: comp.arch.storage
From: marv@iti.gov.sg (Marvin Tay Eng Sin)
Subject: Recommendations for Optical Jukeboxes (10-platters)
Originator: marv@hades.iti.gov.sg
Keywords: optical jukebox, magneto-optical disk, NFS, direct control
Reply-To: marv@iti.gov.sg
Organization: Information Technology Institute National Computer Board
Date: Tue, 29 Sep 1992 09:09:01 GMT


Hi,

   I'm looking for some recommendations for a magneto-optical jukebox
which uses a SCSI interface. I intend to hook it up to one of my Sparcs
to act *either* as a generic NFS file storage system or a specific 
application controlled image retrieval storage system (i.e. the application
can control the device directly). If I could do both concurrently, I'd
be one happy dude.

   I have heard good things about HP's jukebox but am not sure if they 
support the smaller range of 10 platters. Pinnacle also has a nice range
of small-medium sized jukeboxes but I haven't seen many around these parts.

   What I would look out for :

    	- Reliability and stability
	- Good support and service
	- Speed i.e. access time
	- Uncomplicated *working* API for Sun Sparcs (Sun OS 4.1.2)
	- NFS facilities and management
	- 10 platters or thereabouts 
	
   I seek recommendations from those who have experience with similar setups
and will be much grateful for any information given. Thanx-a-lot-in-advance.


-marv
     	

-- 
---
Marvin Tay	Information Technology Institute    Internet: marv@iti.gov.sg
Computer	National Computer Board		    Bitnet  : MarvinTay@ITIVAX
and Comms Lab.  71 Science Park,Singapore (0511)    Tel (O) :(65)-7720901
From: marlow@sys.uea.ac.uk (K. Marlow PG)
Newsgroups: comp.arch.storage
Subject: Orion 600Mb hard drive - information wanted
Date: 5 Oct 92 12:10:28 GMT
Organization: UEA School of Information Systems, Norwich, UK.


  Just wanted to know if anybody has any detailed info on what particular
flavour of interface is used for Orion harddrives - as we have here a
600Mb drive from a defunct Orion and would like to hook it upto another
machine. For those in the know its Fujitsu M2322K serial no. BO3B -
4745 - BOO2A... I know its a long shot but any help would be appreciated.

  AdvTHANKSance

      Keith Marlow

--
 Keith Marlow,               *  Cyclone BBS (0603) 260973
 Information Systems P/G,    *  Radio news support in East Anglia, now
 University of East Anglia,  * running TheDoobs doors system.
 Norwich. Norfolk NR4 7TJ    *
From: edb@hpgrla.gr.hp.com (Ed Beshore)
Date: Mon, 5 Oct 1992 20:11:09 GMT
Subject: Re: 3-1/2" vs 5-1/4" MO disks questions. (Are 5-1/4 inchers dinosaurs?)
Organization: Hewlett-Packard, Greeley, CO
Newsgroups: comp.arch.storage

In comp.arch.storage, sdm7g@aemsun.med.Virginia.EDU (Steven D. Majewski) writes:

>I have heard a rumor that there will soon be a 3-1/2 Magneto-Optical (R/W)
>optical disk with double capacity ( 256 MB/side ) released. 
>Does anyone have any real info? 

You are correct.  MOST is shipping this product now I think.  256 MB
standards for 3.5" are finishing up now.

>Also, I get the *impression* that 3-1/2 inch may become the preferred format.
>Are vendors actually doing more development on the smaller format ( at the 
>expense of the larger ) ? 

3.5 is driven by the need to support form factors popular in PC's and
workstations.  You will probably see most of the optical R/W products
delivered in this form factor.  5.25 seems to be emerging as the 
preferred form factor for autochangers, as you get better areal efficiency with
the larger media. 5.25 is also dual sided.  The really large form
factors (12 and 14 inch) are all WORM to my knowledge and remain the
preferred size for really LARGE applications. (Banks, Insurance, Feds, etc.)
 
>Does anyone have have comparative sales figures on 3-1/2 inch vs. 5-1/4 inch 
>drives. ( Actually, I'ld love to see sales figures for CD-ROMs, WORMs, and
>various tape formats if anyone has them! ) 

You might have to find someone taking the DataQuest or similar
such marketing info service.  I can't share these numbers because
we pay big bucks for them ourselves.  The market is growing, but not
as fast as everyone wants. 

>Is there any danger of the larger format becoming extinct? 
>What horse should I bet on, folks?

Depends on your app.  For the time being, either 5.25. or 3.5 are
safe bets for MO.

ED



>======== "If you have a hammer, find a nail" - George Bush,'91  =========
> Steven D. Majewski		University of Virginia Physiology Dept.
> sdm7g@Virginia.EDU		Box 449 Health Sciences Center
> Voice: (804)-982-0831/32	1300 Jefferson Park Avenue
> FAX:   (804)-982-1616		Charlottesville, VA 22908
Newsgroups: comp.arch.storage
From: LB.KSD@isumvs.iastate.edu (Kerry Sanders)
Subject: Adpatec 1542B x 2
Organization: Iowa State University, Ames IA
Date: Sun, 4 Oct 1992 04:30:05 GMT


At the Parks Library of Iowa State University, we are in the
process of upgrading our CD-ROM LAN (Lantastic, with Hitatchi CD-ROM
drives), to a Novell environment, running SCSI Express, and NEC
CDR84 CD-ROM Drives, and the Adaptec 1542B Controller cards.
We're also using HP SCSI Storage boxes to house our CD-ROM drives
of which we currently have 14.

The good news is, we have been very successful in our efforts to
setup 7 drives, as well as to set up the Lantastic Server
software for access.  Our initial tests have shown that there
is a huge improvement in response time, over our production
system.  We have not been quite as successful in setting up the
remaining 7 drives.  These require an additional controller,
which we can not get to boot up with the first controller
installed.  Both controllers will boot up by themselves so we
know they are in good working condition, but despite our
efforts, we have not been able to get them to work together.
We have followed Adaptecs instructions of disabling the BIOS
on the second controller, and resetting the following:

        The Port Address
        DMA Channel
        Interrupt Channel

We have tried several several different scenerios of the above
options.  We have also removed all other boards such as Ethernet
Card, Modem, and checked the VGA board for conflicts.  Each time
we get to the same place on boot up.  The system identifies each
of the settings listed above for each controller, but ASPI4DOS
does not install successfully.  Listed below is our Config.sys
file for further explanation.  Any thoughts or suggestions would
be greatly appreciated.


                 CONFIG.SYS

DEVICE=C:\DOS\SETVER.EXE
LASTDRIVE=R
DEVICE=C:\ADAPTEC\ASPI4DOS.SYS /d /p330 /p234
DEVICE=C:\ASW410\ASWCDNEC.SYS /D:ASPICD0 /NORST
DEVICE=C:\QEMM\QEMM386.SYS RAM NOSH ARAM=C800-C9FF
dos=high
buffers=5
files=10
stacks=0,0


********************************************************************
* Kerry Sanders              *   Bitnet: LB$KSD@ISUMVS             *
* Automated Systems Division * Internet: LB$KSD@ISUMVS.IASTATE.EDU *
* 034 Parks Library          *                                     *
* Iowa State University      *    Phone: (515) 294-4681            *
* Ames, Iowa 50011-2140      *      Fax: (515) 294-1885            *
********************************************************************
--


********************************************************************
* Kerry Sanders              *   Bitnet: LB$KSD@ISUMVS             *
* Automated Systems Division * Internet: LB$KSD@ISUMVS.IASTATE.EDU *
* 034 Parks Library          *                                     *
* Iowa State University      *    Phone: (515) 294-4681            *
* Ames, Iowa 50011-2140      *      Fax: (515) 294-1885            *
********************************************************************
From: craig@kralizec.zeta.org.au (Craig Dewick)
Newsgroups: comp.arch.storage
Subject: Re: 3-1/2" vs 5-1/4" MO disks questions. (Are 5-1/4 inchers dinosaurs?)
Keywords: Optical Disks
Date: 30 Sep 92 12:01:00 GMT
Organization: Kralizec Dialup Unix Sydney: +61-2-837-1183 V.32

sdm7g@aemsun.med.Virginia.EDU (Steven D. Majewski) writes:

>Also, I get the *impression* that 3-1/2 inch may become the preferred format.
>Are vendors actually doing more development on the smaller format ( at the 
>expense of the larger ) ? 

If you look at ads for places that specifically sell drives aimed at the
workstation and high-end computing market, you'll see that most drives are
(a) SCSI, and (b) 3.5". This would seem to be a result of the drive to reduce
the physical volume they occupy, although this aspect is primarily more so
because of the laptop makers demanding smaller, lighter drives as a last-ditch
attempt to stay competitive with palmtop and notebook makers.

I'd suspect that 5.25" drives will stay for the REALLY large sizes (ie. greater
that 1 meg), but expect all capacities below about 1 meg to be made as 3.5".
There are already some makers building drives up to 200 meg capacity in 2.5"
sizes, but don't ask me where the power cable plugs in!

I think this will apply equally to conventional magnetic storage as well as
newer optical technologies, although I'd expect optical drives to outpace
magnetic drives in the size versus capacity stakes in a few years.
-- 
 Craig Dewick               |      - Railway Preservation Industries P/L -
 Send email to:             |      actively supporting the preservation of
 craig@kralizec.zeta.org.au |           Australia's railway heritage.
Newsgroups: comp.arch.storage
From: mc@emma.la.asu.edu (Mike Caplinger)
Subject: large CDROM jukebox?
Organization: Mars Observer TES Project, ASU, Tempe AZ
Date: Sat, 3 Oct 1992 00:08:45 GMT

Does anyone know of a vendor of large (over, say, 50 disks) CDROM
jukebox systems?  Mail me and I'll summarize.

	Mike Caplinger, mc@msss.com
From: edb@hpgrla.gr.hp.com (Ed Beshore)
Date: Mon, 5 Oct 1992 20:14:34 GMT
Subject: Re: Recommendations for Optical Jukeboxes (10-platters)
Organization: Hewlett-Packard, Greeley, CO
Newsgroups: comp.arch.storage

In comp.arch.storage, marv@iti.gov.sg (Marvin Tay Eng Sin) writes:


>   I have heard good things about HP's jukebox but am not sure if they 
>support the smaller range of 10 platters. Pinnacle also has a nice range
>of small-medium sized jukeboxes but I haven't seen many around these parts.

HP has a *new* autochanger product that retails for $10K that includes a
27 msec multifunction drive and holds 16 platters for about 10GB of storage.
Best reliability in the industry.

Ask for the Model 10LC.
From: ajc@pa.dec.com (AJ Casamento)
Newsgroups: comp.arch.storage
Subject: Re: Recommendations for Optical Jukeboxes (10-platters)
Date: 29 Sep 92 17:38:36 GMT
Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation



Marvin,

  There are both MO and Jukebox products listed in the TRI/ADD Shippable
Products catalog, which is available for anonymous ftp at:

gatekeeper:   16.1.0.2 		gatekeeper:pub/DEC/TriAdd/TAcatalog.ps 
				gatekeeper:pub/DEC/TriAdd/TAcatalog.ps.Z


  I am reasonably certain that the products listed are SPARC compatible as
well (although, you can check this easily with the vendors). At least it
will give you vendor names and contact information.

I hope that helps.

				thanx,
				  AJ

	
      **********************************************************************
      * AJ Casamento			"The question is not whether or    *
      * Digital's TRI/ADD Program	 not the opinions are mine; but    *
      * 529 Bryant Ave. PAG-2		 rather, which of my personalities *
      * Palo Alto, CA 94301-1616	 do they belong to?"		   *
      * 415.617.3460							   *
      * ajc@pa.dec.com  						   *
      **********************************************************************
From: olson@anchor.esd.sgi.com (Dave Olson)
Newsgroups: comp.arch.storage
Subject: Re: Tahiti-II CD-ROM drive info wanted
Date: 30 Sep 92 04:35:55 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: Silicon Graphics, Inc.  Mountain View, CA

In <lce90dINN1p8@news.bbn.com> adoyle@BBN.COM (Allan Doyle) writes:

| I'm looking for a vendor (and the manufacturer) of the Tahiti-II
| CD-ROM drives. There was a review in a German computer magazine
| ('iX' Sept 1992) of 12 drives. The Tahiti-II had some great numbers
| and got a generally good review (they said it was a little nosiy
| and the documentation was only in English...)

It is a pretty solid drive, and quite fast as M-O drives go.

The last address I have for them (about a year old) is:

MaxOptix
2520 Junction Ave.
San Jose, Calif.

From that you should be able to get a phone number from information.
They are (or at least were at one point, I'm not sure of the
current status) a division Maxtor.
--
Let no one tell me that silence gives consent,  |   Dave Olson
because whoever is silent dissents.             |   Silicon Graphics, Inc.
    Maria Isabel Barreno                        |   olson@sgi.com
Newsgroups: comp.arch.storage
From: tyao@uxh.cso.uiuc.edu (Tim Yao)
Subject: Difference between DDT & DAT?
Summary: Are DDT (Digital Data Tapes) much different from DAT?
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana
Distribution: usa
Date: Mon, 28 Sep 1992 01:21:51 GMT
Keywords: DDT, DAT

I was wondering what the difference was between digital data
tapes (DDT) and digital audio tapes (DAT) for use in storing
data (via tar or wbak).  A local computer handbook states that
DAT's are not of sufficient quality for use in storing data;
does this mean that data recorded onto a DAT will degrade over
time?  

Is there a great price difference between the two?  Are there
good mail-order sources for DDT and/or DAT?

Thanks for your help!

-- 
     == Tim Yao                           == 3109 NCEL MC-250 ==      
     == e-mail:  tyao@uxh.cso.uiuc.edu    == 205 N. Matthew   ==          
     == phone:  (217) 333-6956 (office)   == Urbana, IL 61801 ==          
From: edb@hpgrla.gr.hp.com (Ed Beshore)
Date: Mon, 5 Oct 1992 20:21:36 GMT
Subject: ECMA 167 FAQ
Organization: Hewlett-Packard, Greeley, CO
From: ajc@pa.dec.com (AJ Casamento)
Subject: Re: Tahiti-II CD-ROM drive info wanted
Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation
Distribution: usa
Date: 28 Sep 92 10:25:57




In article <lce90dINN1p8@news.bbn.com> adoyle@BBN.COM (Allan Doyle) writes:


>> I'm looking for a vendor (and the manufacturer) of the Tahiti-II
>> CD-ROM drives. There was a review in a German computer magazine
>> ('iX' Sept 1992) of 12 drives. The Tahiti-II had some great numbers
>> and got a generally good review (they said it was a little nosiy
>> and the documentation was only in English...)

>> I'm also interested in any Jukebox style systems with Magneto-Optical
>> recording technology.

>> Thanks,

>>   Allan Doyle



>> Allan Doyle                                        adoyle@bbn.com
>> Bolt Beranek and Newman,  Incorporated             +1 (617) 873-3398
>> 10 Moulton Street, Cambridge, MA 02138             USA

Allan,

  If you get yourself a copy of the TRI/ADD Shippable Products Catalog, which
is available for anonymous ftp at:

gatekeeper:    16.1.0.2		gatekeeper:pub/DEC/TriAdd/TAcatalog.ps
				gatekeeper:pub/DEC/TriAdd/TAcatalog.ps.Z


you can find the vendor information for MAXOPTIX Corporation who sell the
Tahiti drives. There is also information on Jukebox systems in the storage
section as well. The catalog is indexed by both Vendor and Product type. It
is provided solely to make searches for Third Party Hardware easier for DEC
customers (read: it's free to you and it's free to the vendors, as we don't
charge anything for including their product material).

I hope that helps.

				Thanx,
				  AJ


      **********************************************************************
      * AJ Casamento			"The question is not whether or    *
      * Digital's TRI/ADD Program	 not the opinions are mine; but    *
      * 529 Bryant Ave. PAG-2		 rather, which of my personalities *
      * Palo Alto, CA 94301-1616	 do they belong to?"		   *
      * 415.617.3460							   *
      * ajc@pa.dec.com  						   *
      **********************************************************************
From: adoyle@BBN.COM (Allan Doyle)
Newsgroups: comp.arch.storage
Subject: Tahiti-II CD-ROM drive info wanted
Date: 28 Sep 1992 15:26:05 GMT
Organization: Bolt Beranek and Newman Inc., Cambridge MA
Distribution: usa
Reply-To: adoyle@BBN.COM (Allan Doyle)
NNTP-Posting-Host: bbn.com

I'm looking for a vendor (and the manufacturer) of the Tahiti-II
CD-ROM drives. There was a review in a German computer magazine
('iX' Sept 1992) of 12 drives. The Tahiti-II had some great numbers
and got a generally good review (they said it was a little nosiy
and the documentation was only in English...)

I'm also interested in any Jukebox style systems with Magneto-Optical
recording technology.

Thanks,

	Allan Doyle



Allan Doyle                                        adoyle@bbn.com
Bolt Beranek and Newman,  Incorporated             +1 (617) 873-3398
10 Moulton Street, Cambridge, MA 02138             USA
Newsgroups: comp.arch