> On Feb 18, 2022, at 7:08 AM, Joerg Hoppe via cctalk <cctalk@classiccmp.org>
> wrote:
>
> Hi,
>
> my computer club c-c-g.de could acquire the remains of a VAX9000 !
> The machine ran at the GWDG computing center in Göttingen, Germany, around
> 1993.
> Parts of it were in stock of their museum for 20+ years.
>
> See lots of hires-pictures at
>
> https://c-c-g.de/fachartikel/359-vax-9000-ein-starker-exot
>
> (scroll to the bottom for a slide show).
>
> Joerg
Excellent photos!
I didn't realize the 9000 had a vector processor.
One reason the design was so expensive is that it was originally planned as a
water-cooled machine -- code name "Aquarius". At some point that idea was
dropped and switched to air cooling -- code name "Aridus". I guess those
skinny pipes with red and blue markers carry jets of cooling air, but were
originally going to carry water.
The 9000 also had its own I/O bus, XMI, different from BI. I don't know how
its performance compares, whether it was worth the effort.
Speaking of vector processors: there's a very obscure DEC processor, the DEC
MPP. I remember seeing the processor architecture document when it was being
designed, not sure why. It's a very-RISC machine, just a few instructions, but
lots of cores especially for that time -- 256? More? Recently I saw it
mentioned in some documents, apparently it did get produced and shipped,
perhaps only in small numbers. I wonder if any have been preserved. As far as
I know there is no family connection between that machine and anything else DEC
did before or since.
paul