Computer collecting humor.

From: William Donzelli <william_at_ans.net>
Date: Thu Nov 6 17:44:18 1997

> He also threw in a card from the CPU, which I think I've mentioned here
> before. The technology is 100k series ECL so should have been faster
> than Cray 1. (The Cray 1 in the {museum of same town} was 10k series.)
> >From the date I'd guess Cray 2 or later.

If the chips date from 1992, then it is not from a Cyber 203/205/215 -
they date from the late 1970s and early 1980s. After that, CDC
supercomputer business turned into ETA, sold a few neato machines, then
folded up.

The _last_ real Cyber (unlike the repackaged SGIs) was the 180 of the
1980s. CDC, of course, is now out of the big box business.
 
> > You really do not want to do anything with it - CDC made very few of the
> > beasts and your memory bank is a real gem of an artifact.
 
> Oh dear - I think I've damaged the motherboard, like, scraped a surface
> mount chip off it. Still, nice to have.
>
> What saddens me is that the machine was broken up.

Most do. A junk yard I go to gets a Cray every so often, but they get
"demilled". Then there is the story of the ETA supercomputers in New
Jersey that were sledgehammered when the JVN supercomputer center closed
and they could not find a buyer.

> (Apparently they
> bought a Cray to replace it - XMP? YMP? What were Cray Making in 1993?

The 90 series was out, as well as the newer YMPs (the ones that are not
the classic Cray shape).

> A trifle modern for this group, I fear...)

In my mind, any supercomputer is a classic. Handbuilt over months, every
one unique with a personality, very limitted editions...

And if anyone knows of a _reasonably_ priced Cray J916, I would like to
here from you!

William Donzelli
william_at_ans.net
Received on Thu Nov 06 1997 - 17:44:18 GMT