Space, the next frontier

From: Don Maslin <donm_at_cts.com>
Date: Tue May 25 22:49:57 1999

On Wed, 26 May 1999, Tony Duell wrote:

> > > Probably in a similar, but not quite indentical way to me.... Not quite
> > > identical, because AFAIK you're not a workstation collector...
> >
> > Not primarily -- I have the usual Apples, Beebs, PETs, Atom, ZX81, Sorcerer
> > -- and I've just found a Nascom-1 :-) -- and PDP-11s, but I also have two
> ^^^^^^^^
> Nice!! I have to make do with a Nascom2 and a Gemini (in the network
> server configurtion, complete with SASI hard disk interface :-)).
> Perhaps I'm not doing too badly...
>
> > SGI Indigos, an Indy, a VS3000, a couple of Arcs, a microVAX-II, a U-Micro
> > 68000, a Sage-II, a DecMate. I'm not sure which of those count as
> > workstations, though :-)
>
> OK.... Point taken...
>
> Most later workstations had SCSI interfaces for the hard disk (even if
> they then broke that by insisting on an ST506 drive on the other side of
> a SCSI->ST506 interface, as ICL and Torch both did). Some older

I wonder if it was economics or availability that drove that decision.

                                                 - don


> workstations (PERQs, Xerox) had a hard disk controller built into the
> (very complex) I/O board, and depended on features of that controller.
> Modifying the machine to use some other kind of drive would probably be
> harder than building a clean room to mend the existing drive ;-)
>
>
>
> -tony
>
>
Received on Tue May 25 1999 - 22:49:57 BST