VAX-11? and some C64 stuff

From: Dave McGuire <mcguire_at_neurotica.com>
Date: Wed May 31 13:58:32 2000

On May 31, Jason McBrien wrote:
> First, there was the PDP/8 which came out in the sixties. It was a largish
> "Minicomputer" meaning it didn't fill a room like the IBM 360's, but you
> couldn't exactly toss it in a closet either. Then came the PDP/11, which was
> a bit smaller and 16-Bit in the seventies. Then came the VAX 11/750,
> Digital's first 32-Bit mainframe, in the late seventies/early eighties, and
> dominated the minicomputer market for quite a while. The first VAXes where
> large cabinet sized affairs, needing wacky 380V power mains and hard drives
> the size of a decent size car transmission. Then came the VAXStation 2000,
> which had almost all the power of a VAX 11/750 in a case the size of a
> largish shoebox. The home minicomputer was born. Through the eighties DEC
> still made the huge company-running VAX 7000's, 8000's, 9000's, and 10000's,
> but also made smaller workstation-style counterparts, the VAX 3100's,
> 4000's, MicroVAXes, VAXStations, and VAX-Servers. You can pick up a 3100 or
> 2000 for under $50 if you look hard. 4000's are nicer and run upwards $100.

  A few corrections here...the 11/750 was the second VAX model, not the
first. The first was the 11/780. The VS2000 was approximately the
performance of the 11/780, not the 11/750. The 7000, 9000, 1000, etc
(not 8000) were mostly 90's machines, not 80's, if memory
serves...some of which are still available for new purchases from
DEC/Compuke, though not for much longer.

> You'll want to get a VAXStation, as opposed to a MicroVAX, cause it supports
> a monitor, MicroVAX's are terminal controlled. Also, you'll need the special

  ...depends completely on the intended application. Myself, I have
28 machines on my home network. Only ONE of them, the one I sit in
front of every day, has a big tube and a framebuffer. The other ones
are in the computer room making noise and belching out heat...where
they most certainly DO NOT need a big 19" monitor taking up space, or
a never-used framebuffer sucking up power and kernel code space. A
single VT320 terminal with a very long serial cable sits in the side
of the room on top of an UPS. When I need actual console access to
the machines (which is very rare, only during some reboots, which are
in themselves very rare here) I string the serial cable to the console
port of the machine in question and I'm set.

  In another week or so, a terminal server will be connected to all
the console ports, as well as the VT320 terminal. Then I won't even
need to be downstairs (or in the house at all) to gain console access.


               -Dave McGuire
Received on Wed May 31 2000 - 13:58:32 BST