Technology history of the Birmingham PP group

... in terms of ...

Computers

• IBM 360/44: 1967-1974, running OS/MFT, RAM c128kB, background jobs 34 kB.
  
• Nova 1220, Nova 3: for ascii device attachment via 4025 IBM channel interface, 1970s and early 1980s
• PDP11/40: (three) for film analysis: YARD and VAST systems. HPD scanning system was via IBM (till c1981).
  
• IBM 370/145: 1974-1981, initially 384 kB, 4 channels, 4x100MB total disk; 6x200MB disk in 1980; upgraded Jan 1979 from 1 MB to 1.5 MB RAM (including 1MB Memorex).
  Running VS/1 system, with up to around 512 kB virtual storage per partition.
• DEC VAX 11/750 (4MB memory) and VAXstations, c1985-.
  
• IBM 4341 (model 1, 2 MB RAM, 6x200MB disk) (model 11, 6 chan, 8MB RAM, 3.6 GB disk in 1987) (16MB in 1988),: installed January 1981, cost approx 210k UKP, running VM/SP, with VS/1 system (till 1985) plus many VM/CMS users,
  running in individual virtual machines.
  
• 370E processors: #1 1985, #2 1988 (4 MB), hardware design by Weizmann Institute plus PJAS at Birmingham;
  construction by RAL; operating system software by DB at RAL and LSL at Birmingham, cost 20k UKP for 4MB system, speed 2 x 4341.
  
• IBM 4381: model 22 in 1988; model 92E in 1992 (32MB, 12 channels), running VM/ESA.
  
• HP 755, 715/75, J200/J282, C200, C360: 1994-c2003, running HP-UX flavour of Unix.
• Linux servers epix and eprex: 2000-now.
  

Disk space

• IBM 3330: 1974-:  4 x 100 MB upgraded to 4 x 200 MB, [57*4kB per cyl]
  
• IBM 3375: 1980s: 16 x 959 cyl, [96*4kB per cyl]
• IBM 3380: late 1980s to early 1990s, 8 x 885 cyl and 8 x 1770 cyl, [150*4kB per cyl] (pictured)
  
• HP SCSI external drives : 1994-1998, 4 x 4 GB
• Andataco towers: 1995-2002, progressing through 8x4, 6x9, 2x18, 4x50, 2x73 GB SCSI drives
  
• Network Appliance RAID: 2001-2005, 1TB RAID with 36GB disks
  
• Infortrend RAIDs: 2001-now: ranging from 0.73TB to 72TB per chassis.
  

Tape Storage

• IBM round tapes 1600Bpi, 40MB per 2400 foot tape (10kB block size)
  
• IBM round tapes 6250Bpi, 144MB per 2400 foot tape (10kB block size)
  
• IBM square tapes 38kBpi, 1984-1990s, raw capacity 200MB per tape
  
• DDS1, DDS2, DDS3: raw capacity 1.3-2GB, 4GB, 12GB per tape
  
• DLT tape: raw capacities: (III) 10GB (IV) 40GB per tape
  
• Ultrium LTO-1: raw 100GB per tape
• Sony S-AIT: raw 500GB per tape
• Ultrium LTO-5: raw 1.5 TB per tape

Job control and Scripting languages

• IBM JCL under OS/VS1 (JOB and EXEC and DD statements)
• CRJE scripts (Conversational Remote Job Entry system)
  
• EXEC and EXEC2 script languages under VM/CMS
• REXX language under VM/CMS, developer Mike Cowlishaw (Birmingham graduate, IBM Fellow)
• Shell scripts (sh, ksh, bash, tcsh) under HP-UX and GNU/Linux

Program editing and development systems

• RAEDIT editor, and RHREMOTE compilation and testing, developed in-house (1975-c1978)
  
• CRJE (Conversational Remote Job Entry): editor, job submission, and job output viewing (c1978-c1983)
  
• VM/CMS (Virtual Machine Conversational Monitor System) (1981-1995)
  
• HP-UX Unix (1994-c2003)
  
• GNU/Linux (2000 onwards)
  

Monitors

• Tektronix 4002 and 4010 on wheelable trolleys, 1970s
• Cifer terminals, 24x80 text only, desktop, via a ~1 MHz in-house slotted-ring network (PJ)
  
• IBM 3270 terminals and Memorex equivalents, text only, c1981-1990, via RG62 cable. 16 in number in 1987.
  
• Megatek 6000 3-D graphics display, 7000 in 1981, 7500 in 1988
• Falco terminals, text and graphics, mid-late 1980s, via IBM 7171 DACU multi-port RS232 device (1986-1995), 32 in number in 1987
  
• HP X-terminals (1994 to early 200x): 1024x768 and 1280x1024 resolution
  
• PC monitors (2000 onwards): 1280x1024 and 1920x1080 resolution

Local networks

• Megabit slotted ring for terminal traffic (developed in-house by PJ) (1970s)
  
• Cambridge ring for several peripherals (implemented by RJS) (1980s)
  
• Gandalf PACX terminal network (300 ports, 19.2kb/s) for Physics (planning by JC) (c1986-c1995)
  
• Thin Ethernet (on RG58 cable), 10Mb/s, for Physics (planning by LSL, 1990) and campus
  
• Fast Ethernet (on twisted pair), 100Mb/s, for campus (planning by IT Services)
• Gigabit Ethernet within PP server room (c2001-), initially for our ALICE and ATLAS farms
  
• TenGigabit Ethernet within the PP server room and cross-campus, for GRID traffic (2012-)

Wide area networks

• SDLC via HASP / MAST to RAL (1970s), 4.8-9.6kb/s, supporting remote job entry, and ELECTRIC system (editing, email)
  
• SERCnet X.25 (locally via Edinburgh protocol-converter) (1983-) supporting Coloured Book protocols (ftp, email, pad)
  
• JIPS (JANET IP Service) (locally via IBM 3172 Interconnect Controller) (1991-1993) (ftp, telnet)
  
• SuperJANET / JANET (1993-now)

Printers

• IBM 1403 N1 printer, c1975-1985, fan-fold paper, 1100 lpm (1400 lpm with UCS train), so approx 21 pages/minute.
• Benson-Lehner drum plotter, c1975-1990.
  Also Digiplot plotter (c1987).
• Tally 2000 and 3000, HP Laserjet 2000, Qume daisy-wheel, QMS Lasergrafix 800.
  
• HP Laserjet 3si, 5si, 4300, Xerox 850, 8550, 8870.
  
• Our fastest printer (in 2013) runs at 33-43 pages per minute: just twice the speed of IBM 1403.

Computer servers located in Uni Computer Centre

• KDF9: till 1972, cost 500k, core memory 32 kwords = 192 kB, 32MB disk, 20 console-typewriters on campus
• ICL 1906A: 1972-1983
• DEC 2050: 1978-198x
  
• Honeywell Multics: 1983-1989: 28MB RAM, 6GB disk
  
• IBM 3090: c1990
  
• e-Science farm and Midlands e-Science Centre, estab 2003 by Computer Science, Physics & Astronomy, and others.
  
• BlueBEAR 1: 2007-2012, 1500 cores, 140 TB disk. (Contract signing photo, right).
• BlueBEAR 2: 2012-now.