EXEC 8
Encyclopedia
EXEC 8 was UNIVAC
's operating system
developed for the UNIVAC 1108 in 1964. It combined the best features of the earlier operating systems: EXEC I
and EXEC II
(used on the UNIVAC 1107
). EXEC 8 was one of the first commercially successful multiprocessing
operating systems. It supported simultaneous mixed workloads comprising batch
, time-sharing
and real-time
. It supported one file system
with a flat naming structure across many drums and/or spindles. It supported a well-received transaction processing system
. Unisys
continues to market and support systems founded on the original 1108 and EXEC 8 designs.
UNIVAC
UNIVAC is the name of a business unit and division of the Remington Rand company formed by the 1950 purchase of the Eckert-Mauchly Computer Corporation, founded four years earlier by ENIAC inventors J. Presper Eckert and John Mauchly, and the associated line of computers which continues to this day...
's operating system
Operating system
An operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system...
developed for the UNIVAC 1108 in 1964. It combined the best features of the earlier operating systems: EXEC I
EXEC I
-External links:*...
and EXEC II
EXEC II
EXEC II was an operating system developed for the UNIVAC 1107 by Computer Sciences Corporation while under contract to UNIVAC to develop the machine's COBOL compiler. They developed EXEC II because Univac's EXEC I operating system development was late...
(used on the UNIVAC 1107
UNIVAC 1107
The UNIVAC 1107 was the first member of Sperry Rand's UNIVAC 1100 series of computers, introduced in October 1962. It was also known as the Thin Film Computer because of its use of thin film memory for its register storage...
). EXEC 8 was one of the first commercially successful multiprocessing
Multiprocessing
Multiprocessing is the use of two or more central processing units within a single computer system. The term also refers to the ability of a system to support more than one processor and/or the ability to allocate tasks between them...
operating systems. It supported simultaneous mixed workloads comprising batch
Batch processing
Batch processing is execution of a series of programs on a computer without manual intervention.Batch jobs are set up so they can be run to completion without manual intervention, so all input data is preselected through scripts or command-line parameters...
, time-sharing
Time-sharing
Time-sharing is the sharing of a computing resource among many users by means of multiprogramming and multi-tasking. Its introduction in the 1960s, and emergence as the prominent model of computing in the 1970s, represents a major technological shift in the history of computing.By allowing a large...
and real-time
Real-time computing
In computer science, real-time computing , or reactive computing, is the study of hardware and software systems that are subject to a "real-time constraint"— e.g. operational deadlines from event to system response. Real-time programs must guarantee response within strict time constraints...
. It supported one file system
File system
A file system is a means to organize data expected to be retained after a program terminates by providing procedures to store, retrieve and update data, as well as manage the available space on the device which contain it. A file system organizes data in an efficient manner and is tuned to the...
with a flat naming structure across many drums and/or spindles. It supported a well-received transaction processing system
Transaction Processing System
A transaction processing system is a type of information system. TPSs collect, store, modify, and retrieve the transactions of an organization. A transaction is an event that generates or modifies data that is eventually stored in an information system. To be considered a transaction processing...
. Unisys
Unisys
Unisys Corporation , headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, United States, and incorporated in Delaware, is a long established business whose core products now involves computing and networking.-History:...
continues to market and support systems founded on the original 1108 and EXEC 8 designs.
See also
- Unisys OS 2200 operating systemUnisys OS 2200 operating systemOS 2200 is the operating system currently used for the Unisys ClearPath Dorado family of mainframe systems. OS 2200 is a lineal descendant of Exec 8 for the UNIVAC 1108. The name Exec 8 was shorthand for “Executive System for the UNIVAC 1108.” The UNIVAC 1108 computer was announced in 1964 and...
- List of UNIVAC products
- History of computing hardwareHistory of computing hardwareThe history of computing hardware is the record of the ongoing effort to make computer hardware faster, cheaper, and capable of storing more data....