HP 9000
Encyclopedia
HP 9000 is the name for a line of workstation
and server
computer
systems produced by the Hewlett-Packard Company
(HP). The native operating system
for almost all HP 9000 systems is HP-UX
, a derivative of Unix
. The HP 9000 brand was introduced in 1984 to encompass several existing technical workstations models previously launched in the early 1980s. HP 9000 finally reached end of sales life in 2008, being superseded by the HP Integrity
(Itanium
) server platform running HP-UX. HP-UX workstations are no longer offered.
68000-based workstations such as the HP 9826 and HP 9836, and the Series 500 using HP's FOCUS
microprocessor
architecture introduced in the HP 9020 workstation. These were followed by the HP 9000 Series 300 and Series 400 workstations which also used 68k
-series microprocessors. From the mid-1980s onwards, HP started to switch over to its own microprocessors based on its proprietary PA-RISC
ISA, for the Series 600, 700, 800, and later lines. More recent models use either the PA-RISC or its successor, the HP/Intel IA-64 ISA.
All of the HP 9000 line run various versions of the HP-UX
operating system
, except earlier Series 200 models, which ran standalone applications. HP released the Series 400, also known as the Apollo 400, after acquiring Apollo Computer
in 1989. These models had the ability to run either HP-UX or Apollo's Domain/OS
.
From the early 1990s onwards, HP replaced the HP 9000 "Series" numbers with an alphabetical "Class" nomenclature. In 2001, HP again changed the naming scheme for their HP 9000 servers. The A-class systems were renamed as the rp2400s, the L-class became the rp5400s, and the N-class the rp7400s. The 'rp' prefix signified a PA-RISC architecture, while 'rx' was used for IA-64-based systems, later rebranded HP Integrity
.
On 30 April 2008, HP announced end of sales for the HP 9000. The last order date for HP 9000 systems was 31 December 2008 and the last ship date was 1 April 2009. The last order date for new HP 9000 options was December 31, 2009, with a last ship date of 1 April 2010. HP intends to support these systems through to 2013, with possible extensions.
The end of life for HP 9000 also marks the end of an era, as it essentially marks HP's withdrawal from the Unix workstation market (the HP 9000 workstations are end of life, and there are no HP Integrity workstations, so there is no longer a solution which targets HP/UX at the desktop). When the move from PA-RISC (9000) to Itanium (Integrity) was announced, Integrity workstations running either HP/UX or Windows were initially announced and offered, but were moved to end of sales life relatively quickly, with no replacement (arguably because x86-64 made IA-64 uncompetitive on the desktop, and HP/UX does not support x86-64, with HP offering desktop Linux as an alternative, not fully compatible, solution).
chip. There were 'S' versions of the models that included memory bundled in. When HP-UX was included as an OS, there was a 'U' version of the 9836s and 9920 that used the 68012 processor. The model numbers included the letter 'U' (9836U, 9836CU, and 9920U). Later versions of the Series 200's included the 9816, 9817, and 9837. These systems were soon renamed as the HP Series 200 line, before being renamed again as part HP 9000 family, the HP 9000 Series 200.
There was also a "portable" version of the Series 200 called the Integral. The official model was the HP9807. This machine was about the size of a portable sewing machine, contained a MC68000 processor, ROM based HP-UX, 3½ inch floppy drive, inkjet printer, a keyboard, mouse, and a plasma display. It was not battery powered, and unlike the other Series 200's that were manufactured in Fort Collins, Colorado
, it was manufactured in Corvallis, Oregon
.
(Model 38x). The Series 400 were intended to supersede the Apollo/Domain
workstations and were also based on the 68030/040. They were branded "HP Apollo" and added Apollo Domain/OS
compatibility. The suffix 's' and 't' used on the Series 400 represented "Side" (as in Desk side) and "Top" (as in Desk top) model. The last two digits of the Series 400 originally was the clock frequency of the processor in MHz (e.g. 433 was 33 MHz). At introduction, the Series 400 had a socket for the MC68040, but since they were not available at the time, an emulator card with an MC68030 and additional circuitry was installed. Customers who purchased systems were given a guaranteed upgrade price of $5,000USD to the MC68040, when they became available. The Series 300 and 400 shared the same I/O interface as the Series 200. The 32-bit DIO-II bus is rated at 6 Mb/sec http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/hp/9000_300/98572-90039_Series_300_Model_332_Service_Handbook_Feb89.pdf.
or HP-UX and there were three different models based on the displays attached (two color and one monochrome). The 530 was a rackmount version of the Series 500, could only run HP-UX, and used a serial interface console. The 540 was a 530 mounted inside a cabinet, similar to the disk drives offered at the time and included a serial MUX
. Later models of the Series 500s were the 550 and 560, which had a completely different chassis and could be connected to graphics processors. The processors in the original Series 500s ran at 20 MHz, and could reach a benchmark speed of 1 MIPS (Million Instructions Per Second), equivalent to a VAX-11/780
(the benchmark "standard" at the time). They could be networked together and with 200 and 300 series using the SRM (Shared Resource Manager).
53C700 SCSI controller. These systems could use both 2D and 3D graphics options, with 2D options being the greyscale GRX and the color CRX. 3D options were the Personal VRX and the Turbo GRX.
In early January 1992, HP introduced the Model 705, code-named "Bushmaster Snake", and the Model 710, code-named "Bushmaster Junior". Both systems are low-end diskless workstations, with the Model 705 using a 32 MHz PA-7000 and the Model 710 using a 50 MHz version. At introduction, the Model 705 was priced at under US$5,000, and the Model 710 under US$10,000.
The first Series 700 workstations were superseded by the Model 715/33, 715/50, 725/50 low-end workstations and the Model 735/99, 735/125, 755/99 and 755/125 high-end workstations on 10 November 1992. The existing Model 715 and Model 725 were later updated with the introduction of the Model 715/75 and 725/75 in September 1993. The new models used a 75 MHz PA-7100
.
Increasing integration led to the introduction of the Model 712/60 and Model 712/80i workstations on 18 January 1994. Code-named "Gecko", these models were intended to compete with entry-level workstations from Sun Microsystems
and high-end personal computers. They used the PA-7100LC
microprocessor operating at 60 and 80 MHz, respectively. The Model 712/80i was an integer only model, with the floating point-unit disabled. Both supported 16 to 128 MB of memory.
The Model 715/64, 715/80, 715/100 and 725/100 were introduced in May 1994, targeted at the 2D and 3D graphics market. These workstations use the PA-7100LC microprocessor and supported 32 to 128 MB of memory, except for the Model 725/100, which supported up to 512 MB.
The Model 712/100 (King Gecko), an entry-level workstation, and Model 715/100 XC, a mid-range workstation, were introduced in June 1995. The Model 712/100 is a Model 712 with a 100 MHz PA-7100LC and 256 KB of cache while the Model 715/100 XC is a Model 715/100 with 1 MB of cache.
The Model 712 and 715 workstations feature the Lasi ASIC, connected by via the GSC bus
. The Lasi ASIC provided an integrated NCR 53C710 SCSI controller, an Intel Apricot 10 Mbit Ethernet interface, CD-quality sound, PS/2 keyboard and mouse, a serial and a parallel port. All models, except for the 712 series machines also use the Wax ASIC to provide an EISA
adapter, a second serial port and support for the HIL bus
.
The SGC bus (System Graphics Connect), which is used in the earlier series 700 workstations, has similar specifications as PCI with 32-bit/33 MHz http://paulaxford.com/computer_collection/hp_735/index.htm and a typical bandwidth of about 100 MB/s http://openpa.net/bus.html#sgc.
processor, connected to the UTurn IOMMU via the Runway bus
. The C100 and C110 are single processor systems, and the J200 and J210 are dual processor systems. The Uturn IOMMU has two GSC buses. These machines continue to use the Lasi and Wax ASICs.
The B132L, B160L, B132L+, B180L, C132L, C160L and C180L workstations are based on the PA-7300LC processor (an upgraded model of the PA-7100LC processor). These machines use the Dino GSC to PCI
adapter which also provides the second serial port in place of Wax. These machines optionally have the Wax EISA adapter.
The C160, C180, C180-XP, J280 and J282 use the PA-8000
processor and are the first 64-bit HP workstations. They are based on the same Runway/GSC architecture as the earlier C and J class workstations.
The C200, C240 and J2240 offer increased speed with the PA-8200 processor and the C360 uses the PA-8500 processor.
The B1000, B2000, C3000, J5000, J7000 were also based on the PA-8500 processor, but had a very different architecture. The U2/Uturn IOMMU and the GSC bus is gone, replaced with the Astro IOMMU, connected via Ropes to several Elroy PCI host adapters.
The B2600, C3600 and J5600 upgrade these machines with the PA-8600 processor. The J6000 is a rack-mountable workstation which can also be stood on its side in a tower configuration.
The C3650, C3700, C3750, J6700 and J6750 are PA-8700-based.
The C8000 uses the dual-core PA-8800 or PA-8900 processors, which uses the same bus as the McKinley and Madison Itanium processors and shares the same zx1
chipset. The Elroy PCI adapters have been replaced with Mercury PCI-X
adapters and one Quicksilver AGP
8x adapter.
See also: HP Integrity servers
. (Based on Itanium 2 processors)
microprocessor, support for up to 512 MB of memory and five EISA/HP-HSC slots. The Model D210 is similar, but it used a 100 MHz PA-7100LC. The Model D250 is dual-processor model and it used the 100 MHz PA-7100LC. It supported up to 768 MB of memory and had five EISA/HP-HSC slots. The Model D310 is a uniprocessor with a 100 MHz PA-7100LC, up to 512 MB of memory and eight EISA/HP-HSC slots. The Model D350 is a high-end D-class system, a dual-processor, it had two 100 MHz PA-7100LCs, up to 768 MB of memory and eight EISA/HP-HSC slots.
In mid-September 1996, two new D-class servers were introduced to utilize the new 64-bit PA-8000 microprocessor, the Model D270 uniprocessor and the Model D370 dual-processor. Both were positioned as entry-level servers. They used the 160 MHz PA-8000 and supported 128 MB to 1.5 GB of memory.
In January 1997, the low-end Model D220, D230, D320 and D330 were introduced, using 132 and 160 MHz versions of the PA-7300LC microprocessor.
The D-class are tower servers with up to two microprocessors and are architecturally similar to the K-class. They sometimes masquerade as larger machines as HP shipped them mounted vertically inside a large cabinet containing a power supply and multiple disks with plenty of room for air to circulate.
s and 12 PCI
slots. It uses two Merced buses, one for every four processor slots. It is not a NUMA
machine, having equal access to all memory slots. The I/O is unequal though; having one Ike IOMMU
per bus means that one set of CPUs are closer to one set of I/O slots than the other.
The N-class servers were marketed as "Itanium
-ready", although when the Itanium shipped, no Itanium upgrade was made available for the N class. The N class did benefit from using the Merced bus, bridging the PA-8x00 microprocessors to it via a special adapter called DEW.
The N4000 was upgraded with newer processors throughout its life, with models called N4000-36, N4000-44 and N4000-55 indicating microprocessor clock frequencies of 360, 440, and 550 MHz respectively. It was renamed to the rp7400 series in 2001.
The L1000 and L2000 are similar to the A400 and A500, being based on an Astro/Elroy combination. They initially shipped with 360 MHz and 440 MHz PA-8500 and were upgraded with 540 MHz PA-8600.
The L3000 is similar to the N4000, being based on a DEW/Ike/Elroy combination. It shipped only with 550 MHz PA-8600 CPUs.
The L-class family was renamed to the rp5400 series in 2001.
The A400 and A500 servers were 64-bit, single and dual-processor 2U servers based on the PA-8500 and later processors, using the Astro IOMMU and Elroy PCI adapters. The A400-36 and A500-36 machines used the PA-8500 processor running at 360 MHz; the A400-44 and A500-44 are clocked at 440 MHz. The A500-55 uses a PA-8600 processor running at 550 MHz and the A500-75 uses a PA-8700 processor running at 750 MHz.
The A-class was renamed to the rp2400 series in 2001.
s rebadged after HP's acquisition of Convex Computer
in 1995. The S-class was a single-node SPP2000 with up to 16 processors, while the X-class name was used for multi-node configurations with up to 512 processors. These machines ran Convex's SPP-UX operating system.
technology from the S-class and X-class. The V2200 and V2250 support a maximum of 16 processors, and the V2500 and V2600 support a maximum of 32 processors. The V-class systems are physically large systems that require extensive cooling and three-phase power to operate. They provided a transitional platform between the T-class and the introduction of the Superdome.
operating system. Some PA-RISC-based models are able to run NEXTSTEP
.
BSD
Unix was ported to the HP 9000 as HPBSD
; the resulting support code was later added to 4.4BSD. Its modern variants NetBSD
and OpenBSD
also support various HP 9000 models, both Motorola 68k and PA-RISC based.
In the early 1990s, several Unix
R&D systems were ported to the PA-RISC platform, including several attempts of OSF/1, various Mach
ports and systems that combined parts of Mach with other systems (MkLinux
, Mach 4/Lites). The origin of these ports were mostly either internal HP Labs
projects or HP products, or academic research (mostly the University of Utah
).
Workstation
A workstation is a high-end microcomputer designed for technical or scientific applications. Intended primarily to be used by one person at a time, they are commonly connected to a local area network and run multi-user operating systems...
and server
Server (computing)
In the context of client-server architecture, a server is a computer program running to serve the requests of other programs, the "clients". Thus, the "server" performs some computational task on behalf of "clients"...
computer
Computer
A computer is a programmable machine designed to sequentially and automatically carry out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations. The particular sequence of operations can be changed readily, allowing the computer to solve more than one kind of problem...
systems produced by the Hewlett-Packard Company
Hewlett-Packard
Hewlett-Packard Company or HP is an American multinational information technology corporation headquartered in Palo Alto, California, USA that provides products, technologies, softwares, solutions and services to consumers, small- and medium-sized businesses and large enterprises, including...
(HP). The native 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...
for almost all HP 9000 systems is HP-UX
HP-UX
HP-UX is Hewlett-Packard's proprietary implementation of the Unix operating system, based on UNIX System V and first released in 1984...
, a derivative of Unix
Unix
Unix is a multitasking, multi-user computer operating system originally developed in 1969 by a group of AT&T employees at Bell Labs, including Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, Brian Kernighan, Douglas McIlroy, and Joe Ossanna...
. The HP 9000 brand was introduced in 1984 to encompass several existing technical workstations models previously launched in the early 1980s. HP 9000 finally reached end of sales life in 2008, being superseded by the HP Integrity
HP Integrity
HP Integrity is series of Hewlett-Packard server computers produced by Hewlett-Packard since 2003, based on the Itanium processor architecture...
(Itanium
Itanium
Itanium is a family of 64-bit Intel microprocessors that implement the Intel Itanium architecture . Intel markets the processors for enterprise servers and high-performance computing systems...
) server platform running HP-UX. HP-UX workstations are no longer offered.
History
The first HP 9000 models comprised the HP 9000 Series 200 and Series 500 ranges. These were rebadged existing models, the Series 200 including various MotorolaMotorola
Motorola, Inc. was an American multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois, which was eventually divided into two independent public companies, Motorola Mobility and Motorola Solutions on January 4, 2011, after losing $4.3 billion from 2007 to 2009...
68000-based workstations such as the HP 9826 and HP 9836, and the Series 500 using HP's FOCUS
FOCUS (hardware)
The Hewlett-Packard FOCUS microprocessor, launched in 1982, was the first commercial, single chip, fully 32-bit microprocessor available on the market. At this time, all 32-bit competitors used multi-chip bit-slice-CPU designs...
microprocessor
Microprocessor
A microprocessor incorporates the functions of a computer's central processing unit on a single integrated circuit, or at most a few integrated circuits. It is a multipurpose, programmable device that accepts digital data as input, processes it according to instructions stored in its memory, and...
architecture introduced in the HP 9020 workstation. These were followed by the HP 9000 Series 300 and Series 400 workstations which also used 68k
68k
The Motorola 680x0/m68000/68000 is a family of 32-bit CISC microprocessors. During the 1980s and early 1990s, they were popular in personal computers and workstations and were the primary competitors of Intel's x86 microprocessors...
-series microprocessors. From the mid-1980s onwards, HP started to switch over to its own microprocessors based on its proprietary PA-RISC
PA-RISC family
PA-RISC is an instruction set architecture developed by Hewlett-Packard. As the name implies, it is a reduced instruction set computer architecture, where the PA stands for Precision Architecture...
ISA, for the Series 600, 700, 800, and later lines. More recent models use either the PA-RISC or its successor, the HP/Intel IA-64 ISA.
All of the HP 9000 line run various versions of the HP-UX
HP-UX
HP-UX is Hewlett-Packard's proprietary implementation of the Unix operating system, based on UNIX System V and first released in 1984...
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...
, except earlier Series 200 models, which ran standalone applications. HP released the Series 400, also known as the Apollo 400, after acquiring Apollo Computer
Apollo Computer
Apollo Computer, Inc., founded 1980 in Chelmsford, Massachusetts by William Poduska and others, developed and produced Apollo/Domain workstations in the 1980s. Along with Symbolics and Sun Microsystems, Apollo was one of the first vendors of graphical workstations in the 1980s...
in 1989. These models had the ability to run either HP-UX or Apollo's Domain/OS
Domain/OS
Domain/OS is the operating system used by the Apollo/Domain line of workstations manufactured by Apollo Computer, Inc. during the late 1980s, as the successor to the one previously used, AEGIS. It was one of the early distributed operating systems...
.
From the early 1990s onwards, HP replaced the HP 9000 "Series" numbers with an alphabetical "Class" nomenclature. In 2001, HP again changed the naming scheme for their HP 9000 servers. The A-class systems were renamed as the rp2400s, the L-class became the rp5400s, and the N-class the rp7400s. The 'rp' prefix signified a PA-RISC architecture, while 'rx' was used for IA-64-based systems, later rebranded HP Integrity
HP Integrity
HP Integrity is series of Hewlett-Packard server computers produced by Hewlett-Packard since 2003, based on the Itanium processor architecture...
.
On 30 April 2008, HP announced end of sales for the HP 9000. The last order date for HP 9000 systems was 31 December 2008 and the last ship date was 1 April 2009. The last order date for new HP 9000 options was December 31, 2009, with a last ship date of 1 April 2010. HP intends to support these systems through to 2013, with possible extensions.
The end of life for HP 9000 also marks the end of an era, as it essentially marks HP's withdrawal from the Unix workstation market (the HP 9000 workstations are end of life, and there are no HP Integrity workstations, so there is no longer a solution which targets HP/UX at the desktop). When the move from PA-RISC (9000) to Itanium (Integrity) was announced, Integrity workstations running either HP/UX or Windows were initially announced and offered, but were moved to end of sales life relatively quickly, with no replacement (arguably because x86-64 made IA-64 uncompetitive on the desktop, and HP/UX does not support x86-64, with HP offering desktop Linux as an alternative, not fully compatible, solution).
Workstation models
- Series 200 — 216 (HP 9816), 217 (HP 9817), 220 (HP 9920), 226 (HP 9826), 236 (HP 9836), 237 (HP 9837)
- Series 300 — 310, 318, 319, 320, 322, 330, 332, 340, 345, 350, 360, 362, 370, 375, 380, 382, 385
- Series 400 (HP Apollo 9000 Series 400) — 400dl, 400s, 400t, 425dl, 425e, 425s, 425t, 433dl,433s, 433t
- Series 500 — 520 (HP 9020), 530 (HP 9030), 540 (HP 9040), 550, 560
- Series 600 — 635SV, 645SV
- Series 700 — 705, 710, 712, 715, 720, 725, 730, 735, 742, 743, 744, 745, 747, 748, 750, 755
- B-class — B132L, B160L, B132L+, B180L, B1000, B2000, B2600
- C-class — C100, C110, C132L, C160, C160L, C180, C180L, C180XP, C200, C240, C360, C3000, C3600, C3650, C3700, C3750, C8000
- J-class — J200, J210, J210XC, J280, J282, J2240, J5000, J5600, J6000, J6700, J6750, J7000
Series 200
The Series 200 workstations originated before there were any "Series" at HP. The first model was the HP 9826A, followed by the HP 9836A. Later, a color version of the 9836 (9836C) was introduced. There was also a rack-mount version, the HP 9920A. These were all based on the Motorola 68000Motorola 68000
The Motorola 68000 is a 16/32-bit CISC microprocessor core designed and marketed by Freescale Semiconductor...
chip. There were 'S' versions of the models that included memory bundled in. When HP-UX was included as an OS, there was a 'U' version of the 9836s and 9920 that used the 68012 processor. The model numbers included the letter 'U' (9836U, 9836CU, and 9920U). Later versions of the Series 200's included the 9816, 9817, and 9837. These systems were soon renamed as the HP Series 200 line, before being renamed again as part HP 9000 family, the HP 9000 Series 200.
There was also a "portable" version of the Series 200 called the Integral. The official model was the HP9807. This machine was about the size of a portable sewing machine, contained a MC68000 processor, ROM based HP-UX, 3½ inch floppy drive, inkjet printer, a keyboard, mouse, and a plasma display. It was not battery powered, and unlike the other Series 200's that were manufactured in Fort Collins, Colorado
Fort Collins, Colorado
Fort Collins is a Home Rule Municipality situated on the Cache La Poudre River along the Colorado Front Range, and is the county seat and most populous city of Larimer County, Colorado, United States. Fort Collins is located north of the Colorado State Capitol in Denver. With a 2010 census...
, it was manufactured in Corvallis, Oregon
Corvallis, Oregon
Corvallis is a city located in central western Oregon, United States. It is the county seat of Benton County and the principal city of the Corvallis, Oregon Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Benton County. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population was 54,462....
.
Series 300/400
The Series 300 workstations were based around Motorola 68000-series processors, ranging from the 68010 (Model 310) to the 6804068040
68040 may refer to:* The Motorola 68040 computer processor chip* The Zip Code for the town of Malmo, Nebraska...
(Model 38x). The Series 400 were intended to supersede the Apollo/Domain
Apollo/Domain
Apollo/Domain was a range of workstations developed and produced by Apollo Computer from circa 1980 to 1989. The machines were built around the Motorola 68k family of processors, except for the DN10000, which had from one to four of Apollo's RISC processors, named PRISM.-Operating system:The...
workstations and were also based on the 68030/040. They were branded "HP Apollo" and added Apollo Domain/OS
Domain/OS
Domain/OS is the operating system used by the Apollo/Domain line of workstations manufactured by Apollo Computer, Inc. during the late 1980s, as the successor to the one previously used, AEGIS. It was one of the early distributed operating systems...
compatibility. The suffix 's' and 't' used on the Series 400 represented "Side" (as in Desk side) and "Top" (as in Desk top) model. The last two digits of the Series 400 originally was the clock frequency of the processor in MHz (e.g. 433 was 33 MHz). At introduction, the Series 400 had a socket for the MC68040, but since they were not available at the time, an emulator card with an MC68030 and additional circuitry was installed. Customers who purchased systems were given a guaranteed upgrade price of $5,000USD to the MC68040, when they became available. The Series 300 and 400 shared the same I/O interface as the Series 200. The 32-bit DIO-II bus is rated at 6 Mb/sec http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/hp/9000_300/98572-90039_Series_300_Model_332_Service_Handbook_Feb89.pdf.
Series 500
The Series 500s started out as the HP 9020, HP 9030, and HP 9040. They were renamed the HP Series 500 Model 20, 30, and 40 shortly after introduction, and later renamed again as the HP 9000 Model 520, 530 and 540. The 520 was a complete workstation with built-in keyboard, display, 5.25-inch floppy disk, and optional thermal printer and 5 MB hard disk. The 520 could run BASICBASIC
BASIC is a family of general-purpose, high-level programming languages whose design philosophy emphasizes ease of use - the name is an acronym from Beginner's All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code....
or HP-UX and there were three different models based on the displays attached (two color and one monochrome). The 530 was a rackmount version of the Series 500, could only run HP-UX, and used a serial interface console. The 540 was a 530 mounted inside a cabinet, similar to the disk drives offered at the time and included a serial MUX
Mux
mux was a windowing system developed by Rob Pike at Bell Labs for the Ninth Edition Research Unix. mux is a predecessor of the Plan 9 windowing systems 8½ and rio, which retain its minimalist user interface.-External links :*...
. Later models of the Series 500s were the 550 and 560, which had a completely different chassis and could be connected to graphics processors. The processors in the original Series 500s ran at 20 MHz, and could reach a benchmark speed of 1 MIPS (Million Instructions Per Second), equivalent to a VAX-11/780
VAX-11
The VAX-11 was a family of minicomputers developed and manufactured by Digital Equipment Corporation using processors implementing the VAX instruction set architecture . The VAX-11/780 was the first VAX computer.- VAX-11/780 :...
(the benchmark "standard" at the time). They could be networked together and with 200 and 300 series using the SRM (Shared Resource Manager).
Series 700
The first workstations in the series, the Model 720, Model 730 and Model 750 systems were introduced on 26 March 1991 and were code-named "Snakes". The models used the PA-7000 microprocessor, with the Model 720 using a 50 MHz version and the Model 730 and Model 750 using a 66 MHz version. The PA-7000 is provided with 128 KB of instruction cache on the Model 720 and 730 and 256 KB on the Model 750. All models are provided with 256 KB of data cache. The Model 720 and Model 730 supported 16 to 64 MB of memory, while the Model 750 supported up to 192 MB. Onboard SCSI was provided by an NCRNCR Corporation
NCR Corporation is an American technology company specializing in kiosk products for the retail, financial, travel, healthcare, food service, entertainment, gaming and public sector industries. Its main products are self-service kiosks, point-of-sale terminals, automated teller machines, check...
53C700 SCSI controller. These systems could use both 2D and 3D graphics options, with 2D options being the greyscale GRX and the color CRX. 3D options were the Personal VRX and the Turbo GRX.
In early January 1992, HP introduced the Model 705, code-named "Bushmaster Snake", and the Model 710, code-named "Bushmaster Junior". Both systems are low-end diskless workstations, with the Model 705 using a 32 MHz PA-7000 and the Model 710 using a 50 MHz version. At introduction, the Model 705 was priced at under US$5,000, and the Model 710 under US$10,000.
The first Series 700 workstations were superseded by the Model 715/33, 715/50, 725/50 low-end workstations and the Model 735/99, 735/125, 755/99 and 755/125 high-end workstations on 10 November 1992. The existing Model 715 and Model 725 were later updated with the introduction of the Model 715/75 and 725/75 in September 1993. The new models used a 75 MHz PA-7100
PA-7100
The PA-7100 is a microprocessor developed by Hewlett-Packard that implemented the PA-RISC 1.1 instruction set architecture . It is also known as the PCX-T and by its code-name Thunderbird. It was introduced in early 1992 and was the first PA-RISC microprocessor to integrate the floating-point unit...
.
Increasing integration led to the introduction of the Model 712/60 and Model 712/80i workstations on 18 January 1994. Code-named "Gecko", these models were intended to compete with entry-level workstations from Sun Microsystems
Sun Microsystems
Sun Microsystems, Inc. was a company that sold :computers, computer components, :computer software, and :information technology services. Sun was founded on February 24, 1982...
and high-end personal computers. They used the PA-7100LC
PA-7100LC
The PA-7100LC is a microprocessor that implements the PA-RISC 1.1 instruction set architecture developed by Hewlett-Packard . It is also known as the PCX-L, and by its code-name, Hummingbird. It was designed as a low-cost microprocessor for low-end systems. The first systems to feature the...
microprocessor operating at 60 and 80 MHz, respectively. The Model 712/80i was an integer only model, with the floating point-unit disabled. Both supported 16 to 128 MB of memory.
The Model 715/64, 715/80, 715/100 and 725/100 were introduced in May 1994, targeted at the 2D and 3D graphics market. These workstations use the PA-7100LC microprocessor and supported 32 to 128 MB of memory, except for the Model 725/100, which supported up to 512 MB.
The Model 712/100 (King Gecko), an entry-level workstation, and Model 715/100 XC, a mid-range workstation, were introduced in June 1995. The Model 712/100 is a Model 712 with a 100 MHz PA-7100LC and 256 KB of cache while the Model 715/100 XC is a Model 715/100 with 1 MB of cache.
The Model 712 and 715 workstations feature the Lasi ASIC, connected by via the GSC bus
GSC bus
GSC is a bus used in many of the HP 9000 workstations and servers. The acronym has various explanations, including Gecko System Connect , Gonzo System Connect and General System Connect....
. The Lasi ASIC provided an integrated NCR 53C710 SCSI controller, an Intel Apricot 10 Mbit Ethernet interface, CD-quality sound, PS/2 keyboard and mouse, a serial and a parallel port. All models, except for the 712 series machines also use the Wax ASIC to provide an EISA
Extended Industry Standard Architecture
The Extended Industry Standard Architecture is a bus standard for IBM PC compatible computers...
adapter, a second serial port and support for the HIL bus
HIL bus
The HP-HIL , not to be confused with the HP-IL, is the name of a computer bus used by Hewlett-Packard to connect keyboards, mice, trackballs, digitizers, tablets, barcode readers, rotary knobs, touchscreens, and other human interface peripherals to their HP 9000 workstations...
.
The SGC bus (System Graphics Connect), which is used in the earlier series 700 workstations, has similar specifications as PCI with 32-bit/33 MHz http://paulaxford.com/computer_collection/hp_735/index.htm and a typical bandwidth of about 100 MB/s http://openpa.net/bus.html#sgc.
B, C, J class
The C100, C110, J200, J210 and J210XC use the PA-7200PA-7200
The PA-7200 , code-named Thunderbird, is a microprocessor that implements the PA-RISC 1.1 instruction set architecture developed by Hewlett-Packard . It was introduced in early 1995, debuting in systems from HP...
processor, connected to the UTurn IOMMU via the Runway bus
Runway bus
The Runway bus is a front side bus developed by Hewlett-Packard for use by its PA-RISC microprocessor family. The Runway bus is a 64-bit wide, split transaction, time multiplexed address and data bus running at 120 MHz...
. The C100 and C110 are single processor systems, and the J200 and J210 are dual processor systems. The Uturn IOMMU has two GSC buses. These machines continue to use the Lasi and Wax ASICs.
The B132L, B160L, B132L+, B180L, C132L, C160L and C180L workstations are based on the PA-7300LC processor (an upgraded model of the PA-7100LC processor). These machines use the Dino GSC to PCI
Peripheral Component Interconnect
Conventional PCI is a computer bus for attaching hardware devices in a computer...
adapter which also provides the second serial port in place of Wax. These machines optionally have the Wax EISA adapter.
The C160, C180, C180-XP, J280 and J282 use the PA-8000
PA-8000
The PA-8000 , code-named Onyx, is a microprocessor developed and fabricated by Hewlett-Packard that implemented the PA-RISC 2.0 instruction set architecture . It was a completely new design with no circuitry derived from previous PA-RISC microprocessors...
processor and are the first 64-bit HP workstations. They are based on the same Runway/GSC architecture as the earlier C and J class workstations.
The C200, C240 and J2240 offer increased speed with the PA-8200 processor and the C360 uses the PA-8500 processor.
The B1000, B2000, C3000, J5000, J7000 were also based on the PA-8500 processor, but had a very different architecture. The U2/Uturn IOMMU and the GSC bus is gone, replaced with the Astro IOMMU, connected via Ropes to several Elroy PCI host adapters.
The B2600, C3600 and J5600 upgrade these machines with the PA-8600 processor. The J6000 is a rack-mountable workstation which can also be stood on its side in a tower configuration.
The C3650, C3700, C3750, J6700 and J6750 are PA-8700-based.
The C8000 uses the dual-core PA-8800 or PA-8900 processors, which uses the same bus as the McKinley and Madison Itanium processors and shares the same zx1
Zx1
The zx1 chipset is chipset for the Itanium 2 and PA-RISC microprocessors from Hewlett Packard. It is used in some of their HP Integrity servers and workstations. It supports up to four microprocessors...
chipset. The Elroy PCI adapters have been replaced with Mercury PCI-X
PCI-X
PCI-X, short for PCI-eXtended, is a computer bus and expansion card standard that enhances the 32-bit PCI Local Bus for higher bandwidth demanded by servers. It is a double-wide version of PCI, running at up to four times the clock speed, but is otherwise similar in electrical implementation and...
adapters and one Quicksilver AGP
Accelerated Graphics Port
The Accelerated Graphics Port is a high-speed point-to-point channel for attaching a video card to a computer's motherboard, primarily to assist in the acceleration of 3D computer graphics. Since 2004 AGP has been progressively phased out in favor of PCI Express...
8x adapter.
Server models
- 800 Series — 807, 817, 822, 825, 827, 832, 835, 837, 840, 842, 845, 847, 850,855, 857, 867, 877, 887, 897
- 1200 FT Series — 1210, 1245, 1245 PLUS
- A-class — A180, A180C (Staccato), A400, A500
- D-class — D200, D210, D220, D230, D250, D260, D270, D280, D300, D310, D320, D330, D350, D360, D370, D380, D390
- E-class — E25, E35, E45, E55
- F-class — F10, F20, F30 (Nova)
- G-class — G30, G40, G50, G60, G70 (Nova)
- H-class — H20, H30, H40, H50, H60, H70
- I-class — I30, I40, I50, I60, I70
- K-class — K100, K200, K210, K220, K250, K260, K360, K370, K380, K400, K410, K420, K450, K460, K570, K580
- L-class — L1000, L1500, L2000, L3000
- N-class — N4000
- R-class — R380, R390
- S-class — rebadged Convex Exemplar SPP2000 (single-node)
- T-class — T500, T520, T600
- V-class — V2200, V2250, V2500, V2600
- X-class — rebadged Convex Exemplar SPP2000 (multi-node)
- rp2400 — rp2400 (A400), rp2405 (A400), rp2430 (A400), rp2450 (A500), rp2470 (A500) (previously A-class)
- rp3400 — rp3410-2, rp3440-4 (1-2 PA-8800/8900 processors)
- rp4400 — rp4410-4, rp4440-8
- rp5400 — rp5400, rp5405, rp5430, rp5450, rp5470 (previously L-class)
- rp7400 — rp7400 (previously N-class)
- rp7405 — rp7405, rp7410, rp7420-16, rp7440-16
- rp8400 — rp8400, rp8410, rp8420-32, rp8440-32
- HP 9000 Superdome — SD-32, SD-64, SD-128 (PA-8900 processors)
See also: HP Integrity servers
HP Integrity
HP Integrity is series of Hewlett-Packard server computers produced by Hewlett-Packard since 2003, based on the Itanium processor architecture...
. (Based on Itanium 2 processors)
D-class (Codename: Ultralight)
The D-class are entry-level and mid-range servers that succeeded the entry-level E-class servers and the mid-range G-, H-, I-class servers. The first models were introduced in late January 1996, consisting of the Model D200, D210, D250, D310 and D350. The Model D200 is a uniprocessor with a 75 MHz PA-7100LCPA-7100LC
The PA-7100LC is a microprocessor that implements the PA-RISC 1.1 instruction set architecture developed by Hewlett-Packard . It is also known as the PCX-L, and by its code-name, Hummingbird. It was designed as a low-cost microprocessor for low-end systems. The first systems to feature the...
microprocessor, support for up to 512 MB of memory and five EISA/HP-HSC slots. The Model D210 is similar, but it used a 100 MHz PA-7100LC. The Model D250 is dual-processor model and it used the 100 MHz PA-7100LC. It supported up to 768 MB of memory and had five EISA/HP-HSC slots. The Model D310 is a uniprocessor with a 100 MHz PA-7100LC, up to 512 MB of memory and eight EISA/HP-HSC slots. The Model D350 is a high-end D-class system, a dual-processor, it had two 100 MHz PA-7100LCs, up to 768 MB of memory and eight EISA/HP-HSC slots.
In mid-September 1996, two new D-class servers were introduced to utilize the new 64-bit PA-8000 microprocessor, the Model D270 uniprocessor and the Model D370 dual-processor. Both were positioned as entry-level servers. They used the 160 MHz PA-8000 and supported 128 MB to 1.5 GB of memory.
In January 1997, the low-end Model D220, D230, D320 and D330 were introduced, using 132 and 160 MHz versions of the PA-7300LC microprocessor.
The D-class are tower servers with up to two microprocessors and are architecturally similar to the K-class. They sometimes masquerade as larger machines as HP shipped them mounted vertically inside a large cabinet containing a power supply and multiple disks with plenty of room for air to circulate.
R-class
The R-class is simply a D-class machine packaged in a rack-mount chassis. Unlike the D-class systems, it does not support hot-plug disks.N-class
The N-class is a 10U rackmount server with up to eight CPUCentral processing unit
The central processing unit is the portion of a computer system that carries out the instructions of a computer program, to perform the basic arithmetical, logical, and input/output operations of the system. The CPU plays a role somewhat analogous to the brain in the computer. The term has been in...
s and 12 PCI
Peripheral Component Interconnect
Conventional PCI is a computer bus for attaching hardware devices in a computer...
slots. It uses two Merced buses, one for every four processor slots. It is not a NUMA
Non-Uniform Memory Access
Non-Uniform Memory Access is a computer memory design used in Multiprocessing, where the memory access time depends on the memory location relative to a processor...
machine, having equal access to all memory slots. The I/O is unequal though; having one Ike IOMMU
IOMMU
In computing, an input/output memory management unit is a memory management unit that connects a DMA-capable I/O bus to the main memory...
per bus means that one set of CPUs are closer to one set of I/O slots than the other.
The N-class servers were marketed as "Itanium
Itanium
Itanium is a family of 64-bit Intel microprocessors that implement the Intel Itanium architecture . Intel markets the processors for enterprise servers and high-performance computing systems...
-ready", although when the Itanium shipped, no Itanium upgrade was made available for the N class. The N class did benefit from using the Merced bus, bridging the PA-8x00 microprocessors to it via a special adapter called DEW.
The N4000 was upgraded with newer processors throughout its life, with models called N4000-36, N4000-44 and N4000-55 indicating microprocessor clock frequencies of 360, 440, and 550 MHz respectively. It was renamed to the rp7400 series in 2001.
L-class
The L-class servers are 7U rackmount machines with up to 4 CPUs (depending on model). They have 12 PCI slots, but only 7 slots are enabled in the entry-level L1000 system. Two of the PCI slots are occupied by factory integrated cards, and are cannot be utilized for I/O expansion by the end-user.The L1000 and L2000 are similar to the A400 and A500, being based on an Astro/Elroy combination. They initially shipped with 360 MHz and 440 MHz PA-8500 and were upgraded with 540 MHz PA-8600.
The L3000 is similar to the N4000, being based on a DEW/Ike/Elroy combination. It shipped only with 550 MHz PA-8600 CPUs.
The L-class family was renamed to the rp5400 series in 2001.
A-class
The A180 and A180C were 32-bit, single-processor, 2U servers based on the PA-7300LC processor with the Lasi and Dino ASICs.The A400 and A500 servers were 64-bit, single and dual-processor 2U servers based on the PA-8500 and later processors, using the Astro IOMMU and Elroy PCI adapters. The A400-36 and A500-36 machines used the PA-8500 processor running at 360 MHz; the A400-44 and A500-44 are clocked at 440 MHz. The A500-55 uses a PA-8600 processor running at 550 MHz and the A500-75 uses a PA-8700 processor running at 750 MHz.
The A-class was renamed to the rp2400 series in 2001.
S/X-class
The S- and X-class were Convex Exemplar SPP2000 supercomputerSupercomputer
A supercomputer is a computer at the frontline of current processing capacity, particularly speed of calculation.Supercomputers are used for highly calculation-intensive tasks such as problems including quantum physics, weather forecasting, climate research, molecular modeling A supercomputer is a...
s rebadged after HP's acquisition of Convex Computer
Convex Computer
Convex Computer Corporation was a company that developed, manufactured and marketed vector minisupercomputers and supercomputers for small-to-medium-sized businesses. Their later Exemplar series of parallel computing machines were based on the Hewlett-Packard PA-RISC microprocessors, and in 1995,...
in 1995. The S-class was a single-node SPP2000 with up to 16 processors, while the X-class name was used for multi-node configurations with up to 512 processors. These machines ran Convex's SPP-UX operating system.
V-class
The V-class servers were based on the multiprocessorMultiprocessor
Computer system having two or more processing units each sharing main memory and peripherals, in order to simultaneously process programs.Sometimes the term Multiprocessor is confused with the term Multiprocessing....
technology from the S-class and X-class. The V2200 and V2250 support a maximum of 16 processors, and the V2500 and V2600 support a maximum of 32 processors. The V-class systems are physically large systems that require extensive cooling and three-phase power to operate. They provided a transitional platform between the T-class and the introduction of the Superdome.
Operating systems
Apart from HP-UX and Domain/OS (on the 400), many HP 9000s can also run the LinuxLinux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
operating system. Some PA-RISC-based models are able to run NEXTSTEP
NEXTSTEP
NeXTSTEP was the object-oriented, multitasking operating system developed by NeXT Computer to run on its range of proprietary workstation computers, such as the NeXTcube...
.
BSD
Berkeley Software Distribution
Berkeley Software Distribution is a Unix operating system derivative developed and distributed by the Computer Systems Research Group of the University of California, Berkeley, from 1977 to 1995...
Unix was ported to the HP 9000 as HPBSD
HPBSD
HPBSD was a port of the 4.3BSD Unix operating system to the HP 9000, developed at the University of Utah's Systems Programming Group.HPBSD development started in 1987. The goal was to replace HP-UX with a BSD environment on the HP machines at Utah's CS department, for improved compatibility with...
; the resulting support code was later added to 4.4BSD. Its modern variants NetBSD
NetBSD
NetBSD is a freely available open source version of the Berkeley Software Distribution Unix operating system. It was the second open source BSD descendant to be formally released, after 386BSD, and continues to be actively developed. The NetBSD project is primarily focused on high quality design,...
and OpenBSD
OpenBSD
OpenBSD is a Unix-like computer operating system descended from Berkeley Software Distribution , a Unix derivative developed at the University of California, Berkeley. It was forked from NetBSD by project leader Theo de Raadt in late 1995...
also support various HP 9000 models, both Motorola 68k and PA-RISC based.
In the early 1990s, several Unix
Unix
Unix is a multitasking, multi-user computer operating system originally developed in 1969 by a group of AT&T employees at Bell Labs, including Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, Brian Kernighan, Douglas McIlroy, and Joe Ossanna...
R&D systems were ported to the PA-RISC platform, including several attempts of OSF/1, various Mach
Mach (kernel)
Mach is an operating system kernel developed at Carnegie Mellon University to support operating system research, primarily distributed and parallel computation. Although Mach is often mentioned as one of the earliest examples of a microkernel, not all versions of Mach are microkernels...
ports and systems that combined parts of Mach with other systems (MkLinux
MkLinux
MkLinux is an open source computer operating system started by the OSF Research Institute and Apple Computer in February 1996 to port Linux to the PowerPC platform, and Macintosh computers...
, Mach 4/Lites). The origin of these ports were mostly either internal HP Labs
HP Labs
HP Labs is the exploratory and advanced research group for Hewlett-Packard. The lab has some 600 researchersin seven locations throughout the world....
projects or HP products, or academic research (mostly the University of Utah
University of Utah
The University of Utah, also known as the U or the U of U, is a public, coeducational research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. The university was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret by the General Assembly of the provisional State of Deseret, making it Utah's oldest...
).
See also
- HP 3000HP 3000The HP 3000 series is a family of minicomputers released by Hewlett-Packard in 1973. It was designed to be the first minicomputer delivered with a full featured operating system with time-sharing. The first models were withdrawn from the market until speed improvements could be made. It ultimately...
- HP IntegrityHP IntegrityHP Integrity is series of Hewlett-Packard server computers produced by Hewlett-Packard since 2003, based on the Itanium processor architecture...
- HP SuperdomeHP SuperdomeThe HP Superdome is a high-end server computer developed and produced by Hewlett-Packard. The latest version of product, "" was introduced in 2010. Superdome 2 scales from 2 to 32 sockets and 4 TB of memory. When introduced in 2000, the Superdome used PA-RISC processors...
- HP 9800 series desktop computers Previous series of scientific computer workstations
- HP 7935HP 7935The HP 7935 was a business computer hard disc drive system manufactured by Hewlett Packard. It was produced by the Disc Memory Division in Boise, Idaho USA beginning in 1982 at a cost of about $27,000...
disc drive
External links
- HP 9000 evolution, HP 9000 evolution to HP Integrity
- HP 9836 at old-computers.com
- HP Computer Museum
- OpenPA.net Information resource on HP PA-RISC-based computers, including HP 9000/700, 800 and later systems Site communautaire sur les stations de travail et serveurs hp9000, regroupant des informations, part number ainsi que de la documentation au format PDF.