Digital Equipment Corporation

Status:

Compaq Computers Corp

Overview of Organization:

DEC was founded in 1957 by Ken Olsen, and is now one of the major forces in computing. The company has development laboratories worldwide in addition to its worldwide sales network.

The mainstay of DEC's business over the past decade has been the Vax range of miui.computers, starting from the earliest Vax 11/780 to the most recent Vax 9000 series machines. With a common instruction set and operating system these ma- chines have provided a stable development environment for many applications.

DEC 's earliest experiences with parallel processing came with their involvement in Carnegie Mellon University's Cm* project, starting in 1975. Since then they have developed various multiprocessors and have research groups working in other areas of parallel computing. DEC's current parallel processing products owe much to the company's early networking experience. As the size of the problems users wanted to tackle increased, computers were linked together to cooperate on large problems. DEC 's Vaxcluster and DECnet products allowed Vax users to connect their computers together, though the amount of cooperation possi- ble between processors was limited because of the large overheads of interprocessor communication.

Platforms Documented:

• AlphaServer 8400
• AlphaServer 8200
• AlphaServer 4100

Contact Address:

Digital Equipment Corporation
143 Main Street
Maynard
Mass. 01754
USA
Tel (508) 493 5111
Fax (508) 493 8780
 692, 526 =  91, 92, 93  (210   2  36 HSV)

Digital Equipment Corporation
Digital Park
Imperial Way
Reading
Berkshire RG2 0TE
United Kingdom
Tel 0734 441333
Fax 0734 867969

See Also:

DEC HPC

AlphaServer Cluster

Overview of Platform:

Compute Hardware:

• Is a multiprocessor (SMP), scalable up to 14 nodes, each using the 21164 processor running at a speed of 612MHz, up to 28 GB of memory, and peak I/O of 1.2 GB per second.

• On the chip it uses 8 KB I-cache, 8 KB D-cache, and 96 KB secondary.

• Cache size on board is 4MB per processor.

• Enclosure characteristics:

  Height    170.0 cm (67.0 in)
  Width     80.0 cm (31.5 in)
  Depth     87.5 cm (34.4 in)
  Approximate Weight:
  without batteries   408 kg (900 lbs)
  with batteries      545 kg (1200 lbs)
  

Interconnect / Communications System:

Interconnectivity and clustering are achived through Ethernet, DSSI, FDDI, CI. Other options are Token Ring, sync.comm., async.comm., ATM, UltraSCSI, FWD SCSI-2, RAID, HiPPI, Fibre Channel, IPI, PrestoserveŽ (Digital UNIX), Mainframe Channel Connect. The 14 processors operate at a peak of 1.2 GB per second.

Memory System:

Benchmarks / Compute and data transfer performance:

• As indicated by the manufacturer, the system can deliver over 3,000 transactions per second and a Linpack 1,000 x 1,000 of more than 3 GF (for example, 3.112 GF for an AlphaServer 8400 5/440 system with 8 CPUs) in a single platform.

•                       5/440 model      5/625 model
  
  SPECint95              13.6             18.4 
  SPECfp95               17.0             20.8 
  SPECfp95 SMP (6 proc)  42.6             56.7
  SPECint_rate95         1358 (12 CPU)    2143
  SPECfp_rate95          1118             1375
  
  LINPACK NxN            6654 (12 CPU)    7283 (12 cpu)
                         24700 (64 cpu)
  LINPACK 1000 x 1000    -                3608 (8 cpu)
  

Operating System Software and Environment:

• It uses Digital UNIX, Windows NT, OpenVMS as an OS. If OpenVMS is used then interconnectivity is done through DSSI or CI.

• At the software level, it ships with Internet-energized (a complete suite of web server software), ServerWORKS Manager, UPS Power Management, and a NAS 200 license.

Networkability/ I/O System / Integrability / Reliability / Scalability:

• Each AlphaServer 8400 base system includes a 2 GB SCSI-2 system disk, in-cabinet CD-ROM reader, integrated I/O module with three FWD SCSI ports, one single-ended SCSI port, two Ethernet ports, and one I/O hose port on-board, plus optional connectivity for FDDI and Prestoserve daughter cards.

• Maximum I/O support is up to 144 PCI slots, 8 EISA slots, XMI.

• In regard to scalability, the 8400 architecture was designed to be scalable with single-system specs such as 14 processors, 28 GB of memory, 85 TB of disk storage, and beyond mainframe-class I/O bandwidth at 1200 MB/ sec. (Source: Digital)

Notable Applications / Customers / Market Sectors:

Notable customer is MIT through Pleiades Cluster Project.

Overall Comments:

this page

Overview of Platform:

Compute Hardware:

• Is a multiprocessor (SMP), scalable up to 6 nodes, each using the 21164 processor running at a speed of 437MHz or 612MHz, up to 12 GB of memory, and peak I/O of 1.2 GB per second.

• On the chip it uses 8 KB I-cache, 8 KB D-cache, and 96 KB secondary.

• Cache size on board is 4MB per processor.

• Enclosure characteristics:

  Height    170.0 cm (67.0 in)
  Width     60.0 cm (23.6 in) 
  Depth     92.5 cm (36.4 in) 
  Approximate Weight:
  without batteries   272 kg (600 lbs)
  with batteries      330 kg (728 lbs)
  

  Interconnect / Communications System:

  Interconnectivity and clustering are achived through Ethernet, DSSI, FDDI, CI. Other options are Token Ring, sync.comm., async.comm., ATM, UltraSCSI, FWD SCSI-2, RAID, HiPPI, Fibre Channel, IPI, PrestoserveŽ (Digital UNIX), Mainframe Channel Connect. The 6 processors operate at a peak of 1.2 GB per second.

  Memory System:

  Maximum memory is 12 GB for 5/440 model. Max disk storage is 364 GB/85 TB.

  Benchmarks / Compute and data transfer performance:

  • As indicated by the manufacturer, with up to six processors and up to 160 GB of storage in a single cabinet, the AlphaServer 8200 can deliver a Linpack 1,000x1,000 of more than 2 GF (for example, 2.313 GF for an AlphaServer 8200 5/350 system with 6 CPUs),

  •                       5/440 model      5/625 model
    
    SPECint95              13.6             18.4 
    SPECfp95               17.0             20.8 
    SPECfp95 SMP (6 proc)  34.31            48.01
    SPECint_rate95         701              964
    SPECfp_rate95          588               -
    
    LINPACK NxN            3337             4003 
    LINPACK 1000 x 1000    2313 (6 cpu)      -
    

  Operating System Software and Environment:

  • It uses Digital UNIX, Windows NT, OpenVMS as an OS. If OpenVMS is used then interconnectivity is done through DSSI or CI.

  • At the software level, it ships with Internet-energized (a complete suite of web server software), ServerWORKS Manager, UPS Power Management, and a NAS 200 license.

  Networkability/ I/O System / Integrability / Reliability / Scalability:

  • Each AlphaServer 8200 base system includes a 2 GB SCSI-2 system disk, in-cabinet CD-ROM reader, integrated I/O module with three FWD SCSI ports, one single-ended SCSI port, two Ethernet ports, and one I/O hose port on-board, plus optional connectivity for FDDI and Prestoserve daughter cards.

  • Maximum I/O support is up to 132 PCI slots, 8 EISA slots.

  • In regard to scalability, the 8200 architecture was designed to be scalable with single-system specs such as 6 processors, 12 GB of memory, 85 TB of disk storage, and beyond mainframe-class I/O bandwidth at 1200 MB/ sec. (Source: Digital)

  Notable Applications / Customers / Market Sectors:

  It is used for applications such as computational chemistry, finite element analysis, and fluid dynamics. Also used in MCAD/CAE, pharmaceutical, biotech, and electronic design industries.

  Overall Comments:

  Here is a photo of the server. For more details, take a look at this page.

  

  ---

  AlphaServer 4100

  Overview of Platform:

  A 64-bit Alpha based processors with symmetric multiprocessing (SMP). Scalable to 4 CPUs and 8 GB of memory.

  Compute Hardware:

  • Each processor uses the Alpha 21164, running at 466 MHz for 5/466 model, running at 533 MHz for the 5/333 model and running at 600 MHz for 5/600 model.

  • Enclosure Characteristics:

                  pedestal    cabinet H9A10        cabinet H9A15
    
    Height        75 cm       170.2 cm             200 cm
                                          
    Width         49 cm       60.0 cm              60.0 cm
    
    Depth         90 cm       97 cm                97.0 cm
    
    Weight        113.6 kg    350.9 kg             450 kg
    

  Interconnect / Communications System:

  OpenVMS clusters achieve connectivity through Ethernet, DSSI, FDDI, SCSI, and CI. It also has 16 slots of 64-bit PCI power for more I/O bandwidth.

  Memory System:

  Maximum memory is 8 GB for the 4100 and 4 GB for the 4000 model.

  Benchmarks / Compute and data transfer performance:

  The following performance figures for the 4100 model.

    Benchmark              5/466      5/333    5/600
  ---------------          -------   -------  -------
  SPECint95                 14.1       16.6     18.8
  SPECfp95                  19.2       21.9     29.2
  SPECfp95 SMP              36.1       42.1     51.4
  SPECint_rate95            485        575      657
  SPECfp_rate95             466        565      858
  LINPACK 1000 x 1000       1,934      2,038    2,634
  SPECweb96                 2,304 (4 CPUs)  4,100 (4 CPUs)  4587 (4CPUs)
  

  Operating System Software and Environment:

  OpenVMS, Unix, and NT.

  Networkability/ I/O System / Integrability / Reliability / Scalability:

  Maximum I/O bandwidth is 500 MB/s (1 GB/s with I/O expansion).

  Notable Applications / Customers / Market Sectors:

  It is used for applications such as computational chemistry, finite element analysis, and fluid dynamics. Also used in MCAD/CAE, pharmaceutical, biotech, and electronic design industries.

  Overall Comments:

  Here is a photo of the server. For more details, take a look at this page.

  

  ---

  General Comments On DEC and MPP:

  DEC also has a research group working on a Massively Parallel Processor (MPP). Started in the mid-1980's, this project is developing a high performance SIMD parallel machine similar to the MasPar MP-I (2.2). The MPP is intended to function as an attached processor subsystem, perhaps to a Vax 9000 series machine. In building such a machine DEC are aiming at a similar market to that targetted by Thinking Machines Corporation for the CM-2 (2.3). There are close links between this project and MasPar - Jeff Kaib, who founded MasPar in 1988, previously had some responsibilities for the development of the MPP. That split appears to have been amicable, and DEC seem to be using MasPar to test the SIMD market and keep abreast of market driven developments.

  The prototype MPP, completed in 1989, contains 16384 processing elements, as many as the largest available MP-l. There is hardware support for floating point, and the machine supports both grid and router connectivity. The whole machine is hosted by a microVAX. According to DEC a second prototype is under development at present, though the long term future of the project and its place within DEC's overall strategy is undear. DEC are addressing the compiler and other software issues to make use of the MPP transparent to the casual user.

  

  ---

  hawick@npac.syr.edu
  saleh@npac.syr.edu