Path: utzoo!utgpu!attcan!uunet!peregrine!elroy!ames!pasteur!agate!eos!eugene From: eugene@eos.UUCP (Eugene Miya) Newsgroups: comp.arch Subject: The Concept of a "Cray on a Desk" Keywords: Balance Message-ID: <1280@eos.UUCP> Date: 13 Aug 88 04:05:18 GMT References: <282@quintus.UUCP> Reply-To: eugene@eos.UUCP (Eugene Miya) Organization: NASA Ames Research Center, Calif. Lines: 28 No this is not an article about the Sequent Balance 8000, but I noted the note about defining balance. There's this neat figure for the high-speed computing conference: Algorithms, Architectures, Software. I've been thinking about triads like this. What it boils down to is how were are approaching the "Cray on a Desk." It means 3 things: 1) CPUs reaching Cray clock rates (near riscy stuff, right, but most acknowledge soon. 2) Bigger memories. The Original Cray-1, George informed me had 1 MW memory or about 8 MB which you can now get in a Mac II [I believe], otherwise there were smaller Crays with .5 MW. So in memory capacity, we have a Cray on the desk now. 3) I/O. The biggest bottleneck. I know few who can achieve Cray Channel speeds: not DEC, not IBM, this is why micros end up being slower than mainframes, still, but I don't see much relief in this area yet. We are too CPU infatuated. Anyways, time to move back further into the undefineable ether. In 1984 Dan Ingalls proposed the Cray on a wrist [quick look down to the digital calculator on your wrist ;-)]. [ACM National Mtg, Sept. 84]. Another gross generalization from --eugene miya, NASA Ames Research Center, eugene@aurora.arc.nasa.gov resident cynic at the Rock of Ages Home for Retired Hackers: "Mailers?! HA!", "If my mail does not reach you, please accept my apology." {uunet,hplabs,ncar,decwrl,allegra,tektronix}!ames!aurora!eugene "Send mail, avoid follow-ups. If enough, I'll summarize."