DECstation
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DECStation_5000-120.jpg
The DECstation was a brand of computers built by DEC, and refers to two distinct lines of computer systems—the first released in the 1970s as a word processing system, and the second (and more widely known) released in 1989 as computer workstations based on the MIPS architecture. The MIPS-based workstations ran Ultrix, a DEC-proprietary version of UNIX.
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First DECstation line
The first line of computer systems given the DECstation name were word processing systems based on the PDP-8. These systems, built into a VT-52 terminal, were also known as the VT-78.
Second DECstation line
The second line of DECstations began with the DECstation 2100/3100, released in 1989, which was the first commercially available RISC-based machine built by DEC. At the time DEC was mostly known for their CISC systems including the successful PDP and VAX lines. The DECstation 3100 was claimed to be the world's fastest UNIX workstation at the time. When it was introduced it was about three times as fast as the VAXstation 3100 which was introduced at about the same time. In contrast to the VAX (and the later DEC Alpha architecture), no version of the VMS operating system was ever released for DECstations. Server configurations of DECstation models, distributed without a framebuffer, were called "DECsystem" but should not be confused with some PDP-10 machines of the same name.
The MIPS-based DECstations were used as the first target system and development platform for the Mach microkernel, as well as early development of the Windows NT operating system. More recently, various free operating systems such as NetBSD and Linux/MIPS have been ported to the MIPS-based DECstations, extending their useful life by providing a modern operating system.
The first generation of commercially marketed DEC Alpha systems, the AlphaStation series, were very similar to contemporaneous MIPS-based DECstations, which were sold alongside the Alpha systems as the DECstation line was gradually phased out.
Various DECstation models (which used a MIPS CPU) are emulated by the GXemul software project.
Models
- DECstation 2100 (codenamed PMIN)
- 12.5 MHz R2000 CPU
- up to 24 MB RAM (in 2 MB pairs)
- DECstation 3100 (codenamed PMAX)
- 16.67 MHz R2000 CPU
- up to 24 MB RAM (in 2 MB pairs)
- Personal DECstation 5000/20, 5000/25, 5000/33 and 5000/50 (codenamed MAXine)
- 20, 25 or 33 MHz R3000 CPU (for the /20, /25, or /33 respectively)
- 50 MHz R4000 CPU for the /50
- 8 MB RAM built-in (expandable to up to 40 MB RAM (in 8 MB pairs))
- DECstation 5000/120, 5000/125, 5000/133 and 5000/150 (codenamed 3MIN)
- 20, 25 or 33 MHz R3000 CPU (for the /120, /125, or /133 respectively)
- 50 MHz R4000 CPU for the /150
- up to 128 MB RAM (in 8 MB pairs)
- DECstation 5000/200 (codenamed 3MAX)
- 25 MHz R3000 CPU
- up to 480 MB RAM (in 32 MB pairs)
- DECstation 5000/240 and 5000/260 (codenamed 3MAX+)
- 40 MHz R3000 CPU for the /240 and 60 MHz R4400 CPU for the /260
- up to 480 MB RAM (in 32 MB pairs)
External links
- NetBSD for the DECstation (http://www.netbsd.org/Ports/pmax/)
- Linux/MIPS homepage (http://www.linuxmips.org/)
- DECstation 2100 / DECStation 3100 Web Page (http://q.dyndns.org/~blc/DS3100/)
- DECstation model specifications (http://www.xs4all.nl/~vhouten/mipsel/models.html)
- Linux for DECstation (http://decstation.unix-ag.org/)