SPARCclassic
Encyclopedia
SPARCstation Classic is a workstation
formerly manufactured by Sun Microsystems
. It is based on the sun4m architecture, and is enclosed in a lunchbox chassis.
drive and a floppy. It also supports external SCSI devices. There is no IDE/ATAPI support.
chipset providing 10BaseT networking as standard and 10Base2
and 10Base5
via an AUI
transceiver. The OpenBoot ROM is able to boot from network, using RARP and TFTP. Like all other SPARCstation systems, the SSC holds system information such as MAC address and serial number in NVRAM. If the battery on this chip dies, then the system will not be able to boot.
; it has a lower-end CG3 framebuffer
rather than the LX's accelerated CG6. The SPARCclassic also features 8-bit audio as opposed to 16-bit audio for the LX. The motherboards of the two systems are otherwise similar, and both use the same chassis.
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...
formerly manufactured by 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...
. It is based on the sun4m architecture, and is enclosed in a lunchbox chassis.
Memory
The SPARCstation Classic has three banks with two DSIMM slots each. The official maximum configuration uses 16MB modules, but the first bank can also hold 32MB modules giving a maximum of 128Mb memory.Disk drives
The SPARCstation Classic can hold one internal 3.5-inch 50-pin, single ended, fast-narrow SCSISCSI
Small Computer System Interface is a set of standards for physically connecting and transferring data between computers and peripheral devices. The SCSI standards define commands, protocols, and electrical and optical interfaces. SCSI is most commonly used for hard disks and tape drives, but it...
drive and a floppy. It also supports external SCSI devices. There is no IDE/ATAPI support.
Network support
The SPARCstation Classic comes with an on-board AMD Lance EthernetEthernet
Ethernet is a family of computer networking technologies for local area networks commercially introduced in 1980. Standardized in IEEE 802.3, Ethernet has largely replaced competing wired LAN technologies....
chipset providing 10BaseT networking as standard and 10Base2
10BASE2
10BASE2 is a variant of Ethernet that uses thin coaxial cable , terminated with BNC connectors...
and 10Base5
10BASE5
10BASE5 was the original commercially available variant of Ethernet.For its physical layer it used cable similar to RG-8/U coaxial cable but with extra braided shielding. This is a stiff, diameter cable with an impedance of 50 ohms , a solid center conductor, a foam insulating filler, a shielding...
via an AUI
Attachment Unit Interface
An Attachment Unit Interface is a 15 pin connection that provides a path between a node's Ethernet interface and the Medium Attachment Unit , sometimes known as a transceiver. It is the part of the IEEE Ethernet standard located between the Media Access Control , and the MAU...
transceiver. The OpenBoot ROM is able to boot from network, using RARP and TFTP. Like all other SPARCstation systems, the SSC holds system information such as MAC address and serial number in NVRAM. If the battery on this chip dies, then the system will not be able to boot.
Operating systems
The following operating systems run on a SPARCstation Classic:- SunOSSunOSSunOS is a version of the Unix operating system developed by Sun Microsystems for their workstation and server computer systems. The SunOS name is usually only used to refer to versions 1.0 to 4.1.4 of SunOS...
4.1.3c onwards - Solaris 2.3 Edition II to Solaris 9
- LinuxLinuxLinux 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...
- Some but not all distributions still support this sparc32 sub-architecture - NetBSDNetBSDNetBSD 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,...
/sparc32 - OpenBSDOpenBSDOpenBSD 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...
/sparc32
Differences between Classic and LX
The SPARCstation Classic was designed to be an entry-level workstation with a lower price point than the SPARCstation LXSPARCstation LX
SPARCstation LX is a workstation sold by Sun Microsystems. It is based on the sun4m architecture, and is enclosed in a lunchbox chassis.-Memory:The SPARCstation LX has three banks with two DSIMM slots each...
; it has a lower-end CG3 framebuffer
Framebuffer
A framebuffer is a video output device that drives a video display from a memory buffer containing a complete frame of data.The information in the memory buffer typically consists of color values for every pixel on the screen...
rather than the LX's accelerated CG6. The SPARCclassic also features 8-bit audio as opposed to 16-bit audio for the LX. The motherboards of the two systems are otherwise similar, and both use the same chassis.