SUN workstation
Encyclopedia
The original SUN workstation was a modular computer system designed at Stanford University
in the early 1980s.
, the campus network within Stanford.
It was inspired by the Xerox Alto
computer developed at the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center but built with modular lower-cost parts. In 1979 Xerox donated some Alto computers for use in the Stanford Computer Science Department, as well as other to other universities that were developing the early Internet
. The Altos were connected using Ethernet
to form several Local Area Network
s.
Professor Forest Baskett suggested the best-known configuration: a relatively low cost personal workstation
for computer aided logic design work. The design created a 3M computer
: a 1 million Instructions per second
(MIPS) processor, 1 Megabyte of memory and a 1 Megapixel Raster scan
Bit-map graphics display. Sometimes the $10,000 estimated price was called the fourth "M" — a "Megapenny".
Director of Computer Facilities Ralph Gorin suggested other configurations and initially funded the project.
Graduate student Andy Bechtolsheim
designed the hardware, with several other students and staff members assisting with software and other aspects of the project. Vaughan Pratt became unofficial faculty leader of the project in 1980.
Three three key technologies made the SUN workstation possible: VLSI, Multibus
and ECAD.
ECAD (Electronic Computer Assisted Design, now known as Electronic design automation), allowed a single designer to quickly develop systems of greater complexity.
The Stanford Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (SAIL) had pioneered personal display terminals, but the 1971 system was showing its age. Bechtolsheim used the Stanford University Drawing System (SUDS) to design the SUN boards on the SAIL system. SUDS had originally developed for the Foonly
computer.
The Structured Computer Aided Logic Design (SCALD) package was then used to verify the design, automate layout and produce wire wrap
prototypes and then printed circuit board
s.
VLSI (Very Large Scale Integration) integrated circuit
s finally allowed for a high level of hardware functionality to be included in a single chip. The graphics display controller was the first board designed, published in 1980. A Motorola 68000
CPU, along with memory, a parallel port controller and a serial port controller were included on the main CPU board designed by Bechtolsheim. The third board was an interface to the 2.93 Mbits/second experimental Ethernet (before the speed was standardized at 10 Mbits/second).
The Multibus computer interface allowed standard enclosures to be used, as well as circuit boards made by different vendors to create other configurations.
For example, the CPU board combined with a multi-port serial controller created a terminal server
(called a TIP) which connected many terminals to the Digital Equipment Corporation
time-sharing systems at Stanford or anywhere on the Internet.
Configuring multiple Ethernet controllers (including commercial ones once they were available) with one CPU board created a router. William Yeager
wrote the software that was later evolved by Cisco
on its version of the hardware.
Les Earnest
licensed the CPU board for one of the first commercial low-cost laser printer
controllers at a company called Imagen.
The processor board was combined with a prototype high performance graphics display by students of James H. Clark
.
That group later formed Silicon Graphics
Incorporated.
Eventually about ten SUN workstations were built in the 1981–1982 time frame. After the initial ten, Stanford declined to build any more. Bechtolsheim then licensed the hardware design to be built by several vendors, but he was impatient with the results.
Vinod Khosla
, also from Stanford convinced Bechtolsheim along with Scott McNealy
to found Sun Microsystems
in order to build the Sun-1
workstation that included some improvements to the earlier design.
Other faculty members who did research using with SUN workstations were David Cheriton
, Brian Reid, and John Hennessy.
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
in the early 1980s.
History
The project name was derived from Stanford University NetworkStanford University Network
The Stanford University Network, also known as SUN, SUNet or SU-Net is the campus computer network for Stanford University.-History:Stanford Research Institute, formerly part of Stanford but on a separate campus, was the site of one of the four original ARPANET nodes...
, the campus network within Stanford.
It was inspired by the Xerox Alto
Xerox Alto
The Xerox Alto was one of the first computers designed for individual use , making it arguably what is now called a personal computer. It was developed at Xerox PARC in 1973...
computer developed at the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center but built with modular lower-cost parts. In 1979 Xerox donated some Alto computers for use in the Stanford Computer Science Department, as well as other to other universities that were developing the early Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
. The Altos were connected using Ethernet
Ethernet
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....
to form several Local Area Network
Local area network
A local area network is a computer network that interconnects computers in a limited area such as a home, school, computer laboratory, or office building...
s.
Professor Forest Baskett suggested the best-known configuration: a relatively low cost personal workstation
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...
for computer aided logic design work. The design created a 3M computer
3M computer
3M was a goal first proposed in the early 1980s by Raj Reddy and his colleagues at Carnegie Mellon University as a minimum specification for academic/technical workstations: at least a megabyte of memory, a megapixel display and a million instructions per second processing power. It was also...
: a 1 million Instructions per second
Instructions per second
Instructions per second is a measure of a computer's processor speed. Many reported IPS values have represented "peak" execution rates on artificial instruction sequences with few branches, whereas realistic workloads typically lead to significantly lower IPS values...
(MIPS) processor, 1 Megabyte of memory and a 1 Megapixel Raster scan
Raster scan
A raster scan, or raster scanning, is the rectangular pattern of image capture and reconstruction in television. By analogy, the term is used for raster graphics, the pattern of image storage and transmission used in most computer bitmap image systems...
Bit-map graphics display. Sometimes the $10,000 estimated price was called the fourth "M" — a "Megapenny".
Director of Computer Facilities Ralph Gorin suggested other configurations and initially funded the project.
Graduate student Andy Bechtolsheim
Andy Bechtolsheim
Andreas von Bechtolsheim is an electrical engineer who co-founded Sun Microsystems in 1982 and was its chief hardware designer....
designed the hardware, with several other students and staff members assisting with software and other aspects of the project. Vaughan Pratt became unofficial faculty leader of the project in 1980.
Three three key technologies made the SUN workstation possible: VLSI, Multibus
Multibus
Multibus is a computer bus standard used in industrial systems. It was developed by Intel Corporation and was adopted as the IEEE 796 bus.The Multibus specification was important because it was a robust, well-thought out industry standard with a relatively large form factor so complex devices could...
and ECAD.
ECAD (Electronic Computer Assisted Design, now known as Electronic design automation), allowed a single designer to quickly develop systems of greater complexity.
The Stanford Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (SAIL) had pioneered personal display terminals, but the 1971 system was showing its age. Bechtolsheim used the Stanford University Drawing System (SUDS) to design the SUN boards on the SAIL system. SUDS had originally developed for the Foonly
Foonly
Foonly was the computer company formed by Dave Poole, who was one of the principal Super Foonly designers as well as one of hackerdom's more colorful personalities....
computer.
The Structured Computer Aided Logic Design (SCALD) package was then used to verify the design, automate layout and produce wire wrap
Wire wrap
Wire wrap is a technology used to assemble electronics. It is a method to construct circuit boards without having to make a printed circuit board. Wires can be wrapped by hand or by machine, and can be hand-modified afterwards. It was popular for large-scale manufacturing in the 60s and early 70s,...
prototypes and then printed circuit board
Printed circuit board
A printed circuit board, or PCB, is used to mechanically support and electrically connect electronic components using conductive pathways, tracks or signal traces etched from copper sheets laminated onto a non-conductive substrate. It is also referred to as printed wiring board or etched wiring...
s.
VLSI (Very Large Scale Integration) integrated circuit
Integrated circuit
An integrated circuit or monolithic integrated circuit is an electronic circuit manufactured by the patterned diffusion of trace elements into the surface of a thin substrate of semiconductor material...
s finally allowed for a high level of hardware functionality to be included in a single chip. The graphics display controller was the first board designed, published in 1980. A Motorola 68000
Motorola 68000
The Motorola 68000 is a 16/32-bit CISC microprocessor core designed and marketed by Freescale Semiconductor...
CPU, along with memory, a parallel port controller and a serial port controller were included on the main CPU board designed by Bechtolsheim. The third board was an interface to the 2.93 Mbits/second experimental Ethernet (before the speed was standardized at 10 Mbits/second).
The Multibus computer interface allowed standard enclosures to be used, as well as circuit boards made by different vendors to create other configurations.
For example, the CPU board combined with a multi-port serial controller created a terminal server
Terminal server
A terminal server enables organizations to connect devices with an RS-232, RS-422 or RS-485 serial interface to a local area network . Products marketed as terminal servers can be very simple devices that do not offer any security functionality, such as data encryption and user authentication...
(called a TIP) which connected many terminals to the Digital Equipment Corporation
Digital Equipment Corporation
Digital Equipment Corporation was a major American company in the computer industry and a leading vendor of computer systems, software and peripherals from the 1960s to the 1990s...
time-sharing systems at Stanford or anywhere on the Internet.
Configuring multiple Ethernet controllers (including commercial ones once they were available) with one CPU board created a router. William Yeager
William Yeager
William "Bill" Yeager is an American engineer. He is best-known for being the inventor of a packet-switched, "Ships in the Night," multiple-protocol router in 1981, during his 20 year tenure at Stanford's Knowledge Systems Laboratory.The code was licensed by upstart Cisco Systems in 1987 and...
wrote the software that was later evolved by Cisco
Cisco
Cisco may refer to:Companies:*Cisco Systems, a computer networking company* Certis CISCO, corporatised entity of the former Commercial and Industrial Security Corporation in Singapore...
on its version of the hardware.
Les Earnest
Les Earnest
Lester Donald Earnest was born in the United States on December 17, 1930. He began his career as a computer programmer in 1954 during a stint as a U.S. Navy Aviation Electronics Officer & Digital Computer Project Officer at Naval Air Development Center, Johnsville, Pennsylvania...
licensed the CPU board for one of the first commercial low-cost laser printer
Laser printer
A laser printer is a common type of computer printer that rapidly produces high quality text and graphics on plain paper. As with digital photocopiers and multifunction printers , laser printers employ a xerographic printing process, but differ from analog photocopiers in that the image is produced...
controllers at a company called Imagen.
The processor board was combined with a prototype high performance graphics display by students of James H. Clark
James H. Clark
James H. Clark is an American entrepreneur and computer scientist. He founded several notable Silicon Valley technology companies, including Silicon Graphics, Inc., Netscape Communications Corporation, myCFO and Healtheon...
.
That group later formed Silicon Graphics
Silicon Graphics
Silicon Graphics, Inc. was a manufacturer of high-performance computing solutions, including computer hardware and software, founded in 1981 by Jim Clark...
Incorporated.
Eventually about ten SUN workstations were built in the 1981–1982 time frame. After the initial ten, Stanford declined to build any more. Bechtolsheim then licensed the hardware design to be built by several vendors, but he was impatient with the results.
Vinod Khosla
Vinod Khosla
Vinod Khosla is an Indian-born American venture capitalist and an influential personality in Silicon Valley....
, also from Stanford convinced Bechtolsheim along with Scott McNealy
Scott McNealy
Scott McNealy is an American business executive. He co-founded computer technology company Sun Microsystems in 1982 along with Vinod Khosla, Bill Joy, and Andy Bechtolsheim.-Biography:...
to found 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...
in order to build the Sun-1
Sun-1
Sun-1 was the first generation of UNIX computer workstations and servers produced by Sun Microsystems, launched in May 1982. These were based on a CPU board designed by Andy Bechtolsheim while he was a graduate student at Stanford University and funded by DARPA...
workstation that included some improvements to the earlier design.
Other faculty members who did research using with SUN workstations were David Cheriton
David Cheriton
David Ross Cheriton is a Canadian-born computer science professor at Stanford University who has investments in technology companies...
, Brian Reid, and John Hennessy.