Computing Center Chronology - Equipment

Computing Center Chronology - Equipment

• 1950's: IBM Unit Record Equipment (punched card) used for instruction in College of Business and for fiscal and student administrative records.

• 1962: IBM 1620 purchased to support academic users. The 1620 had 20K, which works out to be about 10K bytes as we know it now. The printer was the operator's console, which was an IBM electric typewriter.

• 1964: IBM 1440 (4K) purchased to perform administrative data processing.

• 1966: IBM 1440 replaced with 1401 (12K). IBM 1230 optical mark reader used for one of the first op scan grade collection applications nationwide.

• 1970: IBM 360/50 CPU acquired to support academic and administrative computing. The original configuration of the 360/50 was one multiplexor channel, one selector channel, 256K core memory, a 1403 line printer, a 2540 card reader/punch, three 30KB tape drives, and five 2314 single density disk drives. The original operating system was OS/MFT/HASP supporting a maximum of three user partitions. No 1401 emulation used.

• 1973: The capacity of the IBM 360/50 was doubled to a capacity of 512K bytes. The 7 track tape drive was removed, leaving three 9 track tape drives.

• 1974: Several administrative inquiry/update terminals were connected to the 360/50. CICS used for on line transactions.

• 1976: An HP 2000 minicomputer was purchased to provide low cost, BASIC language only, timesharing terminal support. SPSS was purchased with a faculty research grant.

• 1978: The capacity of the IBM 360/50 was doubled again when the leased CPU was replaced with a purchased unit with a full megabyte of core memory. Sixteen Apple microcomputers were installed in the Computer Science Department.

• 1979: The IBM 360/50 was upgraded for the last time when an additional bank of disk drives were added. OS/MVT replaced OS/MFT as the batch operating system. A remote job entry station (RJE) was installed in the Business Administration Building.

• 1980: A National Advanced System AS/5000 4 megabyte CPU and 3.5 billion byte disk storage subsystem was purchased. Academic disk storage was set to 1.1 billion bytes, 4.7 times that available on the IBM 360/50. VM/370 installed memory requirements no longer used to determine job class. SAS installed for the first time. MUSIC acquired as the academic interactive operating system for the AS/5000. Access to MUSIC was gained through 300 baud asynchronous dial up terminals and 1200 baud hardwired terminals.

• 1981: Computing Center RJE
  installed in the ISB. TI 745 Silent 700 terminals available for
  check out from the Computing Center to faculty members.

• 1982: Construction of the cable
  television based local area network began. Automated tape library
  management system (TMS) acquired.

• 1983: Construction completed on the
  computer rooms on the 5th floor GAB. Three VAX 11/780s purchased and
  installed in the new facilities on the 5th floor GAB. Two of the
  machines are used for general timesharing and managed by the
  Computing Center. The third is used for research purposes and is
  managed by the Computer Science Department. National Advanced
  Systems AS/8040 and AS/6650 replaced the AS/5000. The AS/8040 used
  primarily for instruction and research, the AS/6650 used primarily
  for administrative computing. Began development of Student
  Information Management System (SIMS). SPSS X installed. HP2680A
  laser printer capable of printing 45 pages per minute installed.
  "Protocol Converted" ports added to the AS/8040. Eight
  metro lines installed. Sixty four terminals installed on the 5th
  floor of the GAB and in the BA. Twenty four terminals replaced the
  IBM 029 keypunch machines in the ISB.

  • The Sytek local area network became
    operational as one of the first campus broadband data communication
    systems nationwide.

• 1984: OS/MVS/JES2 operating system
  replaced OS/MVT on AS/8040 and AS/6650. Four megabytes of memory
  added to the academic AS/8040 bringing the total capacity to twelve
  megabytes.

• 1985: NTSU became node in the Tager
  microwave network. Human Resources Management Information (HRMIS)
  project begun. (City power outages result in UPS battery fire in the
  GAB.) AS/8040 upgraded to sixteen megabytes of main memory, making
  it an AS/8043. NTSU became a BITNET site.

• 1986: VAX 11/780s upgraded to 785s
  and configured into a cluster. Graphics Lab opened in the basement
  of the ISB. NAS/8043 upgraded to a dual processor NAS/8083,
  increasing academic CPU power 80% and administrative CPU power 211%.
  Keypunch machines replaced with microcomputers in the Data Entry
  section of the Computing Center. HP 2000 moved to the Physics
  Department.

• 1987: HP 2680A laser printer
  installed in the BA. NTSU joined TEXNET.

• 1988: Project Eagle begun, the NTSU
  and GTE voice response project, which allowed NTSU to be one of the
  first Texas universities to implement teleregistration. (North Texas
  State University became the University of North Texas.) Eight
  2400/1200/300 BPS modems installed on the metro lines. UNT became an
  ARPANET node. UNT BBS implemented on the VAXcluster.

• 1989: Six IBM AT compatible PCs and
  six Macintosh SEs linked to a file server on a Novell Local Area
  Network installed in ISB 110 to create the first general purpose,
  general access microcomputer lab. HP ScanJet installed in the
  Graphics Lab. Desktop laser printing available from ISB 110 to an
  Apple Laserwriter II and an HP LaserJet II.

  • The last keypunch machine available
    for public use was removed from the area near the ISB RJE.

  • ANUNEWS and Netware VMS installed on
    the VAXcluster. VAXcluster connected to USENET.

  • Most file servers across campus linked
    via the broadband to create one of the largest university
    microcomputer networks in the nation. Sixteen 2400 baud modems
    installed on local dial up lines.

• 1990: An additional NAS/8083
  mainframe installed to support academic computing. Administrative
  computing done on the NAS/8083 already in place. NAS, bought out by
  Hitachi, changed the names of the mainframes to Hitachi Data Systems
  (HDS) 8083's. VAX 6310 replaced 11/785s. Installation of VM/XA on
  the Academic HDS.

  • Willis Library microcomputer lab
    opened.

  • Phase I of the fiber-optic
    communications backbone installation completed.

• 1991: The General Access Lab
  program came into effect fall of 1991. The labs in the program in
  1991 were: ACS (ISB 110), Chilton (116 [Adaptive lab] & 255,
  College of Arts and Sciences (GAB 330 & 550), College of
  Business (BA 330 & 550), College of Education (Matthews 309),
  SLIS (ISB 205A), Willis Library (134), Wooten Hall (120). Music 1007
  and Terrill 247 added in 1992.

• Solbourne 5E/902 purchased and
  installed for academic Unix support. It was configured as a two
  processor system capable of 60 MIPS, 8 double-precision MFLOPS, and
  36 SPECthroughs. It had 64 MB of main memory and 1.7 GB of disk
  storage.

• 1992: Two additional RISC
  processors added to the academic Solbourne, doubling its CPU
  capacity and tripling its memory.

  • A new IBM ES 9000, model 440
    administrative mainframe installed. This doubled the administrative
    processor speed (to 30 MIPS) and increased memory to 128 megabytes.
    MVS/ESA installed on the administrative mainframe.

  • Memory and I/O channels from the old
    administrative HDS mainframe were transferred to the Academic HDS
    mainframe, doubling its memory and I/O channel capacity (to 64
    megabytes and 32 channels).

  • A new voice response system for
    teleregistration and financial aid was installed, increasing capacity
    and providing support for one of the first (maybe the first)
    financial aid voice response implementations in the nation.

  • Phases II and III of the installation
    of the campus-wide fiber optics communication backbone was completed,
    with fiber linking 28 buildings.

  • 7 buildings equipped with
    state-of-the-art, 10baseT, Ethernet connections, including the
    Science Research Building.

  • Gopher installed on the Solbourne Unix
    system.

  • ABN Novell network installed in the
    Administration Building.

• 1993: SAA Gateway replaces SNA Gateway
  on Administrative Mainframe for improved microcomputer access.
  • 5 RISC-processor NCD X terminals
    installed in GAB 330 through a cooperative effort between the College
    of Arts and Sciences, General Access Labs, the Computing Center, and
    the Computer Sciences department.
  • MUSIC/SP system removed from the
    Academic mainframe, replaced with IBM/CMS.
  • Academic Solbourne system upgraded to
    a more powerful four processor Solbourne series 6. With sol's two old
    processors, some other spare parts and a new chassis, a second UNIX
    system called Jove was created.
  • Voice response systems were
    upgraded and interactive credit card payment and ability to have
    grades and other student information faxed to the student caller was
    implemented.

• 1997: Voice response is upgraded to
  IBM RSC machines using AIX.

• 1998: The first WebReg was
  implemented using Sun Solaris and accessing the mainframe for all
  student records.

• 2002: Purchased the first SunFire
  6800 in preparation for the conversion from the Mainframe to a
  distributed platform using Oracle and PeopleSoft.

• 2003: Added a 2nd 6800 to the EIS
  platform.

• 2004: Based on preliminary load
  testing, a 3rd Sun 6800 was loaned to UNT by Sun. The first major
  Fall registration was completed successfully in August of 2004. The
  mainframe was shutdown in December, 2004.

• 2005: The Sun 6800 loaner was
  returned and a 3rd Sun 6800 was purchased to complete the EIS
  distributed platform of 3 major Oracle Database Frames. Additional
  web and Windows units were purchased bringing the total of EIS units
  to approximately 110.