[email protected] (Tom Marchant) writes: > I'm pretty sure that the 470/6 was never shipped. The way I heard it was that > work on the 470/V started very soon after the introduction of virtual memory > on 370 machines and the announcement of OS/VS1 and OS/VS2. OS/VS1 and > OS/VS2 release 1 were both introduced in 1972 and OS/VS2 release 2 (MVS) > in 1973, though I don't know when it actually shipped. See > http://bitsavers.trailing-edge.com/pdf/ibm/370/OS_VS2/Release_2_1973/GC28-0667-1_OS_VS2_Planning_Guide_for_Release_2_Nov73.pdf > > > The Wiki article on Amdahl Corporation is no help here. According to it, the > 470/6 was introduced in 1975, and that when IBM announced DAT, Amdahl > dropped the 470/6 and replaced it with the 470V/6. It also claims, > incorrectly, > that MDF was first shipped on the 470V/8. In fact, MDF required major > architectural extensions that were not available until the 5860.
re: http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2018c.html#23 VS History also from bitsavers: http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/amdahl/datapro/70C-044-01_7709_Amdahl_470.pdf more: http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/amdahl/ Amdahl Corporation was the first company to develop and produce an IBM plug-compatible mainframe computer. The company, formed in 1971 by Dr. Gene Amdahl, delivered its first processor, the 470V /6, in June 1975. The original Amdahl 470 was intended to be a real- memory system targeted at IBM's System/370 Model 165. The target moved, however, with IBM's announcement of the virtual-memory 370/168 in August 1972, and Amdahl modified its system design to incorporate virtual- memory hardware, enabling the new system to compete with IBM's latest technology. The system that resulted from this shift in direction, the 470V/6, featured about twice the performance level of the IBM~370/168 at a similar price, while occupying only one-third of the space required by the IBM counterpart ... snip ... more amdahl ref: http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/amdahl/ Amdahl account of running ACS/360 ... however it was terminated because executives were afraid that it would advance state-of-the-art too fast and they would loose control of the market https://people.cs.clemson.edu/~mark/acs_end.html Amdahl gave a talk in large MIT auditorium early 70s about starting company ... filled mostly students ... but several of us from the IBM science center attended. He was asked how he convince VC people to fund his company. He said that he told them that even if IBM totally walked away from 370 ... there was sufficient customer 370 software that would keep him in business until the end of the century. Could be interrupted that he was referring to the IBM Future System effort that was going to completely replace 370 ... but in subsequent interviews he claims he never knew about FS. some FS ref: http://www.jfsowa.com/computer/memo125.htm 370/165 ref. ... original 370 virtual memory architecture had a lot more features ... but POK was running into all sorts of problems retrofitting virtual memory hardware to 165 ... and claimed if they had to do the full architecture, virtual memory announce would have to slip by 6months. Decision was made to eliminate the troublesome features ... and existing 370 models & software that had support for the removed features would have to eliminate (redo hardware and rework software). other trivia: In the 70s, I did a lot of mainframe customer presentations and got to know many customers. I got to know the manager of one of the largest financial mainframe datacenters on the east coast, who liked me to drop by and talk technology. Then at one point the branch manager did something that horribly offended the customer. In response, the customer announced they would order an Amdahl (clone) mainframe (lonely Amdahl in vast sea of blue). At the time, clone makers had been selling into mostly universities but hadn't broken into the true blue large financial market ... and this would be the first. I was asked to go sit onsite at the customers for 12months to help obfuscate the reason for the Amdahl order. I said that I knew the customer really well and while he liked the idea of me spending my time there, it would make no difference in the order ... so I didn't see any point. I was told that the branch manager was good sailing buddy of IBM's CEO and if I didn't do this, it would ruin the branch manager's career ... and I could forget about having any career or promotions at IBM (it wasn't the first time I got told that). -- virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [email protected] with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
