3b2/600G (AFCAC 251 contract) query

Larry Bierma bierma at nprdc.arpa
Sat May 20 06:43:05 AEST 1989


Is any one out there familiar with AT&T's 3b2/600 machines.
Government (DOD) users have the opportunity to by 3b2/600
and a highly discounted cost (AFCAC 251 contract).  Being
totally unfamiliar with the 3b2 line I have some questions.

    1)  There are two optional CPU's, both WE32200 one at 22MHZ
	and the other at 24MHZ.  The 24MHZ is four times the cost
	of the 22MHZ version.  Is there a reason (expanded cache?,
	improved context switching?) for the dramatic cost
	difference?

    2)  There is a "Multiprocessor Enhancement Feature" which
	involves one (or two) additional 24MHZ processors.
	How much performance gain does this "feature" provide?

    3)  Configurations are available up to 128 serial ports 
	(possibly even 256).  How many simultaneous users
	can a 3b2/600 really handle given the job mix of a
	typical office environment (editing, text processing,
        electronic mail, simple MIS functions)?  What about
	a software development environment?  How much does
	the different processor speeds and "Multiprocessor
	feature" effect the number of simultaneous users
	possible.

The disks on the contract machine are all SCSI (CDC WREN) 
and the memory capacity is 64MB.

Please respond directly to me at one of the below addresses.  I
will summarize the responses if there is enough interest.

--Larry		ARPA: bierma at nprdc.navy.mil
		UUCP: ucsd!nprdc!bierma
		PSTN: (619) 553-7915



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