The Cray XMS was a
vector processor
In computing, a vector processor or array processor is a central processing unit (CPU) that implements an instruction set where its instructions are designed to operate efficiently and effectively on large one-dimensional arrays of data called ...
minisupercomputer
Minisupercomputers constituted a short-lived class of computers that emerged in the mid-1980s, characterized by the combination of vector processing and small-scale multiprocessing. As scientific computing using vector processors became more popul ...
sold by
Cray Research
Cray Inc., a subsidiary of Hewlett Packard Enterprise, is an American supercomputer manufacturer headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It also manufactures systems for data storage and analytics. Several Cray supercomputer systems are listed i ...
from 1990 to 1991. The XMS was originally designed by
Supertek Computers Inc. as the Supertek S-1, intended to be a low-cost air-cooled clone of the
Cray X-MP
The Cray X-MP was a supercomputer designed, built and sold by Cray Research. It was announced in 1982 as the "cleaned up" successor to the 1975 Cray-1, and was the world's fastest computer from 1983 to 1985 with a quad-processor system performance ...
with a
CMOS
Complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor (CMOS, pronounced "sea-moss", ) is a type of metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) fabrication process that uses complementary and symmetrical pairs of p-type and n-type MOSFE ...
re-implementation of the X-MP processor architecture, and a
VMEbus
VMEbus (Versa Module Europa or Versa Module Eurocard bus) is a computer bus standard, originally developed for the Motorola 68000 line of CPUs, but later widely used for many applications and standardized by the IEC as ANSI/IEEE 1014-1987. I ...
-based Input/Output Subsystem (IOS). The XMS could run Cray's
UNICOS
UNICOS is a range of Unix and after it Linux operating system (OS) variants developed by Cray for its supercomputers. UNICOS is the successor of the Cray Operating System (COS). It provides network clustering and source code compatibility layer ...
operating system
An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware, software resources, and provides common services for computer programs.
Time-sharing operating systems schedule tasks for efficient use of the system and may also in ...
. Supertek were acquired by Cray Research in 1990, and the S-1 was rebadged XMS by Cray. Its processor had a 55 ns
clock period (18.2 MHz clock frequency) and 16 megawords (128 MB) of memory.
The CRAY XMS system was the first CRI computer system to be supported by removable disk drives.
Serial 5011, on display, was used for marketing purposes in the Eastern Region. It traveled for over 80,000 miles during its short working life and appeared at many trade shows.
The XMS was a short-lived model, and was superseded by the
Cray Y-MP EL
The Cray Y-MP was a supercomputer sold by Cray Research from 1988, and the successor to the company's X-MP. The Y-MP retained software compatibility with the X-MP, but extended the address registers from 24 to 32 bits. High-density VLSI ECL tech ...
, which was under development by Supertek (as the Supertek S-2 and briefly as the Cray YMS) at the time of the Cray acquisition.
Though powerful for its time, the CRAY XMS only had half the processing power of
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washing ...
's original
Xbox
Xbox is a video gaming brand created and owned by Microsoft. The brand consists of five video game consoles, as well as applications (games), streaming services, an online service by the name of Xbox network, and the development arm by the na ...
gaming console.
References
Fred Gannett's Cray FAQ*
ttps://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CE1DC133EF933A05750C0A966958260 ''Cray in Deal To Acquire Supertek'', New York Times
Computer-related introductions in 1990
Xms
Vector supercomputers
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