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SGI Indy
The Indy, code-named "Guinness", is a low-end multimedia workstation introduced on July 12, 1993 by Silicon Graphics Incorporated (SGI). SGI developed, manufactured, and marketed Indy as the lowest end of its product line, for computer-aided design (CAD), desktop publishing, and multimedia markets. It competed with Intel x86 computers, and with Windows and Macintosh, including using their files and running their applications via software emulation. It is the first computer to come standard with a video camera, called IndyCam. Indy was repackaged as a server model called Challenge S. Indy was discontinued on June 30, 1997, and support ended on December 31, 2011. Hardware The Indy is one of the smaller form factors of the time (41 cm × 36 cm × 8 cm). The sturdy, electric-blue colored "pizza box" chassis is comparable to a contemporary small desktop PC, and is intended to fit underneath a large CRT monitor. Designed for multimedia use, the Indy includes analog an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pizza Box Form Factor
In computing, a pizza box is a style of case design for desktop computers or network switches. Pizza box cases tend to be wide and flat, normally in height, resembling pizza delivery boxes and thus the name. This is in contrast to a tower system, whose case height is much greater than the width and has an "upright" appearance. In modern usage, the term "pizza box" is normally reserved for very flat cases with height no more than , while those taller than 2 inches are referred to as ''desktop'' cases instead. The common setup of a pizza box system is to have the display monitor placed directly on top of the case, which serves as a podium to elevate the monitor more towards the user's eye level, and to have other peripherals placed in front and alongside the case. Occasionally, the pizza box may be laid on its sides in a tower-like orientation. History With the tagline "Who just fit mainframe power in a pizza box?" in a 1991 advertisement for its Aviion Unix server product ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Silicon Graphics Incorporated
Silicon Graphics, Inc. (stylized as SiliconGraphics before 1999, later rebranded SGI, historically known as Silicon Graphics Computer Systems or SGCS) was an American high-performance computing manufacturer, producing computer hardware and software. Founded in Mountain View, California, in November 1981 by James H. Clark, the computer scientist and entrepreneur perhaps best known for founding Netscape (with Marc Andreessen). Its initial market was 3D graphics computer workstations, but its products, strategies and market positions developed significantly over time. Early systems were based on the RealityEngine, Geometry Engine that Clark and Marc Hannah had developed at Stanford University, and were derived from Clark's broader background in computer graphics. The Geometry Engine was the first very-large-scale integration (VLSI) implementation of a geometry pipeline, specialized hardware that accelerated the "inner-loop" geometric computations needed to display three-dimensional ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Random Access Memory
Random-access memory (RAM; ) is a form of electronic computer memory that can be read and changed in any order, typically used to store working data and machine code. A random-access memory device allows data items to be read or written in almost the same amount of time irrespective of the physical location of data inside the memory, in contrast with other direct-access data storage media (such as hard disks and magnetic tape), where the time required to read and write data items varies significantly depending on their physical locations on the recording medium, due to mechanical limitations such as media rotation speeds and arm movement. In today's technology, random-access memory takes the form of integrated circuit (IC) chips with MOS (metal–oxide–semiconductor) memory cells. RAM is normally associated with volatile types of memory where stored information is lost if power is removed. The two main types of volatile random-access semiconductor memory are static ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
SGI Indigo
The Indigo, introduced as the IRIS Indigo, is a line of workstation computers developed and manufactured by Silicon Graphics, Silicon Graphics, Inc. (SGI). SGI first announced the system in July 1991. The Indigo is one of the most capable graphics workstations of its era, and was essentially peerless in the realm of hardware-accelerated three-dimensional graphics rendering. For use as a graphics workstation, the Indigo was equipped with a two-dimensional framebuffer or, for use as a 3D graphics workstation, with the Elan Graphics, Elan graphics subsystem including one to four Geometry Engines (GEs). SGI sold a server version with no video adapter. The Indigo's design is based on a simple cube motif in indigo hue. Graphics and other peripheral expansions are accomplished via the GIO32 expansion bus. The Indigo was superseded generally by the SGI Indigo2, and in the low-cost market segment by the SGI Indy. Technical specifications The first Indigo model (code-named ''Hollywoo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
SGI Indigo² And Challenge M
The SGI Indigo2 (stylized as "Indigo2") and the SGI Challenge M are Unix workstations which were designed and sold by SGI from 1992 to 1997. The Indigo2, codenamed "Fullhouse", is a desktop workstation. The Challenge M is a server which differs from the Indigo2 only by a slightly differently colored and badged case, and the absence of graphics and sound hardware. Both systems are based on the MIPS processors, with EISA bus and SGI proprietary GIO64 expansion bus via a riser card. The Indigo preceded the Indigo2, which is succeeded by the Octane. Overview Indigo2 desktop workstations have two models: the teal Indigo2 and the purple IMPACT. Both have identical looking cases except color, and sub-model case badging. The CPU types, the amount of RAM, and graphics capabilities, depend on the model or sub-model variation. Power Indigo2 is a version of the teal Indigo2, with the R8000 chipset and strong floating-point arithmetic performance. The later IMPACT Indigo2 workstati ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Floating-point
In computing, floating-point arithmetic (FP) is arithmetic on subsets of real numbers formed by a ''significand'' (a Sign (mathematics), signed sequence of a fixed number of digits in some Radix, base) multiplied by an integer power of that base. Numbers of this form are called floating-point numbers. For example, the number 2469/200 is a floating-point number in base ten with five digits: 2469/200 = 12.345 = \! \underbrace_\text \! \times \! \underbrace_\text\!\!\!\!\!\!\!\overbrace^ However, 7716/625 = 12.3456 is not a floating-point number in base ten with five digits—it needs six digits. The nearest floating-point number with only five digits is 12.346. And 1/3 = 0.3333… is not a floating-point number in base ten with any finite number of digits. In practice, most floating-point systems use Binary number, base two, though base ten (decimal floating point) is also common. Floating-point arithmetic operations, such as addition and division, approximate the correspond ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Quantum Effect Devices
Quantum Effect Devices, Inc. (QED), was a microprocessor design company incorporated in 1991 as Quantum Effect Design. It was based in Palo Alto, California. History The three founders, Tom Riordan, Earl Killian and Ray Kunita, were senior managers at MIPS Computer Systems Inc. They left MIPS at a time when the company was having a difficult time selling entire computer systems ( MIPS Magnum) instead of concentrating on building microprocessor chips which was MIPS' original mission. Soon after, SGI purchased MIPS. IDT was a major funder and customer for the initial QED design. Business The original product plan for QED was to build a MIPS microprocessor for a laptop computer. This was during the ACE initiative from Microsoft to support multiple RISC architectures for their new Windows NT operating system. System companies like DeskStation Technology and board companies like ShaBLAMM! Computer were building products in the hope that RISC-based personal computers would become ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Microprocessor
A microprocessor is a computer processor (computing), processor for which the data processing logic and control is included on a single integrated circuit (IC), or a small number of ICs. The microprocessor contains the arithmetic, logic, and control circuitry required to perform the functions of a computer's central processing unit (CPU). The IC is capable of interpreting and executing program instructions and performing arithmetic operations. The microprocessor is a multipurpose, Clock signal, clock-driven, Processor register, register-based, digital integrated circuit that accepts binary code, binary data as input, processes it according to instruction (computing), instructions stored in its computer memory, memory, and provides results (also in binary form) as output. Microprocessors contain both combinational logic and sequential logic, sequential digital logic, and operate on numbers and symbols represented in the binary number system. The integration of a whole CPU on ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
MIPS Architecture
MIPS (Microprocessor without Interlocked Pipelined Stages) is a family of reduced instruction set computer (RISC) instruction set architectures (ISA)Price, Charles (September 1995). ''MIPS IV Instruction Set'' (Revision 3.2), MIPS Technologies, Inc. developed by MIPS Computer Systems, now MIPS Technologies, based in the United States. There are multiple versions of MIPS, including MIPS I, II, III, IV, and V, as well as five releases of MIPS32/64 (for 32- and 64-bit implementations, respectively). The early MIPS architectures were 32-bit; 64-bit versions were developed later. As of April 2017, the current version of MIPS is MIPS32/64 Release 6. MIPS32/64 primarily differs from MIPS I–V by defining the privileged kernel mode System Control Coprocessor in addition to the user mode architecture. The MIPS architecture has several optional extensions: MIPS-3D, a simple set of floating-point SIMD instructions dedicated to 3D computer graphics; MDMX (MaDMaX), a more extensive i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Floptical
Floptical refers to a type of floppy disk drive that combines magnetic and optical technologies to store data on media similar to standard -inch floppy disks. The name is a portmanteau of the words "floppy" and "optical". It refers specifically to one brand of drive and disk system, but is also used more generically to refer to any system using similar techniques. The original Floptical technology was announced in 1988 and introduced late in 1991 by Insite Peripherals, a venture funded company set up by Jim Adkisson, one of the key engineers behind the original -inch floppy disk drive development at Shugart Associates in 1976. The main shareholders were Maxell, Iomega and 3M. This original format normally held 21 MB of data, compared to the contemporary 3.5" floppy capacity of 720 kB or 1.44 MB. Over the next several years, similar products were introduced by other companies with ever increasing capacity, eventually reaching 240 MB in some systems. All of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Video On Demand
Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos, television shows and films Digital distribution, digitally on request. These multimedia are accessed without a traditional video playback device and a typical static broadcasting schedule, which was popular under traditional broadcast programming, instead involving newer modes of content consumption that have risen as Internet and IPTV technologies have become prominent, and culminated in the arrival of VOD and Over-the-top media service, over-the-top (OTT) media services on televisions and personal computers. Television VOD systems can streaming media, stream content, either through a traditional set-top box or through remote devices such as computers, tablets, and smartphones. VOD users may also permanently download content to a device such as a computer, digital video recorder (DVR) or, a portable media player for continued viewing. The majority of Cable television, cable and telephone comp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
US West
US West, Inc. was one of seven Regional Bell Operating Companies (RBOCs, also referred to as "Baby Bells"), created in 1983 under the Modification of Final Judgement (''United States v. Western Electric Co., Inc.'' 552 Fed. Supp. 131), a case related to the antitrust breakup of AT&T. US West provided local telephone and intraLATA long-distance services, data transmission services, cable television services, wireless communications services and related telecommunications products to defined areas in Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. US West was a public company traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "USW" with headquarters at 1801 California Street in Denver, Colorado. Until 1990, US West was a holding company with three Bell Operating Companies: Mountain States Telephone & Telegraph (or Mountain Bell, headquartered in Denver, Colorado); North ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
