[SIGCIS-Members] Cray 1 serial number 0 being put together on Facebook Live at SC 2018

Tue Nov 13 08:01:28 PST 2018

That 1960 date is obviously not correct - it should presumably be 1976.
Wikipedia says "The Cray-1 was a supercomputer designed, manufactured and
marketed by Cray Research. Announced in 1975, the first Cray-1 system was
installed at Los Alamos National Laboratory in 1976. Eventually, over 100
Cray-1's were sold, making it one of the most successful supercomputers in
history."
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On Tue, Nov 13, 2018 at 7:48 AM Channell, David <channell at utdallas.edu>
wrote:

> In regards to the discussion of the Cray computer, several years ago I was
> visiting what was then called the National Atomic Museum which was on the
> grounds of Kirkland Air Force Base in Albuquerque.  At the gift shop I
> purchased a framed circuit board from a Cray 1-S/1000 computer.  According
> to the description that came with it: "This Cray-1 S printed circuit board
> is a genuine part of the second supercomputer ever built.  The computer
> arrived at Kirkland Air Force Base in 1960 and was used by the Phillips
> Laboratory (then known as the Air Force Weapons Laboratory).  At Phillips
> Laboratory, it was used to perform calculations, simulations and computer
> modeling to determine the effects of nuclear weapons detonations (heat,
> shock, blast, and radiation) on military systems and activities.  The
> Cray-1 S Supercomputer is an extremely powerful computer.  It contains
> four-million 64 bit words and could perform 140 million floating point
> mathematical calculations per second.  It could also undertake 63 jobs at
> the same time.  The computer has over 2000,000 integrated circuits, 3,400
> circuit boards and more than 60 miles of wiring.  This board is number 090
> of 340 pieces which have been made available as collectors items."
>
> The gift shop also sold the nose cone of a B-58 thermonuclear weapon
> (which I bought) and the access panel door of  a B-58 weapon (which I wish
> that I had bought).  I also purchased form them a civil defense geiger
> counter and a civil defense dosimeter.  After 9/11 they stopped selling
> items such as these.
> David F. Channell
> Professor of Historical Studies
> School of Arts and Humanities/Jo. 3.1
> The University of Texas at Dallas
> 800 W. Campbell Rd.
> Richardson, TX 75080-3021
>
> ph. 972 883 2007
> fax 972 883 2989
> e-mail: channell at utdallas.edu
>
> ------------------------------
> *From:* Members <members-bounces at lists.sigcis.org> on behalf of Grider,
> Gary Alan <ggrider at lanl.gov>
> *Sent:* Tuesday, November 13, 2018 8:08:12 AM
> *To:* Ceruzzi, Paul; Cynde Moya
> *Cc:* 'ianmacconnellsc at gmail.com'; members
> *Subject:* Re: [SIGCIS-Members] Cray 1 serial number 0 being put together
> on Facebook Live at SC 2018
>
>
> I will ask around.  Paul Iwanchuk did the original report on the memory at
> LANL and may remember the story.
>
> He still lives in Santa Fe pretty nearby.
>
>
>
> *From: *"Ceruzzi, Paul" <CeruzziP at si.edu>
> *Date: *Tuesday, November 13, 2018 at 7:05 AM
> *To: *Cynde Moya <CyndeM at livingcomputers.org>, Gary Grider <
> ggrider at lanl.gov>
> *Cc: *"'ianmacconnellsc at gmail.com'" <ianmacconnellsc at gmail.com>, members <
> members at sigcis.org>
> *Subject: *RE: [SIGCIS-Members] Cray 1 serial number 0 being put together
> on Facebook Live at SC 2018
>
>
>
> The National Air and Space Museum has a CRAY-1, serial #14, in its
> collections. It is not on display now but will be soon. It had been
> installed at NCAR, where it was heavily used and well-regarded.  When we
> got it (in 1988), we were told that it originally had a lower serial number
> but was re-worked and renumbered. Maybe the addition of parity bits?
> (“Parity is for farmers!” – Seymour Cray.) If any of you have more
> information on this let me know. Would there be any way to tell by looking
> at its circuits or wiring?
>
>
>
> https://airandspace.si.edu/collection-objects/computer-super-cray-1-cpu
>
>
>
>
>
> Paul Ceruzzi
>
> ceruzzip at si.edu
>
> 202-633-2414
>
>
>
> *From:* Members <members-bounces at lists.sigcis.org> *On Behalf Of *Cynde
> Moya
> *Sent:* Monday, November 12, 2018 10:29 AM
> *To:* 'Grider, Gary Alan' <ggrider at lanl.gov>
> *Cc:* 'ianmacconnellsc at gmail.com' <ianmacconnellsc at gmail.com>; members <
> members at sigcis.org>
> *Subject:* Re: [SIGCIS-Members] Cray 1 serial number 0 being put together
> on Facebook Live at SC 2018
>
>
>
> I was at the Bradbury Museum a year or so ago. They had an exhibit about
> supercomputing built around a CRAY-1. The front-end staff did not know the
> serial number. Perhaps this is Serial number 2 you refer to?
>
>
>
> Cynde Moya
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> *From:* Members <members-bounces at lists.sigcis.org> *On Behalf Of *Grider,
> Gary Alan
> *Sent:* Friday, November 9, 2018 2:13 PM
> *To:* Kevin Walsh <kwalsh at ucsd.edu>; members at lists.sigcis.org
> *Cc:* Tom Hutton <hutton at sdsc.edu>; Ian MacConnell (
> ianmacconnellsc at gmail.com) <ianmacconnellsc at gmail.com>
> *Subject:* Re: [SIGCIS-Members] Cray 1 serial number 0 being put together
> on Facebook Live at SC 2018
>
>
>
> Perhaps I should share why serial number 1 was sent back to Cray since
> this is a history group.
>
>
>
> When Serial 1 showed up in Los Alamos in 1976 it wouldn’t run for more
> than a few minutes yet it would run for hours in Minnesota.
>
> Turns out there was no memory protection and cosmic events at Los Alamos
> altitude were different enough from Minnesota.
>
> The memory was reworked and protection was added.  Serial number 1 was a
> bit of a testbed and had many mods/corrections made
>
> before subsequent machines were produced in 1977 and beyond.  That was the
> intent of the trial.
>
>
>
> Gary
>
>
>
> *From:* Grider, Gary Alan
> *Sent:* Friday, November 9, 2018 3:01 PM
> *To:* 'Kevin Walsh' <kwalsh at ucsd.edu>; members at lists.sigcis.org
> *Cc:* Tom Hutton <hutton at sdsc.edu>; Ian MacConnell (
> ianmacconnellsc at gmail.com) <ianmacconnellsc at gmail.com>
> *Subject:* RE: [SIGCIS-Members] Cray 1 serial number 0 being put together
> on Facebook Live at SC 2018
>
>
>
> I think there is a correction to be made here:
>
> From https://www2.cisl.ucar.edu/supercomputer/c1
>
> “By 1975, NCAR's 7600 was straining under a severe overload. SCD was
> oversubscribed; turnaround time had become intolerable. A request for
> proposal (RFP) was issued, resulting in an order for a CRAY-1A. While
> serial number 1 of the CRAY-1 computer system had been shipped to the Los
> Alamos National Laboratory in 1976 for a six-month trial period, NCAR was
> Cray Research's first official customer.
>
> On July 11, 1977, the CRAY-1A, serial number 3, was delivered to NCAR. The
> system cost was $8.86 million ($7.9 million plus $1 million for the disks).”
>
> For a long time, Serial number 1 sat in the Bradbury Museum in Los Alamos
> until Cray asked if they could have it for their Chippewa
> <https://www.google.com/search?q=chippewa&spell=1&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi9_Iilp8jeAhWFiVQKHTvIBSEQkeECCC8oAA&biw=1125&bih=1215>
> museum.
>
> They shipped Los Alamos Serial number 2 for the Bradbury Museum.  I
> believe it is sitting in a back room at Bradbury now.
>
> Thanks
>
> Gary Grider
>
> LANL
>
>
>
>
>
> *From:* Members <members-bounces at lists.sigcis.org> *On Behalf Of *Kevin
> Walsh
> *Sent:* Friday, November 9, 2018 2:48 PM
> *To:* members at lists.sigcis.org
> *Cc:* Tom Hutton <hutton at sdsc.edu>; Ian MacConnell (
> ianmacconnellsc at gmail.com) <ianmacconnellsc at gmail.com>
> *Subject:* [SIGCIS-Members] Cray 1 serial number 0 being put together on
> Facebook Live at SC 2018
>
>
>
> All,
>
>
>
> Cray 1 fabrication  on Facebook LIVE happening now  -
>
>
>
> https://www.facebook.com/pg/SCconferences/videos/?ref=page_internal
>
>
>
> The Cray 1 that was the first Cray at NCAR and then Los Alamos is
> currently being put together for display at the ACM/IEEE Supercomputer
> Conference in Dallas, Texas.
>
>
>
> Folks in the Dallas area can stop by to see the Cray and supercomputing
> artifacts assembled for the 30th Anniversary of the SC conference.
>
>
>
> We will record the fabrication and post a separate time lapse video after
> completion.
>
>
>
> Regards,
>
> Kevin Walsh
>
> Scripps Institution of Oceanography
>
> KK6FRK
>
> (858)822-3356 <(858)%20822-3356>
>
> kwalsh at ucsd.edu
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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