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

Tue Nov 13 08:03:49 PST 2018

Sorry that was a typo.  It says 1980.

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<mailto:channell at utdallas.edu>

________________________________
From: Brian Berg <brianberg at gmail.com>
Sent: Tuesday, November 13, 2018 10:01:28 AM
To: Channell, David
Cc: ggrider at lanl.gov; Ceruzzi, Paul; CyndeM at livingcomputers.org; ianmacconnellsc at gmail.com; SIGCIS Listserver
Subject: Re: [SIGCIS-Members] Cray 1 serial number 0 being put together on Facebook Live at SC 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<mailto: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<mailto:channell at utdallas.edu>

________________________________
From: Members <members-bounces at lists.sigcis.org<mailto:members-bounces at lists.sigcis.org>> on behalf of Grider, Gary Alan <ggrider at lanl.gov<mailto:ggrider at lanl.gov>>
Sent: Tuesday, November 13, 2018 8:08:12 AM
To: Ceruzzi, Paul; Cynde Moya
Cc: 'ianmacconnellsc at gmail.com<mailto: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<mailto:CeruzziP at si.edu>>
Date: Tuesday, November 13, 2018 at 7:05 AM
To: Cynde Moya <CyndeM at livingcomputers.org<mailto:CyndeM at livingcomputers.org>>, Gary Grider <ggrider at lanl.gov<mailto:ggrider at lanl.gov>>
Cc: "'ianmacconnellsc at gmail.com<mailto:ianmacconnellsc at gmail.com>'" <ianmacconnellsc at gmail.com<mailto:ianmacconnellsc at gmail.com>>, members <members at sigcis.org<mailto: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<mailto:ceruzzip at si.edu>

202-633-2414

From: Members <members-bounces at lists.sigcis.org<mailto: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<mailto:ggrider at lanl.gov>>
Cc: 'ianmacconnellsc at gmail.com<mailto:ianmacconnellsc at gmail.com>' <ianmacconnellsc at gmail.com<mailto:ianmacconnellsc at gmail.com>>; members <members at sigcis.org<mailto: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<mailto: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<mailto:kwalsh at ucsd.edu>>; members at lists.sigcis.org<mailto:members at lists.sigcis.org>
Cc: Tom Hutton <hutton at sdsc.edu<mailto:hutton at sdsc.edu>>; Ian MacConnell (ianmacconnellsc at gmail.com<mailto:ianmacconnellsc at gmail.com>) <ianmacconnellsc at gmail.com<mailto: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<mailto:kwalsh at ucsd.edu>>; members at lists.sigcis.org<mailto:members at lists.sigcis.org>
Cc: Tom Hutton <hutton at sdsc.edu<mailto:hutton at sdsc.edu>>; Ian MacConnell (ianmacconnellsc at gmail.com<mailto:ianmacconnellsc at gmail.com>) <ianmacconnellsc at gmail.com<mailto: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<mailto: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<mailto:members at lists.sigcis.org>
Cc: Tom Hutton <hutton at sdsc.edu<mailto:hutton at sdsc.edu>>; Ian MacConnell (ianmacconnellsc at gmail.com<mailto:ianmacconnellsc at gmail.com>) <ianmacconnellsc at gmail.com<mailto: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<tel:(858)%20822-3356>

kwalsh at ucsd.edu<mailto:kwalsh at ucsd.edu>

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