New biggest hard drive candidate: Librascope Disk File
Hello SIGCIS, My new candidate for largest hard drive is the Librascope Disk File, as used at SAIL. According to this letter from Ed Feigenbaum, only two were produced. Stanford acquired one of them for $300K in 1967, but a year later a "massive malfunction" destroyed half of its capacity, leading to a lawsuit settled out of court. In 1976 it was decommissioned, but at least one of the platters was saved and displayed. https://exhibits.stanford.edu/feigenbaum/catalog/ct397kv6234 According to these pictures of the display, http://infolab.stanford.edu/pub/voy/museum/pictures/display/1-MD-MemDisk2.ht m it was a "head per track" unit (i.e. more like a flat drum memory than a regular disk) which would solve the problem of large access times moving a head over such a large disk. The overall drive had six platters and weighed 5,200 lbs, to store 1,120,665 32-bit words (ie about 4.27MB) per side. So about 50MB total. An exhibit page at CHM documents what seems to be a platter from the same drive, claiming a 5 foot diameter (i.e. approx.. 60 inches). https://www.computerhistory.org/collections/catalog/102682858 On the other hand, an ebook about the SAIL DART archive gives a 4 foot diameter (i.e. approx.. 48 inches). https://www.saildart.org/simple/booklet/SAILDART_PREVIEW_2020_0330_good.pdf Both are comfortably larger than the 39 inch diameter for the Bryant drive. And as both platters are still around, someone should be able to make a precise measurement for the record books. Best wishes, Tom
Hi everyone, Les Earnest, former executive director of SAIL, uses the only existing (?) Librascope Disk File for a coffee table in his living room (see the image in the SAIL ebook Tom linked to). That is, assuming he hasn't gotten rid of it since I interviewed him at his home last February (2019)... Best, Salem On Mon, Sep 21, 2020 at 11:49 AM <thomas.haigh@gmail.com> wrote:
Hello SIGCIS,
My new candidate for largest hard drive is the Librascope Disk File, as used at SAIL. According to this letter from Ed Feigenbaum, only two were produced. Stanford acquired one of them for $300K in 1967, but a year later a “massive malfunction” destroyed half of its capacity, leading to a lawsuit settled out of court. In 1976 it was decommissioned, but at least one of the platters was saved and displayed. https://exhibits.stanford.edu/feigenbaum/catalog/ct397kv6234
According to these pictures of the display, http://infolab.stanford.edu/pub/voy/museum/pictures/display/1-MD-MemDisk2.ht... it was a “head per track” unit (i.e. more like a flat drum memory than a regular disk) which would solve the problem of large access times moving a head over such a large disk. The overall drive had six platters and weighed 5,200 lbs, to store 1,120,665 32-bit words (ie about 4.27MB) per side. So about 50MB total.
An exhibit page at CHM documents what seems to be a platter from the same drive, claiming a 5 foot diameter (i.e. approx.. 60 inches). https://www.computerhistory.org/collections/catalog/102682858
On the other hand, an ebook about the SAIL DART archive gives a 4 foot diameter (i.e. approx.. 48 inches). https://www.saildart.org/simple/booklet/SAILDART_PREVIEW_2020_0330_good.pdf
Both are comfortably larger than the 39 inch diameter for the Bryant drive. And as both platters are still around, someone should be able to make a precise measurement for the record books.
Best wishes,
Tom
_______________________________________________ This email is relayed from members at sigcis.org, the email discussion list of SHOT SIGCIS. Opinions expressed here are those of the member posting and are not reviewed, edited, or endorsed by SIGCIS. The list archives are at http://lists.sigcis.org/pipermail/members-sigcis.org/ and you can change your subscription options at http://lists.sigcis.org/listinfo.cgi/members-sigcis.org
-- Salem Elzway PhD Candidate Department of History University of Michigan (402)730-4775 salem.elzway@gmail.com
I interviewed Les in that same room. I think that disc is a fixture for his lifetime Chuck House www.innovascapesinstitute.com www.anywhereanytime.io/covid19 http://innovascapes.blogspot.com 805-570-6706 From: Members <members-bounces@lists.sigcis.org> on behalf of Salem Elzway <salem.elzway@gmail.com> Date: Monday, September 21, 2020 at 10:30 AM To: <members@sigcis.org> Subject: Re: [SIGCIS-Members] New biggest hard drive candidate: Librascope Disk File Hi everyone, Les Earnest, former executive director of SAIL, uses the only existing (?) Librascope Disk File for a coffee table in his living room (see the image in the SAIL ebook Tom linked to). That is, assuming he hasn't gotten rid of it since I interviewed him at his home last February (2019)... Best, Salem On Mon, Sep 21, 2020 at 11:49 AM <thomas.haigh@gmail.com> wrote: Hello SIGCIS, My new candidate for largest hard drive is the Librascope Disk File, as used at SAIL. According to this letter from Ed Feigenbaum, only two were produced. Stanford acquired one of them for $300K in 1967, but a year later a “massive malfunction” destroyed half of its capacity, leading to a lawsuit settled out of court. In 1976 it was decommissioned, but at least one of the platters was saved and displayed. https://exhibits.stanford.edu/feigenbaum/catalog/ct397kv6234 According to these pictures of the display, http://infolab.stanford.edu/pub/voy/museum/pictures/display/1-MD-MemDisk2.ht... it was a “head per track” unit (i.e. more like a flat drum memory than a regular disk) which would solve the problem of large access times moving a head over such a large disk. The overall drive had six platters and weighed 5,200 lbs, to store 1,120,665 32-bit words (ie about 4.27MB) per side. So about 50MB total. An exhibit page at CHM documents what seems to be a platter from the same drive, claiming a 5 foot diameter (i.e. approx.. 60 inches). https://www.computerhistory.org/collections/catalog/102682858 On the other hand, an ebook about the SAIL DART archive gives a 4 foot diameter (i.e. approx.. 48 inches). https://www.saildart.org/simple/booklet/SAILDART_PREVIEW_2020_0330_good.pdf Both are comfortably larger than the 39 inch diameter for the Bryant drive. And as both platters are still around, someone should be able to make a precise measurement for the record books. Best wishes, Tom _______________________________________________ This email is relayed from members at sigcis.org, the email discussion list of SHOT SIGCIS. Opinions expressed here are those of the member posting and are not reviewed, edited, or endorsed by SIGCIS. The list archives are at http://lists.sigcis.org/pipermail/members-sigcis.org/ and you can change your subscription options at http://lists.sigcis.org/listinfo.cgi/members-sigcis.org -- Salem Elzway PhD Candidate Department of History University of Michigan (402)730-4775 salem.elzway@gmail.com _______________________________________________ This email is relayed from members at sigcis.org, the email discussion list of SHOT SIGCIS. Opinions expressed here are those of the member posting and are not reviewed, edited, or endorsed by SIGCIS. The list archives are at http://lists.sigcis.org/pipermail/members-sigcis.org/ and you can change your subscription options at http://lists.sigcis.org/listinfo.cgi/members-sigcis.org
The CHM description matches my memory of one of these platters as a table in the nook below the front stairs of Margaret Jacks Hall, around 1982 (then the home of Stanford's CS department). The fact about the platter that most impressed me was how thick it was. The 2 inches quoted on the CHM record seems a little high, but it has been almost 40 years since I used that table to study... Voy Wiederhold's photo of a display looks like it is from Gates Hall. Cary Gray
On Sep 21, 2020, at 9:49 AM, thomas.haigh@gmail.com wrote:
Hello SIGCIS,
My new candidate for largest hard drive is the Librascope Disk File, as used at SAIL. According to this letter from Ed Feigenbaum, only two were produced. Stanford acquired one of them for $300K in 1967, but a year later a “massive malfunction” destroyed half of its capacity, leading to a lawsuit settled out of court. In 1976 it was decommissioned, but at least one of the platters was saved and displayed. https://exhibits.stanford.edu/feigenbaum/catalog/ct397kv6234
According to these pictures of the display, http://infolab.stanford.edu/pub/voy/museum/pictures/display/1-MD-MemDisk2.ht... it was a “head per track” unit (i.e. more like a flat drum memory than a regular disk) which would solve the problem of large access times moving a head over such a large disk. The overall drive had six platters and weighed 5,200 lbs, to store 1,120,665 32-bit words (ie about 4.27MB) per side. So about 50MB total.
An exhibit page at CHM documents what seems to be a platter from the same drive, claiming a 5 foot diameter (i.e. approx.. 60 inches). https://www.computerhistory.org/collections/catalog/102682858 On the other hand, an ebook about the SAIL DART archive gives a 4 foot diameter (i.e. approx.. 48 inches). https://www.saildart.org/simple/booklet/SAILDART_PREVIEW_2020_0330_good.pdf Both are comfortably larger than the 39 inch diameter for the Bryant drive. And as both platters are still around, someone should be able to make a precise measurement for the record books.
Best wishes,
Tom
_______________________________________________ This email is relayed from members at sigcis.org, the email discussion list of SHOT SIGCIS. Opinions expressed here are those of the member posting and are not reviewed, edited, or endorsed by SIGCIS. The list archives are at http://lists.sigcis.org/pipermail/members-sigcis.org/ and you can change your subscription options at http://lists.sigcis.org/listinfo.cgi/members-sigcis.org
Dear all, Konrad Zuses's Z4 relay machine (1945) is the world's oldest preserved computer. It was used by the ETH Zurich from 1950 to 1955 and is now located in the Deutsches Museum, Munich. The user manual was lost for a long time, it now came to light: https://cacm.acm.org/blogs/blog-cacm/247521-discovery-user-manual-of-the-old... For more details see: Herbert Bruderer: Milestones in Analog and Digital Computing, Springer Nature Switzerland AG, Cham, 3rd edition 2020, 2 volumes, 2050 pages, 715 illustrations, 151 tables, https://www.springer.com/de/book/9783030409739 Best wishes, Herbert Bruderer Bruderer Informatik Seehaldenstrasse 26 Postfach 47 CH-9401 Rorschach Switzerland Telefon +41 71 855 77 11 p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0.0in; margin-bottom: 1.0E-4pt; font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: Calibri , sans-serif; } a:link, span.MsoHyperlink { mso-style-priority: 99; color: rgb(5,99,193); text-decoration: underline; } span.EmailStyle17 { mso-style-type: personal-compose; font-family: Calibri , sans-serif; color: windowtext; } *.MsoChpDefault { mso-style-type: export-only; font-family: Calibri , sans-serif; } div.WordSection1 { page: WordSection1; }
participants (5)
-
Cary Gray -
Chuck House -
herbert.bruderer＠bluewin.ch -
Salem Elzway -
thomas.haigh＠gmail.com