Careful Joe with saying bad things about these types of boxes.  Although we here
are Rockwell are not on a 950, we are running a 980/300 which is just an
upgraded 950.  We had the first 950 into production (serial number 2737A00100)
back in the late 80's and have just been upgrading it since.  Several years ago
the decision was made to move from ManMan to SAP so all funding for this box was
cut off (the machine would be going away in the near future anyway, right?).
Three years later and several 'missed' implementation dates and that 980 is
still helping to push over a million dollars a day worth of product out the
door.  I deal with all the problems you outlined below - using fiber C2204
drives and still using several 7980xc tape drives.  Yes, Alliant Electric
probably loves me for it but since that comes out of a different pocket, it is
hard to convince management of the savings we could gain by upgrading.

mark hocraffer
[log in to unmask]
Rockwell Collins
Cedar Rapids, IA





Joe Geiser <[log in to unmask]> on 10/06/99 10:25:12 AM

Please respond to [log in to unmask]

To:   [log in to unmask]
cc:

Subject:  Re: $11.00 950???



Adding to what John said in his list:

> Let me try to explain:

<snip>

> 3.  A 950 uses about 10 times the amount of electricity as a 917/918.

The 950 requires 220V and does not use your standard US-plug.  It costs quite a
bit to run, depending on where in the US you are located, and who your utility
is.

In a former life, we had a 950, and planning for that beast was something.
It's a little less than the size of a standard Series 68/70 (without the
extender I/O bay) and used about as much power.

Here, in PECO Energy land, where some of the highest rates in the nation are
charged, if the lucky buyer puts into service here, they can expect to pay
about three to four times, what they would pay for a 928RX -- and the 928RX has
a better performance number.

Lastly, there were no integrated SCSI discs in the same cabinet - the most
common were the 670MB drives (Eagles) when they were first introduced, and they
were external, thus requiring even more power draw (albeit, you can plug them
into a regular US power socket).  Tape Drive?  External as well...

The lucky buyer will have one of the first of the Spectrum class machines, but
to use it, will cost them considerably more than they probably bargained for.
One great thing it can be used for, of course, if they could afford to run it,
it to heat several rooms in a home :)  Oh yeah, that's right, it would probably
Overtemp, in which case, it shuts itself down.

Regards,
Joe (no 950 here, but knows where one is still in service locally)