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From: lphillips@lpami.wimsey.bc.ca (Larry Phillips)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.tech
Subject: Re: Parity Checking / ECC RAM on the A3000
Keywords: parity error detection and correction, marketability
Message-ID: <1641@lpami.wimsey.bc.ca>
Date: 26 May 90 21:15:14 GMT
Lines: 33
Return-Path: <lpami!lphillips>
To: van-bc!rnews

In <1990May27.101258.24470@zorch.SF-Bay.ORG>, xanthian@zorch.SF-Bay.ORG (Kent Paul Dolan) writes:
>
>The Amiga 3000 is capable of holding (at least supporting) much more memory
>than a Cray 1, and the size of gates in modern memory is much smaller and
>thus they are more susceptable to alpha radiation induced parity errors than
>were the gates of the Cray memory.
>
>To take an Amiga seriously as a commercial machine in the "workstation,
>large memory" market, I'd guess error correcting code will turn out to be
>vital.  It would be a shame to have a big production run of the hardware
>installed and on the street, only to have parity problems give the machine
>a reputation as an unreliable machine, to be avoided in droves.  Better if
>the problem is solved before the reputation is besmirched.

Right.. ECC is not parity, and vice versa. Parity checking is totally,
completely, and utterly useless.

>But then, what do I know after 29 years in the field about what people who
>buy the machines look for in a large processor?  My computer purchases were
>limited to a couple of million bucks worth, down in the noise level in the
>marketplace.  ;-)

Geez... out-yeared me by 3. :-)

-larry

--
The raytracer of justice recurses slowly, but it renders exceedingly fine.
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|   //   Larry Phillips                                                 |
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