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From: BILLW@Sri-Kl.ARPA
Newsgroups: net.micro
Subject: Re:  Micros for universities.
Message-ID: <377@sri-arpa.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 27-Mar-84 06:46:00 EST
Article-I.D.: sri-arpa.377
Posted: Tue Mar 27 06:46:00 1984
Date-Received: Sun, 1-Apr-84 07:28:36 EST
Lines: 51

This is starting to make a lot of sense.  Consider a university that
currently has no free computing cycles for general "free" use by
students for other than specific computer oriented courses (lets
see: document preperation, communications, recreation, calculator
type things, etc (I remeber in my electon optics class, the prof
told us to go off and describe the characteristic of a Pierce
electron gun, and that since CAD was big, why didnt we all use
a computer to do it?  This was an EE class, where the only required
computing experience was a intro fortran class.  Sigh.  I went off
and used macsyma.  Other lucky students went downstairs and used
the CP/M systems they had been taught in another class.  What a
fiasco!)).  Now then.  Lets consider the foolowing two alternatives,
each to support 1000 students:

	DECSystem 2060, running tops20 or tops10.

This may actually support up to around 5000 students, depending on how
the load is distributed.  SRI-KL has about 1000 users that do just
these kind of things, and it is noticable slow durring prime time, but
empty durring grave shift.  Wharton (Tops10), had about 5000 accounts,
and was impossible durring the day.  It all depends on memory, disk,
etc, etc.  TOPS20 will handle about 60 users at once, tops10 perhaps
80.  You could also use 2 vaxen (30 users), I think the prices will
work out about the same...

	Hardware costs (CPU, MEMORY, DISK,
	  96 terminal/dialup modems)		~500,000
	Systems programmer.			  20,000/year
	maintanance.				  20,000/year
	operations staff.			min wage*3shifts
	  ------				-------
	total					a lot!

(these are typical off the wall estimate by a hacker that prefers
 not to think about such things.)
==============================================================
option 2:	1000 Macintoshs.

	Hardware costs (100 systems for CS dept,
	  student user room, software development,
	  etc.)					100,000
	liason/sales person			 30,000/year.
	  ------				 -----
	total					A lot less.

Note that by selling the Macs for slighly over their cost,
a universtity can pay for the above expenses....  Of course,
this requires the students to shell out ~1K each, but it
saves them about 1K over buying their own systems...)

BillW