Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!lll-winken!lll-tis!ames!pasteur!ucbvax!UX.ACSS.UMN.EDU!m4
From: m4@UX.ACSS.UMN.EDU (Marshall M. Midden)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.encore
Subject: Re: Need user impressions of Encore Multimax
Message-ID: <8803031431.AA27775@ux.acss.umn.edu>
Date: 3 Mar 88 14:31:06 GMT
Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU
Organization: The Internet
Lines: 23

Our machine is used mainly for student classroom work.  From "an overview of
many programming languages", to statistics and vlsi.  We average about 25
people logged on at a time (8am - 1am), about 12 on Saturday and Sunday.  For
this type of usage, I recommend lots of everything!  We have the following:
	3 APC cards (6 processors),
	64MB of memory,
	7 CDC disks [415MB],
	4 NCR disk controllers,
	2 CDC shoe-shine tape drives (both masters),
	1 Fugi 200IPS start/stop master tape drive (2nd arriving any day),
	5 EMC cards: 1 for each disk controller; 1 for the Fugi, +1 any day;
	  the 2 cdc tape drives are on two containing disk controllers; we use
	  one ethernet for annexes solely, and another for the campus ethernet.
   There is a power distribution unit so things can be moved relatively easily
in the machine room (except for the Fugi's).
   The two CDC tape drives will be returned someday, shortly after we get the
2nd Fugi.  We will still need 2 EMC cards, but when the MSC is available, the
other 3 (or 4 if the Fugi comes first) will be returned.
   We hope to go from 3MB disk storage to 6MB, and add an addition 2 APC cards
(4 processors) for next fall.
   The release 3.1 of the software is very very stable for our environment.
We have been up 26 days since the last power failure.  There are minor software
complaints (UMAX and annexes), but everything serious has been fixed, just
a bunch of annoying bugs and wierdness.