Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!bloom-beacon!husc6!m2c!wpi!wpi.wpi.edu!jhallen
From: jhallen@wpi.wpi.edu (Joseph H Allen)
Newsgroups: comp.arch
Subject: Drum memory
Message-ID: <1487@wpi.wpi.edu>
Date: 24 Mar 89 01:15:06 GMT
References: <21976@lll-winken.LLNL.GOV> <28411@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU>
Sender: jhallen@wpi.wpi.edu
Reply-To: jhallen@wpi.wpi.edu (Joseph H Allen)
Organization: Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, Mass.
Lines: 10
To: beyer@houxs.ATT.COM
In-Reply-To: <1257@houxs.ATT.COM>

In article <1257@houxs.ATT.COM> you write:
>
>In addition to delay line memory, some machines used magnetic drum memories
>(e.g., IBM 650). The trouble with delay line memory and most drum memory is
>-- 

Somewhere I heard that some of the high-end IBM mainframes use drum memory
for swapping space.  Is this true?  And what is the advantage?  I can imagen
that drum memory might be quite fast since there is a head for every track and
no moving parts except for the drum...