Cray CS6400
Encyclopedia
The Cray Superserver 6400, or CS6400, was a multiprocessor
server
computer
system produced by Cray Research Superservers, Inc., a subsidiary of Cray Research, and launched in 1993. The CS6400 was also sold as the Amdahl
SPARCsummit 6400Ehttp://www.spikynorman.dsl.pipex.com/CrayWWWStuff/prfoldercomp/CRAY_AMDAHL_AGMT.950228.txt.
The CS6400 (codenamed SuperDragon during development) superseded the earlier SPARC
-based Cray S-MP
system which was designed by Floating Point Systems
. However, the CS6400 adopted the XDBus packet-switched inter-processor bus also used in Sun Microsystems
' SPARCcenter 2000 (Dragon) and SPARCserver 1000 (Baby Dragon or Scorpion) Sun4d
systems. This bus originated in the Xerox
Dragon multiprocessor workstation designed at Xerox PARC
. The CS6400 was available with either 60 MHz
SuperSPARC-I or 85 MHz SuperSPARC-II processors, maximum RAM capacity was 16 GB
.
Other features shared with the Sun servers included use of the same SuperSPARC
microprocessor
and the Solaris Operating System
. However, the CS6400 could be configured with four to 64 processors on quad XDBusses at 55 MHz, compared with the SPARCcenter 2000's maximum of 20 on dual XDBusses at 40 or 50 MHz and the SPARCserver 1000's maximum of 8 on a single XDBus.
An important distinguishing feature of the CS6400 which was not shared by the Sun SPARCcenter and SPARCserver was that each system was invariably equipped with an external System Service Processor
(SSP) fitted with a JTAG
interface to configure the internal bus control card, the other systems have a JTAG interface but it is not routinely used. While the CS6400 strictly only requires an SSP when the configuration changes, (e.g. a CPU card is pulled for maintenance) some derivative designs, in particular the Sun Enterprise 10000, are useless without their matching SSP.
Upon Silicon Graphics
' acquisition of Cray Research in 1996, the Superserver business (by now the Cray Business Systems Division) was sold to Sun. This included Starfire, the CS6400's successor then under development, which became the Sun Enterprise 10000.
Multiprocessor
Computer system having two or more processing units each sharing main memory and peripherals, in order to simultaneously process programs.Sometimes the term Multiprocessor is confused with the term Multiprocessing....
server
Server (computing)
In the context of client-server architecture, a server is a computer program running to serve the requests of other programs, the "clients". Thus, the "server" performs some computational task on behalf of "clients"...
computer
Computer
A computer is a programmable machine designed to sequentially and automatically carry out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations. The particular sequence of operations can be changed readily, allowing the computer to solve more than one kind of problem...
system produced by Cray Research Superservers, Inc., a subsidiary of Cray Research, and launched in 1993. The CS6400 was also sold as the Amdahl
Amdahl Corporation
Amdahl Corporation is an information technology company which specializes in IBM mainframe-compatible computer products. Founded in 1970 by Dr. Gene Amdahl, a former IBM employee, it has been a wholly owned subsidiary of Fujitsu since 1997...
SPARCsummit 6400Ehttp://www.spikynorman.dsl.pipex.com/CrayWWWStuff/prfoldercomp/CRAY_AMDAHL_AGMT.950228.txt.
The CS6400 (codenamed SuperDragon during development) superseded the earlier SPARC
SPARC
SPARC is a RISC instruction set architecture developed by Sun Microsystems and introduced in mid-1987....
-based Cray S-MP
Cray S-MP
The Cray S-MP was a multiprocessor server computer sold by Cray Research from 1992 to 1993. It was based around the Sun SPARC microprocessor architecture and could be configured with up to eight 66 MHz BIT B5000 processors. Optionally, a Cray APP matrix co-processor cluster could be added to an...
system which was designed by Floating Point Systems
Floating Point Systems
Floating Point Systems Inc. was a Beaverton, Oregon vendor of minisupercomputers. The company was founded in 1970 by former Tektronix engineer Norm Winningstad....
. However, the CS6400 adopted the XDBus packet-switched inter-processor bus also used in Sun Microsystems
Sun Microsystems
Sun Microsystems, Inc. was a company that sold :computers, computer components, :computer software, and :information technology services. Sun was founded on February 24, 1982...
' SPARCcenter 2000 (Dragon) and SPARCserver 1000 (Baby Dragon or Scorpion) Sun4d
Sun4d
Sun4d is a computer architecture introduced bySun Microsystems in 1992. It is a development of the earlier Sun-4 architecture, using the XDBus system bus,SuperSPARC processors, and SBus I/O cards. The XDBuswas the result of a collaboration between Sun...
systems. This bus originated in the Xerox
Xerox
Xerox Corporation is an American multinational document management corporation that produced and sells a range of color and black-and-white printers, multifunction systems, photo copiers, digital production printing presses, and related consulting services and supplies...
Dragon multiprocessor workstation designed at Xerox PARC
Xerox PARC
PARC , formerly Xerox PARC, is a research and co-development company in Palo Alto, California, with a distinguished reputation for its contributions to information technology and hardware systems....
. The CS6400 was available with either 60 MHz
Hertz
The hertz is the SI unit of frequency defined as the number of cycles per second of a periodic phenomenon. One of its most common uses is the description of the sine wave, particularly those used in radio and audio applications....
SuperSPARC-I or 85 MHz SuperSPARC-II processors, maximum RAM capacity was 16 GB
Gigabyte
The gigabyte is a multiple of the unit byte for digital information storage. The prefix giga means 109 in the International System of Units , therefore 1 gigabyte is...
.
Other features shared with the Sun servers included use of the same SuperSPARC
SPARC
SPARC is a RISC instruction set architecture developed by Sun Microsystems and introduced in mid-1987....
microprocessor
Microprocessor
A microprocessor incorporates the functions of a computer's central processing unit on a single integrated circuit, or at most a few integrated circuits. It is a multipurpose, programmable device that accepts digital data as input, processes it according to instructions stored in its memory, and...
and the Solaris Operating System
Solaris Operating System
Solaris is a Unix operating system originally developed by Sun Microsystems. It superseded their earlier SunOS in 1993. Oracle Solaris, as it is now known, has been owned by Oracle Corporation since Oracle's acquisition of Sun in January 2010....
. However, the CS6400 could be configured with four to 64 processors on quad XDBusses at 55 MHz, compared with the SPARCcenter 2000's maximum of 20 on dual XDBusses at 40 or 50 MHz and the SPARCserver 1000's maximum of 8 on a single XDBus.
An important distinguishing feature of the CS6400 which was not shared by the Sun SPARCcenter and SPARCserver was that each system was invariably equipped with an external System Service Processor
System Service Processor
The System Service Processor is a SPARC-based computer that is used to control the Sun Microsystems Enterprise 10000 platform...
(SSP) fitted with a JTAG
JTAG
Joint Test Action Group is the common name for what was later standardized as the IEEE 1149.1 Standard Test Access Port and Boundary-Scan Architecture. It was initially devised for testing printed circuit boards using boundary scan and is still widely used for this application.Today JTAG is also...
interface to configure the internal bus control card, the other systems have a JTAG interface but it is not routinely used. While the CS6400 strictly only requires an SSP when the configuration changes, (e.g. a CPU card is pulled for maintenance) some derivative designs, in particular the Sun Enterprise 10000, are useless without their matching SSP.
Upon Silicon Graphics
Silicon Graphics
Silicon Graphics, Inc. was a manufacturer of high-performance computing solutions, including computer hardware and software, founded in 1981 by Jim Clark...
' acquisition of Cray Research in 1996, the Superserver business (by now the Cray Business Systems Division) was sold to Sun. This included Starfire, the CS6400's successor then under development, which became the Sun Enterprise 10000.