Digital Equipment Corporation

Digital Equipment Corporation, also known as DEC or Digital, was a US-based company headquartered in Maynard, Massachusetts.

The company, founded by Ken Olsen produced in the first years of the modules. Only a few years later, DEC built from such modules the first own computer, the PDP -1. This was the beginning of the development of a large number of very different computer families, of which especially the PDP -11 and VAX were very successful in the market later under the VMS operating system. This meant that DEC in the 1980s by revenue behind IBM 's second-largest computer manufacturer was worldwide.

The company was a pioneer in the computer industry and was acquired by Compaq in 1998, which belongs since 2002 to Hewlett -Packard.

Company History

With $ 70,000 seed capital, the engineer Ken Olsen and his then partner Harlan Anders founded in 1957, the Digital Equipment Corporation. In an old cotton mill ( " The Mill " ), they started first with the production of system modules with electronic logic circuits, from which complex digital control systems could be built. In the first fiscal year, the company generated already 94,000 U.S. dollars. In 1959, Olsen hired the engineer Ben Gurley, of the first DEC PDP-1 computer developed based on our own modules within three months.

In the 1960s, DEC produced a series of computers, which should also be less powerful, but much cheaper than the IBM mainframe computer. The breakthrough was achieved by the company with the production of the famous PDP-8 in 1964. The PDP -8 used 12 -bit words and was sold for about $ 16,000. Due to the portability and the relatively simple structure of these computers could also be used in smaller industrial firms and market fill gaps that were not possible with mainframe computers so far. Historically, this is an important aspect, because the PDP-8 was the first computer, which was also purchased by individuals and used for a specific purpose, while mainframes were so big and expensive that only for multiple purposes by multiple users were used. Later, the PDP-8 was dubbed the world's first small computer at all.

The abbreviation PDP stands for " Programmed Data Processor ", which really means nothing more than " computer ". However, DEC avoided the word computer to be able to distinguish it from the great competition IBM. IBM built computers and DEC PDP.

Just 10 years after the founding, the company made 38 million U.S. dollars in sales. A graphic design system with monochrome green screen and light pen with graphic tablet - Around 1970 the model range was PDP15.

The most successful model of the known PDP computer series was the PDP -11, the 16 -bit wide words used, because in the meantime ASCII had become established as the de facto standard in the computer industry. PDP-11 computers were intended as a further development of the PDP - 8 for the same purposes, and later available in enclosures that were not larger than the modern PC. The space savings could be achieved through the use of integrated circuits. For larger data centers and data processing systems, the PDP-10 was intended (36 -bit architecture ), which was sold depending on the operating system under the name DECsystem -10 and DECsystem -20. Several still known operating systems could be operated on the PDP -11, including the Bell Labs Unix and DEC's own RT -11, RSX -11 and RSTS. Both RSTS and Unix were acquired very cheap or free for educational and training purposes. Thus, the PDP -11 developed into the playground of several generations of computer engineers and researchers. The PDP -11 architecture had a directly addressable address space of 64K. All early systems were equipped with magnetic core memory.

In 1976, DEC has developed a completely new and extremely small 32 -bit architecture, the first thing in the VAX 1978 for the first time sold 11/780 was used. DEC was able to dominate the retail computer market for a considerable time with this product, although competitors such as Data General ( which had been founded by a former DEC employee, who suggested a 16 -bit architecture, which was rejected by the management ) tried to regain market share. The success of DEC, however, was not only based on DEC's technical superiority, but also by market developments in the field of workstations, which developed in favor of the small computer. Then, the " Jupiter " project, which provided for the development of a successor model for the PDP -10, canceled and DEC focused on the development and marketing of the VAX computer.

The VAX had a very large even by today's instruction set and a large number of addressing modes. In addition to paging and protected memory supports the VAX virtual memory: The name stands for Virtual Address eXtension VAX. Both UNIX and DEC's own VMS could be used.

At the best of times ( the late 1980s ) was the Digital Equipment Corporation is the second largest computer manufacturer in the world and had more than 100,000 employees. At about this time, the Group's management seemed to enforce a corporate policy that made close to a sense of invulnerability, and extended the product range to include internally developed software for virtually every promising published market gap. This included the development of its own network system ( DECnet ), software for file and printer sharing, relational database systems and even software for transaction-based processing. Although the software was quite well thought out and implemented, it was still difficult to integrate because it was developed with a focus on DEC 's own products. This meant that the software of many potential customers ignored and software was procured from other manufacturers. This problem was exacerbated by Olsen's aversion to advertising and the idea that well-designed software sells itself. Hundreds of millions of dollars were put into the implementation of these software projects, while at the same zoom ranged workstations based on RISC architecture increasingly the performance of the VAX. Blinded by the success of the proprietary VAX / VMS products, competition from Intel-based personal computers (PCs ) and the fact that commercial hardware and standards-based software prevailed, was not perceived. For example, the Digital Equipment Corporation suffered in the early 1990s a surprising decline in sales and lay off employees.

A little later, DEC tried to impose a new generation of storage systems called RA -90. This second largest in the company's history development project should include some important technical innovations that should be included in the novel, then very modern looking product concurrently. The product could not be marketed in time due to difficulties with the product design, so that at launch there was strong competition and the flagship project that would be a great asset for the Group may be, was a huge mistake.

As a consequence, then a new CPU has 64 -bit RISC architecture developed (as opposed to 32 -bit CISC architecture, which came into the VAX computers for use ) that are used for both servers and workstations could. The result, the Alpha processor, which could shine even in the new (third) millennium nor by its speed, giving the user the option to choose one of three runnable on the new architecture operating systems: DEC's VMS, UNIX and Microsoft Windows NT. DEC even tried to gain a foothold in the area of ​​UNIX operating systems, and marketed the proprietary " OpenVMS " the native UNIX " OSF / 1" first as "Digital Unix" and later as " Tru64 UNIX". Although intensified campaigns were connected, it was not possible DEC to gain sufficient shares in the crowded Unix market. In addition, the success of the Intel-based low-end PC servers running Windows NT operating system made ​​it difficult to sell systems based on the Alpha processor. Thus, DEC was able to convince up to many years of loyal customers just a few of the new system. DEC software and hardware developers migrated - Windows NT and AMD hardware developments participated from their knowledge. The decades of direct care by the system developers from Maynard on the global and country-specific DEC - user association DECUS went out.

Ken Olsen joined on 1 October 1992 down as CEO and was replaced by Robert Palmer; the company still continued to write in the red. The database section of the company was sold to Oracle. In May 1997, DEC sued Intel claiming that Intel had the patent rights for Alpha processors hurt by the development of the Pentium CPU. The companies agreed, and DEC sold its entire processor business to Intel. The network division of the company was sold to Cabletron Systems.

DEC itself was sold on 26 January 1998 at Compaq. Compaq, in turn, was acquired by Hewlett -Packard in 2002. Already in 1998, bought Robert Boers, one of the former DEC Manager, the " European Migration and Porting DEC Center". It first arose, the company " Software Resources International," today Stromasys; this developed emulators like Charon for the old DEC PDP -11 Server, VAX and Alpha.

A major reason for the failure of the company was in the very confusing product range. But from those produced under the name of PDP computers, there were 1959-1982 more than 60 models, which were distributed among four families of systems and partly also with each other made ​​their competition.

Technical concept

The technical concept, especially that of the PDP - 11 series was held deceptively simple. A standardized "Universal BUS system " enabled the upgrading and conversion of the PDP -11 for a variety of process applications. That's why joined the PDP -11 to its triumphant especially in experimental science and research. Also in the control of power plants, roads and telephone networks, there was a wide range of applications.

Of course, the open bus system called also many third-party hardware to the plan, the cost-effective and high-performance peripherals attached to the connection to the PDP -11 on the market. Here especially the English manufacturer Plessey be mentioned, which caused the European market for unrest at DEC through its U.S. subsidiary and could also access a private service network. This " mixed- hardware vendors " were bitterly opposed by DEC, and under the title of " technology transfer " there have been incidents that DEC own definitions of high-tech products aufstellte to complicate OEM customers and third-party access to the market.

This fight was also often played on the back of the end customer, had to bear the harassment in the service area. This just those customers were upset in the scientific and university area, who had co-written the success story of DEC.

Economical way

After the resounding success in the field of Process Control, DEC catapulted to second place the computer manufacturer after IBM, arrived around 1978 newly designed computer on the market ( PDP 11/34, 11/70, 11/ 44, VAX 11/750 ), the aimed at the business market, which was the domain of IBM at the time. At the same time, to the various " mixed- hardware- provider" to push from the market, the service philosophy has changed. DEC hardware and software had to be maintained in the event of a maintenance contract together (about 1990). Thus, due to lack of knowledge of any third-party software from the DEC market were locked. This meant that the third-party shutdowns. Many customers who indeed wanted to use the technical concept of the PDP series, but also wanted to stock up at the same cost in the alternative market with peripheral, now could no longer be addressed as DEC customers.

The rigid attitude in the service area as well as in the area of ​​dealer support prompted many companies that were until then occurred as a reseller for DEC systems to withdraw from DEC and computers from Compaq, HP, or even offer of " no-name" manufacturers.

Furthermore, a discussion broke out which increasing operating system (VMS) and network complexity ( DECnet ) - it came to the elimination of employees, the company founded Apollo computer and set with convincing Ethernet services, the standards of the art today. Apollo Computer was acquired in 1989 by Hewlett -Packard.

As history has shown, even the direction of change was indulged towards the business applications not the success; they played here but in the big leagues with IBM as an opponent. The lucrative PC market had also overslept. Here DEC has until 1994 practiced with the expensive VAX - station networks, while the customers had already long since switched to high-performance PC networks.

The end of DEC must be seen in close connection with the non-appearance of a Windows 2000 Digitals Alpha platform. The Alpha was nämlichem time, the driving force of the company, but it depends on a special kernel variant of NT- fourth Whether a causal relationship exists, must be viewed critically, striking, however, is that the price of the DEC - shares time-synchronized with Microsoft Release messages to " Windows 2000 for 64bit " rose and fell.

Corporate success

• With the Alpha processor, the first commercial available 64- bit RISC processor has been manufactured and produced the first laptop. The first company to the port found on the Internet under the domain digital.com was digital and founded AltaVista temporarily successful search engine.
• DEC has been a leader in network ( DECnet ). The VMS operating system is considered to be flexible and extremely stable. Even with cluster solutions, DEC made ​​a name. These solutions worked - as well as the relational database RdB - only within the DEC world. DEC has never tried to port these solutions to other platforms.
• DEC supported many ANSI standards, especially the ASCII standard, which lives on in Unicode and ISO character sets.
• The first version of the C programming language and the UNIX operating system ran on DEC PDP computers.
• DEC produced several operating systems that were designed specifically for the PDP series, for example, OS / 8, TOPS -10, TOPS-20, RT -11, RSX -11, RSTS / E and (for the VAX computers ) VMS.
• The PDP -11 inspired a whole generation of programmers and software developers. There are ( in 2004) 25 years old ( hardware and software) PDP -11 systems that still (and also in nuclear power plants ) can be used for machine monitoring and control in factories.
• DEC drove significantly advanced the use of time-sharing systems, as anyone who knows other operating systems such as MVS or VM / CMS IBM, can confirm.
• DEC introduced around 1974 with the LA36 a dot matrix printer on the market, the first to the Teletype previously used everywhere in the IT field ( ASCII teletype ) successfully rivaled.
• DEC introduced around 1976 with the VT100 an inexpensive and robust ASCII terminal to the market, its instruction set today is the de facto standard for terminal emulation programs.
• From the DEC employee Gary Thuerk went from probably the first spam email the internet history on May 3, 1978.
• By 1980, DEC has stepped up in conjunction with the providers 3Com, Intel and Xerox, the standardization of Ethernet.
• DEC developed around 1984 the DLT technology (DEC LINEAR TAPE) and brought with him the legendary a TK50 for that time very cheap and reliable backup tape system on the market.
• DEC had never afterwards to be found in any vendor lock- in customers over the DECUS ( Digital Equipment Users Society), at the operating system and tool developers to provide customers a year in Germany (Munich ) and Europe (changing places ) for a week in legendary symposia were composed. Even after the takeover by Compaq and later HP this user Club meets continue at regular intervals; in Germany, it operates eV under the name HP User Society DECUS Munich.
• Former DEC staff developed with the know -how of the mother at the company Apollo and Microsoft software ( Apollo: networking; Microsoft: Windows NT operating system, from which the versions of Vista and Windows 7 emerged ).
• A major success was Prestige DEC recorded the fact that the DEC computers were rebuilt in the time of the Cold War in many Eastern European countries ( East Germany, Hungary, Republic of Poland, Soviet Union) and found wide application. In this case, usually the original DEC software was used. From 1968 to 1988, the PDP8, PDP11 and Vax computers were built in large numbers without payment of royalties. The use of new highly integrated circuits by DEC meant the technological end of this black copies. Simultaneously with this, the opening of the market came in the Eastern European countries for the original products, the replicas had to be adjusted and DEC was able to take highly skilled professionals for local support.
• In DEC, the concept was born of Numeronym.

Products

• Alpha Server - Server with Alpha processor
• Alpha Station - workstations with Alpha processor
• DECstation - desktop workstations from DEC Ultrix for
• DECsystem - server systems from DEC Ultrix for
• Ultrix - UNIX - variant of DEC
• VAXstation - desktop workstations from DEC VMS
• DEC Multia - Slim Desktop Workstation with DEC 21064 Alpha CPU for VMS and Tru64 UNIX or Intel Pentium CPU for Windows NT 3.51 and 4.0, respectively