Also in the high speed connectivity world, Gould Computer Systems Inc has developed a high speed communications link with Cray supercomputers following an agreement signed with Cray Research Inc earlier this year. The link is part of a new Gould machine, the SFE Supercomputer Front-End Processor, which uses Gould’s NP1 supermini running under the UTX/32 implementation of Unix. The Universal Input-Output Microengine High Speed External Interface Adapter, or UIOM/HSX (for short!) operates at up to 100Mbps and is a point-to-point connection between Gould’s NP1 System Bus and Cray-2, and the X-MP, X-MP/EA and Y-MP Unicos systems. Gould regards the inefficiency of front-end computers in maximising the processing capability of supercomputers as a major bottleneck effecting the productivity of such systems. The Supercomputer Front End is intended to decrease the unproductive time that supercomputer users waste while waiting to retrieve or download large files to and from front-end systems. Gould says that tests carried out on the adaptor at Cray’s Wisconsin facilities transferred data from the Cray X-MP to the Gould NP1 at 51 Mbytes-per-second through Cray’s HSX channel. Although the UIOM/HSX operates only on Cray’s HXS channel, Gould is confident that it will be adapted for other systems in the future. In addition both Gould and Cray are said to be actively involved in work on the proposed High Speed Channel standard outlined above.
