With the recent addition of 18 new models to Siemens Nixdorf Informationssysteme AG’s 7.500 series of mainframes (CI No 1,611), the company now claims to offer a continuous growth path from mid-range to mainframe systems and up to 50% price-performance improvements on the new systems’ predecessors. The lower-performance BS2000 desktop computers are now incorporated in the C30 range, which also includes higher-capacity disks, which can store 4.8Gb, and for data security, an Exabyte Corp streamer with 2.1Gb capacity. The new model C30, in standard configuration, costs between the equivalent of $37,000 and $101,000. The two new C40s – the three-processor C40-U2 and the four-processor C40-W2 – are the next models up in the scale. The C40 range now comprises seven computers and the number of supported terminals has increased to 290 from 160. All members of the C40 family can be upgraded in the field and costs of systems vary between $67,000 and $373,000. The H60 mainfame range has been restructured with the addition of the H60-R2 two-processor model, to offer three uni-processors and two two-processor systems. With this family too comes the option to upgrade, from the predecessors of the range too. According to Siemens Nixdorf, the new entry model H60-B2 – which costs between $175,000 and $740,000 – offers 25% performance improvement on previous models. Eight new systems have been added to the H90 range with a claimed performance increase of 40% over the previous top of the range system. The new systems here, which feature 4M-bit memory chips, consist of three uni-processor, three two-processor, a three-processor and a four-processor system, and these – the H90-P2, H90-R2 and H90-T2 – have duplex capabilities. The uni-processor models are scheduled to ship in April, whereas the multi-processor systems won’t ship until July – prices of H90 systems fall between $670,000 and $5.4m. A new console processor, which can be installed at up to 2,000 yards from the computer, is the new offering for the H120 family. The Block Multichannel Type 2 enables data transfer speeds of up to 4.5M-bytes per second, and is, according to Siemens Nixdorf, is essential to maximise the performance of peripherals such as the 3410 Fast Store, the 3580 and 3590 Magnetband Cassette systems, and the 3490 Disk Store systems. These data transfer speeds, says Siemens Nixdorf, can also be realised by the H60 and H90 ranges. The new Version 10 of the BS2000 operating system (CI No 1,611) has two new security features – Security Control System, or Secos, and Advanced Security Control, or Aseco. The implementation of Secos is intended to ensure data integrity is maintained by users in the system, by restricting access to closed files to those with specialist identification and authorisation codes. And Aseco protects against unlawful access to the system – entry now requires the insertion of a fault-tolerant and incorruptible personal chip card. Last but not least, Siemens Nixdorf has a new software tool – Dual Recording by Volume, which enables the mirroring of data from one disk to another disk of the same type, at much faster speeds and eliminating the problem of losing chunks of data during reconstruction.
