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Final Report and Recommendation on New CERN LIBRARIES, GENEVA CERN/FC/661 Original: English 5 December, 1963 CM-P00085196 ORGANISATION EUROPĒENNE POUR LA RECHERCHE NUCLĒAIRE CERN EUROPEAN ORGANIZATION FOR NUCLEAR RESEARCH FINANCE COMMITTEE Fifty-sixth Meeting Geneva - 16 December, 1963 FINAL REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION ON NEW COMPUTERS FOR CERN This paper contains the results of the enquiries and studies unfinished at the time of the meeting of the Finance Committee, on 13 November, together with the Director-General's conclusions and request to the Finance Committee to authorize CERN to purchase a CDC 6600 computer for delivery early in 1965. 7752/e CERN/FC/661 FINAL REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION ON NEW COMPUTERS FOR CERN 1. Introduction The Finance Committee, at its meeting, on 13 November, discussed an interim report on CERN's computing needs (CERN/FC/653), which accompanied the Report of the European Committee on the Future Computing Needs of CERN, CERN/516 (hereinafter referred to as "the Report"). Since then, the final offers from manufacturers have been received and evaluated, and the outstanding technical studies referred to in the conclusion of the Interim Report (section 5) have been carried out. This paper contains: - a short report on the results of these technical studies, - the evaluation of the final offers, technically and financially, - a proposal for financing the purchase of the new computer, - the implications on the CERN budget and programme of a new computer, - the conclusion, with a request that the Finance Committee authorize CERN to purchase a CDC 6600 computer and to raise a loan for the necessary amount, - an annex containing prices and other material from the offers. 7752/e CERN/FC/661 Page 2 2. Results of further technical studies A number of working groups of physicists in CERN have examined in greater detail how our various on-line applications for a large computer - automatic film measuring devices such as HPD and Luciole, counter and ultrasonic spark chamber experiments, digitized measuring machines (IEPs) - would work out in practice with the Atlas II and the CDC 6600. The results, which will be circulated to the European Committee for information, can be summarized very briefly as follows: a) each on-line experiment is expected, by end 1965 - early 1966, to demand while operating about 25% of the processing capacity of the Atlas II and 6% of that of the CDC 6600; b) an automatic film measuring device may demand up to 50%, 12% respectively of the processing capacity of the two machines; c) each on-line experiment will only use a few per cent of the Atlas input-output possibilities and 1% or less of those of the CDC 6600; d) each film measuring device might use up to 50% of the input-output of Atlas, or 10% of CDC 6600, though these figures could probably be reduced by changes in the devices themselves; e) a possible, and rather modest, combination of two online experiments and one measuring device running together could therefore, in 1966, use the whole processing capacity of Atlas II and perhaps 10-20% of its input-output capacity; it would only take up one quarter of the processing power of the CDC 6600 and a few per cent of its input-output. These results confirm and sharpen the more generally based conclusion of the Report, that the Atlas II would become saturated at CERN during 1967, whilst the CDC 6600 has adequate capacity to meet CERN's needs for an additional one to two years. It should be stressed that in making these studies, we have considered the technical requirements of picture analysing devices - HPD and Luciole - coming into use in the next year, and of the planned development of experiments on the PS already started using rather primitive on-line techniques. They refer to the likely situation at end 1965 - early 1966. Estimates for 1967, though 7752/e CERN/FC/661 Page 3 necessarily less solidly based, show several-fold further increases in demand, which is a quite realistic result for a newly introduced technique of physics. In this connection, it is worth noting that our computer use has grown by a factor of 4 over the past year, with the bringing of the present-day film analysis methods from the trial stage into more general use. Both the automatic analysing devices and the on-line experiments represent equally large steps forward in technique, as did IEPs, and imply corresponding increases in computer use when the new computer is available. We have now received some more detailed information from IBM on their next generation of computers. Though costs and precise delivery times are still not available, we have been told enough, under an agreement not to disclose the information to the general public, to confirm the conclusion in the Report of the European Committee that CERN should not delay acquiring its next computer on account of the IBM future programme. The new IBM line will include at the top a machine about twice as powerful as the CDC 6600, but not radically different from it in general conception or technology. This machine is the least developed in the new IBM line and will not be available until well on into 1966. The price is not known, but is thought to be definitely more than the CDC 6600. Any way of using the new IBM machines would involve a series of steps, hiring two of the smaller machines as stop-gaps, before eventually changing to a very large one. We have also been told more about the Univac Mark VI. This machine exists only on paper and much of the design is still not in a final form; it could not be available before the end of 1965. Its speed seems to be about six times that of the 7090, i.e. it is closer to Atlas II than to the CDC 6600. We do not consider that either the IBM or the Univac machines are sufficiently attractive to be worth waiting for, especially as there are many uncertainties in their specifications, prices and deliveries. 7752/e CERN/FC/661 Page 4 3. Content of the final offers from firms Firms which had earlier submitted interesting proposals were sent a slightly revised specification, and asked to make firm quotations of price and delivery for two alternative computer systems: A. A batch processing system involving a machine with a fast memory of 65 000 words and only primitive time-sharing facilities. B. A full time-sharing system, with a machince with 131 000 words of fast memory and associated peripheral equipment. The technical studies of section 2 have greatly strengthened the conclusion of the Report that only the large time-sharing system would be adequate for CERN's future computing needs; consequently, only the second specification, B., need be considered. The only machines offered to meet it are the Ferranti-ICT Atlas II and the Control Data Corporation 6600. a) Technical changes in systems now offered The configurations of the systems as offered were almost identical to those described in the Report and in its Appendices: - one Atlas II now has two more input-output channels, one for ½" magnetic tape and the other for a dual search disc backing store: these changes will somewhat increase the tape and disc speeds of Atlas II, - the CDC 6600 is unchanged, except that a special HPD adaptor, which was included in the cost estimate in the Report, is not now thought necessary. b) Summary technical comparison of offers (i) Atlas II CDC 6600 Storage Fast memory 131 000 48-bit words 131 000 60-bit words 2.5 μs cycle time 1 μs cycle time Disc store 4 000 000 words 8 000 000 words dual search Magnetic tapes 16 1" tape units 16 1" tape units 64 000 characters/sec 240 000 characters/sec 2 ½" IBM compatible 2 ½" IBM compatible tape units tape units 7752/e CERN/FC/661 Page 5 Atlas II CDC 6600 (ii) Input-output Input-output channels 10 10 Line printers 4 1 000 lines/min 4 1 000 lines/min Card punches 1 100 cards/min 1 250 cards/min Card readers 2 600 cards/min 1 1 200 cards/min Paper tape Yes Not offered (iii) Performance Range of internal 2.5-5 × IBM 7090 15-40 × IBM 7090 speed on test problems Throughput of ~ 4 × IBM 7090 ~ 15 × IBM 7090 jobs Max. input-output 1 48-bit word/10-20 μ sec ~1 12-bit word/1-2 µsec rate total rate per channel with on-line devices in normal use The two machines are both designed for time-sharing operation, and are properly equipped with memory protection to operate in this way. The offers confirm the evaluation of the two computers made in the Report: that the quantitative performance of the CDC 6600 is superior to that of Atlas II in almost every respect, being at least 4 times faster, with correspondingly greater permissible input-output rates and more powerful disc and tape storage. (iv) Status of hardware and delivery dates promised Atlas I has been running at Manchester since early 1963. The first Atlas II is being built and tested in Cambridge now. Two more Atlas I and a second Atlas II are-scheduled for delivery before the end of 1964. The first CDC 6600 is running in the factory and is due to be delivered to Livermore in February 1964. Four more are being built now. Ferranti offer delivery of an Atlas II by end of May 1965, CDC offer delivery by end of October 1964, provided, in both cases, orders are placed before the end of this year.
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