Building the Control Data Legacy the Career of Robert M. Price

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Building the Control Data Legacy the Career of Robert M. Price

Building Note on Price and Misa Building the Control Data Legacy Note on Book the The Career of Robert M. Price Control Robert M. Price rose through Building the Control Data the ranks at Control Data to Legacy gives a unique behind- serve as Chairman, President the-scenes view into the and CEO from 1986 to 1990. Control Data Corporation After retiring from Control Data Edited by Thomas J. Misa during its ascent into the top Data, he taught at Duke rank of the computer industry. University’s Fuqua School of This detailed 15-part oral Business. Price is President Legacy: history starts with Robert M. and CEO of PSV, Inc., offering Price’s work programming the consulting services in first generation of computers technology and corporate in California. Then, in 1961, strategy. He has served on he joined Control Data. For numerous boards of Fortune the next 29 years, Price was in The 500 companies as well as start- key positions as Control Data ups. He is author of The Eye grew from a Minneapolis start- for Innovation: Recognizing Career up into a multi-billion-dollar Possibilities and Managing the global company. Creative Enterprise, published by Yale University Press in Lively anecdotes provide an 2005. in-depth assessment of Control of Data’s founder William C. Robert Norris and his inimitable style. Thomas J. Misa is director of Of special note are Price’s the Charles Babbage Institute incisive observations about at the University of Minnesota, corporate social responsibility where he holds the and the “lessons learned” from Engineering Research M. a remarkable business career. Associates–Land Grant Chair Profusely illustrated with more in the History of Technology. Price than 80 archival photographs. Rear cover: Robert M. Price Cover image: Control Data’s and William C. Norris at Minneapolis data center in stockholders meeting at original McGill Building ISBN 978-1-300-05818-2 Minneapolis Institute of Arts 90000 (1960). Ed Schurmeier in (1985). background; unidentified Charles Babbage Institute. second man and woman. Misa Charles Babbage Institute. 9 781300 058182.

Copy Link

Recommended publications

Magnetic Peripherals Inc Storage Module Drive Vintage: C.1975 Synopsis: 14-Inch Cartridge Disk Drive
AccessionIndex: TCD-SCSS-T.20121208.028 Accession Date: 8-Dec-2012 Accession By: Tom Kearney Object name: Magnetic Peripherals Inc Storage Module Drive Vintage: c.1975 Synopsis: 14-inch cartridge disk drive. S/N: 652128. Description: Magnetic Peripherals Inc (MPI), of Minneapolis, Minnesota , was a joint venture formed by Control Data Corporation (CDC) and Honeywell Bull in 1975. CDC contributed their disk drive facilities at Normandale and Omaha, USA. Honeywell contributed its ex-GE disk plant at Oklahoma City and CII-Honeywell Bull’s plant at Heppenheim, Germany. Its early products were IBM-3330-like third generation disk drives, superceded by IBM-3340/3350/3370-like drives, all with IBM interfaces or Storage Module Device (SMD) interfaces. It became a major player in the hard disk drive market. It was the world wide leader in 14-inch disk drive technology in the OEM marketplace in the 1970s and early 1980s, especially with its SMD and CMD (Cartridge Module Drive) interfaces, and with its 24-hour/7-days-a-week plant at Brynmawr in South Wales, which celebrated the production of 1 million disks and 3 million magnetic tapes in Oct-1979. MPI was renamed Imprimus in 1988 and was bought by Seagate in 1989. The drive in this collection looks almost identical to a CDC9762 80MB disk drive, introduced in 1974 by CDC, see Figures 21 and 22. However, the drive in this collection was made in Portugal by Magnetic Peripherals Inc, and from the rear can be seen to have a different interface, which looks very like an SMD interface.
[Show full text]
Sperry Corporation, UNIVAC Division Photographs and Audiovisual Materials 1985.261
Sperry Corporation, UNIVAC Division photographs and audiovisual materials 1985.261 This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on September 14, 2021. Description is written in: English. Describing Archives: A Content Standard Audiovisual Collections PO Box 3630 Wilmington, Delaware 19807 [email protected] URL: http://www.hagley.org/library Sperry Corporation, UNIVAC Division photographs and audiovisual materials 1985.261 Table of Contents Summary Information .................................................................................................................................... 3 Historical Note ............................................................................................................................................... 4 Scope and Content ......................................................................................................................................... 5 Arrangement ................................................................................................................................................... 6 Administrative Information ............................................................................................................................ 6 Related Materials ........................................................................................................................................... 7 Controlled Access Headings .......................................................................................................................... 8 Bibliography
[Show full text]
(U) NSA's Key Role in Major Developments in Computer Science
.............. -· ,.. , __ .,,...... ___ , _.,.._ ~ __ ....:" -..... .. Doc ID: 6586785 _ __ I 5 SSRFI;';'?Et U 'f'; !! i; I llJ l!llft, I dL& (U) NSA's Key Role in Major Developments in Computer Science PART ONE (U) Cryptology has historically entailed an intensive application of labor. But since the middle of the last century, automation has been used as a way to greatly ease the making and breaking of codes. The formation and maturation of the National Security Agency (NSA) and the evolution of its missions paralleled in large part the advent of the computer age. A!J a consequence, the NSA and its predecessor agencies have historically been at the forefront of computer development in the United States. {U) But the use of computational machines in American cryptology long predated the official birth ofNSA. During World War I, the military incorporated use of encryption equipment. During the 1930s, both the Army and Navy cryptologic components acquired devices from International Business Machines {IBM), which allowed them to sort large amounts of data. By the time World War II had broken out, all of the major combatants possessed sophisticated cipher machines for most of their communications generation and security programs. {U) As the war progressed, the U.S. military services placed many electronic accounting machines into the field in order to process a wide array of enemy signals. The services developed relationships with industry -- Bell Laboratories and Teletype Corporation in the case of the Army, and IBM, Eastman Kodak, and National Cash Register (NCR) in the case of the Navy. A prime example of the benefits of such relationships was the construction of the Navy's cryptanalytic "Bombe," a machine built by NCR to decipher messages from the German ENIGMA machine.
[Show full text]
Sperry Corporation, Univac Division Records 1825.I
Sperry Corporation, Univac Division records 1825.I This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on September 14, 2021. Description is written in: English. Describing Archives: A Content Standard Manuscripts and Archives PO Box 3630 Wilmington, Delaware 19807 [email protected] URL: http://www.hagley.org/library Sperry Corporation, Univac Division records 1825.I Table of Contents Summary Information .................................................................................................................................... 4 Historical Note ............................................................................................................................................... 4 Scope and Content ......................................................................................................................................... 5 Administrative Information ............................................................................................................................ 7 Related Materials ........................................................................................................................................... 8 Controlled Access Headings .......................................................................................................................... 9 Appendices ..................................................................................................................................................... 9 Bibliography ................................................................................................................................................
[Show full text]
VHSIC and ETA10
VHSIC and The First CMOS and Only Cryogenically Cooled Super Computer David Bondurant Former Honeywell Solid State Electronics Division VHSIC System Applications Manager ETA10 Supercomputer at MET Office - UK’s National Weather Forecasting Service Sources • “Very High Speed Integrated Circuits (VHSIC) Final Program Report 1980-1990, VHSIC Program Office”, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Deputy Director, Defense Research and Engineering for Research and Advanced Technology, September 30, 1990 • Carlson, Sullivan, Bach, and Resnick, “The ETA10 Liquid-Nitrogen-Cooled Supercomputer System”, IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices, Vol. 36, No. 8, August 1989. • Cummings and Chase, “High Density Packaging for Supercomputers” • Tony Vacca, “First Hand: The First CMOS And The Only Cryogenically Cooled Supercomputer”, ethw.org • Robert Peglar, “The ETA Era or How to (Mis-)Manage a Company According to Control Data Corp.”, April 17, 1990 Background • I graduated from Missouri S&T in May 1971 • My first job was at Control Data Corporation, the leading Supercomputer Company • I worked in Memory Development • CDC 7600 was in production, 8600 (Cray 1) was in development by Seymour Cray in Chippewa Falls, WI • Star 100 Vector Processor was in Development in Arden Hills • I was assigned to the development of the first DRAM Memory Module for a CDC Supercomputer • I designed the DRAM Module Tester Using ECL Logic Control Data Corporation Arden Hills • First DRAM Module was 4Kx32 using 128 1K DRAM Development Center - June 1971 Chips
[Show full text]
PARALLEL OPERATION in the CONTROL DATA 6600 James E
PARALLEL OPERATION IN THE CONTROL DATA 6600 James E. Thornton Control Data Corporation Minneapolis, Minnesota HISTORY survived early difficulties to become the basis for a nice jump in circuit performance. About four years ago, in the summer of 1960, Control Data began a project which cul SYSTEM ORGANIZATION minated last month in the delivery of the first 6600 Computer. In 1960 it was apparent that The computing system envisioned in that brute force circuit performance and parallel project, and now called the 6600, paid special operation were the two main approaches to attention to two kinds of use, the very large any advanced computer. scientific problem and the time sharing of This paper presents some of the consid smaller problems. For the large problem, a erations having to do with the parallel opera high-speed floating point central processor with tions in the 6600. A most important and access to a large central memory was obvious. fortunate event coincided with the beginning Not so obvious, but important to the 6600 of the 6600 project. This was the appearance system idea, was the isolation of this central of the high-speed silicon transistor, which arithmetic from any peripheral activity. 4096 WORD 4096 WORD 4096 WORD 4096 WORD CORE MEMORY CORE MEMORY ~ ~ CORE MEMORY CORE MEMORY PERIPHERAL PERIPHERAL PERIPHERAL PERIPHERAL & CONTROL & CONTROL & CONTROL & CONTROL PROCESSOR PROCESSOR PROCESSOR PROCESSOR 6600 CENTRAL MEMORY 4096 WORD 4096 WORD CORE MEMORY CORE MEMORY PERIPHERAL 6600 CENTRAL PROCESSOR PERIPHERAL & CONTROL & CONTROL PROCESSOR PROCESSOR 6600 CENTRAL MEMORY 4096 WORD 4096 WORD 4096 WORD 4096 WORD ~ CORE MEMORY - CORE MEMORY +- CORE MEMORY CORE MEMORY PHERIPHERAl PERIPHERAL PERIPHERAL PERIPHERAL & CONTROL & CONTROl.
[Show full text]
TIME-SHARING CONTROL DATA® 3300/3500 Computer Systems
TIME-SHARING CONTROL DATA® 3300/3500 Computer Systems Equipment Bulletin Pub. No. 60156000 © 1965, Control Data Corporation November, 1965 Printed in United States of America CONTENTS 1. Introduction Relocation 4-2 Page Structure 4-2 2. Modular Description Address Relocation 4-4 3. Software Systems Program Address and MASTER 3-1 Program Address Group 4-4 Real-Time SCOPE 3-1 ISR and OSR 4-4 MSIO 3-2 Page Index File 4-8 File Manager 3-3 Page Index 4-9 Disk SCOPE 3-3 Partial Page Adder 4-12 Relocated Address 4-13 4. Multiprogramming Concepts Page Zero Considerations 4-13 Executive Mode 4-1 Instructions 4-13 Monitor State 4-1 3300 and 3500 Instruction List 4-14 Program State 4-1 FIGURES 2-1 3300 Computer System Console 2-2 4-7 Example of Page Index Refer- encing 4-8 4-1 Address Relocation Process 4-3 4-8 Page Index Format 4-9 4-2 Word Addressing 4-4 4-9 Relocation Chassis Display Panel 4-9 4-3 Character Addressing 4-4 4-10 Storage Address Buses 4-10 4-4 Program Address Group 4-5 4-11 Page Length Subdivisions 4'-10 4-5 Page Index File Address and Hardware Structure 4-6 4-12 Quarter Page in Relation to PP Designator 4-11 4-6 Relocation System illustrating Memory Protection with Fully 4-13 Starting Quarters versus Relative Expanded Memory (262K) 4-7 Quarters 4-12 iii BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY: ... .•• ... · .• ·• •. ·• • SPACE ... ... .. •• .. ..• TIME -SHARI NG SYSTEMS •• FOR BUSINESS, SCIENTIFIC • .. & REAL -TIME APPLICATIONS ..•• .• 1.
[Show full text]
Cray Supercomputers Past, Present, and Future
Cray Supercomputers Past, Present, and Future Hewdy Pena Mercedes, Ryan Toukatly Advanced Comp. Arch. 0306-722 November 2011 Cray Companies z Cray Research, Inc. (CRI) 1972. Seymour Cray. z Cray Computer Corporation (CCC) 1989. Spin-off. Bankrupt in 1995. z Cray Research, Inc. bought by Silicon Graphics, Inc (SGI) in 1996. z Cray Inc. Formed when Tera Computer Company (pioneer in multi-threading technology) bought Cray Research, Inc. in 2000 from SGI. Seymour Cray z Joined Engineering Research Associates (ERA) in 1950 and helped create the ERA 1103 (1953), also known as UNIVAC 1103. z Joined the Control Data Corporation (CDC) in 1960 and collaborated in the design of the CDC 6600 and 7600. z Formed Cray Research Inc. in 1972 when CDC ran into financial difficulties. z First product was the Cray-1 supercomputer z Faster than all other computers at the time. z The first system was sold within a month for US$8.8 million. z Not the first system to use a vector processor but was the first to operate on data on a register instead of memory Vector Processor z CPU that implements an instruction set that operates on one- dimensional arrays of data called vectors. z Appeared in the 1970s, formed the basis of most supercomputers through the 80s and 90s. z In the 60s the Solomon project of Westinghouse wanted to increase math performance by using a large number of simple math co- processors under the control of a single master CPU. z The University of Illinois used the principle on the ILLIAC IV.
[Show full text]
The CRAY- 1 Computer System
We believe the key to the 10's longevity is its basically simple, clean structure with adequately large (one Mbyte) address space that allows users to get work done. In this way, it has evolved easily with use and with technology. An equally significant factor in Computer G. Bell, S. H. Fuller, and its success is a single operating system environment Systems D. Siewiorek, Editors enabling user program sharing among all machines. The machine has thus attracted users who have built significant languages and applications in a variety of The CRAY- 1 environments. These user-developers are thus the dominant system architects-implementors. Computer System In retrospect, the machine turned out to be larger Richard M. Russell and further from a minicomputer than we expected. Cray Research, Inc. As such it could easily have died or destroyed the tiny DEC organization that started it. We hope that this paper has provided insight into the interactions of its development. This paper describes the CRAY,1, discusses the evolution of its architecture, and gives an account of Acknowledgments. Dan Siewiorek deserves our some of the problems that were overcome during its greatest thanks for helping with a complete editing of manufacture. the text. The referees and editors have been especially The CRAY-1 is the only computer to have been helpful. The important program contributions by users built to date that satisfies ERDA's Class VI are too numerous for us to give by name but here are requirement (a computer capable of processing from most of them: APL, Basic, BLISS, DDT, LISP, Pascal, 20 to 60 million floating point operations per second) Simula, sos, TECO, and Tenex.
[Show full text]
(Is!!I%Losalamos Scientific Laboratory
LA-8689-MS Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory Computer Benchmark Performance 1979 Y I I i PERMANENT RETENTION i i I REQUIRED BY CONTRACT ~- i _...._. -.. .— - .. ———--J (IS!!I%LOS ALAMOS SCIENTIFIC LABORATORY Post Office Box 1663 Los Alamos. New Mexico 87545 An AffKmtitive Action/I!qual Opportunity Employer t- Editedby MargeryMcCormick GroupC-2 I)lSCLAIM1.R Thh rqwtl was prtpued as an ‘mount or work sponwrcd by m aguncy or !he UnllcdSIws Gown. mcnt. Nclthcr the Unltcd Stales Govw,lmcnt nor any agency thcr.wf, nor any of lheif cmpluyws, mtkci my warranty, cipre!> or Impllcd, or assumes any Iqd USIWY or rc$ponslbdlty for the Iccur. ncv, mmplclcness, or u~cfulnc$s of any information, appm’’luq product, or process disclosed, oc r+ re$enh thit Its use would not Infrlngc privntcly owned r~hts. Rcfcrcncc hercln 10 my $I!CCUSCcorn. mercltl product, PIOCC$S,or SCNICCby trtdc name, Imdcmtrk, manufaL!urer, or o!hmwisc, does not necenarily mmtitute or imply its cndorscmcnt, retommcndation, or favoring by lhc United Stttcs Government or any agency thereof. The views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not ncc. c:mrily ttmtc or reflect those of the Unltcd Statct Government 01 my s;ency thcceof. UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY CONTRACT W-7405 -ENG. 36 LA-8689-MS UC-32 Issued: February 1981 Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory Computer Benchmark Performance 1979 Ann H. Hayes Ingrid Y. Bucher — ----- . J E- -“ ““- ”’”-” .- ------- r- ------ . ..- . .. — ,.. LOS ALAMOS SCIENTIFIC LABORATORY COMPUTER BENCHMARK PERFOWCE 1979 by Ann H. Hayes and Ingrid Y. Bucher ABSTRACT Benchmarking of computers for performance evalua- tion and procurement purposes is an ongoing activity of the Research and Applications Group (Group C-3) at the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory (LASL).
[Show full text]
Oral History Interview with Control Data Corporation Engineers (1975)
Reminiscences of computer architecture and computer design at Control Data Corporation CBI OH 321 Interviewee: Toth, Dolan Interviewee: Steiner, Kent Interviewee: Specker, Wayne Interviewee: Rowan, Tom Interviewee: Resnick, Dave Interviewee: Pavlov, Mike Interviewee: Pagelkopf, Don Interviewee: Moe, Robert Interviewee: Lincoln, Neil R. Interviewee: Krueger, Larry Interviewee: Krohn, Howard Interviewee: Kort, Raymon Interviewee: Hutson, Maurice Interviewee: Hawley, Charles L. Interviewee: Grinna, Dennis Interviewee: Control Data Corporation Interviewee: Bhend, Bill Interviewee: Bergmanis, Maris Interviewee: Alexander, Curt Interviewer: Neil R. Lincoln Repository: Charles Babbage Institute, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis Description: Transcript, 210 pp. Abstract: Organized discussion moderated by Neil R. Lincoln with eighteen Control Data Corporation (CDC) engineers on computer architecture and design at CDC. Engineers include: Robert Moe, Wayne Specker, Dennis Grinna, Tom Rowan, Maurice Hutson, Curt Alexander, Don Pagelkopf, Maris Bergmanis, Dolan Toth, Chuck Hawley, Larry Krueger, Mike Pavlov, Dave Resnick, Howard Krohn, Bill Bhend, Kent Steiner, Raymon Kort, and Lincoln. Citation: Reminiscences of computer architecture and computer design at Control Data Corporation, OH 321. Oral history interview moderated by Neil R. Lincoln, May and September 1975. Charles Babbage Institute, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. Copyright: Copyright to this oral history is held by the Charles Babbage Institute. Distribution in any format of the
[Show full text]
Proceedings, ITC/USA
Real-Time Storage for Modern Telemetry Processing Systems Item Type text; Proceedings Authors Hollstien, Dave Publisher International Foundation for Telemetering Journal International Telemetering Conference Proceedings Rights Copyright © International Foundation for Telemetering Download date 01/10/2021 14:49:06 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/615728 Real-Time Storage for Modern Telemetry Processing Systems Dave Hollstien Loral Instrumentation San Diego California ABSTRACT With the ever increasing demands for higher data volumes and faster data rates, the real-time storage of data is consuming a vast majority of the conventional Telemetry system’s processing bandwidths. General purpose computers have traditionally shared the real-time functions of data storage and operator data and graphic displays. Although the power of the general purpose computer is increasing year-by-year, the telemetry data storage and display requirements are increasing at a far greater pace. Even the fastest host processors have proven incapable of keeping pace with these requirements. This paper will address an architectural approach to real-time storage that will relieve the host processor of this burden. Introduction Real-time telemetry data is often recorded to allow playback at either higher or lower than real-time rates. Recording the telemetry data also allows remote acquisition of the test data, preserves the test data in a repository, and provides a means of transferring data to a host processor for large and complex computations. Telemetry recording requires unique capabilities of both the storage device and the storage medium. Among these required capabilities are high fidelity, long term stability, standard data formats, and maximum storage bandwidth and storage capacity.
[Show full text]