The HP 3000 Series 9x7 systems are high performance entry to mid-range members of the HP 3000 family of business computers and are available in three packages--the 9x7LX (two I/O slots) is offered with the 917 through 947, the 9x7RX (four I/O slots) with the 937 through 987/200, and the 9x7SX (twelve I/O slots) with the 937 through 987/200. These systems take advantage of
HP Precision Architecture-RISC (PA-RISC) and powerful VLSI technology to set new standards for cost effective, high performance. Offering a range of processor performance, packaging, and user license options, the systems allow you to purchase for your needs today yet grow easily. Your investment is protected by the ability to increase computing power through simple processor board upgrades, or increase your I/O capacity via easy chassis upgrades.
Since these systems are compatible with other HP 3000 systems, a multitude of business solutions are available making them ideal computing systems for small to medium sized businesses, departments and remote office locations.
The entire system including CPU, memory, disk, tape backup, and operating system comes preconfigured from the factory in a compact, integrated package which fits into an office environment. The system, along with external peripherals, can also be rack mounted in a compact 1.1 or 1.6 meter cabinet.
By using state of the art technologies, these systems provide a low cost of ownership. A high speed, high capacity integrated Digital Data Storage (DDS) tape drive provides the performance of half-inch magnetic tape backup at a much lower cost. The DDS backup unit allows many system configurations to be backed up on a single cassette, eliminating the need for an operator to be present during backup operations. The eighteen systems also support from 1.0 Gbyte to 6 Gbytes of next generation high capacity disk drives inside the system package.
Features:
Single-chip CMOS CPU single-board processor -- the 987/200 has two single-chip processors on a single board
ECC memory expandable to 192, 384, 512, or 768 Mbytes
Up to 250 Gbytes of mass storage with external disk drives
Integrated Digital Data Storage tape backup unit with 2.0 Gbytes per cassette
Battery backup, automatic power fail recovery
Standard office power and cooling requirements
The HP 3000 Operating System and HP subsystem software pre-loaded on all models
HP Precision Architecture-RISC
All HP 3000 900 Series systems use HP Precision Architecture-RISC (PA-RISC) to achieve high performance and reliability at a low cost. PA-RISC is based on the concept of reduced instruction set computing (RISC), a design approach that leads to greatly simplified computers optimized to provide the highest performance for a given integrated circuit technology. In addition to offering higher performance, the inherent simplicity of PA-RISC means lower cost and higher reliability because machines can be implemented with fewer components. At the core of PA-RISC is an instruction set containing 140 carefully selected, fixed format instructions. Because the instruction set is simple, instructions are hardwired directly into the central processing unit (CPU). This eliminates the need for microcode and the necessity to decode complex instructions. PA-RISC utilizes a load/store design to reduce the number of relatively slow memory accesses, as most operations are performed register-to-register. To further enhance performance, optimizing compilers are used to schedule instructions and manage the instruction pipeline. With hardwired control, a load/store design, and optimizing compilers, one instruction is executed with virtually every clock cycle. Single-cycle execution provides much of the performance benefit of PA-RISC over traditional architectures. PA-RISC also incorporates many other extensions to RISC which greatly enhance its functionality such as extended addressing and memory-mapped I/O.
System packaging
The systems are available in one of two compact, attractive cabinets. Series 917LX through 947LX systems use a small cabinet measuring 0.4 meters high and 0.2 meters wide. The cabinet has been uniquely designed to hold an entire modular system in the space of a desktop personal computer maximizing the efficiency of office or computer room space. It is capable of holding the SPU, a digital data storage device, and one disk drive.
Series 937RX through 987/200SX systems use a larger package offering more room for expansion as well as more integrated peripherals. This package measures .4 meters high and .4 meters wide. It is capable of holding the SPU, a digital data storage device and/or a CD-ROM data retrieval device, and up to four disk drives in a space smaller than a two drawer filing cabinet.
1.1 and 1.6 meter cabinets are also available in which the system, additional external disk storage, tape backup, and a Datacommunications and Terminal Controller (DTC) may be racked to house an entire system configuration.
Field Upgrades
Simple processor and package upgrades are available to allow you to grow from one system to another. Through an easy processor board or chassis swap, you can increase your system performance, expandability, or both protecting your initial investment.
Memory subsystem
The memory subsystem uses either 1 Mbit, 4 Mbit, or 16 Mbit fast-page mode dynamic RAMs and is expandable in 8, 16, 32, 64, or 128 Mbyte increments. Refer to the specification table below for specific memory sizes. Main memory has battery backup to ensure that information is maintained for a minimum of 15 minutes in the event of an interruption in AC power.
Digital Data Storage
The Digital Data Storage tape backup unit integrated with each system provides high capacity storage on a standard audio
DAT cassette, measuring only
73 by 54 by 10.5 mm. With
Turbo-STORE/XL II data compression, up to 8 Gbytes can be stored on a single cassette. This large capacity storage on a single DAT cassette eliminates the need for operator intervention during backup and offers a convenient and compact storage medium.
The DDS tape drive offers these features:
2.0 Gbyte capacity on a 120-minute (90m) tape
Typical transfer rate of 11 Mbytes/minute
A 512 Kbyte data buffer to maintain host transfer rate
Automatic error detection and correction
Three levels of Error Correcting Code (ECC)
Standard 3.5-inch form factor
Disk storage
The systems take advantage of the state-of-the-art disk storage devices by integrating up to two 3.5-inch disk drive units or from one to three 5.25-inch disk drive units into the system and supporting up to 250 Gbytes with external disk storage devices. The storage devices offer reliable, high capacity, high performance, random access mass storage. This is accomplished by the use of advanced electronics which reduce the component count and improve reliability. Key features of the integrated disk drives include:
High reliability (MTBF over 300,000 hours)
1.0 or 2.0 Gbyte formatted disk
Extensive use of HP's state-of-the-art VLSI processes
System organization
The processor communicates with I/O via the HP Precision Bus. The Precision Bus provides a 32-bit data path and can support data transfer rates of 20 Mbytes/second average or 32 Mbytes/second peak. The Precision Bus supports Programmable Serial Interface (PSI) cards allowing 900 Series HP 3000 systems to be linked to other computers in a distributed computing environment. The Precision Bus also supports I/O interfaces to peripheral devices and local area network links.
System processors
The system processors use a one-board set implemented with advanced VLSI logic functions. With hardwired control, the systems are capable of executing one instruction with every clock cycle. Separate instruction and execution units facilitate pipelining and allow for efficient, parallel use of processor resources.
The cache is a high-speed buffer for the CPU that minimizes the number of relatively slow transactions with main memory. The systems use two high-speed CPU caches, one for data and one for instructions. Both caches use a direct mapped scheme. Data modified in the cache is written to main memory only when the processor requires other data to be in that cache location, or when a direct memory access operation is performed within that data area, or upon a power fail.
Instruction Pipelining
These systems are pipelined at the instruction level such that multiple instructions can be operated on simultaneously. Excluding penalties for cache misses, and branch instructions, the net effect is that one instruction is completed with every clock cycle.
Floating Point coprocessor
A floating point coprocessor is available as an option on all Series 9x7 systems except the 987, 987/150, and 987/200 where it is integrated onto the CPU. By operating in parallel with the CPU the coprocessor increases performance in applications that utilize floating point.
I/O subsystem
HP Precision Bus
The HP Precision Bus supports
I/O expansion cards for interfacing to peripheral devices and providing data communications functions.
Peripheral connections
Disks, tapes, and system printers are connected either via an industry standard Small Computer Systems Interconnect (SCSI) channel card or a Hewlett-Packard Interface Bus channel card which supports the 8 bit wide, IEEE-488 standard Hewlett-Packard Interface Bus (HP-IB). One SCSI adapter is integrated into the system to provide connection for up to seven peripheral devices. Each additional SCSI channel card supports up to seven peripheral devices while HP-IB channel cards support up to six peripheral devices. External disks can also be connected via HP Fiber Optic Link interfaces (HP-FL). HP-FL interfaces using the PB-FL card support up to eight external disks and are supported on all Series 9x7 systems.
Workstation and serial printer connection
Connections for workstations, serial printers, and other serial devices are provided via Datacommunications and Terminal Controllers (DTCs) that are distributed over an IEEE 802.3 standard Local Area Network (LAN). This flexible connection scheme allows DTCs to be situated in the department that they service, saving the cost and effort of running cables from the system processing unit to each workstation. The DTC72MX can support up to 72 directly connected RS-232 or RS-423 ports, or 72 modem ports, or a combination of the three. The DTC16iX supports 16 directly connected RS-232 or RS-423 ports. Direct connect ports can be replaced by modem ports in blocks of 8.
Open Systems Functionality
All HP 3000 900 systems provide OLTP performance and functionality while also supporting industry and de facto standards. The
HP 3000 provides interoperability networking (ARPA, OSI and IBM SNA services) and application portability through standard application programming interfaces (POSIX, industry and defacto standard languages and relational database management systems).
Industry standard networking
HP networking solutions are based on defacto and industry standards. These standards include: Open Systems Interconnect (OSI); Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP); Systems Network Architecture (SNA), and the Open Software Foundation's Distributed Computing Environment (OSF/DCE). A networking solution based on standards enables effective communication between a variety of computer systems. In addition, it protects your current computer equipment investment and gives you the flexibility to choose the best technologies and applications for your future needs.
System-to-system communications
For system-to-system communications, the HP 3000 has a complete offering of local and wide-area networking services. ARPA Services, NFS, and NCS allow for transparent file access, file transfer, and sharing of resources in a TCP/IP environment. In OSI networks, FTAM allows users to transfer files between different vendor computers. In addition, the HP 3000's X.400 product, based on the industry standard OSI model, lets users send and receive electronic mail messages across a multivendor environment. For HP 3000 to HP 3000 communication, HP Network services provides virtual terminal and file transfer capabilities.
Desktop integration
The HP 3000's family of PC Networking products (Novell Netware and LAN Manager) enable PC users to access enterprise-wide information and computing resources. This provides users with the best of both worlds: access to PC applications plus access to the power and resources of the
HP 3000.
Networking foundation
HP 3000 Networking Services and PC Networking products are supported over industry standard links: Ethernet/802.3, and Token Ring for local-area communication and X.25 for wide-area connection. NS Point-to-Point is also supported for a direct connection between HP 3000 systems.
IBM coexistence
For seamless integration into an IBM computing environment, the HP 3000 offers a complete array of SNA and BSC connectivity products, including: interactive communication products SNA IMF for 3270 emulation and SNA DHCF for IBM 3270 access to the HP 3000; batch communication products SNA/RJE and BSC RJE; LU 6.2 PU 2.1 API for program-to-program communications; and electronic mail communications through either SNADs or X.400. SNA/SDLC Link, BSC Link and SNA/X.25 provide the link for HP-to-IBM communication in SNA and Bisync environments.
Information management
The HP 3000 has several database management products for information storage. HP ALLBASE/SQL is HP's strategic relational database management system (RDMS) for HP 3000 900 Series systems. This database is based on the industry standard, SQL. In addition, leading third party relational database management solutions are also supported.
HP IMAGE/SQL is a networked database management system with your choice of a standard TurboIMAGE or SQL interface that provides the best DBMS performance on HP 3000 systems. Software developers are provided with a rich selection of programming languages and CASE tools that support these databases. Reporting and presentation tools are available to allow access to the stored data without programming.
Learning products
Series 917LX through Series 947LX systems ship with a streamlined manual set covering installation and basic system operation and maintenance. All other 9x7 systems are shipped with an expanded set of manuals covering a wider range of system operation and management tasks to aid in efficient operation of the system.
Additional manual sets covering more advanced system management functions, administration tasks, HP 3000 programming environments, and other topics are available and must be ordered separately.
System software and supported peripherals
For a list of supported system software and peripherals, refer to the "900 Series HP 3000 Supported Products Listing."
Support services
A wide range of hardware and software support services are available worldwide for all
HP 3000 products. Contact your HP sales representative for details on available support services.
Ordering information
These HP 3000 systems include 32 or 64 Mbytes of main memory, one 1.0 Gbyte embedded disk drive, one 2.0 Gbyte DDS embedded tape drive, one HP 700/96 console with cable, one integrated SCSI/LAN/Console interface card, one blank DDS cassette tape, and one cleaning tape. Systems are available with a variety of database choices: Preconfigured (with IMAGE/SQL and ALLBASE/SQL), IMAGE/SQL only, ALLBASE/SQL only, and the operating system only. The HP 3000 operating system and any HP subsystem software or database management product that is ordered will be installed on the integrated disk prior to shipment. Return credit product numbers are available when upgrading from other HP 3000 systems to these systems.
Installation is included standard on all 9x7 systems.
