Central processing unit
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2001.0112.001
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- OBJECT TYPE
- INTEGRATED CIRCUIT/DISTRIBUTED PROCESSING-CAPTURE
- DATE
- 1978–1980
- ARTIFACT NUMBER
- 2001.0112.001
- MANUFACTURER
- Sperry Corp.
- MODEL
- XL40
- LOCATION
- United States of America
More Information
General Information
- Serial #
- N/A
- Part Number
- 1
- Total Parts
- 8
- AKA
- N/A
- Patents
- N/A
- General Description
- METAL FRAME, METAL & SYNTHETIC CASING; SYNTHETIC & METAL TAPE DRIVE; SYNTHETIC CONTROLS & CABLES; SYNTHETIC & METAL PARTS/
Dimensions
Note: These reflect the general size for storage and are not necessarily representative of the object's true dimensions.
- Length
- 96.5 cm
- Width
- 57.0 cm
- Height
- 84.5 cm
- Thickness
- N/A
- Weight
- N/A
- Diameter
- N/A
- Volume
- N/A
Lexicon
- Group
- Computing Technology
- Category
- Digital computing devices
- Sub-Category
- N/A
Manufacturer
- AKA
- Sperry
- Country
- United States of America
- State/Province
- Unknown
- City
- Unknown
Context
- Country
- Canada
- State/Province
- Ontario
- Period
- C. 1980 - OCTOBER 2000
- Canada
-
PART OF SYSTEM USED BY CONSUMERS GAS (NOW ENBRIDGE) TO ENTER DATA PRIMARILY FOR ACCOUNTING PURPOSES. RECORDS FOR ALL COMMERCIAL OPERATIONS USING NATURAL GAS WERE INPUT THROUGH THIS CENTRE AS WELL AS MOST PRIVATE ACCOUNTS IN METRO TORONTO AREA. SYSTEM CONSISTED OF CONTROL UNIT & 8 KEYSTATIONS (2001.0113). - Function
-
CPU & CONTROLLER OF DISTRIBUTED PROCESSING SYSTEM IN WHICH KEY STATIONS (2001.0113) WERE USED TO ENTER DATA & SAVE IT TO TAPES ON TAPE DRIVE OF CONTROL UNIT (2001.0112); TAPES WERE SENT TO COMPUTER OPERATIONS ROOM & DATA WAS LOADED ONTO MAINFRAME COMPUTER; TAPES WERE KEPT AS BACKUPS. - Technical
-
APPLICATION OF DISTRIBUTED PROCESSING TECHNOLOGY WHICH ALLOWED SIMULTANEOUS USE/ACCESS BY NUMBER OF DATA ENTRY CLERKS IN OFFICE ENVIRONMENT. FROM MID-1960S, MAIN FRAME COMPUTERS WERE ACCESSIBLE BY MULTIPLE USERS, BUT FOR SMALLER, LESS DEMANDING REQUIREMENTS, XL40 WAS WIDELY USED. PERSONAL COMPUTERS SOON MADE DISTRIBUTED SYSTEMS OBSOLETE THOUGH THEY ARE BEGINNING TO MAKE COMEBACK. - Area Notes
-
Unknown
Details
- Markings
- PLATE ON FRONT READS "cmc XL40/ a division of Pertec Computer Corporation"; LABEL ON TAPE DRIVE COVER READS "9 TRACK/ 1600 CPI".
- Missing
- APPEARS COMPLETE
- Finish
- TEXTURED BUFF PAINTED CASING WITH TEXTURED BUFF SYNTHETIC TOP; TEXTURED BROWN FRONT PANEL; BLACK TEXTURED TAPE DRIVE DECK WITH "SMOKED" PLASTIC COVER & BEIGE CONTROL PANEL; WHITE CONTROL BUTTONS; BLACK POWER CORDS.
- Decoration
- N/A
CITE THIS OBJECT
If you choose to share our information about this collection object, please cite:
Sperry Corp., Central processing unit, between 1978–1980, Artifact no. 2001.0112, Ingenium – Canada’s Museums of Science and Innovation, http://collection.ingeniumcanada.org/en/id/2001.0112.001/
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