===== Alpha Development Unit =====

<WRAP box right 340px>
^ Alpha Development Unit ^^
^ Host | DECstation 5000, over TURBOchannel |
^ Kernel option | None |
^ Linux | Never |
</WRAP>

The Alpha Development Unit (ADU) was a prototype Alpha system on which Digital did its operating system work before any Alpha system shipped; it was never sold. [(>[[https://github.com/alphalinux/mailing-list-archives/blob/main/comp-sys-dec-mbox/googlegroups-1994-December.mbox#L5386|"Re: Ultrix for Alpha (?)"]], Farrell Woods, comp.sys.dec, 21 Dec 1994)]

==== Specifications ====

The ADU consisted of: [(>[[https://github.com/alphalinux/mailing-list-archives/blob/main/comp-sys-dec-mbox/googlegroups-1994-December.mbox#L5386|"Re: Ultrix for Alpha (?)"]], Farrell Woods, comp.sys.dec, 21 Dec 1994)]

  * A washing-machine-sized box holding the Alpha prototype hardware
  * A DECstation 5000 on top, acting as host, I/O processor, and front end
  * The two communicated over TURBOchannel, with the ADU appearing to the DECstation much like a TURBOchannel option

==== History ====

ULTRIX ran on the ADUs first, then OSF/1, whose development continued on them until the first DEC 3000 Model 500 (Flamingo) systems arrived. Support for the ADU was dropped before the first release of DEC OSF/1 for Alpha, although some engineers inside Digital kept theirs running through the first two releases. [(>[[https://github.com/alphalinux/mailing-list-archives/blob/main/comp-sys-dec-mbox/googlegroups-1994-December.mbox#L5386|"Re: Ultrix for Alpha (?)"]], Farrell Woods, comp.sys.dec, 21 Dec 1994)]

ULTRIX on Alpha was an advanced development effort only. It ran on the ADU, was never carried to the production machines, and was never a product. [(>[[https://github.com/alphalinux/mailing-list-archives/blob/main/comp-sys-dec-mbox/googlegroups-1994-December.mbox#L5386|"Re: Ultrix for Alpha (?)"]], Farrell Woods, comp.sys.dec, 21 Dec 1994)] OpenVMS first booted on Manniquin, an EVAX emulator running on a VAX, before it ran on the ADU. [(>[[https://github.com/alphalinux/mailing-list-archives/blob/main/comp-sys-dec-mbox/googlegroups-2001-July.mbox#L7344|"Re: Compaq kills Alpha"]], Fred Kleinsorge, comp.sys.dec, 30 Jul 2001)]

{{tag>hardware system digital}}