Table of Contents
Alpha Development Unit
| Alpha Development Unit | |
|---|---|
| Host | DECstation 5000, over TURBOchannel |
| Kernel option | None |
| Linux | Never |
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. 1)
Specifications
The ADU consisted of: 2)
- 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. 3)
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. 4) OpenVMS first booted on Manniquin, an EVAX emulator running on a VAX, before it ran on the ADU. 5)