HP 9000/748i, 748 VME Workstations
| Quick Facts | |
|---|---|
| Introduced | 1994, 1996 |
| Period | Maturity (III) |
| Series | 740 VME |
| CPU | 1 PA-7100LC/ 1 PA-7300LC 64-165 MHz |
| Caches | 128-256 KB L1 0-512 KB L2 |
| RAM | 256 MB (748i) 1 GB (748) |
| Design | LASI |
| Drives | 4 SCSI |
| Expansion | (2 GSC-M)/ (2 PMC PCI) 4 EISA/ 4 PCI 6 VME |
| Bandwidth | ? |
| I/O | micro 10E SCSI micro serial micro parallel micro VGA 2 PS/2 micro audio |
The HP 9000 748i and 748 ruggedized PA-RISC workstations are HP 9000 743i and 744 VME boards built into a heavy VME case like the 747 with integrated I/O.
The rugged VME cases were designed for durability and reliability in harsh environments
and had built-in expansion options for six 6U VME slots for additional I/O boards, up to four SCSI devices and a four-slot EISA or PCI cage.
The Model 748 was exceptionally flexible and responsive
, based on 32-bit PA-RISC and compatible with other HP 9000 technology and applications.
Designed for instrumentation purposes, the 748, like the other HP PA-RISC VME computers, was often used in manufacturing, scientific but also military uses.
| Model | Introduced | Price |
|---|---|---|
| 748i/64 | 1994 | $13,910 |
| 748i/100 | 1994 | $19,910 |
| 748/132L | 1996 | $12,000 |
| 748/165L | 1997 |
HP 74x VME products were discontinued in 2002 as customers have migrated to new solutions and platforms more rapidly than anticipated
with end of support between 2003 and 2007.
System architecture
Processors
| Model | CPU | Speed | L1 Cache | L2 Cache |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 748i/64 | PA-7100LC | 64 MHz | 1 KB on-chip and 256 KB off-chip | |
| 748i/100 | PA-7100LC | 100 MHz | 1 KB on-chip and 256 KB off-chip | |
| 748/132L | PA-7300LC | 132 MHz | 128 KB on-chip | |
| 748/165L | PA-7300LC | 165 MHz | 128 KB on-chip | 512 KB off-chip |
Chipset
- LASI ASIC, which features:
- NCR 53C710 8-bit single-ended SCSI-2
- Intel 82596CA 10 Mbit Ethernet controller
- Wax EISA bridge
- Dino GSC-to-PCI bridge
- 748: Phantom PseudoBC GSC+ port
- 748: Visualize-EG
Graffiti
graphics with 2MB frame buffer memory - Harmony CD/DAT quality 16-bit stereo audio
- VME controller
- PCMCIA controller
- Other I/O (serial, parallel)
System buses
- GSC bus
- Optional EISA bus
- Optional PCI-32/33 bus
- VME bus
- SCSI-2 Fast-Narrow single-ended bus
Memory
- 748i and 748 use different cards
- 748i: 8-64 MB special ECC mezzanine cards
- 748: 16-256 MB special ECC mezzanine cards
- Up to four cards
- 748i: 8 MB minimum, 256 MB maximum amount of RAM
- 748: 16 MB minimum, 1 GB maximum amount of RAM
Expansion slots
- Two sites for GSC-mezzanine (GSC-M) cards, requires the A4219A GSC Expansion kit or
- Two sites for PCI-mezzanine (PMC) cards, requires the A4504A PMC bridge board
(two additional PMC-sites can be obtained through the addition of the A4509A PMC Expander board to the above) - Six 6U VME slots
- Either four EISA or four PCI slots in a separate I/O cage
External ports
- SCSI-2 50-pin Fast-Narrow single-ended
- Two Serial micro-RS232C DB91
- Micro-Parallel DB251
- Micro-DB15 Ethernet AUI 15-pin1
- Micro-DB15 VGA graphics1
- Two PS/2 connectors for keyboard & mouse
- Micro-DB9 for audio breakout1
- On configurations with an EISA cage: HIL connector
Notes
- These micro-connectors need HP conversion cables to provide the normal-sized versions of their respective connectors
Operating systems
Benchmarks
| Model | SPEC95 int | SPEC95 fp |
|---|---|---|
| 748i/64 | 2.52 | 3.31 |
| 748i/100 | 3.76 | 4.03 |
| 748/132 | 6.45 | 6.70 |
| 748/165L | 7.90 | 7.64 |
Comparison to SPEC benchmark data from other contemporary Unix workstations:
| Model | CPU | SPEC95 int | SPEC95 fp |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intel Alder | Intel Pentium Pro 200MHz | 8.09 | 6.75 |
| Sun Ultra 2 1170 | Sun UltraSPARC 167MHz | 6.34 | 9.33 |
| IBM RS/6000 43P | PowerPC 604 100 MHz | 6.19 | 3.20 |
| Digital Alphastation 255 | DEC Alpha 21064A 233MHz | 4.27 | 5.09 |
| SGI Indy | MIPS R5000 150MHz | 3.97 | 4.20 |
| Sun SPARCstation 20 | Sun SuperSPARC II 75MHz | 3.11 | 3.10 |
| DEC AlphaStation 200 | DEC Alpha 21064 100MHz | 1.48 | 2.79 |
| Sun SPARCstation 10 | Sun SuperSPARC 40MHz | 1.13 | 1.38 |
Dimensions
| Height | Width | Depth | Weight | Power |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 324mm | 425mm | 419mm | 29kg | 2×350W |
References
- Model 748 Workstation Owner's Guide (PDF, 3.2 MB, Hewlett Packard 1997)
- 743, 744 and 748 Technical Reference Manual (PDF, 2.2 MB, Hewlett Packard 1997)
- HP Model 748 Service Handbook (.pdf, 3.6 MB, Hewlett Packard 1997)
- VMEbus Single Board Computers and Industrial Workstations (archive.org mirror), Hewlett-Packard Company (1997: mirror accessed January 2024)
Other
- Refer also to the 743i and 744 workstations