HP 9000 822, 832, 808 and 815
Low-cost PA-RISC NS-2 and PCX servers
HP released several compact PA-RISC servers between 1989 and 1990 for the lower-end Unix business server market. Two low-cost designs were offered: HP 9000 822 and 832 with NMOS NS-2 processor and HP 9000 808 and 815 based on new CMOS PCX processors. For devices and I/O, HP-PB bus was used.
| System | Processor | Design | Year | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HP 9000 822 | NS-2 PA-RISC 25 MHz | SIU and CTB | 1989 | $20,000 |
| HP 9000 832 | NS-2 PA-RISC 30 MHz | SIU and CTB | 1989 | $30,000 |
| HP 9000 808 | PCX PA-RISC ? MHz | SIU and CTB | 1990 | $16,000 |
| HP 9000 815 | PCX PA-RISC ? MHz | SIU and CTB | 1990 | $14,900 |
HP 9000 822 and 832
HP 9000 822 and 832 are PA-RISC servers released in 1989, based on single-chip HP VLSI processors for the first time, manufactured in HP NMOS.
HP 9000 822 SilverFox Low are entry-level PA-RISC business servers for Unix with 25 MHz NS-2 processor with 32 KB cache and a 4096-entry TLB. HP 9000 832 SilverFox High are very similar with faster 30 MHz NS-2 CPUs, 128 KB cache and 4096-entry TLB. System design is SIU/SMB for HP-PB cards used for expansion and I/O, maximum RAM is 64 MB.
Performance of HP 9000 822 was about 10 MIPS for $20,000 in 1989, marketed for high reliability computations and data processing in a normal office environment
without special AC or spacing requirements.
Performance of 832 was slightly higher with 12 or 15 MIPS for $30,000 in 1989.
There was an CPU board upgrade path from 822 to 832 and to 842 and 852. Apparently I/O slots could also be upgraded from 6 to 12, but it is not totally clear how.
HP 9000 808 and 815
HP 9000 808 and 815 are low-cost PA-RISC servers released in 1990, apparently using PCX PA-RISC 1.0 processors in CMOS. They use a similar system design (SPI and SMB) which leaned on their predecessors and were an attempt by HP to capture the lower-cost late-1980s server market with more simpler and limited offerings.
Maximum RAM for 808 was 32 MB, for 815 slightly higher 56 MB, with expansion cards seemingly using HP-PB. HP 9000 808 had a performance of 7 MIPS (which seems rather low for the PCX) was sold for around $16,000, the 815 with the same performance of 7 MIPS in 1990 for around $14,900.
Both 808 and 815 were not really popular and not distributed on a larger scale – not many machines and even less documentation survived. They also had not very good HP-UX support – muss less than older and newer 800 servers.
There are a few inconsistencies in the available information on 808 and 815. HP apparently offered a CPU board upgrade path from 815 to 825, and then to 835 and 845, although it the latter might have been based on older CPUs.
Operating systems
HP 9000 800 servers, especially the early versions from the 1980s, only really support HP-UX Unix, developed by HP, due to their custom and proprietary hardware. HP 9000 822 and 832 servers were supported in HP-UX possibly from version HP-UX 7.0 in 1989 to HP-UX 10.10 in 1995, while HP 9000 808 and 815 had much less HP-UX support: possibly from version HP-UX 7.0 or 8.0 in 1989 to HP-UX 9 in 1992.
| HP-UX | Year | Servers | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| HP-UX 10.10 | 1995 | for 822 and 832, UNIX95, CDE, ServiceGuard | |
| HP-UX 10.01 | 1995 | for 822 and 832, System V, DCE, Streams, better I/O and memory unsupported: 635, 645, 808, 815 unsupported: 825CHX, 825SRX, 834CH, 835SRX |
|
| HP-UX 9.0 | 1992 | PA-7100 and PA-7100LC support, LVM, VUE 9.02, 9.04 and 9.06 added hardware support 9.08 was B1 security release |
|
| HP-UX 8.0 | 1991 | 8.02 added Nova support 8.04 and 8.08 were security versions 8.06 added SMP code |
|
| HP-UX 7.0 | 1989 | unclear, PA-RISC only in 7.03, rest M68k |
Benchmarks
Assorted MIPS performance figures for early HP 9000 800 servers.
| System | CPU | MIPS |
|---|---|---|
| HP 9000 840 | TS-1 PA-RISC 8 MHz | 4.5 |
| HP 9000 808 | PCX PA-RISC 12.5 MHz | 6 |
| HP 9000 815 | PCX PA-RISC 12.5 MHz | 6 |
| HP 9000 822 | NS-2 PA-RISC 25 MHz | 10 |
| HP 9000 832 | NS-2 PA-RISC 30 MHz | 12/15 |
Comparison to SPEC benchmark data of other RISC and Unix computers:
| System | CPU | SPEC92 int |
SPEC89 | MIPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Siemens PCE-4C | Intel 486DX2 66MHz | 35.8 | 25.6 | 37 |
| HP 9000 F10 | PA-7000 32 MHz | 22.0 | 35 | |
| DECstation 5000 | MIPS R3000 33MHz | 20.9 | 25.5 | 29 |
| HP Apollo DN10000 | Apollo PRISM 18 MHz | 19 | 22 | |
| DECstation 3100 | MIPS R2000 16MHz | 8.4 | 11.8 | 15.1 |
| HP 9000 425e | Motorola M68040 25MHz | 12.2 | 10.3 | 18 |
| Intel | i386 33MHz | 4.3 | 8 | |
| IBM PC 6150 | IBM ROMP 6MHz | 2.1 | ||
| HP 9000 320 | Motorola M68020 15MHz | 2 | ||
| HP 9000 500 | FOCUS 18 MHz | 0.98 | ||
| DEC VAX 11/780 | KA780 3.4MHz | 1 | 1 | 0.9 |
| IBM PC AT | Intel 80286 6MHz | 0.8 |
Documentation
Information on early PA-RISC computers is fragmented and inconsistent, even in official sales and technical documentation. This article was pieced together from news and press releases plus documentation available at the HP Computer Museum.
- INFORMATION ON HP9000 SERVERS AND WORKSTATIONS Hewlett Packard Company (1999. Accessed January 2007) and The HP 3000/HP 9000 model spreadsheet, Allegro Consultants (2004. Accessed January 2007)
- Wayne E. Holt (ed.), Beyond RISC! An Essential Guide to Hewlett-Packard Precision Architecture, p. 95-102. (January 1988: Software Research Northwest Inc.) and Hardware Design of the First HP Precision Architecture Computers (PDF) David A. Fotland et al (March 1987: Hewlett-Packard Journal) hp museum
- HP 3000 Series 950 and HP 9000 Model 850S Family CE Handbook (PDF) Hewlett-Packard Company (October 1990. Accessed January 2008) hp museum and HP 9000 Series 800 Model 825S Hardware Technical Data (PDF) Hewlett-Packard Company (September 1988. Accessed January 2008) hp museum and HP 3000/925 and HP 9000/825/835 Computer Systems CE Handbook (PDF) Hewlett-Packard Company (May 1988. Accessed January 2008) hp museum and New midrange members of the Hewlett-Packard Precision Architecture Computer Family Thomas O. Meyer et al (June 1989: Hewlett Packard Journal. Accessed January 2008 at findarticles.com)
- Wayne E. Holt, Beyond RISC!
- Hewlett-Packard Company, HP 3000 Series 950 and HP 9000 Model 850S Family CE Handbook
- Ibid.
- HP 9000 Series 800 Model 822S/832S Technical Data (PDF) Hewlett-Packard Company (1989. Accessed January 2008) hp museum
- For HP 9000/840: Interview with David Fotland, September/October 2008
- HP REDUCES HP 9000 MINICOMPUTER PRICES (PDF) Hewlett-Packard Press Release, October 1989, accessed January 2023 1000bit.it
- A Broader Vision of Performance For Your Business - HP 9000 Multiuser Systems (PDF) Hewlett-Packard, 1990, 5952-0835, accessed January 2023 1000bit.it
- Hewlett Packard Update Computer Systems (PDF) Hewlett-Packard, May/June 1987, accessed January 2023 1000bit.it
- HP-UX CE Handbook for Series 800 HP Precision Architecture-RISC Computer Systems Hewlett-Packard Company (May 1993, 5961-8364) bitsavers
- HP 3000/930 and HP 9000/840 Computers CE Handbook Hewlett-Packard Company (November 1986, 09740-90023) bitsavers
Pictures © Hewlett Packard, scans from product brochures, from hpmuseum.net and 1000bit.it