HP 9000 845, 855 and 860
NS-2 PA-RISC servers
HP released new HP 9000 800 servers based on its NS-2 PA-RISC processor in 1989. These systems, the 845, 855 and 860 servers, are all based on a similar I/O architecture and use the same CPU design — the PA-RISC 1.0 NS-2 in a SMB and CTB system design with CIO devices, similar to earlier systems like the 825 and 850 servers.
| System | also | Processor | Design | Year | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HP 9000 845 | 845S | NS-2 PA-RISC 27.5 MHz | SMB and CTB | 1989 | $42,500 |
| HP 9000 855 | 855S | NS-2 PA-RISC 27.5 MHz | SMB and CTB | 1990 | $340,500 |
| HP 9000 860 | 860S | NS-2 PA-RISC 27.5 MHz | SMB and CTB | 1989 | $291,000 |
HP 9000 845
HP 9000 845 ShoGun from 1989 have 27.5 MHz NS-2 processor with 256 KB cache and a 16384-entry TLB, based on a SMB/CTB system design.
CTB main buses run at 9.16 MHz for seven CIO and memory slots, I/O is handled by CIO expansion cards. Maximum RAM of 112 MB: 7×16 MB, 96 MB: 6×16 MB with graphics adapter. Performance was about 22 MIPS.
Special server version: HP 9000 645SV without graphics.
HP 9000 855
HP 9000 855 or 855S Jaguar are bigger servers than the 845, with a 27.5 MHz NS-2 processor with 256 KB cache and 16384-entry TLB.
System design is SMB/CTB, with the CTB buses at 9.16 MHz, maximum RAM of 128 MB or 256 MB with two memory controllers. Performance is about 22 MIPS for $340,500 in 1990.
HP 9000 860
HP 9000 860 Cougar servers are cabinet, mainframe-like systems, based on 27.5 MHz NS-2 processor with 1024 KB cache and 16384-entry TLB.
CTB I/O buses run at 9.16 MHz, maximum RAM is 128 MB with one memory controller and 256 MB with two memory controllers. HP 9000 860 was released in 1989 for $291,000 and could be upgraded with newer CPU boards to a HP 9000 865 or 870 server.
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-UX | Year | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| HP-UX 10.10 | 1995 | UNIX95, CDE, ServiceGuard |
| HP-UX 10.01 | 1995 | 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 |
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 845 | NS-2 PA-RISC 27.5 MHz | 22 |
| HP 9000 855 | NS-2 PA-RISC 27.5 MHz | 22 |
Comparison to SPEC benchmark data of other RISC and Unix computers:
| System | CPU | SPEC92 int |
SPEC89 | MIPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sun SPARCstation 10 | Sun SuperSPARC 40MHz | 50.2 | 71.2 | 58 |
| 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)
- 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
- HP-UX CE Handbook for Series 800 HP Precision Architecture-RISC Computer Systems Hewlett-Packard Company (May 1993, 5961-8364) bitsavers
Pictures © Hewlett Packard, scans from product brochures, from hpmuseum.net and 1000bit.it