HP 9000/K-Class
| Quick Facts | |
|---|---|
| Introduced | 1995-1998 |
| Period | Maturity (III) |
| Series | Lettered |
| CPU | 1-4 PA-7200/ 1-4 PA-8000/ 1-6 PA-8200 100-240 MHz |
| Caches | 512 KB-4 MB L1 |
| RAM | 512 MB-8 GB |
| Design | U2/UTurn |
| Drives | 6 SCSI |
| Expansion | 1 HSC 4 HP-PB 8 HP-PB (K4x0) |
| Bandwidth | ? |
| I/O | SCSI MUX parallel |
The HP 9000 K-Class are multiprocessor PA-RISC servers from the mid- to late-1990s. They were part of the HP 9000 800 server series with many expansion, I/O and processor options.
Based on the U2/UTurn chipset architecture, the K-Class used 32-bit PA-7200 and 64-bit PA-8000 processors and supported up to four-way or six-way multiprocessing, depending on the specific model (K200, K370, K580 and so on). They were very powerful Unix servers in the 1990s in a compact-ish case for the time.
HP marketed the K260-EG, K460-EG and K460-XP computers as Power Deskside Models
to be used as Visualize workstations with graphics adapters.
These were at the time HP’s most expandable workstations
with ultimate performance for engineering and scientific applications.
The K460-XP even sported a HP Visualize-48XP graphics adapter, geared towards 3D graphics, CAD and analysis.
Typical K-Class consisted of System Processing Unit, separate system console and optional UPS bundled into a single 19″ rack. D-Class were technically very similar servers, slightly smaller in size (and pricing) and often marketed together.
The first digit in the model number after K
(1-5) indicates overall server type:
- K100: single-CPU with limited expandability
- K2x0: up to four CPUs, better expandability and memory
- K3x0: up to six CPUs and more I/O slots
- K4x0: up to four CPUs, more I/O slots and more memory
- K5x0: up to six CPUs and a different I/O configuration
The number after K1/2/3/4/5
(00, 10, … 80) indicates design, CPUs and chipset.
- 00/10/20: PA-7200 processor and UTurn architecture
- 50/60: PA-8000 processor and U2 architecture
- 70/80: PA-8200 processor and U2 architecture
In the 1990s, K-Class servers were part of the US Navy TAC-4 program, in which HP supplied HP 9000 RISC Unix computers to the Navy. The K-Class were part of a technology refreshment of TAC-4 in 1996.
| System | Model number | Introduced | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| K100, K200, K400 | HP 9000/809, HP 9000/819, HP 9000/829 | March 1995 | |
| K210, K410 | HP 9000/839, HP 9000/849 | September 1995 | |
| K220, K420 | HP 9000/859, HP 9000/869 | March 1996 | |
| K250, K450 | HP 9000/802, HP 9000/804 | August 1996 | |
| K260, K460 | HP 9000/879, HP 9000/889 | August 1996 | |
| K370, K570 | HP 9000/898, HP 9000/899 | May 1997 | |
| K380, K580 | HP 9000/800 | February 1998 |
System architecture
Processors
| Model | CPU | Speed | L1 Cache |
|---|---|---|---|
| K100 | 1 PA-7200 | 100 MHz | 256/256 KB off-chip, 2 KB on-chip assist |
| K200/K400 | 1-4 PA-7200 | 100 MHz | 256/256 KB off-chip, 2 KB on-chip assist |
| K210/K410 | 1-4 PA-7200 | 120 MHz | 256/256 KB off-chip, 2 KB on-chip assist |
| K220/K420 | 1-4 PA-7200 | 120 MHz | 1/1 MB off-chip, 2 KB on-chip assist |
| K250/K450 | 1-4 PA-8000 | 160 MHz | 1/1 MB off-chip |
| K260/K460 | 1-4 PA-8000 | 180 MHz | 1/1 MB off-chip |
| K370/K570 | 1-4 PA-8200 | 200 MHz | 2/2 MB off-chip |
| K380/K580 | 1-4 PA-8200 | 240 MHz | 2/2 MB off-chip |
Chipset
- PA-7200 U2 I/O adapter Runway to GSC bridge
- PA-8000/8200 UTurn I/O adapter Runway to GSC bridge
- MMC/SMC memory controllers
- Gecko BOA BC GSC+ Port
- LASI I/O chipset
- NCR 53C710 8-bit single-ended SCSI-2
- NCR 53C720 16-bit Fast-Wide high-voltage differential (HVD) SCSI-2
- Intel 82596CA 10 Mbit Ethernet controller
- Harmony CD/DAT quality 16-bit stereo audio
- Eole CAP/MUX
- Other I/O (serial, parallel)
System buses
- Runway CPU/memory, 100 MHz with 800 MB peak on Kx00, 120 MHz 960 MB/s on all others
- GSC+ bus for general system level I/O
- HSC bus for expansion I/O
- HP-PB bus for expansion I/O
- SCSI-2 Fast-Wide high-voltage differential (HVD) bus for main storage I/O
- SCSI-2 Fast-Narrow single-ended bus for main storage I/O
Memory
- K100 512 MB maximum RAM
- K200, K210, K220 2 GB maximum RAM
- K250, K260, K370, K380, K400, K410, K420 4 GB maximum RAM
- K450, K460, K570, K580 8 GB maximum RAM
- 72-pin ECC SIMMs on special RAM boards
- Systems with a PA-8x00 need 50ns access time modules, PA-7200 models can take up to 60ns. Slower modules could work.
Expansion slots
- One slot for a GSC/HSC card on the core I/O board
- Four slots for HP-PB cards
- K3x0 With 2-slot HSC I/O expansion module two more GSC/HSC cards possible
- K4x0 and K4x0 With 2- or 4-slot HSC I/O expansion module two or four more GSC/HSC cards possible
- K4x0 Four more HP-PB slots (eight in all)
Storage
- One tray for four Fast-Wide 68-pin SCSI-2 high-voltage differential hard drives
- One vertical tray for two 5.25″ half-height drives, external accessible
External ports
- 68-pin HD SCSI-2 Fast-Wide high-voltage differential
- TP/RJ45 10BaseT 10 Mbit Ethernet
- Ethernet AUI 15-pin
- Two serial RS232C DB9, one for console, one for UPS
- DB25 male RS232C serial, for remote console via modem
- Parallel DB25
- Two PS/2 connectors for keyboard und mouse
- MDP-connector for a serial MUX
- Kx50/Kx60/Kx70/Kx80 Four audio jacks
Operating systems
- HP-UX 10.20 for 800s servers, HP-UX 11.00 and 11i v1
- Apparently also HP-UX 10.00
- Linux: most models
- OpenBSD: K100, K200, K210, K220, K400, K410, K420
- NetBSD: K100, K200, K210, K220, K400, K410, K420
Benchmarks
| Model | SPEC95 int | SPEC95 fp | SPECrate95, int | SPECrate95, fp |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kx00 | 4.92 | 6.80 | 44.3 2P:87.9 4P:174 |
61.2 2P:117 4P:198 |
| Kx10 | 5.92 | 8.15 | 53.3 2P:106 4P:210 |
73.4 2P:140 4P:238 |
| Kx20 | 6.41 | 9.11 | 57.7 2P:114 4P:228 |
82.0 2P:157 4P:412758 |
| Kx50 | 10.7 | 18.8 | 96 2P:189 4P:375 |
169 2P:279 4P:383 |
| Kx60 | 11.8 | 20.2 | 107 2P:212 4P:418 |
182 2P:418 4P:398 |
| Kx70 | 14.6 | 23.0 | 132 2P:261 4P:519 6P:767 |
207 2P:322 4P:434 6P:489 |
| Kx80 | 17.4 | 28.5 | 157 2P:312 4P:610 6P:902 |
257 2P:398 4P:532 6P:604 |
Comparison to SPEC benchmark data from other contemporary Unix workstations:
| Model | CPU | SPEC95 int | SPEC95 fp |
|---|---|---|---|
| Digital Alphastation 500 | DEC Alpha 21164 500MHz | 15.0 | 20.4 |
| SGI Origin 2000 | MIPS R10000 250MHz | 14.7 | 24.5 |
| Sun Ultra 5 333 | Sun UltraSPARC IIi 33MHz | 14.1 | 18.3 |
| Siemens SCENIC 1000 | Intel Pentium II 333MHz | 13.0 | 9.43 |
| IBM RS/6000 43P 150 | PowerPC 604e 250 MHz | 11.1 | 8.78 |
| SGI O2 | MIPS R10000 196MHz | 10.1 | 8.77 |
| 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 |
| Siemens PCE-5S | Intel Pentium 100MHz | 4.04 | 2.35 |
Dimensions
| Model | Height | Width | Depth | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stand-alone | 635mm | 432mm | 698mm | 59kg |
| Packaged | 870mm | 889mm | 775mm | 77kg |
References
- Service Manual HP 9000 K-Class Enterprise Servers and HP 3000 Model 9x9KS (PDF, 2.1 MB)
- K-Class Installation Guide (HP 9000/Kxx0) (PDF)
- K-Class Installation Guide (HP 3000/9x9KS) (PDF)
- K-Class Owner’s Guide (PDF)
- Symmetric Multiprocessing Workstations and Servers System-Designed for High Performance and Low Cost (.pdf) William R. Bryg, Kenneth K. Chan, and Nicholas S. Fiduccia (February 1996: Hewlett-Packard Journal)
- J/K-Class Memory System description (PDF, HP Journal 2/96)
- HP VISUALIZE Workstations Power Deskside Models K260-EG and K460-EG, HP Technical Computing (archive.org mirror), Hewlett-Packard Company (1997: mirror accessed January 2024)
- HP VISUALIZE Workstation Power Deskside Model K460-XP, HP Technical Computing (archive.org mirror), Hewlett-Packard Company (1997: mirror accessed January 2024)