Early HP 9000 800 PA-RISC Servers

HP 8000 825
HP 9000 825 © Hewlett Packard 1987

HP 9000 800 were the first PA-RISC systems released by HP in the 1980s, based on the brand-new HP RISC architecture. HP 9000 800 are server computers although some had early graphics capabilities. The 1980s technical product landscape had HP selling many different servers and microcomputers at the same time.

RISC and Unix servers like the new HP 9000 800 were niche products in the early 1980s but soon became hugely successful for business, scientific and industrial uses. These early PA-RISC servers were HP’s first foray into the RISC and Unix market.

Systems

These early HP 9000 800 were much different computers compared to later HP 9000 workstations and servers, based on custom TTL, NMOS and CMOS PA-RISC 1.0 designs in big, expensive departmental servers.

System also Processor Design Year Price
HP 9000 808 PCX PA-RISC SIU and CTB 1990 $16,000
HP 9000 815 PCX PA-RISC SIU and CTB 1990 $14,900
HP 9000 822 NS-2 PA-RISC 25 MHz SIU and CTB 1989 $20,000
HP 9000 825 825S NS-1 PA-RISC 25 MHz SMB and CTB 1987 $42,500
HP 9000 832 NS-2 PA-RISC 30 MHz SIU and CTB 1989 $30,000
HP 9000 835 835S NS-1 PA-RISC 30 MHz SMB and CTB 1988 $45,000
HP 9000 840 840S TS-1 PA-RISC 8 MHz CTB and CIO 1986 $113,500
HP 9000 842 PCX PA-RISC 32 MHz SPI and SMB 1990 $85,000
HP 9000 845 845S NS-2 PA-RISC 27.5 MHz SMB and CTB 1989 $42,500
HP 9000 850 850S NS-1 PA-RISC 27.5 MHz SMB and CTB 1987 $220,500
HP 9000 852 PCX PA-RISC 50 MHz SPI and SMB 1990 $143,000
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 865 865S PCX PA-RISC 50 MHz SPI and SMB 1991 $275,000
HP 9000 870 870S 1-4 PCX PA-RISC 50 MHz SPI and SMB 1991 $440,000

With the PA-RISC 1.1 platform in the early-1990s, HP standardized and unified HP 9000 products. More affordable computers were offered to a wider customer base like the HP 9000 720, 730 and 750 workstations and Nova servers.

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Operating systems

The operating system for early HP 9000 800 servers is HP’s HP-UX Unix, to version 10.10. There were a few research and development projects during the 1980s that targeted some of these systems but none were made available publically.

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 support for early HP 9000 800 servers
HP-UX Year Servers Comment
HP-UX 10.10 1995 HP 9000 840, 825, 835, 850
845, 855, 860, 822, 832
842, 852, 865 and 870
HP 9000 Nova, E-Class		 UNIX95, CDE, ServiceGuard
HP-UX 10.01 1995 HP 9000 840, 825, 835, 850
845, 855, 860, 822, 832
842, 852, 865 and 870
HP 9000 Nova, E-Class		 System V, DCE, Streams, better I/O and memory
unsupported: 635, 645, 808, 815
unsupported: 825CHX, 825SRX, 834CH, 835SRX
HP-UX 9.0 1992 HP 9000 840, 825, 835, 850
845, 855, 860, 822, 832, 808, 815
842, 852, 865 and 870
HP 9000 Nova, E-Class		 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 HP 9000 840, 825, 835, 850
845, 855, 860, 822, 832, 808, 815
842, 852, 865 and 870
HP 9000 Nova		 8.02 added Nova support
8.04 and 8.08 were security versions
8.06 added SMP code
HP-UX 7.0 1989 some PA-RISC 1.0 PA-RISC only in 7.03, rest M68k
HP-UX 3.0 1988 HP 9000 825, 835, 850 +? 3.01 had nasty bugs, X11
HP-UX 2.0 1987 HP 9000 840, 825, 835, 850 BSD, supports graphics
HP-UX 1.0 1986 HP 9000 840 First, prerelease

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Performance

Assorted MIPS performance figures for early HP 9000 800 servers.

Based on HP, Dhrystone and MIPS archives
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 825 NS-1 PA-RISC 25 MHz 9
HP 9000 822 NS-2 PA-RISC 25 MHz 10
HP 9000 850 NS-1 PA-RISC 27.5 MHz 14
HP 9000 835 NS-1 PA-RISC 30 MHz 14
9.5 SPEC89
HP 9000 832 NS-2 PA-RISC 30 MHz 12/15
HP 9000 845 NS-2 PA-RISC 27.5 MHz 22
HP 9000 855 NS-2 PA-RISC 27.5 MHz 22
HP 9000 842 PCX PA-RISC 32 MHz 30
HP 9000 852 PCX PA-RISC 50 MHz 50
HP 9000 865 PCX PA-RISC 50 MHz 56
HP 9000 870/100 PCX PA-RISC 50 MHz 56
HP 9000 870/200 2 PCX PA-RISC 50 MHz 112
HP 9000 870/300 3 PCX PA-RISC 50 MHz 168
HP 9000 870/400 4 PCX PA-RISC 50 MHz 224

Comparison to SPEC benchmark data of other RISC and Unix computers:

Based on old SPEC92, Dhrystone and MIPS archives
System CPU SPEC92
int		 SPEC89 MIPS
HP 9000 G50 PA-7000 96 MHz 100.0 136.1 115
HP 9000 712/80 PA-7100LC 80 MHz 97.1 97
Siemens PCE-5S Intel Pentium 100MHz 96.2 79
HP 9000 I40 PA-7000 64 MHz 65.2 70
Sun SPARCstation 10 Sun SuperSPARC 40MHz 50.2 71.2 58
HP 9000 750 PA-7000 66 MHz 48.1 72.2 76
HP 9000 720 PA-7000 50 MHz 36.4 55.5 57
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
AL860 Intel i860 40MHz 24.1
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
Digital VAX 4000 60 DEC KA46 22MHz 11.1 12.0 17.1
Intel i486 PC i486 MHz 8.7
Intel i386 PC 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

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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.

  1. 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)
  2. 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
  3. 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)
  4. Wayne E. Holt, Beyond RISC!
  5. Hewlett-Packard Company, HP 3000 Series 950 and HP 9000 Model 850S Family CE Handbook
  6. Ibid.
  7. HP 9000 Series 800 Model 822S/832S Technical Data (PDF) Hewlett-Packard Company (1989. Accessed January 2008) hp museum
  8. For HP 9000 840: Interview with David Fotland, September/October 2008
  9. HP REDUCES HP 9000 MINICOMPUTER PRICES (PDF) Hewlett-Packard Press Release, October 1989, accessed January 2023 1000bit.it
  10. A Broader Vision of Performance For Your Business - HP 9000 Multiuser Systems (PDF) Hewlett-Packard, 1990, 5952-0835, accessed January 2023 1000bit.it
  11. Hewlett Packard Update Computer Systems (PDF) Hewlett-Packard, May/June 1987, accessed January 2023 1000bit.it
  12. HP-UX CE Handbook for Series 800 HP Precision Architecture-RISC Computer Systems Hewlett-Packard Company (May 1993, 5961-8364) bitsavers
  13. 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

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