History (1988): EMC RAM Disk for Prime Computers

EMC Corp. (Hopkinton, MA) launched the Allegro Expanded Storage System, a solid-state disk device for Prime Computer Inc.’s computers.

Compared to magnetic disks, these RAM memories havea much faster access time (0.7ms) and can reach 300 IO/s on a Prime 9955II.

The Allegro controller allows a 3MB/s data transfer rate.

EMC proposes in option a battery to protect data in case of an eventual power failure, and a Winchester disk or a dual disk drive for backup.

But these solid-state disks are quite expensive: from $27,500 for 16.2MB to $513,000 for 528.7MB.

Last May, EMC had also announced solid-state storage for IBM computers, the Quantum that provides 16 to 544MB of storage, with a transfer rate of 1 to 4.5MB/s and a maximum capacity of 544MB that can be reached by adding 16 or 64MB units. The device can perform either IBM 3370 or 3380 emulation. The price for the Quantum is $27,400 for 16MB and $184,200 for a 128MB subsystem. EMC Corp., a $130 million company, is a manufacturer of system enhancement products such as memory upgrades and DASD subsystems for midrange and mainframe computers.

This article is an abstract of news published on the former paper version of Computer Data Storage Newsletter on issue ≠6, volume ≠1, published on July 1988.