more on A very long life]]

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

-------- Original Message --------
Subject:        RE: [IP] A very long life]
Date:   Tue, 15 Nov 2005 15:21:19 -0500
From:   David Boyes <dboyes () sinenomine net>
To:     dave () farber net, ip () v2 listbox com
CC:     ted () dolotta org





> Subject:        A very long life
> Date:   Tue, 15 Nov 2005 13:37:08 -0500
> From:   Ted Dolotta <Ted () Dolotta ORG>
>
> A few days ago, the IBM 360/91 mainframe at the Princeton 
> University Office of Information Technology (né Computer 
> Center --- SHARE installation code PU) was decommissioned.  
> That mainframe was installed in March of 1969, so it was in 
> use for 36+ years.  This has got to be some sort of record.

Princeton's 360/91 was decommissioned decades ago. The Multiprise 2000 that
was supporting the last few applications was what was turned off recently.
The 360/91 front panel is on display in the lobby of the computing center,
but the machine hasn't been active since the early 1970s.

The 360/91 was replaced by a series of machines, of which the largest was a
3090-300J, I think. The elimination of the mainframe was a political
decision fueled by some incredible stupidity inside IBM and a new VP that
get his start in the period when IBM was trying to impose it's will on the
industry. The MP2000 was the fall back while the applications were ported
over to Solaris (and now Linux). 

Still, it is the first time in decades that Princeton has had no IBM
mainframe. I think they were among the last of the 2 character SHARE
installation codes remaining -- SLAC lost/retired theirs not too long ago.

Melinda and Lee Varian, long the keepers of the mainframe heritage at
Princeton, are retiring this year. Their retirement party is this weekend,
and there will be a huge blowout with people coming literally from around
the world. Lee worked on TSS, and Melinda has long been "Mom" for the VM
community. 

We'll miss them. 


-- db





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