DEC CI Hierarchical Storage Controllers
From Computer History Wiki
DEC built a whole series of HSC controllers beginning with the HSC50 and ending with the HSC95.
See the following table for characteristics and upgradability of the HSC models:
| DEC HSC Controllers | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Model | HSC50 | HSC70 | HSC40 | HSC90 | HSC60 | HSC95 | HSC65 |
| Introduction | 1983 | 1986 | 1989 | 1991 | 1991 | 1993 | 1993 |
| Peak I/O per s | 550 | 1150 | 800 | 1300 | 1300 | 1800 | 1800 |
| max. # of channels | 6 | 8 | 3 | 8 | 3 | 8 | 3 |
| max. # of devices | 24 | 32 | 12 | 48 | 20 | 48 | 32 |
| Upgrades to HSC60 | x | ||||||
| Upgrades to HSC70 | x | ||||||
| Upgrades to HSC90 | x | x | x | ||||
| Upgrades to HSC65 | x | x | |||||
| Upgrades to HSC95 | x | x | x | x | x | ||
HSC channel interfaces
A Channel is a pluggable HSC interface to either hard drives, tape drives, or both, depending on the channel module. The number of devices that can be connected also depends on the channel module.
HSC controllers may contain a mix of the following data channel module options:
- HSC5X-BA (L0108-YA) K.SDI INTERFACE KIT TO 4 SDI DISK DRIVES
- HSC5X-CA (L0108-YB) K.STI INTERFACE KIT TO 4 STI TAPE FORMATTERS
- HSC5X-LA (?) HSC5X-BA WITH SUPPORT FOR TOPS-10/20 (18 BIT)
- HSC5X-DA (L0119-YA) K.SI INTERFACE KIT TO 4 SDI DISK DRIVES OR 4 STI TAPE FORMATTERS
- HSC5X-FA (L0119-YB) 8-PORT DISK DATA CHANNEL DISK/TAPE DATA CHANNEL (not supported by HSC50, HSC70, and HSC40)
- HSC9X-SX (L0131-AA) K.SCSI SCSI DISK DATA CHANNEL (not supported by HSC50)
