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Object Record


CRAY X-MP/22 Supercomputer
Catalog Number 92.0010.001
Title CRAY X-MP/22 Supercomputer
History This computer was used between 1986-1992 at the NIH’s Laboratory of Mathematical Biology, a part of the National Cancer Institute in the Advanced Scientific Computing Laboratory (ASCL). Although housed in Maryland, this computer was used via network by scientists across the country and has the distinction of being the first supercomputer dedicated solely to biomedical research, particularly to investigate genes and cancer.

In 1978, Lester T. Davis and a small team at Cray Research Inc. began to work on improving the CRAY-1. As well as making the computer faster and more powerful, the designers needed to anticipate memory requirements, data storage and access, user ease, and the specialization of systems. To do this, they attacked five problems: circuitry, cooling, vector processing, multiprocessing, and memory. In designing the X-MP, Davis’ team used their existing supercomputer, the CRAY-1--an example of technology making its own progress possible.

On .03-.04: "This is an X-MP logic module. It consists of 4 printed circuit boards, which are bolted down to 2 copper cold plates. Each of the 4 circuit boards can hold a maximum of 144 chips, making the module capable of containing up to 576 chips. Since 1 chip can contain up to 3 circuits, this card could hold up to 1700 circuits!

"There are approximately 300 logic modules in the X-MP-2 processor, with 128 memory modules. The modules are connected together with over 60 miles of wire!

"The copper cold plates are used to conduct the heat generated by the chips away from the module."
Description .03-.04: black metal base with support for large computer circuit board soldered on. Circuit board sits inside. Paper label taped to base.
Lester T. Davis

92.0010.001.01 - Main CPU
92.0010.001.02 - I/O device
92.0010.001.03 - logic module
92.0010.001.04 - stand for logic module
Date 1985
Organizations NIH; NCI (National Cancer Institute)
NIH Property # mainframe: 01097004 device: 01097003
Serial # mainframe 038
People Amoruso, Philip D.
Maizel, Jacob
Willhite, Larry
Rabson, Alan S.