Atlas Laboratory Facilities

J E Hailstone

11.09.72

ORGANISATION

The organisation of the Atlas Laboratory is based on distinguishing three broad classes of activity. Services to users, including the operation of the main computers, the provision of programming services both for support and the development of new systems, and the detailed administration of a Laboratory which includes some 150 people. The following shows the 5 groups into which the Laboratory is structured:-

Director 
   User Services 
      Operations 
      Resource Management 
   Applications Software 
   Basic Software 
   Administration 

(a) Operations

Operations Group is concerned with the provision and maintenance of a computing service on the main computers and ancillary equipment. A limited data preparation service is provided and the group is also responsib1e for keeping records and accounts of the computer activity.

(b) Resource Management

Resource Management liaises with the SRC and users to determine the user population, and controls the location of total computer time to the different User groups. The maintenance, documentation and verification of the standard software systems together with the support for other software is provided. The group monitors system performance and is concerned with the problems of user involvement with the computing service.

(c) Applications Software

This group has the responsibility for producing and controlling specific software projects, problem-oriented programs and packages of general utility. They are concerned with the detailed programming and operation of the data processing for space research projects and provide maintenance and support for special packages such as X-Ray crystallography, ASCOP, MVC, etc.

(d) Basic Software

This group is responsible for the installation of major systems on the main computers, for example the operating system GEORGE 4 has been installed and is vetted by this group. In addition the group has responsibility in the evaluation of new computer systems and in the development of communications, software and hardware.

(e) Administration

Administration group is concerned with the day-to-day domestic needs of the Laboratory, the control of expenditure, estimates, stores, etc. In addition they are responsible for the security of the buildings and machinery, and for the provision of a reception section for the travelling and domestic needs of the Laboratory's users.

BUILDINGS

Two main computers are currently housed in a two-level computer block:

(a) The Atlas l computer, installed in 1964 and due to be closed down on 31 March 1973.

(b) The ICL 19O6A computer installed in June 1971.

In addition, a Sigma 2 acts as a subsidiary computer for the Atlas multi-access system, and a PDP15 is installed and interfaced to the 19O6A for graphics work.

Office accommodation of approximately 6,500 sq ft is available, and additional office accommodation is being provided and should be completed by the Autumn of 1973. This new addition will provide 3,000 sq ft. of additional office space together with a colloqium room The office accommodation provides university users and others with limited office accommodation whilst visiting the Laboratory for short periods.

MAIN COMPUTERS

ICL ATLAS

The Atlas I computer has been in continuous service since 1965/66 and is used mainly by university research workers. It is expected that most of the work planned for this machine will be completed by the New Year and that users with current Atlas programs will be accommodated on alternative facilities. No decision has yet been reached concerning the future use of the associated Sigma 2 subsidiary machine.

ICL 1906A

The 1906A computer has been fully accepted and is currently working three shifts covering a total of 110 hours a week, and is now showing an acceptable reliability both in hardware and software. GEORGE 4, a paged version of the ICL GEORGE 3 operating system, has been installed and has been accepted as the Laboratory's standard operating system.

Principal Hardware:

• Central Processor with the Extended Floating Point feature;
• Main Core Store of 256K words (24 bits), paged, interleaved 4 ways, cycle time 650 nanoseconds.
• 2 Magnetic Drums on a single control, each with a capacity of 2M characters (=0.5M words), a transfer rate of 1.4M characters per second, and an average latency of 6.3 milliseconds.
• 1 Multi-spindle Exchangeable Disc Store with 7 drives, each cartridge having a capacity of 30.8M characters, a transfer rate of around 400K characters per second, an average latency of 12.5 milliseconds, and an average access time of 87.5 milliseconds.
• 1 Fixed Disc Store with a capacity of 741M characters and an average transfer rate of 230K characters per second.
• 6 Magnetic Tape drives on two controls using 9-track phase-encoded recording at 1600 bits per inch and having a transfer rate of 160K characters per second.
• 4 Magnetic Tape drives on two controls using 7-track NRZI recording at densities of 200, 556, or 800 bits per inch and having transfer rates of 15K, 41.7K,or 60K characters per second according to density.

Slow Peripherals

• 2 Lineprinters (120 print positions and 1350 lines per minute)
• 2 Card Readers (1600 cards per minute)
• 2 Paper Tape Readers (1000 characters per second)
• Card Punch (100 cards per minute)
• Paper Tape Punch (110 characters per second)

Communications

• 7903 Communications Processor able to control up to 32 teletype terminals and 4 card reader/lineprinter terminals, with scope for later expansion. Three Remote Job Entry terminals are connected to the system and access is also available via teletype terminals. The Laboratory's internal teletype equipment can be used both to the Atlas and to the 1906A.

Software

• The ICL operating system GEORGE 4 is in regular use. This provides a series of commands for the running of a batch computing service together with multi-access working via MOP terminals. It supports a large filestore with automatic facilities for the dumping of information stored therein.
• The Laboratory makes use of standard ICL compilers for Fortran and Algol. In addition compilers for a number of other languages are available but the Laboratory may not be able to support these fully.
• Program systems are available for both crystallography and quantum chemistry, based respectively on the X-RAY system and ATMOL 2. A program for survey analysis analogous to but not identical to MVC on Atlas is currently under development and should be available early in 1973. A program for text analysis is nearing completion based on the Atlas Concordance program COCOA. Its facilities will be slightly extended and it is hoped to release this in October 1972. The Laboratory is taking steps to acquire the 1900 version of ASCOP which provides a coherent data management and statistical analysis system. For graphical work the SD4020 may be used from the 1906A through implementations of the Algol GROATS package and the Fortran graphical package.
• The Laboratory is considering other packages and program suites including a large number of ICL applications packages. Some of these may be supported and the Laboratory will be pleased to hear from users of packages and programs which are generally useful.

IBM 370/195 COMPUTER

The Atlas Laboratory has a 20% share of the IBM 370/195 installed in the neigbouring Rutherford High Energy Laboratory. The 370/195 was installed in November 1971 and is now providing a full 3-shift computing service to the Nuclear Physics community and to the Atlas Laboratory. To deal with this work the Atlas Laboratory has installed a remote job entry terminal locally, consisting of an IBM 1130 computer operating over a fast 40.8 Kb line.

Principal Hardware :

• Central processor with 2M Bytes (8µs) of core and a fast buffer store 32K bytes (290 nanoseconds).
• A fixed head file with a capacity of 11.2M bytes, average access 5.0 milliseconds.
• IBM 3330 Disk Storage - 8 drives with a capacity of 100M bytes per pack.
• 8 IBM 3420-7 Magnetic Tape Decks, 320K characters per second, 800 BPI phase-encoded, 9-track.
• 2 IBM 3420-7 Magnetic Tape Decks, 32CK characters per second, 800 BPI NRZ, 1600 BPI phase-encoded. 9-track.
• 2 IBM 3420-5 Magnetic Tape Decks, 200K characters per second, 556 BPI NRZ, 800 BPI NRZ, 7-track
• Slow Peripherals
  • 4 lineprinters (1100 lines per minute, 132 print positions)
  • card reader (1000 cards per minute)
  • card reader/punch (1000 cards per minute, 300 cards per minute)
• IBM 1130 Work Station: IBM 1131-2B central processing unit with BK (16 bits) core store 3.6 us access time.
  • card reader (1000 cards per minute)
  • lineprinter (1100 lines per minute 132 print positions)
  • Synchronous Communications Adapter (600-4,800 bits per second)
  • Fast Communications Adapter (40.8KB)

Communications

Communications equipment includes IBM 2701 Data Adapter Unit, Communications via Post Office leased lines or dial-up facilities are handled by a Memorex 1270 Terminal Control Unit which operates at speeds up to 1200 baud asynchronous, and up to 9600 baud for synchronous transmission.

The 370/195 operates using OS/MVT with the HASP system handling a number of remote job entry terminals.

The Rutherford Laboratory supports Fortran and little support is available for other compilers.

The Atlas Laboratory users are university research workers who need very substantial amounts of computing for their work, eg theoretical chemists and physicists working with 3-dimensional systems.

PDP15

The Laboratory has been actively concerned with graphical output for many years using the SD4020 microfilm plotter. In developing the work in graphics the PDP15 is being used to develop new software for workers in the graphics field and new systems for driving the SD4020 should become available in the near future. Principal Hardware:

• Central processor with Extended Arithmetic Element, automatic priority interrupt system, memory protect, real-time clock.
• Main core store of 32K words (18 bits) cycle time 800 nanoseconds
• 1 RF15 DEC disk control with an RS09 random-access disk file capacity 262,144 words
• 3 DEC tapes
• 2 TU20 magnetic tape drives on one control using 7-track NTZI recording at densities of 200, 556 or 800 bits per inch and having transfer rates of 45 inches per second.
• Slow Peripherals
  • 1 DEC high speed paper tape reader/punch KSR 35 teletype
  • KSR 33 teletype
• Graphical Peripheral
  • VT15 refreshed display with 17-inch tube producing approximately 4000 flicker-free characters or 6000 inches of flicker-free line
  • 1 VL04 light pen
  • 1 VWO 1 BP writing tablet
  • 1 LK35 keyboard (68 characters)
• Communications: BSI current driven interface to the 1906A capable of running at approximately 1 megabaud.

ANCILLARY EQUIPMENT

The Laboratory makes available to its users the standard card preparation and paper-tape preparation equipment both for the 370/195 using EBCDIC and the 1906A using the ICL codes. In addition, reproducers and interpreters are available together with a DMAC pencil follower.

D-MAC Pencil Follower

A type PF 10,000 Mark 1A pencil follower with a 100 x 100 cm table. The standard output device is a Westrex Teletype paper tape punch typ.e BRPE 29 capable of producing 5, 7 or 8-track paper tape. Code conversion boards allow output in either 5-hole Atlas code, 7-hole Atlas code or 8-hole 1900 code. There is a variety of input pencils depending on the type of digitising required. A 31-character keyboard allows headings to be added to the output. The D-MAC is also interfaced to the PDP15 via an SSI interface.

SD4020 Microfilm Recorder

A Datagraphix SD4020 accepts input from an IBM 729 Track 4 magnetic tape unit at 556 bits/inch 7-track NRZ I. Output is available via

• Photographic paper 16/35 mm cine film
• Large photographic plate film (3 sizes)

Software systems in Fortran and Algol are available on all the Laboratory's main computers.

SUPPORTING SERVICES

The Laboratory has support staff to assist users to become acquainted with the Laboratory's facilities and to help in the day-to-day difficulties of computer use. In addition, the Administration Group looks after the accommodation and transport of visiting users and over the years have gained considerable experience of this important activity.