Sun-2

Sun Microsystems Sun 2
	Sun 2/120 server with SMD disk tower
Developer	Sun Microsystems
Type	Workstation
Release date	November 1983;40 years ago
Introductory price	2/120:US$29,300(equivalent to $69,000 in 2023); 2/160:US$48,800(equivalent to $115,000 in 2023); 2/170:US$79,500(equivalent to $187,000 in 2023);
CPU	Motorola 68010
Predecessor	Sun-1
Successor	Sun-3

TheSun-2series ofUNIX workstationsandserverswas launched bySun Microsystemsin November 1983.^[2]As the name suggests, the Sun-2 represented the second generation of Sun systems, superseding the originalSun-1series. The Sun-2 series used a 10 MHzMotorola 68010 microprocessorwith a proprietary Sun-2Memory Management Unit(MMU), which enabled it to be the first Sun architecture to run a fullvirtual memoryUNIX implementation,SunOS1.0, based on4.1BSD.Early Sun-2 models were based on theIntel Multibusarchitecture, with later models usingVMEbus,which continued to be used in the successorSun-3andSun-4families.

Sun-2 systems were supported in SunOS until version 4.0.3.

A port to support Multibus Sun-2 systems inNetBSDwas begun in January 2001 from the Sun-3 support in the NetBSD 1.5 release. Code supporting the Sun-2 began to be merged into the NetBSD tree in April 2001.^[3]sun2 is considered a tier 2 support platform as of NetBSD 7.0.1.^[4]

Sun-2 models

Models are listed in approximately chronological order.

Model	CPU board	Display	Max. RAM	Chassis
2/120	Sun-2 Multibus or Sun-2 Multibus Prime	Monochrome	8 MB	9-slot Multibus (deskside)
2/170	Sun-2 Multibus or Sun-2 Multibus Prime	Optional	8 MB	15-slot Multibus (rackmount)
2/50	Sun 2050 VME	Monochrome	8 MB	2-slot VME (desktop)
2/130	Sun 2050 VME	Monochrome	8 MB	12-slot VME (deskside)
2/160	Sun 2050 VME	Color	8 MB	12-slot VME (deskside)

A desktop disk and tape sub-system was introduced for the Sun-2/50 desktop workstation. It could hold a5 ¼ "disk drive and 5 ¼ "tape drive.It usedDD-50(sometimes erroneously referred to as DB-50) connectors for itsSCSIcables, a Sun specific design. It was often referred to as a "Sun Shoebox".

Sun-2 Disk and Tape Sub-System

Sun-2 Disk and Tape Sub-System (front)
Sun-2 Disk and Tape Sub-System (rear)

Sun-1 systems upgraded with Sun-2 Multibus CPU boards were sometimes referred to as the2/100U(upgraded Sun-100) or2/150U(upgraded Sun-150).

A typical configuration of a monochrome 2/120 with 4 MB of memory, 71 MB SCSI disk and 20 MB 1/4 "SCSI tape cost $29,300 (1986 US price list^[5]).

A color 2/160 with 8 MB of memory, two 71 MB SCSI disks and 60 MB 1/4 "SCSI tape cost $48,800 (1986 US price list^[5]).

A Sun 2/170 server with 4 MB of memory, no display, two Fujitu Eagle 380 MB disk drive, one Xylogics 450 SMD disk controller, a 6250 bpi 1/2 inch tape drive and a 72 "rack cost $79,500 (1986 US price list^[5]).

Sun-2 hardware

Sun 2 Multibus systems

Sun 2/120 (9 slot deskside) and 2/170 (15 slot rackmount) systems were based on theMultibusarchitecture. The CPU board was based on a 10 MHz 68010 processor with a proprietary Sun Memory Management Unit (MMU) and could address 8 MB of physical and 16 MB of virtual memory. The top 1 MB of physical memory address space was reserved for the monochrome frame buffer. The Multibus CPU board supported the Sun-1 parallel keyboard and mouse as well as two serial ports.

Sun-2 Multibus circuit boards

Sun-2 Multibus CPU board
Sun-2 Multibus 1 MB memory board
Sun-2 Multibus Ethernet board
Sun-1 Multibus color graphics board
3Com Multibus Ethernet board
Xylogics Multibus SMD disk controller board
Helios Multibus 4 MB memory board

Sun 2 VMEbus systems

The Sun 2/50 (2 slot desktop), Sun 2/130 (12 slot monochrome deskside) and Sun 2/160 (12 slot color deskside) used quad-depth, triple height EurocardVMEbusCPU boards. TheVMEbusCPU board was based on the same design as theMultibusCPU but also included 2 MB or 4 MB of memory, the Sun-2 monochrome frame buffer, and 10 Mbit/s Thick Ethernet on board.

Sun provided 1 MB Multibus memory boards and 1 MB and 4 MB VMEbus memory boards but only supported configurations with a maximum of 4 MB RAM. Companies such as Helios Systems also made 4 MB memory boards that would work in Sun systems.

A common frame buffer was the Sun-2 Prime Monochrome Video. This board provided an 1152x900 monochrome display withTTLorECLvideo signals, and keyboard and mouse ports. It normally occupied the top 1 MB of physical memory address space. There was also a Sun-2 Color Video board available that provided an 1152x900 8-bit color display. This board occupied the top 4 MB of address space.

42 MBMFMdisks were commonly used for storage. Two disks could be connected to anAdaptecMFM/SCSIand then to a Sun-2 Multibus Serial/SCSI Host Adapter. The SCSI board provided two additional serial ports. For larger storage requirements, 65, 130, and 380 MBSMDdisks were connected to aXylogics450 SMD Controller. The SMD controller could support four disks even though Sun only supported two. A 20 MBQICtape drive could be connected through anArchiveQIC/SCSI converter. The system also supported 1/2 "tape drives connected to a Computer Products Corporation TAPEMASTER or a Xylogics 472 board.

An Ethernet connection was provided by a Sun board based on the Intel 82586 chip, or a3Com3c400 board. The server could supportdisklessSun-2/50 clients through the Ethernet board.

Other supported Multibus boards included the Sky Computer Floating Point Processor, Sun ALM (Asynchronous Line Multiplexer) with 8 serial ports, and Sun SunLink Communications Processor (SCP) forSNAandX.25connectivity.

Sun-2 VME circuit boards

Sun-2 VME CPU board
Sun-2 VME 1 MB Memory and SCSI board

Reception

BYTEin August 1984 described the Sun-2/120 as a "VAX-class machine ", with" superb graphics and excellent response time under loading ".^[6]

Sun timeline

References

^^a ^b ^cJohnston, Louis; Williamson, Samuel H. (2023)."What Was the U.S. GDP Then?".MeasuringWorth.RetrievedNovember 30,2023.United StatesGross Domestic Product deflatorfigures follow theMeasuringWorthseries.
^"Sun Unveils 32-Bit Workstation".Articles from the Past 25 Years.November 7, 1983. Archived fromthe originalon 2009-08-13.RetrievedMarch 11,2014.{{cite book}}:|work=ignored (help)
^"NetBSD/sun2: Frequently Asked Questions".netbsd.org.January 1, 2013.Archivedfrom the original on March 11, 2014.RetrievedMarch 11,2014.
^"Platforms Supported by NetBSD".NetBSD.
^^a ^b ^cSun U.S. Price List, End User and OEM Version, Effective March 25, 1986, Sun Microsystems
^Hinnant, David F. (Aug 1984)."Benchmarking UNIX Systems".Byte.Vol. 9, no. 8. pp. 132–135, 400–409.Retrieved23 February2016.

External links

The Sun Hardware Reference, Part 1
The Sun-2 Hardware Reference:Part 1 Archived2007-09-27 at theWayback MachineandPart 2 Archived2007-09-27 at theWayback Machine
soupwizard Sun-2 Archive
Sun2 Review from UNIX/WORLD October 1984
Sun 100u with Sun2 boards
Sun 2 board manuals
gunkies.org Sun-2 wiki
The Machine Emulator (Sun-2 Emulator running on NetBSD)

[inflation-USGDP-1] Johnston, Louis; Williamson, Samuel H. (2023)."What Was the U.S. GDP Then?".MeasuringWorth.RetrievedNovember 30,2023.United StatesGross Domestic Product deflatorfigures follow theMeasuringWorthseries.

[C4Wauto-3603256-2] "Sun Unveils 32-Bit Workstation".Articles from the Past 25 Years.November 7, 1983. Archived fromthe originalon 2009-08-13.RetrievedMarch 11,2014.{{cite book}}:|work=ignored (help)

[C4Wauto-1694898-3] "NetBSD/sun2: Frequently Asked Questions".netbsd.org.January 1, 2013.Archivedfrom the original on March 11, 2014.RetrievedMarch 11,2014.

[4] "Platforms Supported by NetBSD".NetBSD.

[86price-5] Sun U.S. Price List, End User and OEM Version, Effective March 25, 1986, Sun Microsystems

[hinnant198408-6] Hinnant, David F. (Aug 1984)."Benchmarking UNIX Systems".Byte.Vol. 9, no. 8. pp. 132–135, 400–409.Retrieved23 February2016.

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