diff --git a/.zk/notebook.db b/.zk/notebook.db index c8e4980..f08f618 100644 Binary files a/.zk/notebook.db and b/.zk/notebook.db differ diff --git a/zk/Magnetic_drum_memory.md b/zk/Magnetic_drum_memory.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..11d2ccd --- /dev/null +++ b/zk/Magnetic_drum_memory.md @@ -0,0 +1,28 @@ +--- +title: Magnetic_drum_memory +tags: [computer-history, memory] +created: Tuesday, September 24, 2024 +--- + +# Magnetic drum memory + +Along with the [Williams_Tube](Williams_Tube_memory.md), another early approach +to RAM used in 1950s-1960s era of computing. + +![Magnetic drum](../img/magnetic-drum-memory.jpg) + +A magnetic drum was a metal cylinder coated with a magnetic material. Data was +stored by magnetising small regions on the drum's surface. The drum would rotate +at high speeds and read/write heads were positioned along the length of the drum +to access data. + +Seen as a improvement on Williams Tubes and +[delay line memory](Delay_line_memory.md) but superseded by magnetic core memory +later. It's concept lived on in harddisk drives which became the dominant form +of secondary storage. + +It had a larger capacity than the technologies that preceded it and it was also +non-volatile - the data would remain intact when the power was turned off. + +It was used in the [IBM 650](The_History_of_Computing_Swade.md) (1953) and +Ferranti Mark I (1951) diff --git a/zk/The_History_of_Computing_Swade.md b/zk/The_History_of_Computing_Swade.md index e2ebd30..1843a39 100644 --- a/zk/The_History_of_Computing_Swade.md +++ b/zk/The_History_of_Computing_Swade.md @@ -529,27 +529,37 @@ computer industry with the UNIVAC. IBM's first electronic computer. It directly competed with the UNIVAC for government contracts. It followed the prevailing approach of vaccuum tubes for -logic and had a variety of storage methods: Williams tubes, magnetic tape, and -magentic drums. +logic and had a variety of storage methods: Williams tubes, +[magnetic tape](Magnetic_tape.md) , and magentic drums. 701s were used at Los Alamos and avionics companies. Some were also used to manage payroll in business contexts. -### IBM 702 ("Tape Processing Machine") +### IBM 702 ("Tape Processing Machine") (1953) ![Advertisement for the IBM 702](../img/ibm-add.jpeg) -Focused primarily on business applications. Used magnetic tape for... +Focused primarily on business applications and targetted at businesses rather +than government contracts. Less powerful than the 701. ### IBM 650 -Low-cost general purpose machine using magnetic drum memory. It was -mass-produced unlike the others which were built for specific customers. It -proved the breakout star in IBMs initial line up and sometimes called "IBM's -Model T". +![IBM 650](../img/ibm-650.jpg) + +Low-cost general purpose machine using magnetic drum memory. Marketed as slower +but more affordable than the 700 range. It was mass-produced unlike the others +which were built for specific customers. It was in fact the first mass-produced +computer in the world. It proved the breakout star in IBMs initial line up and +sometimes called "IBM's Model T". + +![IBM_650 console panel](../img/ibm-650-console-panel.jpg) IBM offerred 650s to univesities at a 60% discount on the condition that the universities would establish courses in computing. This was shrewd as it meant that a whole generation of engineers and computer scientists learned on 650s and would prefer them in their research. It also created a pool of skilled users that would go on to work at IBM. + +Donald Knuth dedicated _The Art of Computer Programming_ to the 650. + +It used magnetic drum memory along with vacuum-tubes. diff --git a/zk/Williams_Tube_RAM.md b/zk/Williams_Tube_memory.md similarity index 93% rename from zk/Williams_Tube_RAM.md rename to zk/Williams_Tube_memory.md index 7aa38f9..a49bdfb 100644 --- a/zk/Williams_Tube_RAM.md +++ b/zk/Williams_Tube_memory.md @@ -1,10 +1,10 @@ --- -title: Williams_Tube_RAM +title: Williams_Tube_memory tags: [computer-history, memory] created: Tuesday, September 17, 2024 --- -# Williams Tube RAM +# Williams Tube memory - One of the early attempts to create RAM in computers based on the EDVAC stored-program architecture.