I have the main unit.
type computer
country USA
year 1989
os 32 bit Digital VMS, Ultrix, DECwindows
cpu KA43-2
speed 35.71 MHz
ram 4 MB?
hd ?Gb SCSI disk
graphic ?
colors ?
sound ?
ports SCSI, Ethernet AUI/BNC, keyboard, mouse, monitor, printer, serial
The Digital VAXstation 3100 M76 — The Professional Engineering Workstation
The Digital Equipment Corporation VAXstation 3100 Model 76, introduced in 1991, was one of DEC’s final and most capable VAX-based desktop workstations — a high-performance engineering and scientific computing platform that combined a 33 MHz VAX processor with powerful graphics capabilities, significant memory, and the mature VMS operating system. At a time when Unix workstations from Sun, HP, and SGI were capturing the technical workstation market, the VAXstation 3100 M76 represented DEC’s best effort to remain competitive with a platform that was beginning to show its age against RISC-based competitors.
VMS — A World-Class Operating System
The VAXstation ran VMS (Virtual Memory System) — one of the most sophisticated and reliable operating systems ever created. Developed by DEC alongside the VAX hardware, VMS provided preemptive multitasking, comprehensive security features, clustering support (allowing multiple VAX systems to work as a single system), and a record of uptime reliability that few operating systems have matched. Many organisations that ran VMS systems in the 1980s and 1990s report years of continuous operation without unplanned downtime.
The End of an Era
The VAXstation 3100 M76 arrived as the VAX platform was beginning its decline. The rise of RISC processors — particularly SPARC, MIPS, and HP’s PA-RISC — offered dramatically better performance per dollar, and the VAX’s complex instruction set architecture was increasingly unable to compete. DEC’s own Alpha processor (introduced 1992) would supersede the VAX in performance, and the company itself would be acquired by Compaq in 1998. The VAXstation 3100 M76 is a significant collector’s piece representing the end of one of computing’s most important platform families.