I have the main unit and keyboard.
type computer
country USA
year 1994
os IRIX UNIX
cpu MIPS R4400SC
speed 100 MHZ
ram 16 MB
hd 2 x SCSI
disk 3,5″
graphic yes
colors yes
sound yes
ports Parallel, serial, SCSI 2, ethernet, stetero, microphone, audio in/out, headphone, digital sound in/out
The Silicon Graphics Challenge S — The Workgroup Server
The Silicon Graphics Challenge S was a workgroup server produced by Silicon Graphics Inc. (SGI) — the company that defined high-performance 3D graphics computing throughout the 1980s and 1990s. The Challenge S used MIPS R4000 or R4400 processors running IRIX (SGI’s Unix variant) and was designed for technical computing, scientific visualisation, and 3D rendering applications in small workgroup environments. As a server rather than a desktop workstation, it provided shared computing resources for groups of SGI workstations in production environments.
Silicon Graphics — 3D Computing Pioneer
Silicon Graphics was founded in 1982 by Jim Clark (who later co-founded Netscape) and developed the high-performance 3D graphics workstations that became the standard tools for film visual effects, scientific visualisation, and industrial design throughout the late 1980s and 1990s. Films including Jurassic Park, Terminator 2, and The Abyss were created using SGI workstations, and the company’s IRIX operating system and OpenGL graphics standard shaped the entire computer graphics industry. At its peak, SGI’s machines were the most prestigious and powerful workstations available, commanding premium prices that reflected their extraordinary capabilities.
MIPS Architecture
SGI’s workstations and servers used MIPS RISC processors — one of the major RISC architectures of the 1990s alongside SPARC, HP PA-RISC, and DEC Alpha. The MIPS R4000 used in the Challenge S was the first 64-bit MIPS processor, providing the computational power required for the floating-point intensive 3D rendering and scientific simulation workloads that SGI’s customers demanded. MIPS processors were also used in the Nintendo 64 and PlayStation 2 game consoles, reflecting the architecture’s efficiency and the licensing relationships SGI had established.