CSIRO Computing History, Appendix 9: Glossary

AARNet

Australian Academic Research Network: University and CSIRO network: 1990-

ACSG

CSIRO Advanced Computing Support Group: 1987-90

ADP

Automated or Automatic Data Processing

AI

Artificial Intelligence

Algol

an early high-level computer programming language devised to carry out scientific calculations

Altix

A model of SGI NUMA systems

APAC

Australian Partnership for Advance Computing: 1999-2006.  Succeeded by NCI

ARPANET

USA Defence Advanced Projects Research Agency network: 1969-

ASC

CSIRO Advanced Scientific Computing: 2008-

ATL

Automated Tape Library from Braegen/Calcomp

Bladecenter

IBM compute cluster hardware

BlueLink

Ocean forecasting system

C3DIS

CSIRO Conference series

CDA

Australian branch of CDC

CDC

Control Data Corporation: USA computer manufacturer

cherax

Hostname for CSIRO’s Cray Research vector systems, 1990-2004, and subsequent SGI NUMA systems, 2004-2015;  hosts for the Data Store.

clog

i/o benchmark: 2002-

CNFX

Csironet File transfer package

COBOL

COmmon Business Oriented Language: early programming language for commercial applications

COMp80

Peripheral system used by DCR to produce microfiche, microfilm, etc

COMPASS

CDC Assembler language

Convex

Mini-supercomputer manufacturer

Core

Magnetic core memory – used in early computers, after mercury delay lines, and before silicon.  The term lingers in expressions liek “core dump’

CoResearch

CSIRO Staff Magazine

CPU

Central Processing Unit – the computation engine of a computer

Cray

Seymour Cray, computer designer: also companies Cray Research and Cray Inc and systems produced by them.

CRS

CSIRO Computing Research Section, 1963-1967

CSIR

Council for Scientific Researc: 1926-1949

CSF

CSIRO Supercomputing Facility: 1992-97

csfbull

CSIRO Supercomputing Facility Bulletin

CSIRAC

CSIR Automatic Computer

CSIR Mk 1

Australia’s first stored-program electronic digital computer, later re-named CSIRAC

CSIRO

Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation: 1949-

CSIRONET or Csironet

CSIRO Computing network, or latterly, the organisation DCR

Cyber

A series of computers produced by CDC

CYI

The DCR-developed interactive system on the CDC Cyber 76: 1975-1985; and on later Cybers

DAD

Drums And Displays: operating system for the CDC 3600 developed by CSIRO CRS and DCR

DAR

CSIRO Division of Atmospheric Research  – successor to DAP and DMP

Datastore

CSIRO Scientific Computing Data Store

DCR

CSIRO Division of Computing Research: 1967-1984

DEC

Digital Equipment Corporation: mini-computer manufacturer

DISPLAY code

Early CDC 6-bit character set

DIT

CSIRO Division of Information Technology – formed with the research staff from DCR: 1985-1997

DMF

DMF Data Migration Facility: latterly Data Management Framework – an HSM, originally written by Cray Research, then passed to SGI and then HPE

DMS

CSIRO Division of Mathematics and Statistics

DR

Document Region – storage area managed by DAD on the CSIRO CDC 3600 – became an HSM

DSS

Commonwealth Department of Social Security

Ed

Third version of CRS/DCR/Csironet editor, running on the CDC Cyber 76: 1977-1990

EPOCH

HSM used by the Bureau: 1990s

eResearch

Electronically enhanced research

ERS

Enhanced Resource Scheduler – developed by NEC to meet the HPCCC requirements: specifications written by Rob Thurling and Rob Bell

ETA

Spin-off from CDC which developed successors to the Cyber 205: c 1986-1989

FACOM

Series of IBM-compatible mainframes produced by Fujitsu: e.g. the M-190

FLUSH

A procedure for identifying candidates and removing them from a storage area.

Fortran

Formula Translator – early computer programming language

FRED

First version of CRS/DCR/Csironet editor, running on the CDC 3600: 1968-1973

HiPPI

High Performance Parallel Interface – a computer bus for the attachment of high speed storage devices to supercomputers: originally 800 Mbit/s

hpcbull

HPCCC and HPSC Bulletin

HPCCC

Bureau of Meteorology/CSIRO High Performance Computing and Communications Centre

HPSC

CSIRO High Performance Scientific Computing: 2003-08

HSM

Hierarchical Storage Management system

IDAPS/Paxus

Purchasers of Csironet

IMT

CSIRO Information Management and Technology

Itanium

Intel 64-bit processor family.  Used on SGI Altix and NEC TX7

ITSB

CSIRO Information Technology Services Branch: 1980s and 1990s

JSF

Joint Supercomputing Facility: 1990-92

LET

Leading Edge Technologies: partner with CSIRO in the Joint Supercomputing Facility: 1990-92

LTD

Live Test Demonstration: HPCCC requirement: 2003

LWOP

Leave without pay

Microfiche

Photographic cards used to store information – 280 line-printer pages or 420 A4 pages per card

Micronode

Microprocessor-based Csironet node controller

NAA

National Archives Australia

NCAR

US National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder Colorado

NCI

Australian National Computational Infrastructure

NEC

Originally the Nippon Electric Company – maker of computers

NODECODE

Software used to drive CSIRONET nodes

NOS

Network Operating System – CDC lower Cyber OS

NQS

Network Queueing System – software used to manage batch jobs

NSC

Network Systems Corporation – producers of Hyperchannel machine room networks

NUMA

Non-Uniform Memory Access – a technology used principally by SGI to run large-memory systems, with a single instance of the operating system: c.f. a cluster

Pawsey

Joseph Pawsey, CSIRO Radiophysics pioneer; Pawsey Supercomputing Centre

PCC

CSIRO Policy Committee on Computing: 1980s and 1990s

PDP

DEC mini-computers: e.g. PDP-8, PDP-11

PH

Personal History, as in PH file

Powderhorn

StorageTek ATL

RFQ

Request for Quotation

RFT

Request for Tender

ROAM

Relocatable Ocean and Atmospheric Model – developed by BlueLink

ruby

Final host (SGI) where the Data Store filesystem was directly accessible (as the home file system): 2015-21. Named after Ruby Payne-Scott

SAM-FS

HSM, used by the Bureau: 1990s-

SCOPE

Supervisory Control Of Program Execution – early CDC operating system

SFTF

Supercomputing Facilities Task Force: 1989

SFUMC

Supercomputing Facilities Users Management Committee: 1990-97

SGI

Silicon Graphics Inc – later just SGI.  Workstation manufacturer, later specialising in large shared-memory systems.

SL8500

StorageTek ATL

SMH

Sydney Morning Herald

SN

Serial number – as in the Cray Y-MP SN 1409

SSG

CSIRO Supercomputing Support Group: 1990-97

STK/StorageTek

Maker of magnetic tape drives and tape libraries

SX

Series of NEC vector supercomputers.  The HPCCC used an SX-4, two SX-5s, and a cluster of 28 SX-6s

SX-Backstore

NEC-developed HSM

TED

Second version of CRS/DCR/Csironet editor, running on the CDC 3600: 1973-77

TFS

Terabit File Store – Csironet-developed archive/HSM system using the ATL: 1980-90

Tower of Hanoi

An algorithm, based on the Tower of Hanoi puzzle, for rationally managing collections of filesystem backups

TX7

NEC front-end systems for the SX-6: used Itanium processors: 2003-2010

UNICOS

Cray Research version of UNIX, on vector and MPP systems

UNIX

Operating system developed at Bell Labs – a pun on the MULTICS operating system

UPDATE

A source code management utility, based on card images.  Originally on CDC systems, then latterly on Cray systems.

UV

A model of SGI NUMA systems, e.g. UV1000

Vista

Display systems attached to the CSIRO CDC 3600

VLSI

Very Large Scale Integrated circuit

VM/CMS

Virtual Machine operating system and interactive facility used on IBM and compatible mainframes

XEON

Intel processor family