The show also revealed a home grown Unix industry not simply relying on imports from the US, but offering its own hardware and software as far advanced as anything available elsewhere. For the outsider, one of the big surprises of the show was the dominance of Diab Data AB, based in Taby near Stockholm. Diab, a major supplier of computer systems to the Swedish Government, has a range of multi-processor 68030 systems that include the DS90-30, using up to two 25MHz chips, and the DS90-31, with up to four 33MHz 68030s, supporting up to 250 users. These are shared memory multi-processors that dynamically allocate the processor load without any need to alter the application. A Unix company since 1981, Diab took an early decision to re-write its Unix kernel for real time operation, and this now serves as the basis for all of its systems. The multi-processor extensions have been established for four years. Diab is now a member of 88Open, and plans to introduce Risc-based versions of its hardware next year. Diab, a subsidiary of Swedish Telecom, is still relatively small, with a turnover last year of 160m Swedish Kroner (UKP16m), but is expanding rapidly, with a new office just opened in Oslo. At the Show, Diab revealed that it was collaborating with Cominvest System AB, Fiberdata AB and Nordnet on a secure computer package for the Government, including a fully tempested Diab DS90-30 running AT&T’s MLS secure Unix, with secure terminals using a Smartcard access system from Cominvest and Nordnet, directly connected through Fiberdat’s FiberSafe fibre-optic transceivers. But Diab is also attracting attention outside Sweden: it has sold manufacturing rights to the US ISC Systems Corp (now a subsidiary of Olivetti) for the banking and finance market, which already produces three times more machines than Diab itself. Other OEM deals include the recently reported Dynatech/Cromemco deal, and an OEM agreement with Consolidated Computer in Denver, Colorado. After its US deal, Diab is currently looking for OEM agreements for the major European markets.
