After 12 years, Nixdorf Computer AG has decided that the 8870 name for its IBM System 36-class business computer has at last run out of steam, and so the latest incarnation of the venerable machine gets a brand new name, the Quattro/45. The machine was on show at Hannover in the spring (CI No 892), and has now arrived in the UK. With a VLSI implementation of the 16-bit 8870 CPU, Nixdorf is able to put up to four processors in the box two come as standard – and each comes with 1Mb of memory. The new Niros 7.x release of the operating system supports up to four processors – each has its own copy of the operating system but memory is common, and also enables processors to be dedicated to specific tasks, such as compute-intensive work. The 45 supports up to 24 user workstations and up to 12 printers – with fewer printers, 30 workstations can be supported – and takes up to four 132Mb 8 disk drives, with a streaming tape for back-up. Performance can be improved with an optional intelli gent disk controller that includes 2Mb of cache. No prices provided.
