SGI Machine and Graphics timeline

[Michael Doyle]

Hi folks,

Having assembled a small collection of SGI hardware, and with some of
them being virtually antiques (4D/120 TwinTower!), I have compiled a
list of models and dates of production of each that I have discovered
so far, along with the various graphics systems that I have been able
to date. However, having been in contact with SGI HW only over the
past 3 years, I don't have access to original source material
(brochures, press releases) to date many of these. What I have been
able to get from the Google comp.sys.sgi.* archive, archive.org,
sometimes Gerhard's site, and www.sgi.com (for the latest models)
appears in the list.

So I'm wondering if any of you could fill in some of the missing dates
(and maybe the missing models, model numbers, and graphics options)
and I'll update my list. I am particularly interested in as precise a
date as possible, resolution at the level of a month would be
fantastic, and a particular quarter of the year would be great. I'm
hoping to get better info than, for example, 'circa 1993'...

Perhaps Gerhard might like to use it on his site (which hasn't been
disturbed by SGI, so far), but in any case I will post it to the
newsgroup.

Many thanks,
Michael Doyle
Charlottesville, VA


Professional IRIS
4D/60
4D/50
4D/70 (CMN A001)
4D/80
4D/85 (CMN A007)

PowerSeries - announced Oct. 4, 1988 (4D/1x0 TwinTower chassis?)
4D/1x0 (CMN A004)
4D/210 (CMN A004)
4D/2x0
4D/310 (CMN A008) - shipped ~mid-1990
4D/3x0
4D/4x0 (CMN A008)

Crimson (4D/510, CMN A008) - anncd. Jan. 28, 1992 w. 100MHz R4k &
all gfx except Extreme & RE
4D/4000 & 4D/4400 (IP17 for PowerSeries chassis)

Personal IRIS - anncd. Oct. 4, 1988
4D/20 (CMN B001) - undoubtably the machine anncd on Oct. 4, 1988
4D/25 (CMN B001)
4D/30
4D/35

Indigo (CMN B003) - Intro'd July, 1991, apparently only w. Entry gfx
XS, XS24, Elan - announced Jan. 28, 1992
XZ - Anncd. & shipped Jan. 26, 1993
Indigo w. R4k (CMN B003B) - Intro'd Sep, 1992

Indigo2 (CMN B007)
w. 100MHz R4k or 150MHz R4400 & Extreme - Announced Jan. 26, 1993
XL - Anncd. July 7, 1993 f. Q393
XZ - Anncd. & shipped July 7, 1993

Indy (CMN B006)
Anncd. Jul. 12, 1993; Production: Fall, 1993 - July 1, 1997.
w. 150MHz R44k, Jan. 3, 1994
XZ - Anncd. July 26, 1994 for Aug. ship
133MHz R4600SC
Indy Presenter - Anncd. July 26, 1994

Onyx (CMN A011) - Intro'd Jan. 1993, along w. RE2 & VTX; EOL in Q2
1998
Challenge L/XL (CMN A010) - EOL in Q2 1998
Challenge 10000 (CMN A011)
Challenge M
Challenge S

Onyx2 - 1996 til EOP June 30, 2002
Origin 200 (CMN A018)
Origin 2000 (2100,2200,2400,2800) - 1996 til EOP June 30, 2002

O2, O2+ (CMN B014) - Production: Oct. 10, 1996 - Oct. 1, 2002
Octane (CMN B015) - Announced Jan. 27, 1997
Octane2 - Introduced June, 2000

Onyx/Origin 300 - EOP: Dec.31, 2003
Onyx350 - Intro'd Apr. 21, 2003
Origin 350
Onyx4 - Intro'd July, 2003

Fuel - Introduced Jan, 2002
Tezro - Intro'd May, 2003

[Gerhard Lenerz]

Post by Michael Doyle
So I'm wondering if any of you could fill in some of the missing dates
(and maybe the missing models, model numbers, and graphics options)
and I'll update my list.

I can't fill in very much but I can throw in an additional point
to wonder about: What's the difference between the CMN model number
and the other ones (like W6-CRIMRE)? The label on the Personal Iris
chassis made a clear difference between model number (CMN) and
configuration number (the other). On later systems the old configuration
number isn't given - instead there is more detail in the CMN model
number (as in CMNB007Y100 which is a R4400 200MHz Indigo 2).

Post by Michael Doyle
Perhaps Gerhard might like to use it on his site (which hasn't been
disturbed by SGI, so far), but in any case I will post it to the
newsgroup.

Sure. :)

Post by Michael Doyle
Professional IRIS
4D/60
4D/50
4D/70 (CMN A001)
4D/80
4D/85 (CMN A007)

I assume that A001 is the twin tower enclosed version and A007 the
singletower with 12slot backplane (which again is an assumption, as
I've never seen whats inside such a beast).

Post by Michael Doyle
PowerSeries - announced Oct. 4, 1988 (4D/1x0 TwinTower chassis?)
4D/1x0 (CMN A004)
4D/4x0 (CMN A008)

15slot twin tower vs. 14slot single tower I guess.

Post by Michael Doyle
Personal IRIS - anncd. Oct. 4, 1988
4D/20 (CMN B001) - undoubtably the machine anncd on Oct. 4, 1988
4D/25 (CMN B001)
4D/30
4D/35

4D/3x are also CMN B001. The Iris File is CMN B002 which explains
at least one gap between the numbers. :) Configuration number for
Iris File is (IRIS FILE).

Post by Michael Doyle
Indigo2 (CMN B007)
Indy (CMN B006)

Here the model number madness starts... :)

Post by Michael Doyle
Onyx (CMN A011) - Intro'd Jan. 1993, along w. RE2 & VTX; EOL in Q2
1998
Challenge L/XL (CMN A010) - EOL in Q2 1998
Challenge 10000 (CMN A011)

Hmmm... I'll try to put a list together:

CMN A001 - Professional Iris Twin Tower (?)
CMN A007 - Professional Iris Single Tower (?)
CMN A010 - Challenge / Onyx Rack
CMN A011 - Challenge / Onyx Deskside
CMN A015 - Origin 2000 Deskside
CMN A017 - Origin 2000 Rack
CMN A018 - Origin 200

CMN B001 - Personal Iris
CMN B002 - Iris File
CMN B003(B) - Indigo (R4000)
CMN B006 - Indy
CMN B007 - Indigo 2
CMN B014 - O2/O2+
CMN B015 - Octane / Octane 2

There are quite some gaps... as far as I recall I've seen some
of the missing numbers on some other external SGI equipment (BOBs
and such things IIRC).

Did some googling:
CMN B010 - Indy Presenter

Maybe I find a bit more later... :)


Gerhard

[John-Paul Stewart]

Post by Michael Doyle
Indigo2 (CMN B007)
w. 100MHz R4k or 150MHz R4400 & Extreme - Announced Jan. 26, 1993
XL - Anncd. July 7, 1993 f. Q393
XZ - Anncd. & shipped July 7, 1993

What about the Indigo2 Impact series? It's noticeably absent from your
timeline.

[Gerhard Lenerz]

Post by John-Paul Stewart

Post by Michael Doyle
Indigo2 (CMN B007)
w. 100MHz R4k or 150MHz R4400 & Extreme - Announced Jan. 26, 1993
XL - Anncd. July 7, 1993 f. Q393
XZ - Anncd. & shipped July 7, 1993

What about the Indigo2 Impact series? It's noticeably absent from your
timeline.

I've got only a rough date: Sometime in 1995. R10K Impact was
announced in January 1996. Didn't note the actual date, but SGI
always had a tendency of introducing new stuff at the beginning
of months.


Gerhard

[Michael Doyle]

Hi folks,

Most excellent to see a nice response from a few people!

Yes, you'll certainly notice a number of things missing from my list.
I started putting EVERYTHING in the list and noted just how much was
missing, so to save space/time I changed to just noting (for the most
part) those systems and graphics options for which I had dates.

So please do add in any and all missing systems and graphics options
for which you have dates!

[Gerhard Lenerz]

Post by Michael Doyle
So please do add in any and all missing systems and graphics options
for which you have dates!

So far I did not look at much but the model numbers. Found one or
two that have been missing, but there are still some gaps and some
systems that are absent (I'm thinking of Predator racks especially
and the newer ones):

CMN A001 -- Professional Iris Twin Tower
CMN A002 --
CMN A003 -- PowerSeries Rack (?)
CMN A004 -- PowerSeries Twin Tower
CMN A005 --
CMN A006 -- PowerSeries Rack (?)
CMN A007 -- Professional Iris Single Tower
CMN A008 -- PowerSeries Single Tower
CMN A009 --
CMN A010 -- Challenge/Onyx Rack
CMN A011 -- Challenge/Onyx Deskside
CMN A012 -- "Some SCSI Vault" (?)
CMN A013 --
CMN A014 --
CMN A015 -- Origin 2000 Deskside
CMN A016 --
CMN A017 -- Origin 2000 Rack
CMN A018 -- Origin 200


CMN B001 -- Personal Iris
CMN B002 -- Iris File
CMN B003 -- Indigo
CMN B004 --
CMN B005 --
CMN B006 -- Indy
CMN B007 -- Indigo 2
CMN B008 --
CMN B009 --
CMN B010 -- Indy Presenter
CMN B011 --
CMN B012 --
CMN B013 --
CMN B014 -- O2, O2+
CMN B015 -- Octane, Octane2

This posting btw. is made on a CMN A004. ;-)


Gerhard

[Michael Doyle]

Just a note to bring this back to the head of the list...
Many thanks for working on a list of model numbers, Gerhard. Maybe
someone has a Predator rack to check the model (if it isn't pushed up
against a wall - don't want anyone hurting themself for this;
Skywriter is exempt due to this - he didn't have too much fun picking
up and moving a Crimson).

Anybody know if SGI has continued this nomenclature with recent
machines? My O2 doesn't have a model number on the back - is this
true of all O2's? How about Octanes (I don't have one of these yet),
Fuel, or Tezro?

Cheers,
Michael

[SkyWriter]

Post by Michael Doyle
Just a note to bring this back to the head of the list...
Many thanks for working on a list of model numbers, Gerhard. Maybe
someone has a Predator rack to check the model (if it isn't pushed up
against a wall - don't want anyone hurting themself for this;
Skywriter is exempt due to this - he didn't have too much fun picking
up and moving a Crimson).

hahaha, my neck is worse now! pinched nerve, physical therapy etc...
CMNA006 :-)
the type is 4D-320IG2

Thanks!

Post by Michael Doyle
Anybody know if SGI has continued this nomenclature with recent
machines? My O2 doesn't have a model number on the back - is this
true of all O2's? How about Octanes (I don't have one of these yet),
Fuel, or Tezro?
Cheers,
Michael

[Neil Rudzinski]

Post by SkyWriter

Post by Michael Doyle
Just a note to bring this back to the head of the list...
Many thanks for working on a list of model numbers, Gerhard. Maybe
someone has a Predator rack to check the model (if it isn't pushed up
against a wall - don't want anyone hurting themself for this;
Skywriter is exempt due to this - he didn't have too much fun picking
up and moving a Crimson).

hahaha, my neck is worse now! pinched nerve, physical therapy etc...
CMNA006 :-)
the type is 4D-320IG2
Thanks!

Post by Michael Doyle
Anybody know if SGI has continued this nomenclature with recent
machines? My O2 doesn't have a model number on the back - is this
true of all O2's? How about Octanes (I don't have one of these yet),
Fuel, or Tezro?

I have a Tezro here at work. All I see is a serial number sticker... no model
number sticker like on the octanes..

Neil

Post by SkyWriter

Post by Michael Doyle
Cheers,
Michael

[g***@geekmail.de]

Post by Michael Doyle
Just a note to bring this back to the head of the list...
Many thanks for working on a list of model numbers, Gerhard. Maybe
someone has a Predator rack to check the model (if it isn't pushed up
against a wall - don't want anyone hurting themself for this;

here is my computer. you can see the model numbers clearly on the
photos. hope that helps.

http://www.endzeit.demon.co.uk/4D210S/

(not for sale) :)

ben_g

[Rainer M. Canavan]

Michael Doyle wrote:
[...]

Post by Michael Doyle
Anybody know if SGI has continued this nomenclature with recent
machines? My O2 doesn't have a model number on the back - is this
true of all O2's? How about Octanes (I don't have one of these yet),
Fuel, or Tezro?

O2s have a sticker on the bottom, not the back. CMNB014

Just to add another data point: the Vault S doesn't have a CMN number,
since it's not even made by SGI.

rainer

[Gerhard Lenerz]

Post by Michael Doyle
Just a note to bring this back to the head of the list...
Many thanks for working on a list of model numbers, Gerhard. Maybe
someone has a Predator rack to check the model (if it isn't pushed up
against a wall - don't want anyone hurting themself for this;
Skywriter is exempt due to this - he didn't have too much fun picking
up and moving a Crimson).

Maybe you have seen it already. I took the freedom to put more
or less current versions of the model number and IP-number tables
online. Any fills/comments welcome, of course.

http://sgistuff.g-lenerz.de/tables.html
(Haven't upgraded the PowerSeries rack entry.)

Thinking of lists and tables. What are the code names given in
this Iris Family tree from the HDH refer to? Model type as the
CMN numbers do?


Gerhard