DBC 1012

The DBC/1012 Data Base Computer was a database machine introduced by Teradata Corporation in 1984, as a back-end data base management system for mainframe computers.[1] The DBC/1012 harnessed multiple Intel microprocessors, each with its own dedicated disk drive, by interconnecting them with the Ynet switching network in a massively parallel processing system.[2][3] The DBC/1012 was designed to manage databases up to one terabyte (1,000,000,000,000 characters) in size; "1012" in the name refers to "10 to the power of 12".[4]

Image of Teradata DBC/1012 from its 1987 brochure

Major components included:

  • Mainframe-resident software to manage users and transfer data
  • Interface processor (IFP) - the hardware connection between the mainframe and the DBC/1012
  • Ynet - a custom-built system interconnect that supported broadcast and sorting
  • Access module processor (AMP) - the unit of parallelism: includes microprocessor, disk drive, file system, and database software
  • System console and printer
  • TEQUEL (TEradata QUEry Language) - an extension of SQL

The DBC/1012 was designed to scale up to 1024 Ynet interconnected processor-disk units. Rows of a relation (table) were distributed by hashing on the primary database index.

The DBC/1012 used a 474 megabyte Winchester disk drive with an average seek time of 18 milliseconds. The disk drive was capable of transferring data at 1.9 MB/s although in practice the sustainable data rate was lower because the IO pattern tended towards random access and transfer lengths of 8 to 12 kilobytes.

The processor cabinet was 60 inches high and 27 inches wide, weighed 450 pounds, and held up to 8 microprocessor units. The storage cabinet was 60 inches high and 27 inches wide, weighed 625 pounds, and held up to 4 disk storage units.

The DBC/1012 preceded the advent of redundant array of independent disks (RAID) technology, so data protection was provided by the "fallback" feature, which kept a logical copy of rows of a relation on different AMPs. The collection of AMPs that provided this protection for each other was called a cluster. A cluster could have from 2 to 16 AMPs.

The product could be integrated with optical disc drives.[5] There were at least four models, marketed through about 1993.[6][7]

References
  1. Paul Gillin (February 20, 1984). "Will Teradata revive a market?". Computer World. pp. 43, 48. Retrieved March 13, 2017.
  2. J. Page (April 15, 1991). "The benefits of database computers". Second International Specialist Seminar on the Design and Application of Parallel Digital Processors: 112–117. ISBN 0-85296-519-2.
  3. R. D. Sloan (January 7, 1992). "A practical implementation of the data base machine-Teradata DBC/1012". Proceedings of the Twenty-Fifth Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences. pp. 320-327 vol.1. doi:10.1109/HICSS.1992.183180. ISBN 0-8186-2420-5. S2CID 62020363.
  4. Arthur Trew; Greg Wilson, eds. (December 6, 2012). Past, Present, Parallel: A Survey of Available Parallel Computer Systems. Springer Science & Business Media. pp. 226–231. ISBN 9781447118428. Retrieved March 13, 2017.
  5. N.C. Ramsay (May 7, 1990). "Integration of the optical storage processor and the DBC/1012 database computer". [1990] Digest of papers. Tenth IEEE Symposium on Mass Storage Systems@m_Crisis in Mass Storage. IEEE. pp. 94–97. doi:10.1109/MASS.1990.113576. ISBN 0-8186-2034-X. S2CID 33985588.
  6. "AT&T / NCR Products 1992 & 1993 Catalogue: DBC/1012 Model 4". Website of the UK Retirement Fellowship. Archived from the original on March 14, 2017. Retrieved March 13, 2017.
  7. "Colior image of TeradataDBC/1012 Data Base Computer with front covers removed". Artifact detail. Computer History Museum. Retrieved March 13, 2017.
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