A. Statistical data on SERC Computing

Information on computing systems provided by SERC and related data

This appendix contains some relevant data on computing provision by SERC. Figure 1 gives a summary of SERC installed' computing equipment at January 1984 including both central and distributed systems.

1. Central Systems

Figure 2 gives some historical information on the central systems provided by SERC. The actual and inflation corrected costs are given as well as the power (in MIPS) of the systems.

Figure 3 shows the information in graphical form and clearly shows the rapid growth in both computer power and disc capacity. The inflation corrected capital cost of the installed systems has decreased by a factor of 10 while the installed power has increased by a factor of 100.

Figure 4 shows the same information as the cost per MIP installed in real terms the cost has decreased by a factor of 1000 in 20 years which is an improvement by a factor of 1.41 per year.

2. Distributed Systems

Figure 5 gives in tabular form the distributed systems installed by the Boards for different years.

Figure 6 shows the total power of distributed systems installed as a function of time showing the very rapid growth from 1978.

Figure 7 shows the ratio of power distributed to that provided centrally. Until 1976 there was more power centrally but now there is an order of magnitude more power distributed than that provided centrally.

3. Software costs and support staff

Figure 8 shows the inflation corrected costs of software support for central systems. These costs have increased slowly due to increases of charges for software - the staff costs have been approximately constant at about £0.5M per year. The current total cost of about £1M per year now exceeds hardware costs - it is now equivalent to the capital cost of a 6 MIP system. It is clear that in future software costs will dominate over hardware costs.

Figure 9 gives information on the number of SERC staff used to provide support for the central and distributed systems provided by SERC. In nine years the support staff has reduced by 30% (from 233 to 166) while the number of systems supported has increased by a factor of 30 and their power by a factor of 28.

4. Users of SERC centrally supported systems

Figure 10 gives information on the number of users of systems centrally supported by SERC. A breakdown between Boards is given. The total number is now 5550 and has increased by a factor of 5 in 10 years.

Equipment	Capital Cost £M	Date Installed	Funding Source	Power (MIPS)
NAS 7000	* 1	1981	CCC	3
IBM 3081	** 3	1982	CCC	10
ATLAS 10	2	1983	CCC	15
MINIS (32)	4	1975-83	ASRB	15
MINIS (135)	6	1977-81	EB	23
MINIS (45)	4	1975-83	NPB	19
MINIS (36)	1	1976-83	SB	4
PERQs (140)	3	1982-83	EB (SB,CCC)	35

Figure 1: SERC Installed Equipment (Distributed and Central) at 1 January 1984

* includes estimate of £O.5M for existing peripherals

** includes estimate of £1M for existing peripherals

Summary of the SERC installed equipment (at Jan 1 1984) including both distributed and central systems. The costs are the original costs at the time of purchase.

Year	Machine	Power (MIPS)	Cost at Installation (£M)	Period of Use	Inflation Corrected to 1983/84 prices Cost (£M)
			RAL			DL
1964	Atlas I	0.25	2.5		1964-1973	15.0
1967	IBM 360/75	0.75	* 2.5		1967-1972	17.1
1971	ICL 1906A	0.50	2.0		1971-1978	8.4
1971	IBM 360/195	5.00	3.4		1971-1983	14.2
1973	IBM 360/165	2.00		1.5	1973-1981	5.4
1976	IBM 360/195	5.00	1.8		1976-1983	3.8
1978	IBM 3032	2.50	1.5		1978-1983	2.6
1981	NAS 7000	3.00		0.5	1981-	0.6
1982	IBM 3081	10.00	2.0		1982-	2.1
1983	Atlas 10	15.00	2.0		1983-	2.0

Figure 2: History of Central Systems Installed by SERC

* Rented at £0.5M p.a. over 5 years

Summary of the history of the Central systems hardware in terms of power and cost (both original and inflation corrected).

Historical summaries of central and distributed centrally supported computer systems (Daresbury and Rutherford Appleton) in terms of capital cost, power and disc storage. Capital cost is inflation correct to 1983/84 prices.

Year	ASRB		EB		NPB		SB		Total
	No	Cost £K	No	Cost £K	No	Cost £K	No	Cost £K	No	Cost £K
1975	1	22			1	102			2	124
1976	3	289			4	170	2	103	9	562
1977	1	79	2	170	6	584			9	833
1978	1	93	3	323			3	108	7	524
1979	7	784	11	1302	9	972	8	304	35	3362
1980	11	2035	16	2198	7	725	7	479	41	5437
1981	2	250	9	833	8	1157	1	42	20	2282
1982	6	560	12	1281	5	428			23	2269
1983			1	100	1	105			2	205
Total	32	4112	54	6207	41	4243	21	1036	148	15598

Figure 5a: Computers Installed by Boards: Minicomputers

Year	ASRB		EB		NPB		SB		Total
	No	Cost £K	No	Cost £K	No	Cost £K	No	Cost £K	No	Cost £K
1981	0	0	30	600	0	0	1	20	31	620
1982	0	0	35	700	4	80	14	280	53	1060
1983	0	0	36	720	0	0	0	0	36	720
Total	0	0	101	2020	4	80	15	300	120	2400

Figure 5b: PERQs

A summary of Mini Computers and PERQs purchased and installed by Boards from the beginning of 1975 to the end of 1983.

Year	Operations	User Support	Software	Admin	Total	No of Systems Supported	Cost of Support (£M)	Power of Systems Supported (MIPS)
1975	96	32	55	30	233	5	2.3	12
1978	97	28	48	12	185	30	2.5	38
1981	84	35	55	11	185	130	3.1	221
1984	70	31	57	8	166	151	3.3	336

Figure 9: Effort Breakdown for Central Systems in Man-Years

	ASRB	EB	NPB	SB	Total
Total
1973	120	150	500	250	1150
1978	280	1450	720	600	3600
1983	350	2200	900	900	5550
IBM Only
1973	120	150	500	250	1150
1978	180	160	720	500	2000
1983	240	240	900	750	2500

Figure 10: Users by Board of Central and Distributed Facilities

Historical summary of the users, in each Board area, of the centrally supported systems (Daresbury and Rutherford Appleton).