The following post appeared in a local (to JPL, where I work) newsgroup.  I
wondered if Chris or anybody else had heard of this outfit; maybe they'd be
good to hit up for a loaner machine or something ... :-)

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Anyone happen by [Conference room] on Thursday to check out the Viper AXP?
I don't think the demo was widely publicized.

National Computers Plus Inc., based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, was demoing their
Viper workstation.  The Viper is based on DEC's Alpha AXP chip.  The Alpha AXP
is a 64-bit gallium arsenide processor which National Computer runs at "up to
275 MHz."  They are marketing the Viper as "the world's fastest workstation."

My understanding is the Alpha AXP chip has no native instruction set.  You
specify the instruction set at boot time (a Cray design).  Thus, the Alpha AXP
can emulate many common 32 bit processors, but is faster than the silicon
version of said processor.  The guy demoing the workstation yesterday said
that Rockwell put the Viper up against a Cray Y-MP for an
airflow-over-solid-wing simulations, and the Viper won.

The Viper runs either DEC OSF/1 (UNIX) or emulates an Intel 486 and runs
Windows NT (POSIX).  It uses PCI video, and has an ISA bus for people who
still need one.  Prices start at $28k.

Supposedly, National Computer is going to lend JPL one or two of these
beasties for test driving.  [Some person] is the JPL person coordinating the
effort to get the Vipers on Lab, so if you have a simulation or graphics
package you want to try out on the Viper if/when it comes in, give [person] a
call.

The Viper is available with:

o  Up to 275 MHz clock speed
o  Up to 512 Mb RAM on board
o  2 Mb static cache
o  PCI video with 1600x1280 graphics
o  28 Gb maximum internal disk capacity without RAID array
o  2 PCI and 3 ISA expansion slots
o  10 internal storage bays
o  20" XGA color monitor
o  101 keyboard, mouse
o  450 watt power supply
o  1-year limited warranty

Contact:

National Computers Plus, Inc.
4610 S. 101st E. Ave
Tulsa, OK 74146
800-522-2910

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