IBM RS/6000

The RISC System/6000 is a family of RISC-based (Reduced Instruction Set Computer-based) Unix servers, workstations and supercomputers made by IBM in the 1990s. The RS/6000 family replaced the IBM RT PC computer platform in February 1990 and is the first computer line to see the use of IBM's POWER and PowerPC based microprocessors. In October 2000, the RS/6000 brand was retired for POWER-based servers and replaced by the eServer pSeries. Workstations continued under the RS/6000 brand until 2002, when new POWER/-based workstations were released under the IntelliStation POWER/ brand.

IBM RISC System/6000

Also known as	IBM RS/6000
Developer	IBM
Type	Desktop Workstation (POWERstation) Server (POWERserver) Supercomputer platform (RS/6000 SP line)
Release date	February 1990 (1990-02)
Discontinued	October 2000 (servers) 2002 (workstations)
CPU	IBM POWER PowerPC
Predecessor	IBM RT PC
Successor	eServer pSeries IntelliStation POWER IBM ThinkPad Power Series
Related	IBM PC Power Series
Website	rs6000.ibm.com at the Wayback Machine (archived 2000-03-01)

RS/6000 type 7012-320

Type 7030 servers (model 3BT)

Early RS/6000 7013

RS/6000 7013 J-series

Dual 375 MHz IBM POWER3-II processors on the CPU module of a RS/6000 44P 270

IBM RS6000 44P: model 170 and model 270

The RS/6000 floating-point execution unit (FPU) enabled major improvements in the speed and accuracy of floating-point operations. The key feature of the FPU was introducing the MAF (multiply-add fused) operation, which has since become standard in most modern processors. ^[1]

History

AIX RS/6000 servers running ibm.com in early 1998

IBM's announcement of RS/6000 in February 1990 was its reentry into Unix workstations—the fastest-growing segment of the PC market—after the failed RT PC,^[2] with its AIX operating system the company's official endorsement of Unix. RS/6000's RISC technology had a much better price/performance ratio than IBM's existing proprietary AS/400. Although the company described RS/6000 as being for scientific and engineering users, observers said that IBM intended it and AS/400 to compete with each other in the midrange system market.^[3] IBM claimed during the announcement that RS/6000 was faster than competing systems from Hewlett-Packard, Sun Microsystems, and Digital Equipment Corporation, and hoped that it would have 15% of the workstation market by 1992.^[2]

The first RS/6000 models use the IBM Standard Micro Channel (SMC) bus; later models use PCI. Some later models conform to the PReP and CHRP standard platforms, co-developed with Apple and Motorola, with Open Firmware (OpenFW/OFW). The plan was to enable the RS/6000 to run multiple operating systems such as Windows NT, NetWare, OS/2, Solaris, Taligent, AIX and Mac OS but in the end only IBM's Unix variant AIX was used and supported on RS/6000. Linux is widely used on CHRP based RS/6000s, but support was added after the RS/6000 name was changed to eServer pSeries in 2000.

The RS/6000 family also includes the POWERserver servers, POWERstation workstations, and the IBM RS/6000 SP supercomputer platform. While most machines are desktops, desksides, or rack-mounted, there are laptop models too. Famous RS/6000s include the PowerPC 604e-based Deep Blue supercomputer that beat world champion Garry Kasparov at chess in 1997, and the POWER3-based ASCI White which was the fastest supercomputer in the world during 2000–2002.

Architecture

Hardware

Service processor

Many RS/6000 and subsequent pSeries machines came with a service processor, which booted itself when power was applied and continuously ran its own firmware, independent of the operating system. The service processor could call a phone number (via a modem) in case of serious failure with the machine.^[4] Early advertisements and documentation called the service processor "System Guard",^[5] (or SystemGuard^[6]) although this name was apparently dropped later on, roughly around the same time that the simplified RS/6000 name was adopted for the computer line itself.

Late in the RS/6000 cycle, the service processor was "converged" with the one used on the AS/400 machines.^[7]

Software

POWER machines typically ran AIX. Solaris, OS/2 and Windows NT were also ported to PowerPC. Later Linux was also used.

Some AIX systems support IBM Web-based System Manager.

Models

Type	Model	CPU	MHz	L2/L3 Cache	Bus	Memory	Enclosure	Introduced[8]	Discontinued[8]
7006	41T	PowerPC 601/601e	80	0 or 512 KB	Microchannel	16 to 256 MB	Desktop	1994-06-03[9]	1997-01-10[9]
	41W								1997-07-18[10]
	42T	PowerPC 604/604e	120	0 or 512 KB		Up to 256 MB	Desktop	1995-06-19[11][12]	1997-09-24[11][12]
	42W
7008	M20	POWER1	33	none		16 to 64 MB	All-in-one	1993-02-02	1995-01-06
	M2A[13]	POWER1	33	none		16 to 64 MB	All-in-one	1993-02-02	1994-10-26
7009	C10[14]	PowerPC 601	80	0 or 1 MB		16 to 256 MB	Desktop	1994-05-24	1997-07-18
	C1L	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown		Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
	C20	PowerPC 604	120	1 MB		16 to 256 MB	Desktop	1995-06-19	1998-01-30
7010	150	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown		Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
	160	PowerPC 603	66	Unknown		8 MB	Xstation	Unknown	Unknown
	220	PowerPC 604	120	Unknown		32 MB	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
7011	220	RSC	33	none		?	Slimline Desktop	1992-01-21	1995-01-06
	22G	RSC	33	none		?	Slimline Desktop	?	?
	22W	RSC	33	none		Up to 64 MB	?	1993-09-21	1996-10-25
	223	RSC	?	none		Up to 64 MB	?	?	?
	230	RSC	45	128 KB		?	Slimline Desktop	1993-05-18	1995-01-06
	23E	RSC	45	128 KB		?	?	?	?
	23S	RSC	45	none		?	?	1993-05-18	1994-10-26
	23T	RSC	45	none		Up to 64 MB	?	1993-05-18	1994-10-26
	23W	RSC	45	none		Up to 64 MB	?	1993-05-18	1994-10-26
	250	PowerPC 601	66/80 [15]	none		16 to 256 MB	Slimline Desktop	1993-09-21	1997-07-18
	25E	PowerPC 601	66	?		16 to 256 MB	Planar upgrade (for 220 and 230 families)	?	?
	25F	PowerPC 601	80[16]	?		16 to 256 MB	Planar upgrade (for 220, 230, and 66 MHz 250 families)	?	?
	25S	PowerPC 601	66/80	?		Up to 256 MB	?	1993-09-21	1996-10-25
	25T	PowerPC 601	66/80	?		Up to 256 MB	?	1993-09-21	1997-07-18
	25W	PowerPC 601	66/80	?		Up to 256 MB	?	1993-09-21	1996-10-25
7012[a]	320	POWER1	20	none		8 to 32 MB	Desktop	1990-02-15	1992-10-28
	32E	?	?	?		?	?	?	?
	32T	POWER1	20	none		8 to 64 MB	Tower	?	1992-10-28
	32H	POWER1	25	none		Up to 128 MB	Desktop	1991-03-12	1994-10-26
	340	POWER1	33	none		Up to 256 MB	Desktop	1992-01-21	1994-11-04
	34H	POWER1	41.6	none		Up to 256 MB	Desktop	1993-07-13	1994-10-26
	34L	?	?	?		?	?	?	?
	34R	?	?	?		?	?	?	?
	350	POWER1	41	none		Up to 128 MB	Desktop	1992-01-21	1993-08-18
	355	POWER1	41	none		?	?	1993-02-02	1994-10-26
	35R	?	?	?		?	?	?	?
	360	POWER1+	50	none		Up to 256 MB	Desktop	1993-02-02	1994-11-04
	365	POWER1+	50	none		Up to 128 MB	Desktop	1993-02-02	1994-10-26
	36T	POWER1+	50	none		Up to 256 MB	?	1993-05-18	1994-10-26
	370	POWER1++	62.5	none		Up to 256 MB	?	1993-02-02	1996-05-20
	375	POWER1++	62.5	none		Up to 128 MB	?	1993-02-02	1994-10-26
	37T	POWER1++	62.5	none		Up to 256 MB	?	1993-05-18	1996-05-20
	380	POWER2+	59	none/0.5/1 MB		32 to 512 MB	Desktop	1994-05-24	1996-05-20
	390	POWER2+	67	1 MB		32 to 512 MB	Desktop	1994-05-24	1997-07-18
	397	P2SC	160	?		128 to 1024 MB	Desktop	1997-10-06	1999-03-19
	39H	POWER2	67	none/1/2 MB[17]		64 to 512 MB	Desktop	1995-02-07	1998-01-30
	39T	?	?	?		?	?	?	?
	G02	?	?	?		?	Tower	?	?
	G30	PowerPC 601 (2 or 4)	75	?		32 to 512 MB	Tower[16]	1994-10-04	1996-10-23
	G40	PowerPC 604 (2 or 4)	112	0.5 MB per CPU[18]		64 MB to 1 GB	Tower	1996-07-23	1998-01-08
7030	355	POWER1	41	?		?	?	?	?
	375	POWER1++	62.5	?		?	?	?	?
	37T	?	?	?		?	?	?	?
	397	P2SC	160	?		?	Desktop	1997-10-06	1999-01-19
	3AT	POWER2+	59	none		32 to 512 MB	Desktop	1994-05-24	1997-01-10
	3BT	POWER2+	67	0.5 or 1 MB		32 to 512 MB	Desktop	1994-05-24	1998-01-08
	3CT	POWER2	67	none/1/2 MB[19]		64 to 512 MB	Desktop	1995-02-07	1998-01-08
7013	520	POWER1	20	none		8 to 128 MB	Deskside	1990-02-15	1992-04-21
	52E	?	?	?		?	?	?	?
	52H	POWER1	25	none		Up to 512 MB	Deskside	1992-01-21	1995-01-06
	530	POWER1	25	none		16 to 128 MB	Deskside	1990-02-15	1992-01-02
	53H	POWER1	33	none		32 to 512 MB HD3 (33 MHz)	Deskside	1991-10-02	1993-08-18
	53E	POWER1 [20]	33	none	32 to 512 MB HD3 (33 MHz)	Deskside	1992-01-21	?
	540	POWER1	30	none	64 to 256 MB	Deskside	1990-02-15	1992-01-02
	550	POWER1	41.6	none	64 MB to 1 GB	Deskside	1990-10-30	1993-08-18
	55E	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
	55L	POWER1	41.6	none	Up to 256 MB	Deskside	1993-05-18	1994-10-26
	55S	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
	560	POWER1+	50	none	Up to 1 GB	Deskside	1992-01-21	1993-12-21
	56F	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
	570	POWER1+	50	none	Up to 1 GB	Deskside	1993-02-02	1996-05-20
	571	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
	57F	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
	57L	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
	580	POWER1++	62.5	none	64 MB to 1 GB	Deskside	1992-09-22	1996-05-20
	58F	POWER1++ [21]	62.5	none	64 MB to 1 GB	Deskside	1992-11-27	?
	58H	POWER2	55.6	none	64 MB to 2 GB	Deskside	1993-09-21	1996-10-25
	590	POWER2	66.7	none	64 MB to 2 GB	Deskside	1993-09-21	1997-09-24
	591	POWER2	77	none	64 MB to 2 GB	Deskside	1995-07-25	1997-07-18
	595	P2SC	135	none	64 MB to 2 GB	Deskside	1996-10-08	1999-01-08
	59H	POWER2+	66.7	1 MB	64 MB to 2 GB	Deskside	1994-05-24	1997-01-10
	J01	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
	J30	PowerPC 601 (2 or 4)	75	?	128 MB to 2 GB	Deskside	1994-10-04	1996-10-23
	J40	PowerPC 604 (2 to 8)	112	1 MB	128 MB to 2 GB	Deskside	1996-08-30	1998-01-08
	J50	PowerPC 604e (2 to 8)	200	?	?	Deskside	1997-04-30	1999-01-08
7016	730[b]	POWER1	25	none	16 to 128 MB	Deskside	1990	?
	731	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
7015[c]	920	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
	930	POWER1	25	none	16 to 128 MB	Rack tower	1990-02-15	1992-07-15
	950	POWER1	41	?	Up to 512 MB	Rack tower	1991-05-07	1993-12-21
	95E	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
	960	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
	970	POWER1+	50	?	Up to 1 GB	Rack tower	1992-04-21	1993-08-18
	97B	POWER1+	50	?	?	Rack tower	1993-02-02	1995-01-06
	97E	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
	97F	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
	980	POWER1++	62.5	none	Up to 1 GB	Rack tower	1992-09-22	1993-08-18
	98B	POWER1++	62.5	?	?	Rack tower	1993-02-02	1996-05-20
	98E	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
	98F	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
	990	POWER2	71.5	none	128 MB to 2 GB	Rack tower	1993-09-21	1996-05-20
	99E	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
	99F	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
	99J	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
	99K	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
	R10	POWER1+	50	none	128 MB to 1 GB	6U racks	1994-05-24	1996-05-20
	R20	POWER2+	66	1 MB	128 MB to 2 GB	6U racks	1994-05-24	1998-01-30
	R21	POWER2	77	?	?	6U racks	1995-07-25	1996-10-25
	R24	POWER2+	71.5	2 MB	128 MB to 2 GB	10U racks	1994-05-24	1998-01-30
	R30	PowerPC 601 (2 or 4)	75	?	128 MB to 2 GB	6U racks	1994-10-04	1996-10-23
	R40	PowerPC 604 (2 to 8)	112	?	128 MB to 2 GB	6U racks	1996-07-23	1998-01-08
	R4U	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
	R50	PowerPC 604e (2 to 8)	200	?	Up to 4 GB	6U racks	1997-04-15	2000-08-15
	R5U	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
7017	S70	RS64	125	?	PCI	?	2+ racks	1997-10-31	1999-12-13
		RS64-II	262	?		?		1998-10-05
	S7A	RS64-II	262	8 MB		1 to 32 GB	2+ racks	1998-10-23	2000-12-01
	S80[22]	RS64-III[23]	450[23]	8 MB[23]		2 to 64 GB[23]	2+ racks[23]	1999-09-24	2001-08-31
	S85	RS64-III / IV	450/600	8/16 MB		2 to 96 GB	Racks	2000-11-17	?
7020	0U0	PowerPC 601	66	?		?	Desktop	1994-10-04	1996-01-19
	40P[24]	PowerPC 601	66	?		16 to 192 MB	Desktop	?	?
	B1B	PowerPC 601	66	?		?	Desktop	1994-10-04	1996-01-19
	B1C	PowerPC 601	66	?		?	Desktop	1994-10-04	1996-01-19
	D1D	PowerPC 601	66	?		?	Desktop	1994-10-04	1996-01-19
	D2D	PowerPC 601	66	?		?	Desktop	1994-10-04	1996-01-19
	D4E	?	?	?		?	Desktop	1995-02-07	1996-01-19
	SPE	PowerPC 601	66	?		?	Desktop	1994-10-04	1996-01-19
7024	E20	PowerPC 604	100/133	512 KB		16 to 512 MB	Tower	1995-10-10	1997-07-18
		PowerPC 604e	233					1997-04-??	?
	E30	PowerPC 604	133/166	?		64 to 1024 MB	Tower	1996-04-23	1999-03-19
		PowerPC 604e	233					1997-04-??	1999-03-19
7025	F30	PowerPC 604	133/166	?		Up to 1 GB	Tower	1996-02-20	1998-01-08
	F40	PowerPC 604e (1 or 2)	166/233	?		Up to 1 GB	Tower	1996-10-08	2000-05-08
	F50	PowerPC 604e (1 to 4)	166/332	256 KB		128 MB to 3 GB	Tower	1997-04-25[25]	2001-07-17[25]
	F80[26]	RS64-III (1 to 6)	450/500	2/4 MB (SMP)		8/16 GB (SMP)	Deskside[26]	2000-05-09	2001-07-13
	F85	?	?	?		?	?	?	?
7026	H10	PowerPC 604e (1 or 2)	166/233	?		Up to 1 GB	7U racks	1997-02-14	1998-02-27
	H50	PowerPC 604e (1 to 4)	332	?		Up to 3 GB	8U racks	1998-02-20	2000-12-01
	H70[27]	RS64-II (1 to 4)	340	?		Up to 8 GB	8U racks	1999-04-23	2001-07-17
	H80[28]	RS64-III/IV (1 to 6)	450/500	?		Up to 16 GB	5U racks	2000-06-09	2001-07-13
	M80[29]	RS64-III/IV (2 to 8)	500/750	?		?	8U racks	2000-06-09	2002-01-31
	B80	?	?	?		?	5U racks	?	?
7248	43P	PowerPC 604	100/120/132/166[30]	256/512 KB		16 to 192 MB	Desktop	1995-06-19	1997-07-18
7043	43P-140[31]	PowerPC 604e	166/200/233/332	1 MB		32 to 768 MB	Desktop	1996-10-08	2000-12-01
	43P-150[32]	PowerPC 604e	250/375	1 MB		64 MB to 1 GB	Desktop	1998-10-05	2003-12-12
	43P-240	PowerPC 604e (1 or 2)	166/233	512 KB/1 MB per CPU[33]		64 MB to 1 GB	Desktop	1996-10-08	1999-03-19
	43P-260	POWER3 (1 or 2)	200	4 MB per CPU		128 MB to 4 GB	Tower	1998-10-05	2000-12-01
	43P-270[34][35]	POWER3-II (up to 4)	200/375/450	4/8 MB per CPU		up to 8 GB	Tower	2000-02-25	2003-09-12
7044	44P-170[36]	POWER3-II	333/400/450	1/4/8 MB		256 MB to 2 GB	Tower	2000-02-07	2003-12-12
	44P-270[37]	POWER3-II (Up to 4)	375/450	4/8 MB		256 MB to 16 GB	Tower	2000-02-07	2003-09-12
7046	B50	PowerPC 604e	375	1 MB		Up to 1 GB	2U racks	1999-09-13	2003-09-12
7317	F3L[38]	PowerPC 604	133	512 KB		32 to 960 MB	17U racks	1996-10-08	1999-12-13
		PowerPC 604e	166	1 MB		32 MB to 1 GB
			233	512 KB
7007	N40	PowerPC 601	50	?	Unknown	16 to 64 MB[39]	Laptop	1994-03-08	1997-06-30
7249	851	PowerPC 603e	100	256 KB		32 to 96 MB	Laptop	1996-02-20	1996-11-08
	860[40]	PowerPC 603e	166	256 KB		32 to 96 MB	Laptop	1996-10-08	1998-01-30

The Model N40 was a PowerPC-based laptop developed and manufactured by Tadpole Technology in conjunction with IBM.^[41] It was released on 25 March 1994, priced at US$12,000. The internal batteries could power the system for 45 minutes only and an external battery pack that lasted for 4 hours was available for this reason.^[42]

See also

Preceded by IBM RT PC	IBM RS/6000 1990 - 2000	Succeeded by IBM System p

Notes

1. The 380, 390, and 39H servers correspond to the 3AT, 3BT, and 3CT workstations.
2. The 7016-730 model was a version of 7013-530 model, but with licensed by Silicon Graphics graphics card.[1]
3. Type 7015 uses a IBM 9309 Rack Enclosure; this a first generation RS/6000 server running AIX. These units were configured by IBM as experimental "NSS" ("Network Switching Subsystem") routers, and used on the NSFnet T3 backbone in the early/mid-90s.