manta: n.

  1. Also called: manta ray, devilfish, devil ray. any large ray (fish) of the family Mobulidae, having very wide winglike pectoral fins and feeding on plankton
  2. a rough cotton cloth made in Spain and Spanish America
  3. a piece of this cloth used as a blanket or shawl
[Spanish: cloak, from Vulgar Latin mantum cloak. The manta ray is so called because it is caught in a trap resembling a blanket]

manta:


How and when machine obtained:

  • [?]

History prior to arrival at UCC:

  • This machine was the original uniwa.uwa.edu.au machine.
  • Renamed to thyme.ucs.uwa.edu.au after uniwa was given to a newer DECstation.
  • Renamed again to arcadia.agric.uwa.edu.au after UCS transferred the machine to UWA's Agriculture Department.

UCC history of machine:

  • Named manta soon after arrival at the UCC.

Current machine tasks:

  • MOP boot server for diskless VAXen and DECservers, LAT server for terminals connected to DECservers. Only working machine with a TK50 in the UCC :)

Current software configuration:

  • Currently running Ultrix 4.2

Current hardware configuration:

  • MicroVAX II
  • TK50 tape drive
  • Maxtor XT8760E ESDI hard drive (~700Mb)
  • KA630: MicroVax II processor board
  • 2 x 4Mb memory board, 144 * 1 * 256Kb DIL
  • DPV11-M Qbus single-line sync interface (RS232c/v.28 or v.11)
  • 2 x DHV11 serial boards
  • TQK50 TK50 tape adaptor
  • DELQA Q-Bus ethernet interface

Future plans for machine:

  • None specifically

Special notes:

  • [?]

Thanks:

  • Digital Systems (+61 8 9386 8380) for supplying UCC with a new tape leader for the TK50 tape drive.
  • Winthrop Technology for getting us the TK50 tape needed for the install within a week.
  • University Computer Services for letting us write the boot tape using their TK50 tape drive.

Related sites: