Company type | Division |
---|---|
Industry | Information technology services |
Founded | 1971 as Warrex Computer Services |
Founder | John Warren |
Fate | Acquired by Electronic Data Systems |
Successor | Electronic Data Systems (1981) |
Headquarters | , USA |
Area served | USA |
Services | Computer Services |
Number of employees | 300 |
Parent |
|
Centurion Computer Corporation, or simply Centurion, was a manufacturer of small business computers that was founded in 1971 and eventually acquired by Electronic Data Systems (EDS).
Centurion was incorporated in 1972 under the name Warrex Computer Corporation. It was the successor to Warrex Computer Services, a company founded in 1971 by John Warren. Initially, it provided consulting and programming services. In 1972, Centurion entered the business of selling and supporting magnetic tape cassette systems. By August 1974, Centurion had designed and manufactured its first minicomputer, combined it with peripherals and software, and delivered it as the initial member of the Centurion family of small business computers. The company formally changed its name from Warrex to Centurion Computer Corporation in March 1980. [1] In March 1981, EDS purchased Centurion for $7 million. [2] [3] : 124
Over its lifetime, Centurion produced an entire series of small business computers. The following is a partial list with the capabilities of each series and prices taken from February 1982. [1]
Name | CPU | Memory | Floppy | Hard Disks | CRTs | Minimum Price | First Delivery |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
MicroPlus | CPU-5 | 64 kB | 1-2 | 1x 8/24 MB Winchester | 2 | $11,387 | 1982-01 |
Series 200 | CPU-5 | 32 kB | 0-2 | 2x 10-20 MB Hawk/Pertec | 4 | $27,668 | 1979-03 |
Series 6200 | CPU-6 | 64-128 kB | 0-2 | 4x 10-20 MB Hawk/Pertec | 8 | $34,742 | 1979-10 |
Series III | CPU-5 | 32-64 kB | 0 | 2x 10-20 MB Hawk/Pertec | 4 | $35,342 | 1975 |
Series 6300 | CPU-6 | 64-256 kB | 0-4 | 4x 10-20 MB Hawk/Pertec | 32 | $37,628 | 1979-10 |
Series 6400 | CPU-6 | 64-256 kB | 0-4 | 8x 26-96 MB Finch/Phoenix | 32 | $41,465 | 1979-10 |
Series 6500 | CPU-6 | 64-128 kB | 0-4 | 2x 26-96 MB Finch/Phoenix | 8 | $45,545 | 1979-10 |
By default, all Centurion systems (except the MicroPlus) were equipped with at least one four-port multiplexer (MUX) which provides four channels of asynchronous control for the keyboard, printer, CRTs, or remote units (via Modem cards). Each device was on its own independent channel and operated independently of all other devices. Data transfer was either in low-speed mode under software control or high-speed mode with Direct Memory Access at a rate up to 1.2 MiB/second.
All Centurion systems used customized CRT tty-terminals. Available types were R-40, R-100 or CT-520. They all communicated via RS-232 or modem at a speed of 1920 to 9600 baud with the main computer. Printers were supported via teletype or specialized controller cards supporting off-the-shelf printers like the TI-810, TI-840 or DP-B-600 printers capable of speeds from 75 chars/sec up to 600 lines/minute (~800-1300 chars/sec).
Centurion did not create custom storage media. Instead they manufactured storage controllers for existing off-the-shelf systems, mostly created by the Control Data Corporation (CDC).
Name | Type | Size | Price |
---|---|---|---|
CDC 9400 SSDD | 8" floppy disk | 0.6 MiB | $950 [4] |
Qume DSDD | 8" floppy disk | 1.2 MiB | $1,683 |
CDC Hawk 9427 | hard disk | 10.4 MiB | $12,215 |
CDC Falcon 9414 [5] | hard disk | 10.4 MB | N/A |
CDC Finch [6] | hard disk | 8-24 MiB | N/A |
Pertec D3000E | hard disk | 20.8 MiB | $12,215 |
CDC Phoenix CMD-32 disk drive | hard disk | 26.5 MiB | $7,600 |
CDC Phoenix CMD-64 disk drive | hard disk | 52,9 MiB | $9,050 |
CDC Phoenix CMD-96 disk drive | hard disk | 79.4 MiB | $9,960 |
Prices were taken from 1982, [1] unless otherwise indicated. The disk sizes is the usable storage space, since all Centurion computers used 400 byte data blocks with the rest of the native block size being used for control structures like checksums.
As a division of EDS, Centurion also created an IBM PC–compatible clone as part of a negotiation strategy of EDS with IBM. EDS intended to acquire PCs from IBM, but didn't like IBM's pricing. To persuade IBM that their initial cost-per-unit offer was too high, EDS tasked Centurion to build a fully compatible PC clone from off-the-shelf parts at a lower price, even though EDS had no intention of starting to compete with IBM. The effort succeeded and IBM reduced their price offer, rather than to contend with another competitor in the market. [7]
As part of the vintage computer movement, the YouTube channel Usagi Electric [8] is running a project to restore several Centurion microcomputers to working condition. [9]
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