The ICL DRS was a range of departmental computers from International Computers Limited (ICL). Standing originally for Distributed Resource System,[1] the full name was later dropped in favour of the abbreviation.
During the mid-1980s separate Office Systems business units had produced a disparate range of products including IBM-compatible PCs such as the PWS (a PC/AT clone), small servers branded DRS, and various larger Unix servers sold under the Clan range. A rebranding in late 1988 pulled these together under the DRS brand, with a consistent mid-grey and peppermint-green livery.
The ICL division responsible for these systems eventually became part of the Fujitsu-Siemens joint venture.
DRS 20/100/200
An ICL DRS20 terminal
The original DRS was the DRS20 produced in Utica, New York and launched in September1981.[1] This ran the proprietary DRX (Distributed Resource Executive) operating system. The basic 'intelligent terminal' (model10/110/210) used 8-bit 8085 processors (workstation, application and network processors), each with between 32KB and 128KB of memory. The Model 210 also had an 80188 application processor with 512KB to run CP/M. The larger models20 and 40 had floppy disk drives. The floor-standing models 50, 150, and 250 had hard disks, from which diskless models booted. In early models, these were 8" floppy disks, and later 5¼" disks.
The diskless model, that partnered the DRS20, was the DRS10. It had 10KB available for applications programs developed in CIS COBOL.
Up to 16 DRS20/DRS10 machines could be connected via LAN with the addresses being set by DIP switches on the rear of the unit. The LAN was formed via 93 ohm coaxial cable in a bus formation running at 1.25 Mbps.
The final model310 (styled like a DRS300 module) had a second 80186 application processor with 1MB RAM to run Concurrent DOS, emulating an IBMPC with a Hercules screen display.
DRS 300
In the mid-1980s ICL developed the DRS300 in Kidsgrove, and ran down Utica. Launched in 1986, DRS300 was a modular system consisting of A4-sized units designed to be placed on an office bookshelf. Modules containing a power supply (Kx), processor (Ax), hard and floppy disks (Dx), streamer tape (Sx) etc. were connected by SCSI. Initial models used a 6MHz 80286 processor (A1 module) with up to 1MB memory. Later modules used an 8MHz processor (A2) or 80286 with 80287maths coprocessor (A3) with up to 4MB, and ran Concurrent CP/M-86 and later Concurrent DOS.[2] Although this could run code developed under CP/M, PC DOS or MS-DOS, in practice available applications were limited because many shrink-wrapped packages developed for the IBM PC made use of direct access to the (IBM) hardware. This was addressed through use of softclone technology to intercept such calls.[3] However, this required the continual release of patches for new application versions.
The initial DRS300 also ran ICL's implementation of Unix SystemV Release 2, DRS/NXV2, though that was never released commercially. Later an 80386 (A4) module was added, to run a 32-bit DRS/NXV3, based on SystemV Release3.
DRS 400, DRS 500
These brand names were applied to bought-in Unix boxes. The DRS400 originated as the Clan4, based on the Motorola 68020 running UniSoft's Uniplus Unix. This was later replaced by the DRS400E, based on the Motorola 68030 running DRS/NXV3. DRS500 originated as the Clan5, 6 and 7 based on the CCI Power 6/32. This was built in Irvine by CCI, which had been taken over by ICL's parent STC PLC. CCI was also the source of what became ICL's flagship OfficePower office application suite across the DRS range.
DRS 3000
The successor to DRS300, the DRS3000 was an IBM-compatible, 80486-based, floor-standing model running SVR4. The P5Pentium-based Level 656 was launched in September1993.[4]
DRS 6000
The in-house (Irvine/Bracknell) developed DRS6000 was launched in January1990 as a washing machine-sized SPARC-based server, running ICL's implementation of Unix SystemV Release4 (SVR4). It also had a 68020-based Central Service Module board (CSM), leading to sarcastic comments in the press that it was a DRS400 in disguise. By 1992 there were desktop, slimline and full sized models, ranging from a single-processor desktop model rated at 29MIPS (L240) to a 4-processor model rated at 116MIPS (L644). Initial pricing of the four-processor models was projected at around $150,000 prior to their introduction.[5] Some models were sold by Fujitsu as the DS/90. ICL received the Queen's Award for Export Achievement for DRS6000 in 1993.
The DRS6000 competed directly with IBM's RS/6000, which was launched a few weeks later; originally planned to be called the DRS600 it was renamed when it was found that IBM had decided on the RS 6000.
In 1994, the DRS range was superseded by the SuperServer (Ks (SPARC) and Ki (Intel)) and TeamServer (Es (1-2 SPARC CPUs), Hs (2-4 SPARC CPUs), Ei (1 x86 CPU), Hi (2 x86 CPUs)) ranges of SPARC and Intel-based machines, running DRS/NX Unix or Microsoft WindowsNT. The DRS/NX product in its Version 7.0 form was an implementation of Unix System V Release 4.2.[6]
In 1987, the DRS Professional Work Station (PWS) was ICL's first foray into IBM PC/AT compatible computing. The DRS PWS was initially released with MS-DOS 4.0 (not to be confused with the later public releases of IBM DOS 4.0 in July 1988 and MS-DOS 4.01 in November 1988). This was a real-mode pre-emptive multitasking version, developed from MS-DOS 2.0 and was also the forerunner of OS/2. It was soon replaced with MS-DOS 4.1 when this became available; this was written especially for the DRS PWS, but was not finished for the launch. Microsoft agreed to write a custom version of MS-DOS 4.0 for ICL that would take advantage of the extra memory on the ICL computers. As a consequence, PWS users had a number of software compatibility challenges, although the PC Business Unit (PCBU) at ICL BRA04, in Bracknell, did patch some applications for larger customers.
The PWS was positioned to compete with the IBM Personal System/2 (PS/2) and the DEC Vaxstation 2000. In 1988, the DRSPWS and DRSPWS386 were respectively rebranded as the DRSModel60 and DRSModel80.
The PWS hardware was a large desktop or floor standing tower chassis, running on an Intel 8MHz 80286 processor that was later superseded by an Intel 20MHz 80386 (DRSPWS386). Memory expansion was via proprietary cards (1MB or 4MB cards, 16MB total) and initially there was no support for 1.44MB High Density (HD) floppy drives, although a hardware modification to the clock lines on the floppy disk controller meant that later versions of the PWS could be upgraded. The ENGA (EGA compatible network video) controller, displayed standard EGA graphics and text with an additional line reserved on the bottom row for multitasking and communications task messages.
The PWS was capable of communicating with ICL departmental and mainframe services using a combination of Microlan2 and OSLAN (Open Systems Local Area Network) protocols. Microsoft and OSLAN network connectivity was supported via BICC OSLAN cards (OSLAN being ICL's implementation of OSI transport protocols over Ethernet). TCP/IP and DECnet support was implemented by third parties using packet drivers, as NDIS was not available at this time.
During this period, ICL's software strategy was increasingly to make available on its own hardware popular software packages developed by third parties. Almost invariably this involved porting the source code, as there was insufficient compatibility between machines at the binary level. In order to reduce the cost of this activity, and the commercial disadvantage of not having as large a software portfolio as rival vendors, ICL invested strenuous efforts to improve cross-industry compatibility through initiatives such as X/Open.
Notes
1 2 Campbell-Kelly, Martin (1989). ICL A Business and Technical History. Oxford: Clarendon Press. ISBN0-19-853918-5.
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