Future Domain

Last updated
Future Domain Corporation
FormerlyPacific Management & Engineering Company
Company typePrivate
IndustryComputer
Founded1982 (1982) in Tustin, California, United States
FounderJack A. Allweiss
DefunctJuly 1995;28 years ago (1995-07)
FateAcquired by Adaptec
Headquarters Irvine, California, United States
Number of employees
97 (1995, peak)

Future Domain Corporation was a privately held American computer hardware company active from 1982 to 1995 and based in Orange County, California. The company was among the first to produce Small Computer System Interface (SCSI) device controller expansion cards, later controller ICs. It was acquired by Adaptec in 1995 for US$25 million.

Contents

History

Foundation (1982–1990)

Future Domain was founded in 1982 as the Pacific Management & Engineering Company (PM&E) in Tustin, California by Jack A. Allweiss. [1] [2] Before founding Future Domain, Allweiss previously worked for the Burroughs Corporation, designing some of the company's Large Systems mainframes. [3] PM&E spent the first four years of its existence as a one-man design consultancy firm to large computer hardware companies, before pivoting to producing their own hardware in the mid-1980s. [1] [4]

The company's first product, marketed under its new name Future Domain, was the TMC-820, an inexpensive, 8-bit [5] SCSI host adapter for the IBM Personal Computer. Introduced in early 1986, the TMC-820 was marketed on the merit of its ease of use, omitting any jumpers on board, configuration instead being done in firmware as well as drivers on floppy disk. [4] Future Domain was one of the first SCSI host adapter manufacturers on the market, at a time when Adaptec and NCR had dominated the field as early pioneers. [6] The built-in firmware supported Seagate and Rodime's SCSI hard disk drives introduced in the same year, as well as graphical laser printers (being one of the first plug-and-play SCSI host adapters with native support for printers). [4] [7] : 55  It also supported the first CD-ROM drives on the market at the time. The fastest data transfer rate the TMC-820 supported, in terms of bandwidth, was 32 MHz. [7] : 55  Future Domain followed this up with the TMC-870 in late 1986, which added support for 360-KB and 1.2-MB 5.25-inch floppy disk drives, allowing users to consolidate their expansion cards by negating the need for a separate floppy controller. [8] [5]

Succeeding host adapters by Future Domain spanned both 8-bit and 16-bit ISA cards, as well as 16-bit MCA cards under the MSC line. [5] [9] Unlike the ISA-based cards, MSC-prefixed host adapters from Future Domain were bus-mastered. [10]

By 1988, Future Domain was offering its own custom-designed LSI chips for the PC that were host adapters in and of themselves. The company supplied their chips to third-party peripheral makers, motherboard manufacturers and systems builders. Setting Future Domain apart from their competition was their emphasis on working with developers of device drivers and operating systems to ensure both software and hardware compatibility with their chips. According to Allweiss, their competitors tended towards a hands-off approach, leaving vendors to write their own drivers and software compatible with their chips, despite the relative complexity of SCSI imposing a steep learning (especially in the late 1980s when the techology was still fresh). [9] In 1990, the company introduced the first single-chip SCSI-2 host adapter chip, compatible with both MCA and ISA buses. [11]

Growth and acquisition (1990–1995)

Future Domain moved from Tustin to Irvine, California, sometime around 1990. [11] That year, Future Domain was ranked the 187th fastest-grown private company according to an Inc. survey. [12] Around 40 percent of the company's clientele were overseas; this had the side-effect of cushioning the company amid the early 1990s recession. [13] The company had a projected revenue of $15 million in 1992 and shipped 1.5 million SCSI host adapters by 1993. [2] [14] In early 1992, the company acquired Western Digital's SCSI host adapter patents, technologies, and trademarks for an undisclosed sum. As well, they inherited Western Digital's customer base and remaining inventory of SCSI products. [2]

In 1993, Future Domain entered a relationship with IBM to be their exclusive supplier of SCSI host adpater cards across their multimedia systems; they saw extensive use in IBM's PS/2, PS/1, and PS/ValuePoint lines. [15] By the mid-1990s, Future Domain's SCSI host adapter chips were nearly ubiquitous among vendors of multimedia PCs and CD-ROM kits. Many vendors opted to package their wares with Future Domain's TMC-840 card, among their most inexpensive offerings but also antiquated and slow by the standards of the mid-1990s, owing to its 8-bit data path. [16] In 1993, Future Domain began supplying their each of their cards with the PowerSCSI! driver utility (also available for free on their BBS). [17] [18] It was lauded for its ease of use, with Jan Smith of Computer Shopper arguing that it "makes SCSI what the standard has always promised to be—a plug-and-play connection for a variety of PC peripherals". [18]

In 1994, Future Domain led a consortium of companies including Western Digital, Seagate, and Sony, to develop ATA Software Programming Interface (ATASPI; not to be confused with ATAPI), a proposed API specification for Windows that aimed to extend Windows' file system support for EIDE drives to include parallel tape drives. [19] The proposal fizzled after several years. [20]

In July 1995, by which point the company had 77 permanent workers and 20 freelancers, Future Domain was acquired by its chief rival Adaptec for $25 million. [21]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SCSI</span> Set of computer and peripheral connection standards

Small Computer System Interface is a set of standards for physically connecting and transferring data between computers and peripheral devices, best known for its use with storage devices such as hard disk drives. SCSI was introduced in the 1980s and has seen widespread use on servers and high-end workstations, with new SCSI standards being published as recently as SAS-4 in 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amiga 2000</span> Personal computer from Commodore, 1987

The Amiga 2000, or A2000, is a personal computer released by Commodore in March 1987. It was introduced as a "big box" expandable variant of the Amiga 1000 but quickly redesigned to share most of its electronic components with the contemporary Amiga 500 for cost reduction. Expansion capabilities include two 3.5" drive bays and one 5.25" bay that could be used by a 5.25" floppy drive, a hard drive, or CD-ROM once they became available.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ST506/ST412</span>

The ST-506 and ST-412 were early hard disk drive products introduced by Seagate in 1980 and 1981 respectively, that later became construed as hard disk drive interfaces: the ST-506 disk interface and the ST-412 disk interface. Compared to the ST-506 precursor, the ST-412 implemented a refinement to the seek speed, and increased the drive capacity from 5 MB to 10 MB, but was otherwise highly similar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Micro Channel architecture</span>

Micro Channel architecture, or the Micro Channel bus, is a proprietary 16- or 32-bit parallel computer bus introduced by IBM in 1987 which was used on PS/2 and other computers until the mid-1990s. Its name is commonly abbreviated as "MCA", although not by IBM. In IBM products, it superseded the ISA bus and was itself subsequently superseded by the PCI bus architecture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Disk controller</span> Controller for disk storage, usually integrated into the drive

The disk controller is the controller circuit which enables the CPU to communicate with a hard disk, floppy disk or other kind of disk drive. It also provides an interface between the disk drive and the bus connecting it to the rest of the system.

In computing, ASPI is an Adaptec-developed programming interface which standardizes communication on a computer bus between a SCSI driver module on the one hand and SCSI peripherals on the other.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Host adapter</span> Computer hardware device

In computer hardware, a host controller, host adapter, or host bus adapter (HBA), connects a computer system bus, which acts as the host system, to other network and storage devices. The terms are primarily used to refer to devices for connecting SCSI, SAS, NVMe, Fibre Channel and SATA devices. Devices for connecting to FireWire, USB and other devices may also be called host controllers or host adapters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">PCI-X</span> Computer bus and expansion card standard

PCI-X, short for Peripheral Component Interconnect eXtended, is a computer bus and expansion card standard that enhances the 32-bit PCI local bus for higher bandwidth demanded mostly by servers and workstations. It uses a modified protocol to support higher clock speeds, but is otherwise similar in electrical implementation. PCI-X 2.0 added speeds up to 533 MHz, with a reduction in electrical signal levels.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adaptec</span> Computer storage company

Adaptec, Inc., was a computer storage company and remains a brand for computer storage products. The company was an independent firm from 1981 to 2010, at which point it was acquired by PMC-Sierra, which itself was later acquired by Microsemi, which itself was later acquired by Microchip Technology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Compaq LTE</span> Line of laptop computers

The LTE is a line of laptops manufactured by Compaq Computer Corporation, introduced in 1989 and discontinued in 1997. It was the first notebook-sized laptop sold by Compaq and the first commercially successful notebook computer, helping launch the burgeoning industry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amiga 1200</span> 1992 personal computer

The Amiga 1200, or A1200, is a personal computer in the Amiga computer family released by Commodore International, aimed at the home computer market. It was launched on October 21, 1992, at a base price of £399 in the United Kingdom and $599 in the United States.

The Advanced Disc Filing System (ADFS) is a computing file system unique to the Acorn computer range and RISC OS-based successors. Initially based on the rare Acorn Winchester Filing System, it was renamed to the Advanced Disc Filing System when support for floppy discs was added and on later 32-bit systems a variant of a PC-style floppy controller.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reply Corporation</span> American computer company

Reply Corporation, often shortened to Reply Corp., was an American computer company based in San Jose, California. Founded in 1988 by Steve Petracca, the company licensed the Micro Channel architecture from IBM for their own computers released in 1989, competing against IBM's PS/2 line. The company later divested from offering complete systems in favor of marketing motherboard upgrades for older PS/2s. Reply enjoyed a close relationship with IBM, owing to many of its founding employees, including Petracca, having worked for IBM. The company was acquired by Radius in 1997.

Pacific Cyber/Metrix, Inc. was an American computer company based in California. The company was founded in 1975 in San Ramon, California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cumulus Corporation</span> American computer company

Cumulus Corporation was an American computer peripheral and system manufacturer active from 1987 to 1993. Based in Beachwood, Ohio and started by Tecmar founder Martin Alpert, the company set out to exclusively manufacture expansion products for IBM's Personal System/2 (PS/2) family of computers—mainly RAM expansion cards. It later released cross-platform CPU upgrade cards and memory expansion cards for other platforms besides the PS/2. Beginning in 1990, the company began trading as Cumulus Computer Corporation and began releasing complete systems of their own. Initially a success story for the tech industry in Cleveland, a botched stock launch in 1992 proved disastrous for the company's ailing cash flow situation, and in 1993 the company was liquidated amid massive debt to suppliers and lenders.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BusLogic</span>

BusLogic, Inc., was an American computer company active from 1988 to 1996. It specialized in the production of Small Computer System Interface (SCSI) device controller chips and controller expansion cards, becoming a dominant player in that market, behind only Adaptec. In 1996, the company was acquired by Mylex Corporation.

New Media Corporation, also known as New Media Technology Corporation, was an American computer company active from 1992 to the early 2000s. The company focused on the design and manufacture of PC Cards, a type of expansion card bus for laptops that had their heyday from the early 1990s to the mid-2000s. New Media was privately held and based out of Irvine, California.

Actix Systems, Inc., was an American graphics adapter manufacturer active from 1990 to 1998 and based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The company was founded by Stephen W. Cheng and initially specialized in a subset of graphics adapters known as GUI accelerators, becoming a major player in the field. Toward the mid-1990s the company began manufacturing more general-purpose adapters under their GraphicsEngine brand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Compaq LTE Elite</span> Series of notebook-sized laptop comports

The LTE Elite was a series of notebook-sized laptops under the LTE line manufactured by Compaq from 1994 to 1996. All laptops in the LTE Elite range sported Intel's i486 processors, from the 40 MHz DX2 to the 75 MHz DX4. The LTE Elite was the first notebook-sized laptop to house the AC adapter inside the case itself, eliminating the need to carry an external power brick. The LTE Elite line was replaced by the LTE 5000 series in 1995. Compaq ceased manufacturing the LTE Elite line in March 1996.

MiniStor Peripherals, Inc., was a public American computer hardware company based in San Jose, California, and active from 1991 to 1995. The company was the first to manufacture and market PC Card spinning hard drives, based on the 1.8-inch hard drive specification invented earlier by Intégral. The company briefly rode a wave of success in this market before dissolving amid bankruptcy proceedings in April 1995.

References

  1. 1 2 IEEE Membership Directory. Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. 1988. p. 294 – via Google Books.
  2. 1 2 3 Staff writer (February 20, 1992). "Product line sold". Orange County Register: D3 – via ProQuest.
  3. ↑ "Jack A. Allweiss". Datamation. Reed Business Information. 27 (4): 192. April 1981 – via the Internet Archive.
  4. 1 2 3 Staff writer (April 21, 1986). "SCSI Controller Comes Ready to Run". Electronics. McGraw-Hill. 59: 76 – via Google Books.
  5. 1 2 3 Minasi, Mark (1992). The Windows Problem Solver. Sybex. p. 133. ISBN   0782111920 – via Google Books.
  6. ↑ Pilgrim, Aubrey (1995). Upgrade or Repair Your PC. McGraw-Hill. p. 196. ISBN   9780070501140 – via Google Books.
  7. 1 2 Warren, Carl (February 1987). "SCSI Extends Beyond Data Storage Devices". Mini-Micro Systems. Cahners Publishing. XX (2): 49–56 – via the Internet Archive.
  8. ↑ Staff writer (November 1986). "Future Domain TMC-870". Personal Computing. Ziff-Davis. 10 (11): 180 – via Google Books.
  9. 1 2 Martin, S. Louis (June 15, 1988). "Peripheral Controller ICs Gain Speed and Flexibility". Computer Design. PennWell Publishing. 27 (12): 41 et seq. – via Gale.
  10. ↑ Phillips, Barry W. (July 28, 1988). "Bevy of SCSI Adapters Bolster PC Systems". Electronic Design. Endeavor Business Media. 36 (17): 67 et seq. – via Gale.
  11. 1 2 Brownstein, Mark (September 10, 1990). "Future Domain Ships Trio of Single-Chip SCSI-II Adapters". InfoWorld. IDG Publications. 12 (37): 34 – via Google Books.
  12. ↑ Staff writer (March 5, 1991). "Advocacy group targets Pacific Bell". Orange County Register: D2 – via ProQuest.
  13. ↑ McQueeny, Tom (January 10, 1993). "What business leaders forsee for Orange County, the nation". Los Angeles Times. Times-Mirror Company: 1. Archived from the original on February 17, 2024.
  14. ↑ Schroeder, Erica (April 26, 1993). "Future Domain Kits Simplify SCSI Setup". PC Week. Ziff-Davis. 10 (16): 28 – via Gale.
  15. ↑ "Future Domain forced to change SCSIworks! name". CD-ROM News Extra. Information Today. 1 (3): 4. June 3, 1993 – via Gale.
  16. ↑ Minasi, Mark (1994). The Complete PC Upgrade and Maintenance Guide. Sybex. p. 404–405. ISBN   9780782114980 – via the Interne Archive.
  17. ↑ Karney, James (June 29, 1993). "Future Domain PowerSCSI Connects Peripherals". PC Magazine. Ziff-Davis. 12 (12): 50 – via Google Books.
  18. 1 2 Smith, Jan (August 8, 1993). "Finally—Future Domain makes SCSI simple". Computer Shopper. SX2 Media Labs. 13 (8): 722 – via Gale.
  19. ↑ DiCarlo, Lisa (November 21, 1994). "Proposed IDE specification aims to simplify backup". PC Week. Ziff-Davis. 11 (46): 41 et seq. – via Gale.
  20. ↑ "Definition of ATASPI". PC Magazine. Ziff-Davis. n.d. Archived from the original on January 17, 2021.
  21. ↑ Williams, Elisa (July 14, 1995). "Adaptec acquires Irvine-based Future Domain for $25 million". Orange County Register: C2 – via ProQuest.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.