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| DG/UX | |
|---|---|
| Developer | Data General |
| Written in | C |
| OS family | UNIX System V with additions fromBSD |
| Working state | Historic |
| Initial release | March 1985; 40 years ago (1985-03) |
| Latest release | 5.4 Release 4.20 (MU07) / April 2001; 24 years ago (2001-04) |
| Available in | English |
| Supported platforms | Eclipse MV minicomputer line,AViiON workstation and server line |
| Default user interface | IXIX.desktop environment |
DG/UX is a discontinuedUnixoperating system developed byData General for itsEclipse MVminicomputer line, and later theAViiONworkstation andserver line (bothMotorola 88000 andIntelIA-32-based variants).
By 1985 most computer companies offeredUnix as an alternative to theirproprietary operating systems.[1] DG/UX 1.00, released byData General in March 1985, was based onUNIX System V Release 2 with additions from4.1BSD. By 1987, DG/UX 3.10 had been released, with4.2BSDTCP/IP networking,NFS and theX Window System included. DG/UX 4.00, in 1988, was a comprehensive re-design of the system, based onSystem V Release 3, and supportingsymmetric multiprocessing on the Eclipse MV. The 4.00filesystem was based on theAOS/VS II filesystem and, using the logical disk facility, could span multiple disks. DG/UX 5.4, released around 1991, replaced the legacy Unix filebuffer cache with unified, demand pagedvirtual memory management. Later versions were based onSystem V Release 4.
On the AViiON, DG/UX supportedmultiprocessor machines at a time when most variants of Unix did not. The operating system was also more complete than some other Unix variants; for example, the operating system included a fullC compiler (gcc) and also a logical volume manager. The OS was small and compact, but rich in features. It was simple and easy to install and did not require vast resources of memory or processing power. For example, a six-wayPentium Pro-based AViiON would support several hundred users usingtext terminals.
Thevolume manager built into the OS was simple, but very powerful. All disk administration could be performed online, without taking any file system offline. This included extending, relocating,mirroring or shrinking. The same functions could be performed on theswap area, allowing in-place migrations of disk storage without downtime. DG/UX 5.4 supported filesystem shrinking, "split mirror" online backup, filesystems up to 2 TB, andfilesystem journaling in 1991. Few vendors offered similar features at that time.
DG/UX had a high-performance and stable clustered filesystem. TheClariion storageNAS was connected by high-voltageSCSI controllers, and SCSI hubs. Each server had double SCSI controllers forfailover reasons. Both controllers were master on the same bus, at the same time these filesystems wereNFS-mounted from the cluster-master's floatingIP address. The data was written from each cluster node directly by the SCSI bus, but the orchestration, theinode tables, where written by the NFS-mount from each cluster member.
Later versions added support forprocessor and memory affinity to support their high-end multiprocessorNUMA AViiON system.