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Looking for an IBM PS/2 Model 90.

I have a couple of the desktop 90s (9095?). Were they considered to be servers as well?

Yes, they got big over time. The 1 1/2 Netfinity 5500s I have are dual P IIs @ (I think) 350 MHz and are a 4U form factor with the EXP10 for a total of up to 16 - 18.2 GB hot swap HDs (mine has all 9.1s) redundant power supplies, redundant fans and a weight of about 150 pounds.
 
Druid6900 said:
I have a couple of the desktop 90s (9095?). Were they considered to be servers as well?

Yes, they got big over time. The 1 1/2 Netfinity 5500s I have are dual P IIs @ (I think) 350 MHz and are a 4U form factor with the EXP10 for a total of up to 16 - 18.2 GB hot swap HDs (mine has all 9.1s) redundant power supplies, redundant fans and a weight of about 150 pounds.
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No, Model 90s (8590/9590) were not considered to be a "server" level, only the highest version of the Model 95 ("9595A", with the 'A' meaning it had an array of RAID drives) was right on the boundary. The 9595 planar was put in the Server 500, with the ability to have more array drives. A very similar numbering system of physical sizes (300/500/700) was used for the PC Server line:

The 300-series are desktop or towers about the size of a PS/2 Model 80 at largest

The 500-series are about double that width, and more than three feet deep

The 700-series are wider, taller, but less deep (the Server 720 is the same physical size as the 500-series, but more capable)

4U is actually quite small when compared to a Netfinity 7000 (same planar as the Server 701)...
 
So what were the real differences between a server and a workstation? Just more capacity (CPU, RAM and storage), or did it go deeper than that?
 
lutiana said:
Were these mostly under the PS/2 Family, or did they call them something else? I can't seem to find any info on Google specifically about IBM servers, and once again I apologize if I yanked this thread off topic.
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It was intended to follow the PS/2s line (but the 'P' there means "Personal", not a term for a server). Notice I didn't refer to the withdrawn PS/2 Server 195/295 in the previous post. Here is some detail of the common PC Server systems: http://ibmmuseum.com/ohlandl/pc_servers.html
 
lutiana said:
So what were the real differences between a server and a workstation? Just more capacity (CPU, RAM and storage), or did it go deeper than that?
Click to expand...

IBM seems to have based it on towers having at least one array of RAID drives, and desktops (mixed in the 300-series) being dual CPU-capable. The 9595A wasn't a very good RAID setup, in particular because it wasn't physically large enough. There were even uncommon separate RAID enclosures that used the 9595A and 500-series cases.
 
Chuckster_in_Jax said:
When I see something for sale in rough shape I don't even consider buying it. Learned my lesson.

I'm only watching this auction because I'm curious what it will sell for. There are computers that have recently sold on eBay for outrageous amounts of money.
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Never buy when the description says, "The computer you get may be different from the one pictured." I bought an ATT PC6300 that was supposed to have the 20mb MFM hard drive. What I found is a 40mb IDE with the original hard drive's front cover plate taped to the drive to make me think it was still the original drive. I had a suspicious feeling when I knew a ST-225 wasn't that quiet.

Another thing is those PI or PII Gateway P5-100 desktops selling for major amounts. They start at .99 and go to at least 350 dollars.
 
Trixter said:
Seriously? Why on earth do they go for that much?
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There are usually a few at the thrift store and I thought the $40 they were asking was a bit much. They aren't particularly noteworthy or well built systems either.
 
People like the curvy cases on the 486/P1 gateway desktops (I do anyway). Wether they are worth more then $50 is up to the buyer and supply in their area.

It seems early pentiums are getting popular (kind of like 486 units were a few years back). If you wait long enough a P4 will be vintage also.
 
Trixter said:
Seriously? Why on earth do they go for that much?
Click to expand...

I think when most people start collecting, one of the first computers want to acquire is the model they first started out on. You see the younger members here posting about interest in early Pentium machines.
My collection includes all of the Intel architecture up until the first Pentium. After that, a Pentium is still a Pentium whether it's 150Mhz or 1Ghz, and not interesting enough to bother with.

My IBM 9595 has a 60Mhz P1 processor.
 
Since mention was made of it... If anyone has a spare Type 0 386 complex for the 9590, PM me... I've all the other complexes for the unit, and wouldn't mind having that one to "round out" the collection (not to mention having an 'all in one' multi-system if I ever need to downsize!)
 
DOS lives on!! said:
Because people are rediscovering the old games that they played as a kid. A 486 PC like those Gateway desktops are perfect for that. And, most of the time, the auction title says, "PERFECT FOR DOS GAMING!"
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Don't tell anybody but so is DOSBox & ProGammaX. :) Maybe even better. No, not maybe, for sure. I remember those machines and their so-called supported games and such and while the apps they proclaimed to support fully lived up to all expectations, the games never did. You always needed a machine one or two generations ahead of what was currently advertised to play most of them back then and really enjoy it. :) IOW, there was rarely any joy in Gamesville if you believed what was advertised.
 
Maverick1978 said:
Since mention was made of it... If anyone has a spare Type 0 386 complex for the 9590, PM me... I've all the other complexes for the unit, and wouldn't mind having that one to "round out" the collection (not to mention having an 'all in one' multi-system if I ever need to downsize!)
Click to expand...

I don't know whom coined the term "Type 0" - Maybe it was Louis. It's not an official identifier from IBM, and would be derived from the model/submodel encoding: The original unit the complex was in was an 8590-402.

'4' is a "Special Bid" PS/2 (said to be a model made for an insurance company)
'0' is encoding for a 386DX-20
'2' is for a (SCSI) hard drive size not decoded in my IBM Pocket Reference, most likely not much capacity

You'll notice it was an 8590, although there isn't many differences to the 9590...

It's probably particular enough (http://ibmmuseum.com/ohlandl/complexes/Type0.html) that the only benefit is bragging rights...

I'll neither confirm nor deny if I have one, but it's not for sale (oops, that revealed it)...
 
Thanks for the information... reading all of the problems others were having with actually using that board, perhaps I should reconsider my "want" ;)

Hmm... maybe ensure that the 9590 and the Model 70-A21 gets kept for sure... That would require getting another Sound Blaster MCA (or better yet, a Sound Blaster Pro MCA, which I don't yet have)... maybe another Roland MPU-IMC.......hmmmmm....
 
Well, the auction for the IBM 9595 on eBay ending for $150 with only 1 bidder. I was really surprised. I thought it would sell for a lot more than that. Somebody got a nice Christmas present.
 
I don't think there are that many PS/2 collectors. Maybe if the auction started at $50 there might have been a bid war for it. I do wonder if it would have sold if it started at $200.

I seen a Mac Quadra 950 sell for $200 recently and that remimded me of the Model 90 because of the shape and weight (expensive to ship). Seems like prices for both have been rising in the last few years.
 
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