NDIX
NDIX is a UNIX clone running on ND-500 or ND-5000 hardware. The OS runs on the ND-5000 CPU and uses the ND-100 part of the machine as an I/O processor. NDIX is based on the Berkeley 4.2 BSD vesion of UNIX. It also implements most of the SysV interface definitions by AT&T.
The ND-100 CPU runs SINTRAN III and communicates via XMSG with NDIX. Seen from the ND-100, the ND-5000 is a slave CPU and NDIX is implemented as a separate ND-5000 process. It is possible to run other processes on the ND-5000 CPU beside the NDIX process. The internal priority of which process to run in NDIX is handled by the ND-5000, a number of interrupt levels are simulated by communication in shared memory.
NDIX was an effort to gain market shares on the emerging UNIX market for servers. The development came late in Norsk Data's history and with declining sales and cut-backs the NDIX project was abandoned.
Hardware requirement
- ND-500/CX (second generation, MPM 5 and 500/2)
- 2-6 MByte private memory for the ND-100 CPU
- Up to 32 MByte shared memory
NDIX development centers
There were at least one center working on the NDIX system.
- Norsk Data LTD, Benham Valence, Newbury, Berkshire, England.
- Rumored that there was a center in Luleå Tekniska Högskola, Luleå, Sweden.
Software included
- Bourne Shell
- C-Shell
- C
- F77
- PASCAL
Releases
This section lists the releases of NDIX.
- A-version
- B-version
- 1987-10-26, sources are available on tape.
- C-version
- At least in beta version, sources available on tape
References
- ND-210905
- NORSK DATA UNIX (NDIX) - ND-5000/ND-100 Interface Specification
- Norsk Data Document ND–30.055 NDIX operator guide
- Norsk Data Document ND–60.244 NDIX Programmer GUIDE Volume I
- Norsk Data Document ND–60.245 NDIX Programmer GUIDE Volume IIa
- Norsk Data Document ND–60.246 NDIX Programmer GUIDE Volume IIb
- Norsk Data Document ND–60.247 NDIX Programmer GUIDE Volume IIc
- Norsk Data Document ND–70.003 NDIX Documentation Kit