Apollo/Domain - Models

Models

The model naming convention was DN (for Domain Node) with a model number. If the system had no display, it was a DSP (for Domain Service Processor).

The first model was the DN416 workstation, later referred to as the DN100 after the green screen was substituted with a black and white screen. This system used two 68000 processors and implemented virtual memory (which the 68000 wasn't theoretically capable of) by stopping one processor when there was a page fault and having the other processor handle the fault, then release the primary processor when the page fault was handled.

Later models were based on 68010, 68020, 68030 and 68040 processors which had native support for virtual memory. Some workstations had bit-slice CPU implementations that were instruction set compatible with the 68000.

The DSP90 was a fileserver built using a standard Multibus backplane and I/O controllers. The disk controller could support up to four (4) 500MB hard drives. A 9-track tape controller was also available.

Early performance models were the DN560 and DN660 which were housed in desk-side cabinets. These would commonly have color graphics cards with graphics acclerators.

The DN300 and later DN330 were integrated desktop systems not much bigger than the included monitor.

In the late 1980s, Apollo introduced a revolutionary new pair of machines. The DN3000 and DN4000 used 68k processors, but were housed in IBM PC style cases of the time and had IBM-AT compatible ISA expansion slots and PC-compatible disk drives. These became the mainstay of the Apollo range in the mid to late 1980s. In principle, a user or third party could install a standard AT expansion card, but since this required the writing of a special device driver, in practice this was very rare. However, the size and design of the boxes made installing or replacing components very easy. A typical system could have between 2 MiB and 32 MiB of memory, a 76 MB, 150 MB or 330 MB (very occasionally 660 MB) hard disk, and 32-bit 68020 or 68030 processor running at 12 MHz to 33 MHz, depending on model. A half-height expansion bay could take either a 5¼-inch floppy disk drive or a QIC-type cartridge tape drive, capacity 30 MB, 45 MB, or 60 MB depending on cartridge. For printer access, the system came with a serial port as standard; a serial/parallel expansion card could provide a parallel printer port if this was required.

The DN3000 and DN4000 were later upgraded to DN3500 and DN4500 with a faster 68030 CPU. The DN3500 was approximately as powerful as the DN4000. A DN5500 with a 68040 was also produced in limited quantities.

A DN2500 workstation was released which was advertised as "4 Mips, 4 MB of memory, for under $4,000". This was a single integrated motherboard that used PC standard DRAM DIMM modules. This was a significant departure from previous designs and those of the competition which had custom memory modules. The motherboard included a high resolution (1280x1024) black and white bitmapped display and SCSI disk interface. The systems included a single AT expansion slot for a network card to allow the system to attach to any of the three supported networks (Apollo Token Ring, IBM Token Ring, or Ethernet)

After the purchase of Apollo Computer by HP, a merged line of workstations that could run either Domain/OS or HP-UX was produced with the name HP/Apollo 425t and HP/Apollo 433s. The 425t was a "pizza box" design with a single network expansion slot. The 433s was a desk-side server systems with multiple expansion slots.