1986

1986 was the year of the VAXBI bus, introduced with the VAX 8800, the first VAX that was designed with multiprocessing in mind. The 8700-series was the "low-end" version, with smaller throughput. The console subsystem of this machine was a  DEC Professional. 8800 cluster (8 processors, 4 magtape drives, 2 HSC's, the Star Coupler (central coupling of the CI bus) and 4 SA482 storage arrays (four RA82 drives each)) A module of the CPU

 

A smaller VAXBI system, with limited throughput (16 MB/sec), slower CPU (3-6 VUPs), and limited expansion options. The machine on the picture was a 8530 upgraded to 8550, the rack tower next to it is an SA482 storage array. You can also see the console Professional on top of the CPU box. The same machine thrown out 8530 and a humanoid Machine room blues From the papers

 

The slowest machines with the VAXBI (1.2-1.3 VUPs). Unlike the 88xx and 85xx series, they were based on ZMOS technology, not ECL. On the right side of the CPU chassis you can see the RX50 console media.

LAVC: Local Area VAX Clustering, VAX clustering extended to ethernet (no need for the special CI interface). It introduced the concept of diskless "satellite" clients, which re-surfaced in the mid-1990's as "network computing". One such "thin client" was the i80286-based VAXmate.