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Tandem NonStop Computer Evolution

Nearly 30 years ago, almost 10 years before the birth of the PC, we started a revolution in business computing. Tandem Computers Incorporated (now the HP NonStop Enterprise Division) was founded in Cupertino in November 1974 by James G. Treybig and three former HP engineers. Their vision was to build a machine with enough sophistication to withstand the loss of any single component, a computer with “no single point of failure.” NonStop™ technology created the infrastructure that has enabled customers all over the world to transform the way they process online transactions. The very first NonStop server was designed to perform a critical task, fault-tolerant transaction processing, better than any other computing platform in the world. For nearly three decades, NonStop technology has led the way in building continuously available, reliable solutions to handle the world’s most demanding computing environments, from the first electronic payment networks and online stock-trading systems, to telecommunications networks and supply chain management systems, to today’s online travel networks and the world’s largest e-mail system. NonStop computing made its name in the industries that first saw the value of real-time transaction processing. Today, as more commerce moves to the Internet, these industries, not to mention emerging e-businesses, are realizing that the path to new revenue streams and increased profitability is through the extension of online transaction processing to its logical next generation: the real-time enterprise.

NonStop Technology Through The Years 

In the 1970s, NonStop fundamentals,  continuous availability, virtually unlimited scalability, and proven data integrity, were an innovation. Today they are a necessity.

1974 - Tandem Computers Incorporated is born, and founder Jimmy Treybig states the vision of NonStop computing: Business transactions online must not fail. 

1976 - The first NonStop servers are sold to Citibank. Nearly 30 years later, Citibank still relies on NonStop technology and has implemented an innovative global funds transfer and payments solution using the NonStop architecture.

1979 -Target—one of the largest U.S. retailers, begins using NonStop servers. The U.S. Treasury Department purchases NonStop servers to handle electronic transfer of $10 billion US weekly.  

1980 - The 1,000th NonStop processor ships. 1981 The NonStop II server is introduced. Nasdaq begins using NonStop severs for its securities transaction processing. Tandem Computers Incorporated joins the Fortune 500.  

1985 - The V8 and XL8 are introduced, the first disk storage facilities that can be serviced while online.

1986 - The world’s 30 largest telecommunications companies use NonStop technology, and NonStop solutions are used in 21 of the top 25 U.S. banks and 46 of the top banks outside the United States. Apple Computer selects NonStop technology to run its automated manufacturing operations.

1987 - The NonStop CLX server is introduced, providing low-cost OLTP for distributed processing.

1989 - Pacific Bell’s NonStop servers fall over during the San Francisco Bay Area’s Loma Prieta earthquake, but continue operations without experiencing any downtime thanks to the NonStop architecture.

1990 - The S2 server is introduced, the first fault-UNIX® server based on RISC technology. 

1991 - The NonStop Cyclone/R and NonStop CLX/R servers are introduced, dramatically improving the economics of fault-tolerant OLTP. The NonStop K-series server is launched.

1993 - The first NonStop Himalaya K-Series using the MIPS R4400 was shipped. The Guardian personality remained available, and the operating system supporting both of these was named the NonStop Kernel (NSK).

1994 - ServerNet technology is introduced, the first system area network to enable high speed connections between processors and I/O devices without having to use the processor as a concentrator.  

1995 - The introduction of the Integrity S4000 to the line was the first to use ServerNet and moved towards sharing hardware designs with the NonStop line.

1996 - Internet transaction processing (iTP) solution is introduced, designed to create a secure, reliable environment for next-generation commerce on the Internet.

1997- Tandem introduced the NonStop Himalaya S-Series. The S-Series machines were the first systems that changed the underlying architecture of the NonStop family, basing both the I/O and inter-CPU communication on their new ServerNet interconnect.Tandem Computers Incorporated is acquired by Compaq Computer Corporation in a stock exchange worth $3 billion US.  

1999 - Zero Latency Enterprise (ZLE) solutions are introduced, providing a way to achieve real-time, enterprise wide access to up-to-the-minute information.  

2001 - Compaq announces that the entire NonStop product line will migrate to the powerful new Intel® Itanium™ processor.  

2002 - On May 3, Hewlett-Packard Company closes the merger with Compaq, bringing Tandem back to its original roots.  After being acquired by HP, the NonStop line has moved to Itanium based processors, called Integrity NonStop Servers. The original Integrity line is no longer produced but the name 'Integrity' has been adopted by HP for all Itanium based servers. The NSK operating system, now termed NonStop OS, continues as the base software environment for the NonStop Servers. 

2004 - HP releases the 1974-x S88000 system with up to 16GB memory for delivery. The S88000 is 30% faster than the S86000 servers. 

2005 - HP ships the Integrity NS1000, NS14000 and NS16000 systems.  Replacing the S-Series servers in the market. 

2008 - Hewlett Packard announces it will release the NonStop Blade Server to compete against IBM. 

Many of world’s major industries rely on NonStop servers, for example:  

Telecomunications: More than 135 public telephone companies currently rely on NonStop technology.  More than half of all 911 calls in the United States and the majority of wireless calls worldwide depend on NonStop servers.

Finance: Eighty percent of all ATM transactions worldwide and 66 percent of all point-of-sale transactions worldwide are handled by NonStop servers.  NonStop technology powers 75 percent of the world’s 100 largest electronic funds transfer networks and 106 of the world’s 120 stock exchanges.

Retail: NonStop solutions for point-of-sale, e-commerce, data warehouse, and customer relationship management support 70 percent of global 100 retailers and drive more than $3 billion US in products and services. NonStop servers power 9 of the top 10 U.S. retailers with electronic payments, in-store processing, kiosks, and services. HP is the leading provider of in-house credit card processing and analysis for retailers. 

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