A nice traditional documentary featuring interviews with people who were there and photos of the setups. Good rich video descriptions too.
In 1958, Trevor Pearcey met with the then head of the Division of Mathematical & Statistics, Edmund “Alf” Cornish, in London, where they discussed the CSIRO’s computing needs. Alf suggested to Trevor that the CSIRO should have a central computing laboratory & would he be interested in setting something up for the organisation. Trevor agreed & returned to Australia to join forces with CSIRO Mathematician/Computer Programmer Geoff Hill, where they began a survey of CSIRO’s computing needs. By 1958, the CSIRO had “Divisions” scattered all over the country & they all had computing needs. Those physically close enough to access a computer were often near a University, but for everyone else, it meant travelling long distances. Pearcey proposed a central computing network based in Canberra, where a large, capable machine (a CDC 3600) would be based & several regional hubs (Sydney, Melbourne & Adelaide) with smaller machines (CDC 3200s).
Part 2:
From its ambitious beginnings in 1963, the CSIRO and its Division of Computing Research (DCR) administered a network that was “waiting to happen”. For all intents and purposes, the network was being rolled out as if it were wired, but was in fact connected via couriers and aeroplanes! However, key staff members were experimenting with computer-to-computer links and Teletype machines from about 1967/68 with the view of creating a truly wired network as Trevor Pearcey had envisaged.
In Perth in 1968, a CSIRO team was working to create the first computer-to-computer link between a PDP-6 at the University of WA and a PDP-8/I based at the regional Perth office. It was operational by 1969, but it was a completely separate project from the one in Canberra. In Townsville 1969/70, a PDP-8I/D was connected to a James Cook University PDP-10. It was also a separate project. While back in Canberra in July 1970, a Raytheon 706 Computer at the Division of Entomology was linked to the 3600 via a PDP-8 machine, using a quarter-mile, private cable.
Part 3
The network was named CSIRONET by 1972 & grew to become a multi-host network with the acquisition of a CDC Cyber 70 model 76, known simply as the Cyber76, in 1973. The PDP-8s were replaced with PDP-11s in the same year.
Because there was a succession of Control Data Corporation (CDC) computers, much of the existing code base & libraries could be easily migrated to each new offering. This led to a long list of computers inducted into CSIRONET, including the Cyber 76, Cyber 730, Cyber 840, Cyber 845 and the Cyber 205. The Cyber 205 (introduced on ANZAC Day 1984) was Australia’s first true supercomputer.
By 1974, CSIRO had 30 sites with a total of 35 PDP-11s acting as nodes, connected with over 175 interactive terminals attached to CSIRONET. By June 1976, most CSIRO Divisions around Australia had a connection to CSIRONET and many new services were added.
An automatic tape library was installed in the 1980s. This was controlled by the FACOM M-190 and consisted of a robotic tape recovery system, which could load and unload high-density tapes from the shelves to the tape read/write machines.
As the network expanded, the PDP-11-based nodes were seen as expensive and perhaps needed more IO for the network’s continuation, so the CSIRO, along with a Canberra-based firm called Network Automation, designed and built a new node controller called a Micronode. This was based on a Motorola 68000 microprocessor, and 50-60 were manufactured for the network in 1983.
See also
Some oral histories from Australia