On The Metal

Tom Lyon

Dec 23, 2019

Tom Lyon, active on Twitter and associated with DriveScale, discusses various topics including the Williams tube, Mercury delay lines, Datapoint, AppleTalk, ARCNET, Sun's Network Disk protocol, the Internet Collapse of 1986, Larry Roberts, Telenet, the history of networking technology, nerdy family background, working with the UNIX group, Enrof source code, ATM networking and IP switching, understanding a tweet, the history and approach of Nova Systems, and making servers simpler with DriveScale.

01:47:56

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Episode guests

Tom Lyon

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Episode notes

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

Tom Lyon discusses the transition from CRT memory to core memory in early computers.

Tom Lyon shares his experience working with token ring networks and the challenges they faced.

Tom Lyon highlights the significance of congestion control in TCP/IP protocols.

Tom Lyon talks about his career journey and his current venture, DriveScale, and his thoughts on the future of technology.

Deep dives

Tom Lyon's Collection of Computing Artifacts

Tom Lyon, a guest on the podcast, shares his collection of computing artifacts, which includes buttons and indicators from an IBM 360 mainframe. He also mentions a unique platter from a spindle that he collects, the largest being a 48-inch platter.

Introduction

2min

Exploring Computer Readiness

9min

The Evolution of TCP and NFS

15min

Reliability in Computer Systems and Bus Networks

3min

Network Architecture, Routing Protocols, and Running On Premises vs Public Cloud

2min

History of Networking Technology: IBM Token Ring

8min

Early Fascination with Computers and Nerdy Family Background

6min

Computers and Personal Computer Revolution

15min

Working with the UNIX Group and Serendipitous Moments

4min

10.

Enrof Source Code and Its Significance

4min

11.

IBM Mainframe and Printing Process

15min

12.

ATM Networking and IP Switching

8min

13.

Understanding a Tweet and the Pain of Running on Premises

2min

14.

The History and Approach of Nova Systems

11min

15.

A Discussion on Making Servers Simpler and DriveScale

2min

You can find Tom on Twitter at https://twitter.com/aka_pugs and find his blog at https://akapugs.blog/. You can learn more about DriveScale at https://drivescale.com/.

Tom brought us a present: an IBM 360-era "Ready" button!

Some of the highlights of the show include:

Williams tube (CRT-based memory): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Williams_tube
Mercury delay lines: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delay_line_memory
Datapoint: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datapoint
Datapoint: The Lost Story of the Texans who Invented the Personal Computer Revolution by Lamont Wood: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16214216-datapoint
ARCNET: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ARCNET
AppleTalk: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AppleTalk
Z8530 UART: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zilog_SCC
Apple LaserWriter: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LaserWriter
DECnet: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DECnet
X.25: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X.25
Tom's notes from the NFS offsite in 1983: https://twitter.com/aka_pugs/status/985941297327366144
Automounter: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automounter
CAP theorem: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CAP_theorem
Sun's Network Disk (nd) protocol: https://github.com/senjan/ndd/blob/master/nd_pkt.h (if you find nd(4P) from the SunOS 3.x man pages, let us know!)
The Internet Collapse of 1986: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_congestion#Congestive_collapse
Larry Roberts: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_Roberts_(scientist)
Telenet: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telenet
Tandem Computers: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tandem_Computers
Token ring: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Token_ring
Ipsilon Networks: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ipsilon_Networks
FDDI: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiber_Distributed_Data_Interface
Crescendo Communications: https://books.google.com/books?id=PDsEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA44&lpg=PA44
CDC 3400: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CDC_3000_series
Ones' Complement: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ones%27_complement
IBM 1130: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_1130
Olivetti Programma 101: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Programma_101
TI-83: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TI-83_series
HP 48G: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HP_48_series
HP-35: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HP-35
ed(1): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_(text_editor)
IBM System/370: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_System/370
APL\360: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/APL_(programming_language)#APL%5C360
IBM 2741 with APL keyboard: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_2741#/media/File:IBM2741.JPG
VM/370: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VM_(operating_system)
Unibus: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unibus
Interdata: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interdata
Greg Chesson: https://grainger.illinois.edu/alumni/distinguished/7939
Joe Ossanna: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Ossanna
nroff: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nroff
IBM 1403: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_1403
Amdahl UTS: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amdahl_UTS
IBM 3270 terminal: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_3270
Dick Lyon: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_F._Lyon
MAXC, PARC's PDP-10 clone: http://www.digibarn.com/collections/parts/maxc-board/index.html
Berkeley Computer Corporation: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Genie
Bob Lyon: https://www.facebook.com/bob.lyon.98
Optical mouse: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optical_mouse
The Oxide garage Sun art work of mysterious origin (a Sun-3/160, perhaps?): https://oxide.computer/img/garage-sun.jpg
Steve Kirsch: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Kirsch
Dick Lyon's (color!) technical report on the optical mouse: http://www.dicklyon.com/tech/OMouse/OpticalMouse-Lyon.pdf
Ipsilon: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ipsilon_Networks
ATM: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asynchronous_transfer_mode
Andy Bechtolsheim on "Death to ATM" (July 1996): https://web.archive.org/web/20001217105700/https://www.redherring.com/mag/issue33/atm.html
Tom's original announcement of VFIO: https://lwn.net/Articles/391459/
Open Source Firmware Conference: htt...

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On The Metal

Tom Lyon

Episode guests

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

Deep dives

Tom Lyon's Collection of Computing Artifacts

The Evolution of Computer Memory

The Rise and Fall of Token Ring

The Importance of Congestion Control in TCP/IP

The Journey from APL to Unix and Beyond

Innovation in Networking and the Importance of Open Source Firmware

The Nova Systems Journey and Lessons Learned

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highlights

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On The Metal

Tom Lyon

Episode guests

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

Deep dives

Tom Lyon's Collection of Computing Artifacts

The Evolution of Computer Memory

The Rise and Fall of Token Ring

The Importance of Congestion Control in TCP/IP

The Journey from APL to Unix and Beyond

Innovation in Networking and the Importance of Open Source Firmware

The Nova Systems Journey and Lessons Learned

Get the Snipdpodcast app

AI-poweredpodcast player

Discoverhighlights

Save anymoment

Share& Export

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Discoverhighlights

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