Celerity Computing

Celerity Computing, Inc., was a publicly traded[1] vendor of Unix-based minisupercomputers based in San Diego, California. Celerity Computing was founded in May 1983 by Steve Vallender, Nick Aneshansley and Andrew McCroklin.[2][3][4] All were former employees of NCR Corporation.[5]

Celerity Computing, Inc.
TypePublic
IndustryComputer
FoundedMay 1983 (1983-05)
Founders
  • Steve Vallender
  • Nick Aneshansley
  • Andrew McCroklin
DefunctSeptember 1988 (1988-09)
FateAcquired by Floating Point Systems
ProductsMinisupercomputers

Celerity shipped its first product, the C1200 Personal Workstation in November 1984. The C1200 was the first in a series of machines using the ACCEL RISC architecture, based on the NCR/32 32-bit processor. The C1200 offered a color monitor with up to 1280 by 1024 resolution. The C1200 was followed by the C1230 and C1260 models. The C1260 offered a dual processor option. The C1230 and C1260 were often used as multi-user systems. The C1200 series ran a version of BSD 4.2 Unix with System V Release 2 functionality merged in.[6][7]

Celerity attempted to make the transition to being a minisupercomputer vendor with the development of the Celerity 6000, based on the ACCEL architecture implemented in ECL based on parts from Bipolar Integrated Technology. The Celerity 6000 had a 33-MHz system clock and up to 8 processors (max 8 scalar processors or 4 scalar processors and 4 vector processors).[8] After running into financial difficulties during the development of the Celerity 6000, the assets and technologies of Celerity Computing were acquired by Floating Point Systems—itself financially ailing—in September 1988.[9][10] The Celerity 6000 was completed and released as the FPS Model 500 minisupercomputer.[11]

Celerity's assets changed hands multiple times in the following years through acquisitions and selloffs: Floating Point Systems sold to Cray in 1991; Cray sold to Silicon Graphics in 1996; and Silicon Graphics sold their Cray Business Systems Division to Sun Microsystems later that year. Many of the software and hardware engineers who were employed at Celerity—including McCrocklin and Campbell—were kept on board all the way to Sun Microsystems and beyond. The business unit they worked in under Sun Microsystems was renamed to Enterprise Systems Products (ESP).[5]

References
  1. Staff writer (April 15, 1988). "Ailing Celerity Computing Says Agreement Signed for Purchase". The Los Angeles Times. The Times Mirror Company: 2J – via Newspapers.com.
  2. Berger, Dan (March 24, 1985). "This firm acts with Celerity". The San Diego Union: I-1 – via ProQuest.
  3. Berger, Dan (January 27, 1986). "Celerity Computing unveils 2 superfast minicomputers". The San Diego Union: D-16 – via ProQuest.
  4. Gibson, Stanley (February 15, 1988). "Layoffs, low funds ail Celerity". Computerworld. IDG Publications. XXII (7): 8 – via Google Books.
  5. Staff writer (March 24, 2002). "The Sun Still Shines on Sun's Local Unit". San Diego Business Journal. Archived from the original on February 12, 2023.
  6. Staff writer (September 17, 1984). "Celerity: 32-bit engineering unit faster than VAX-11". Computerworld. IDG Publications. XVIII (38): 69 – via Google Books.
  7. Henkel, Tom (September 10, 1984). "Demand for 32-bit workstations outgrowing supply". Computerworld. IDG Publications. XVIII (37): 16–18 – via Google Books.
  8. Staff writer (1987). "Celerity Minisuper Uses New ECL to Run at 160 MPS". Electronics. McGraw-Hill. 60: 158 – via Google Books.
  9. Rose, Craig D. (April 15, 1988). "Another battered firm in Oregon to buy Celerity Computing". The San Diego Union: D1 – via ProQuest.
  10. Phelps, Christi (September 5, 1988). "Floating Point Pins Hopes on Unfinished Minisupercomputer". San Diego Business Journal: 1 – via ProQuest.
  11. Staff writer (October 31, 1989). "FPS Computing Claims 64-bit 500EA Trounces Convex C-2". Computer Business Review. New Statesman Media Group. Archived from the original on February 12, 2023.
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