VAX 9000

The VAX 9000, code named Aridus or Aquarius, was a family of supercomputer and mainframe computers developed and manufactured by Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) using processors implementing the VAX instruction set architecture (ISA). Aridus was a follow-on to the VAX 8800 family line. The VAX 9000 code named Aquarius was positioned by Digital as its first mainframe. In reality, it was Digital's second mainframe attempt, following their earlier and more successful 36-bit mainframe line (PDP-6 through DECSYSTEM-20) dating from the mid-1960s through early 1980s. Initially, it was marketed as a supercomputer. The VAX 9000 was introduced in October 1989 and faced problems such as the inability to ship large volumes. It was designed to be water-cooled using the same plumbing as IBM mainframes and code-named (“water-carrier”), but were first air-cooled (“dry”). The first models delivered were "field-upgradeable" to Aquarius as Model 210 follow-on but Digital officials thought nobody would require it, so they didn't offer it.

Roughly four dozen systems were delivered before production was discontinued. Most sites ran the VMS operating system with a few sites choosing Ultrix. The pedigree of the vectorizing Fortran compiler is not clear. One representative example CPU sits in storage at the Computer History Museum (not on public display).

The VAX 9000 Model 110 was an entry-level model with the same performance as the Model 210 but had a smaller memory capacity and was bundled with less software and services. On 22 February 1991, it was priced from US$920,000, and if fitted with a vector processor, from US$997,000.

The VAX 9000 Model 210 was an entry-level model with one CPU that could be upgraded. If a vector processor was present, it was known as the VAX 9000 Model 210VP.

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