History of Computers - BESM
The BESM (BESM-1 created in 1952, last BESM-6 produced in 1987) was a Soviet-built computer, created by the Lebedev Institute of Precision Mechanics and Computer Engineering[1] that served an important role in Russian science and was one of the last Soviet predecessors to PCs. BESM stands for “Большая Электронно-Счётная Машина” , which means a “big electro-computing machine”.
Contents
Overview
The BESM-1 was the first computing machine in the series, even though only one was created. It used vacuum tubes for computing. The BESM-1 had read only storage of 1024 words and read and write storage which also could save 1024 words. The BESM-1 could also be used with external storage, which was composed of a magnetic drum for 5120 words and 4 tapes that could save 30000 words each. The reading speed was 800 words a second. In 1952, when it was built, it was the fastest computer in Europe.
The BESM-2 was an upgraded version of the BESM-1, also used vacuum tubes, and was created for public use. There were 67 created in total. One of the main accomplishments of the BESM-2 was that it calculated the trajectory of the Soviet rocket that got the Lunokhod-1 (moon rover) on the Moon[2]..
The BESM-3M was a prototype with transistors that laid the foundation for the BESM-4[3].
The BESM-4 was a computer that used transistors as well, but only 30 were made. It could be remotely operated by telegraph and created the first ever computer animation[4].
There were 367 BESM-6s created, and they were the best computers in the series. The BESM-6 was also the last, since twenty years after the BESM-6 was created, the PCs became the main computer technology, and a bit later companies started creating computer clusters instead of building huge computing machines like the BESM-6. This BESM worked on semiconducting transistors and was the most influential in the series. The maximum memory space was 192 KB. One of its main accomplishments was calculating the trajectory of the Soviet Soyuz aircraft in 1 minute, while it took 30 minutes for Americans to do similar calculations for their Apollo aircraft. The last upgrade of the BESM-6 happened in 1980 when it started using integrated circuits and thus became 2-3 times as fast as it was before.
Significance
The BESM series was important to the history of the computer in the fact that it was the main computer in The USSR and at one point the fastest supercomputer in Europe. The BESM also helped the Soviet space program in becoming the greatest in the time period. It was extremely important for making scientific calculations and helped solve many scientific and numeric problems.
References
- ↑ [1] Lebedev Institute of Precision Mechanics and Computer Engineering Wikipedia page
- ↑ [2] А. ДУБРОВСКИЙ: ЧТИМ ПРОШЛОЕ, РАБОТАЕМ НА БУДУЩЕЕ. К 60-ЛЕТИЮ ОТЕЧЕСТВЕННОЙ ВЫЧИСЛИТЕЛЬНОЙ ТЕХНИКИ
- ↑ [3] Малиновский Б. Н.: История вычислительной техники в лицах
- ↑ [4] About the first animation
Links
- The Wikipedia page of BESM
- BESM-6 Nostalgia Page
- Back in the U.S.S.R. BESM may have been better than US supercomputers during Cold War.
Written by Andrei Osypov, with the official Nerd Squad title "The Russian"
