<s>
The	O
Edinburgh	B-Device
Concurrent	I-Device
Supercomputer	I-Device
(	O
ECS	O
)	O
was	O
a	O
large	O
Meiko	B-Device
Computing	I-Device
Surface	I-Device
supercomputer	B-Architecture
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
transputer-based	O
,	O
massively	B-Operating_System
parallel	I-Operating_System
system	O
was	O
installed	O
at	O
the	O
University	O
of	O
Edinburgh	O
during	O
the	O
late	O
1980s	O
and	O
early	O
1990s	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Following	O
a	O
pilot	O
project	O
involving	O
an	O
early	O
40-transputer	O
Computing	B-Device
Surface	I-Device
installed	O
in	O
April	O
1986	O
,	O
funding	O
was	O
obtained	O
from	O
SERC	O
and	O
the	O
DTI	O
for	O
a	O
much	O
larger	O
system	O
using	O
T800	O
transputers	B-General_Concept
and	O
a	O
MicroVAX	B-Device
fileserver	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Edinburgh	B-Device
Concurrent	I-Device
Supercomputer	I-Device
Project	I-Device
(	O
ECSP	O
)	O
was	O
formed	O
to	O
manage	O
and	O
support	O
the	O
facility	O
,	O
which	O
was	O
commissioned	O
at	O
the	O
end	O
of	O
1987	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Over	O
the	O
next	O
few	O
years	O
,	O
the	O
system	O
received	O
several	O
upgrades	O
,	O
including	O
more	O
transputers	B-General_Concept
(	O
reaching	O
,	O
at	O
its	O
peak	O
,	O
around	O
400	O
processors	O
)	O
and	O
the	O
installation	O
of	O
M²VCS	O
and	O
MeikOS	B-Device
system	O
software	O
,	O
which	O
enabled	O
multi-user	B-Operating_System
access	O
and	O
removed	O
the	O
need	O
for	O
the	O
MicroVAX	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1990	O
,	O
the	O
Edinburgh	B-Device
Concurrent	I-Device
Supercomputer	I-Device
Project	I-Device
was	O
succeeded	O
by	O
the	O
Edinburgh	B-Device
Parallel	I-Device
Computing	I-Device
Centre	I-Device
,	O
which	O
consolidated	O
the	O
project	O
with	O
other	O
parallel	O
computing	O
resources	O
and	O
activities	O
within	O
the	O
University	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
October	O
1992	O
the	O
ECS	O
was	O
reconfigured	O
as	O
a	O
SPARC-hosted	O
Computing	B-Device
Surface	I-Device
with	O
three	O
SPARC	B-Architecture
"	O
host	O
"	O
processors	O
running	O
SunOS	B-Operating_System
and	O
around	O
380	O
T800s	O
.	O
</s>
