A rectangular computer board from a Cray X-MP vector supercomputer. The board is a standard Cray 1-type 6″ x 8″ modular component consisting primarily of two logic boards sandwiched back-to-back against a central copper plate. Exposed copper plating along the long sides was used to conduct heat away from the board by means of a Freon-based cooling system. At one narrow side of the board is a standard module connector consisting of three pin-type connectors. Two short cables with spade-like terminals protrude from the opposite side.
Both logic boards are filled with closely spaced IC components that are arranged in rows with wire traces between them. One of the ICs on the lower left corner of one side of the board has been deliberately damaged by a Cray technician in order to decommission the board for souvenir purposes.
The component is stored in its original black cardboard box, which is lined with pink plastic foam cushioning.
Note that this artifact belongs to the personal collection of Norman Wilson.
Accession Number: 2026.cs.9
Alternative Name:
Primary Materials: Copper, Fiberglass epoxy.
A yellowed label pasted on one side of the black cardboard box is marked in dark in with the following: “YA-2 430901 [430901 is cancelled with a pen stroke with the following number written above it in dark pen:] 110996”
Stamped on the central portion of one side of the board: “[unidentified logo] 346”
Stamped on the central portion of the opposite side of the board: “353”
Stamped on a extension of the copper backing plate on one narrow side of the board: “VR// 15566”
Board: Height = 27, Width = .5, Length = 17.5; Box: Height = 5.5, Width = 42, Length = 26.5.
This is a module board from a Cray X-MP/22 vector supercomputer used at the University of Toronto between 1986 and 1988. Early Cray supercomputers used many modules in this form factor in order to maximize circuit density and minimize signal path. This density generated a great deal of heat. Each X-MP module incorporated two circuit boards mounted back-to-back against a central copper backing plate. This backing plate permitted the boards to be clamped into an aluminum cold bar column that transferred the heat to a Freon refrigerant. Modules were mounted together in banks.
The Cray X-MP featured different types of module boards. The serial number “VR 15566” may indicate that this module was part of the computer’s vector register.
This item is in very good cosmetic condition and appears intact. One IC on the lower left of one side of the board has been deliberately damaged by a Cray technician in order to decommission the board.
Associated Instruments:
Manufacturer: Cray Research, Inc., Minneapolis, MN.
Date of Manufacture: c. 1983 – 1985.
This component was collected by Norman Wilson.
Norman Wilson (part-time consulting systems administrator in the University of Toronto Department of Computer Science) Computer Science History Project interview with Erich Weidenhammer and John Dimarco, Toronto, Ontario, 25 June 2026.
Edmund West (1986) “Cray Supercomputing Comes to U of T” Computernews (University of Toronto Computing Services) July-August 1986 (No. 232), 1-3.
Cray Research, Inc. (1982) Cray X-MP Cumputer Systems: Cray X-MP Series Mainframe Reference Manual MR-0032. Digitized by Cray-History.net. Archived 6 August 2026.
Cray Research Inc. is synonymous with the supercomputing era. Its first model, the Cray-1A, was a vector machine launched in 1976. It set a standard for high-performance computers. The Cray-1 series was succeeded by the Cray X-MP (introduced in 1983) and Cray-2 (introduced in 1986), produced by separate design teams within the company. The Cray X-MP shared the vector architecture of the Cray-1 series, but supported multiple CPUs (up to four), had a higher CPU clock speed, more memory bandwidth, and other improvements.
The early Cray generations of Cray machines were extremely expensive to purchase and operate. They were power hungry, requiring large peripheral power and cooling units to operate. A Cray support contract involved multiple onsite Cray engineers to maintain the machine. They worked alongside institutional support staff.
An Image of a Cray X-MP mainframe chassis (centre) along with a I/O Subsystem (right) and an SSD (left) (Cray 1982, 1-2). The mainframe chassis was 1.92 m tall and weighed 5.25 tons.
The Cray X-MP at the University of Toronto.
The University of Toronto’s first Cray supercomputer, a previously owned Cray X-MP/22, was installed in September of 1986 in the machine room on the top (3rd) floor of the north wing of the McLennan Physical Laboratories building. This model had two CPUs and a central memory of 2 million 64-bit words. It also featured the Cray Input/ Output Subsystem (IOS) and Solid State Storage Drive (SSD) components. The IOS linked the mainframe to four Cray DD39 1200 MB disk drives and two 6250 bpi tape drives (see West 1986, 2). The substantial size of the mainframe component meant that it had to be lowered into place through a hole made in the roof. The U of T, serial number 103, was a very early model in the X-MP series. (The first X–MP, serial number 100, was retained by Cray for testing and development.)
This acquisition was the result of a three-year effort on the part of an ad-hoc Supercomputer Committee consisting of individuals from various U of T science departments. It was facilitated by a $10 million dollar provincial grant. The Cray was managed by the Centre for Large-Scale Computing (CLSC). The substantial cost of operating the system was meant to be shared through a partnership between the University of Toronto and private companies in which businesses would pay for time on the machine.
To this end, a major contract was signed with Toronto-based Omnibus Computer Graphics, Inc. However, the period leading to the company’s notorious bankruptcy in 1987 left it unable to pay. An arrangement was subsequently made with the Province of Ontario, which contributed operating funds in exchange for the Cray being made available to other Ontario universities. The facility was subsequently renamed the Ontario Centre for Large-Scale Computing (OCSLC).
In the fall of 1988, the original Cray X-MP/22 was replaced by a Cray X-MP/24 previously owned by Environment Canada. This had double the central memory of the earlier model. This machine operated until 1992, when provincial funding was withdrawn and the OCLSC was shut down. The Cray X-MP/24 was sold. In 1993, the University of Toronto purchased a Kendall Square Research KSR1-32 parallel computer that was much more economical to operate.