Delivering marketing and sales messages to a technical audience requires new approaches. These people have a high resistance to traditional marketing and sales, and "tune out" anything that they consider "marketing fluff". On the other hand, they will read and absorb documents of almost any length -- if they are credible, relevant and useful!
As a result, much of the marketing of HPTC systems at Compaq was built on technical documents that were used to convey desired messages -- in the way this market demands!
While it was never my official job to write technical papers, I had the combination of technical background, writing ability and a need for the papers. Writing was usually done as a filler between other tasks or in the evenings. Of course, I ended up knowing much more about the subject at the end of the process, which was directly useful in my job!
I wrote the following set of technical papers which were used in a wide range of marketing campaigns.
HPTC Technical Papers
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Exploring Alpha Power for Technical ComputingPresents the technical details behind the performance of Alpha systems. It explores the Alpha EV6 processor, the Tsunami core logic chipset, and uniprocessor through four processor systems built with this technology. The goal of this paper is to establish for the sophisticated technical computing community that the performance advantages of Alpha are real. This paper was used for several direct marketing campaigns, as a fulfillment piece, as a handout at trade shows and customer events, and as a training document. Roughly 30,000 copies were distributed. The section on the Alpha 21264 processor was written by Don Dobberpuhl, and the remainder was written by Russell Doty. The second edition was published in May, 2000, with Compaq part number 11CF-0500B-WWEN. |
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AlphaServer SC: Scalable SupercomputingThis is a complete introduction to Compaq's family of supercomputers. This paper covers everything from HPTC (High Performance Technical Computing) through the architecture, hardware and software of the AlphaServer SC. The sections on Programming AlphaServer SC systems and Software Development and Tools were especially well received, even outside the target AlphaServer SC market. These sections were called the best overview of software and development tools for technical computing that Compaq had produced. This paper was used for several direct marketing campaigns, as a fulfillment piece, as a handout at trade shows and customer events, and as a training document. It was entirely written by Russell Doty. Roughly 20,000 copies were distributed. This paper was originally published in August, 2000, with Compaq part number 1234-0400A-WWEN |
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AlphaServer GS Family Benchmark PerformanceThis paper was written for the AlphaServer GS family launch. Performance is a critical factor in selecting computer systems, especially large computer systems. Previous experience had shown that considerable credibility was given to performance papers which not only provided charts but also provided details on what the benchmark was, where it was from, what it measured, and where to go for more information. In addition, Compaq's legal department was always concerned about publishing benchmark and performance data -- especially for competitive systems. By using independent 3rd party benchmarks, obtaining competitive performance data from the same independent 3rd party sources, and submitting the Compaq performance data that was being published, we were able to address internal concerns, provide customers with the information they wanted, and end up with a more effective document. This document was primarily published electronically, appearing on several Compaq Web sites. The paper was originally published in May, 2000, under Compaq part number 12KT-0500A-WWEN |
Graphics Technical Papers
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Graphics Performance: Measures, Metrics and MeaningThis paper explores the differences, using the Elsa Gloria Synergy and the PowerStorm 300 as representative examples. For many applications, the low-cost Gloria Synergy is an ideal solution. For technical applications that stress the 3D capabilities of a system, the PowerStorm 300 remains the clear choice and more than justifies the difference in cost. The term Workstation3D is introduced to help distinguish full capability 3D graphics. |
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Graphics and WorkstationsAbstract: Graphics are the most visible and most critical part of workstations. Focusing on 3D graphics, this paper explores the role and importance of graphics. A discussion of graphics implementation issues is included, which examines when graphics operations make sense to implement in hardware and which should remain in software. Finally, key graphics interfaces -- both software and hardware -- are explored. This paper should increase understanding of graphics importance in workstations and factors to consider in workstation and graphics selection. |
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Graphics Options for Compaq Professional WorkstationsAbstract: This paper covers all graphics options offered for Compaq Professional Workstations. Detailed specifications, positioning, comparisons between products and selection criteria are included. In addition, a new approach to classifying workstation graphics -- based on application software requirements -- is introduced. |
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The Unasked Question of Graphics PerformanceAbstract: Written in a humorous vein, this paper explores a seldom discussed issue of graphics performance. Performance of graphics hardware is frequently described in terms of how many millions of triangles per second it can draw -- with no consideration of where these triangles come from, how they get to the graphics device, or other system issues. This paper dares to ask the question! |
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Workstation 3D: a New Graphics ClassificationAlthough somewhat dated now, this paper was a useful tool in differentiating "true 3D" graphics from the "2-1/2D" low cost graphics hardware that was available when the paper was written. Abstract: 3D computer graphics has moved into the mainstream and is a core component of all Compaq Professional Workstations. Graphics cards with apparently identical specifications can differ in cost by ten times or more. This paper explores the differences, using the Elsa Gloria Synergy and the PowerStorm 300 as representative examples. For many applications, the low-cost Gloria Synergy is an ideal solution. For technical applications that stress the 3D capabilities of a system, the PowerStorm 300 remains the clear choice and more than justifies the difference in cost. The term Workstation3D is introduced to help distinguish full capability 3D graphics. |
Other Technical Papers
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Accelerating Financial Spreadsheet Simulations with Workstation ClustersAbstract: Finance related industries have long used sophisticated modeling and simulation to predict trends and outcomes, and used these simulations to guide decisions and investments. These approaches are used for pricing, analysis, risk management, allocation and hedging of equity, fixed income, foreign exchange, derivatives, commodity, and mortgage backed security instruments. Being able to more accurately simulate probable outcomes of complex real-world activities is critical to the survival and success of many companies today. Traditionally, programmers have developed proprietary applications which were used by the quantitative (aka “quants”) financial experts – often as special purpose “black box” systems. Historically these applications have been hosted on large UNIX/RISC workstation clusters or on large multi-processor UNIX/RISC servers. A recent development is to use high level tools – most notably spreadsheets – to develop the models and run the simulations. |