VAX Architecture

|  | Information Research Services | Updated: 19 August 1997

|  |  |  |  | The VAX Architecture Committee began work on a computer with 32-bit architecture; the goal: to build a machine which was culturally compatible to the PDP-11-- but with increased address space. The result: VAX, the "Virtual Address eXtension" of the PDP-11's 16-bit architecture to 32-bit architecture. The new computer required a new operating system so VMS, the "Virtual Memory System" was developed simultaneously. Shown here is an inside view of the first VAX model (the VAX-11/780).