Concept
AlphaStation is the name given to a series of computer workstations, produced from 1994 onwards by Digital Equipment Corporation, and later by Compaq and HP. As the name suggests, the AlphaStations were based on the DEC Alpha 64-bit microprocessor. Supported operating systems for AlphaStations comprise Tru64 UNIX (formerly Digital UNIX), OpenVMS and Windows NT (with AlphaBIOS ARC firmware). Most of these workstations can also run various versions of Linux and BSD operating systems. Other Alpha workstations produced by DEC include the DEC 2000 AXP (DECpc AXP 150), the DEC 3000 AXP, the Digital Personal Workstation a-Series and au-Series (codename Miata), the Multia VX40/41/42 and the Alpha XL/Alpha XLT line (a member of the Alcor Family, which had swappable daughterboard with Pentium processor, to transform to a DEC Celebris XL line). From the XP900 onwards, all AlphaStation models were simply workstation configurations of the corresponding AlphaServer model. A variant of the AlphaStation 1200 was also sold as the Digital Ultimate Workstation 533au2. Some systems had one of the microprocessors deactivated, which may be reactivated with a license upgrade.
