Harvard to Get Computer, Will Double IBM Output

The Harvard Computing Center will be operating a new ITEC Advanced System/5 (AS/5) computer at the start of the coming school year.

The new computer, which will be installed over the Labor Day weekend, will probably be leased, rather than purchased, by the University. The computer has a list price of approximately $1 million.

The AS/5 computer "will provide a significant increase in computing capacity at 1730 Cambridge St.," a memorandum form the Computing Center says. The AS/5 will replace the IBM 370/148 which is currently being used.

The IBM 370/148, currently the only one in the Computing Center, is used mostly for administrative purposes and handles a large percentage of the University's paperwork, including paychecks.

The new AS/5 will do its work almost twice as fast as the IBM machine and has a memory twice the size of the present computer's. It will serve the same purposes as the IBM 370/148 as well as handling additional services with its larger capacity. The AS/5 is compatible with the hardware and software used with the IBM 370 series and therefore can be linked with M.I.T.'s 370/168 without any program modifications.

Only those students who have funds available to them from a source such as the University will be assowed to use the computer, Guy Ciannavei, manager of the Harvard Computing Center, said yesterday. All users of the computer, including students, will have to pay a priority-scaled price. Those services of the highest priority will be performed the fastest and will cost the most. Students wishing to use the computer will pay the same rates as any other user. Students will only be able to use the computer if the University has "sanctioned" that use, Ciannavei said.

Paul C. Martin, dean of the division of Applied Sciences, said yesterday that to his knowledge, the division has no plans to use the AS/5 computer in the Computing Center this fall. Plans to upgrade the computer facilities in the Science Center are "in the works," he said.