speedometer
A pattern of lights displayed on a linear set of LEDs (today) or nixie tubes
(yesterday, on ancient mainframes). The pattern is shifted left every N times
the operating system goes through its main loop. A swiftly moving pattern
indicates that the system is mostly idle; the speedometer slows down as the
system becomes overloaded. The speedometer on Sun Microsystems hardware bounces
back and forth like the eyes on one of the Cylons from the wretched "Battlestar
Galactica" TV series.
Historical note: One computer, the GE 600 (later Honeywell 6000) actually had an
*analog* speedometer on the front panel, calibrated in instructions executed per
second.
[Jargon File]
Nearby terms:
Speedcoding « Speedcoding 3 « SPEEDEX «
speedometer » spell » spelling flame » Sperry
Corporation
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