Computer Expansion

The Kiewit Computation Center is anticipating the arrival next month of two new communications computers which, when they are in full operation, are expected to increase the center's reliability and the number of possible simultaneous users from 173 to 192, with a potential additional expansion to 256 access ports.

The two new Honeywell 716's, which will replace, two computers now in use, should be phased into total operation by the end of the year. The new acquisitions, according to Kiewit Director Thomas E. Kurtz, are nearly 20 times as fast as the equipment currently in use.

Of the 173 simultaneous access ports now available under the Dartmouth Time Sharing System, 53 are reserved for a shared network used by 60 colleges and high schools in seven eastern states and two Canadian provinces and several major hospitals and research agencies, Kiewit officials noted.