Editing 3Station

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The '''3Station''' was a [[diskless workstation]], developed by [[Robert Metcalfe|Bob Metcalfe]] at [[3Com]] and first available in 1986. The 3Station/2E had a 10 [[Megahertz|MHz]] [[Intel 80286|80286]] [[central processing unit|processor]], 1 [[megabyte]] of [[Random Access Memory|RAM]] (expandable to {{nowrap|5 MB}}), [[Video Graphics Array|VGA]]-compatible graphics with {{nowrap|256 [[kilobyte|kB]]}} of video RAM, and integrated [[Attachment Unit Interface|AUI]]/[[10BASE2]] ([[BNC connector|BNC]]) network transceivers for [[Local area network|LAN]] access. The product used a single [[Printed circuit board|printed-circuit board]] with four custom [[Application-specific integrated circuit|ASIC]]s. It had neither a [[floppy disk drive]] nor a [[hard disk]] nor any cooling fan device, and thus it was 100% silent during operation, booting from a special "Startvolume" - (SW-Image) located at the preferred 3server-XXX Server, while also loading / storing all (HW/SW) Drivers, end-user Apps & Data files on a preferred 3Com Network Server. <ref name=f3>{{cite web|access-date=2016-04-07 |date=2000-07-05 |title=3Station |url=https://foldoc.org/3Station }}</ref>

Because of its very straightforward, simple and optimized internal HW and SW architecture, the 3Station/2E Nnetworking PC appeared to operate extremely fast and efficient during the daily workload for the actual Network Client.

The 3Station/2E HW (Systemboard etc.) was further embedded within a quite tasteful / stylish / slimline (1HU) mechanical Case Design far ahead from most PC Cabinet designstyles offered at the market by that time.

3Com advertised "significant cost savings" due to the 3Station's ease of installation and low maintenance (this would now be referred to under the banner of [[total cost of ownership]]). The 3Station's cost lay somewhere between that of an [[IBM PC compatible|IBM PC clone]] and an [[IBM Personal Computer|IBM PC]] of the day. It was not commercially successful,<ref name=f3/> nor were any of the similarly configured "low end" workstations that followed.

== Typical customer for 3Stations ==

3Stations's were sold as a package with a [[3Server]] as a central hub. The [[Australian Taxation Office]] (ATO) were a significant customer for this setup (through [[Groupe Bull]] subsidiary Bull HN, née [[Honeywell]]), eventually purchasing many thousand 3Stations and associated 3Server machines. The network enabled the tax office to centrally control software versions from the Canberra office, distributing them Australia wide without the tedium and cost of updating thousands of independent, hard drive based PCs.

When the 286 processor became obsolete, the ATO opened a tender for replacement of the 3Station 2E with a suitable 386 based machine. The tender process was eventually won by Bull HN with a product labelled "3Station/386", but only shared the external case as a common part. 3Com had very little input into the design other than supplying technical help and access to networking chip sets. The internals were a custom designed single board based on the 3Com Etherlink II for networking, and [[ATI Technologies|ATI]] graphics. 3Station 2 and 3s were manufactured under license in [[Sydney]] until the contract ended.

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

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[[Category:Computer workstations]]
[[Category:Diskless workstations]]