Felix C-256

The Felix C-256 is a third-generation computer made by ICE Felix in Bucharest under the licence for the IRIS-50 of the French firm CII [1]. The licence also covered the integrated circuits, the system, the central unit and the couplers, all to be made in Romania; the peripherals, American as in the French configurations, were the exception, apart from the fast printer made by Bull [1]. Specialists of the computer institute ITC installed the first six IRIS-50 systems, delivered fully assembled, and with ICE Felix assembled the first five delivered as kits – on the platform of FEA, as the computer factory was still being built [1]. ICE Felix completed the final assembly and testing of the first Felix C-256 systems in 1970 [1]. Its memory could reach 256 kB, but the first systems had only the minimum of 64 kB, in four modules; a failed module stopped the whole computer, and the French sold each module for 250,000 francs (about 40,000 dollars), so spares were rare and repairs were done in France until the Fabrica de Memorii Timișoara made 16 kB ferrite core modules for it [1]. ITC developed the Felix C-512 and Felix C-1024 and the smaller Felix C-32 from it [1]. ICE Felix made 650 computers of the Felix family (C-32, C-256, C-512 and C-1024), all with CII technology, in 1972–1995 [1]. The service enterprise IIRUC agreed an availability of about 85% for the Felix systems, against 95% for IBM systems [1].