More indepth material on the history of Computing at CERN can be found on the Data Centre > History page.

The objects and screen animations are intended to be shown together - the animations provide a context to show the object in use during its historical era.

There are three tracks of history & evolution, as follows.

Storage

Storage at CERN saw the evolution from manual to automatic search/retrieve, and packing more and more data into increasingly dense cartridges. We've had to keep it as inexpensive as possible due to the vast quantities of data which need to be stored. 

CPU/Processing

From super-computers, to mainframes, to commodity mass-produced CPUs, the evolution of processing at CERN has closely followed market trends.

Networking

From using a bicycle to hosting Europe's first internet exchange point, CERN was a pioneer in developing international connectivity.