HC Deb 09 April 1984 vol 58 c47W
Mr. Corbyn

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what is the peak number of inquiries per hour made to the police national computer and the theoretical number of inquiries per hour that the police national computer can handle within the response time found in the detailed operational requirement; and whether he will place a copy of that detailed operational requirement in the Library;

(2) if he will list the size and number of (a) disk storage modules and (b) core storage modules attached to the police national computer; and whether there are any plans to upgrade or replace these modules.

Mr. Hurd

To date the highest number of on-line transactions (both inquiries and update transactions) per hour is 8,902. The theoretical number of transactions that the police national computer could handle within the response parameters laid down in the summary of operational requirements is estimated to be about 15,000 per hour.

The summary of operational requirements contains information about the PNC installation which could be prejudicial to its security and it would not be right therefore to place a copy in the Library of the House.

The total amounts of disk storage connected to the PNC is 12,191 megabytes; the equivalent figure for solid state storage is 6 megabytes. A more detailed analysis of these figures would breach commercial confidence. There are plans to upgrade and replace the disk storage and to acquire additional standby units of solid state storage.