The IBM System i™ is IBM's previous generation of systems designed for IBM i users, and was subsequently replaced by the new IBM Power™ Systems IBM Power Systems in April 2008. Power Systems is the name of IBM 's unified Power Architecture -based server line merging both System i and System p server platforms and running IBM announced a further rebranding of the System i and its integration with the System p platform. The System p, formerly known as RS/6000, was IBM 's RISC / UNIX -based server and workstation product line The unified product line is called IBM Power Systems. Power Systems is the name of IBM 's unified Power Architecture -based server line merging both System i and System p server platforms and running

In 2006, the platform was rebranded to System i as part of IBM's e-Server branding initiative. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Previously known as eServer iSeries in 2000, iSeries and AS/400 1988), the System i was a midrange system platform produced by IBM. 2000 ( MM) was a Leap year that started on Saturday of the Common Era, in accordance with the Gregorian calendar. Year 1988 ( MCMLXXXVIII) was a Leap year starting on Friday (link displays 1988 Gregorian calendar) Midrange computers, or midrange systems, are a class of Computer systems which fall in between Mainframe computers and Microcomputers The range In Computing, a platform describes some sort of Hardware architecture or Software framework (including Application frameworks, that allows International Business Machines Corporation abbreviated IBM and nicknamed "Big Blue", is a multinational Computer Technology

Contents 1 Summary 2 Features 2.1 Instruction set 2.2 Software 2.3 Programming 3 History 4 Hardware 4.1 CPU in AS/400, iSeries, i5 4.2 Models of AS/400, iSeries, i5 systems 5 See also 6 References 7 External links

Summary

The AS/400, introduced in 1988 by IBM, renamed to iSeries in 2000, is a minicomputer for general business and departmental use. It is still in production under the names iSeries and i5. The AS/400 is an object-based system with an integrated DB2 database. DB2 is one of IBM 's families of Relational database management system (RDBMS (or as IBM now calls it data server software products within IBM's broader Information All software necessary to run this computer is included and integrated. More than 2,500 business software applications were available when the first AS/400 was delivered.

The AS/400 was the first general-purpose computer system to attain a C2 security rating from the NSA (National Security Agency). The architecture of the system allows future implementation of 128-bit processors when they become available.

Features include a DBMS (DB2/400), a menu-driven interface, multi-user support, terminals (IBM 5250) and printers, security, communications, client-server and web-based applications and an extensive library-based operating system, OS/400.

A big selling point is that applications can run without modification on any model in the product line, from small, single-processor machines up to those with 64 multi-core CPUs.

It also supports Unix-like file directories, industry-leading support for Java, client-server technologies and a native Apache web server, for modern and GUI-style applications. On most other platforms everything is a file. On the AS/400 everything is an object.

Features

The IBM System i platform extended the System/38 architecture of an object-based system with an integrated DB2 database that was designed to implement E. F. Codd's relational database model, which is based on Codd's 12 rules, in the operating system and hardware. The System/38 was a Midrange computer Server Platform manufactured and sold by the IBM Corporation DB2 is one of IBM 's families of Relational database management system (RDBMS (or as IBM now calls it data server software products within IBM's broader Information A Computer Database is a structured collection of records or data that is stored in a computer system Edgar Frank "Ted" Codd ( August 23, 1923 – April 18, 2003) was a British computer scientist who while working A relational database is a Database that groups data using common attributes found in the data set Codd's 12 rules are a set of thirteen rules (numbered zero to twelve proposed by Edgar F An operating system (commonly abbreviated OS and O/S) is the software component of a Computer system that is responsible for the management and coordination Equally important were the virtual machine and single-level storage concepts which established the platform as an advanced business computer. Single-level store ( SLS) is a term most often associated with the IBM System i Operating system, I5/OS, although it was originally

Instruction set

One feature that contributes to the longevity of the IBM System i platform is its high-level instruction set (called TIMI for "Technology Independent Machine Interface" by IBM), which allows application programs to take advantage of advances in hardware and software without recompilation. An instruction set is a list of all the instructions and all their variations that a processor can execute Application software is a subclass of Computer software that employs the capabilities of a computer directly and thoroughly to a task that the user wishes to perform TIMI is a virtual instruction set; it is not the instruction set of the underlying CPU. User-mode programs contain both TIMI instructions and the machine instructions of the CPU, thus ensuring hardware independence. This is conceptually somewhat similar to the virtual machine architecture of programming environments such as Smalltalk, Java and .NET. In Computer science, a virtual machine (VM is a Software implementation of a machine (computer that executes programs like a real machine Smalltalk is an object-oriented, dynamically typed, reflective programming language. The key difference is that it is embedded so deeply into the AS/400's design as to make applications effectively binary-compatible across different processor families.

Note that, unlike some other virtual-machine architectures in which the virtual instructions are interpreted at runtime, TIMI instructions are never interpreted. In Computer science, runtime or run time describes the operation of a Computer program, the duration of its execution from beginning to termination They constitute an intermediate compile time step and are translated into the processor's instruction set as the final compilation step. In Computer science, compile time refers to either the operations performed by a Compiler (the "compile-time operations" or Programming language The TIMI instructions are stored within the final program object, in addition to the executable machine instructions. This is how application objects compiled on one processor family (e. g. , the original CISC AS/400 48-bit processors) could be moved to a new processor (e. A complex instruction set computer ( CISC, pronounced like " sisk " is a Microprocessor Instruction set architecture (ISA in which g. , PowerPC 64-bit) without re-compilation. PowerPC is a RISC Instruction set architecture created by the 1991 Apple – IBM – Motorola alliance known as AIM An application was saved from the older 48-bit platform and restored onto the new 64-bit platform where the operating system discarded the old machine instructions and re-translated the TIMI instructions into 64-bit instructions for the new processor.

The IBM System i's instruction set defines all pointers as 128-bit. This was an original design feature of the System/38 (S/38) in the mid 1970s. The System/38 was a Midrange computer Server Platform manufactured and sold by the IBM Corporation For PowerPC processors, the virtual address resides in the rightmost 64 bits of a pointer (48 bits in the S/38 and CISC AS/400), leaving room for addresses to be expanded past 64 bits in future processors. The 64-bit address space addresses all of main memory and disk (the single-level storage concept).

The original AS/400 CISC models used the same 48-bit address space as the S/38. This was expanded to 64-bits in 1995 when the PowerPC RISC 64-bit CPU processor replaced the 48-bit CISC processor. Year 1995 ( MCMXCV) was a Common year starting on Sunday. Events of 1995 PowerPC is a RISC Instruction set architecture created by the 1991 Apple – IBM – Motorola alliance known as AIM

Software

The IBM System i includes an extensive library-based operating system, i5/OS, and is also capable of supporting multiple instances of AIX, Linux, Lotus Domino, Microsoft Windows 2000 and Windows Server 2003. An operating system (commonly abbreviated OS and O/S) is the software component of a Computer system that is responsible for the management and coordination IBM i is an Operating system used on IBM Power Systems, a unified server platform from the former IBM System i and IBM System p servers Linux (commonly pronounced ˈlɪnəks Lotus Domino is an IBM server product that provides enterprise-grade e-mail collaboration capabilities and custom application platform Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational Computer technology Corporation, which rose to dominate the Home computer Windows 2000 (also referred to as Win2K) is a preemptive, interruptible graphical and business-oriented Operating system designed to work with Windows Server 2003 (also referred to as Win2K3 is a server Operating system produced by Microsoft. While i5/OS, AIX, Linux and Lotus Domino are supported on the POWER processors, Windows is supported with either single-processor internal blade servers (IXS) or externally-linked multiple-processor servers (IXA). POWER is a RISC Instruction set architecture designed by IBM.

LPAR (Logical PARtitioning), a feature introduced from IBM's mainframe computers, facilitates running multiple operating systems simultaneously on one IBM System i unit. In Computing, a logical partition, commonly called an LPAR, is a subset of computer's hardware resources virtualized as a separate computer Mainframes (often colloquially referred to as Big Iron) are Computers used mainly by large organizations for critical applications typically bulk data A system configured with LPAR can run various operating systems on separate partitions while ensuring that one OS cannot run over the memory or resources of another. Each LPAR is given a portion of system resources (memory, hard disk space, and CPU time) via a system of weights that determines where unused resources are allocated at any given time. The operating systems supported (and commonly used) under the LPAR scheme are i5/OS, AIX, and Linux. IBM i is an Operating system used on IBM Power Systems, a unified server platform from the former IBM System i and IBM System p servers Linux (commonly pronounced ˈlɪnəks

Other features include an integrated DB2 database management system, a menu-driven interface, multi-user support, non-programmable terminals (IBM 5250) and printers, security, communications, client-server and web-based applications. DB2 is one of IBM 's families of Relational database management system (RDBMS (or as IBM now calls it data server software products within IBM's broader Information A database management system ( DBMS) is Computer software designed for the purpose of managing Databases DBMSes may use any of a variety of Data models Multi-user is a term that defines an Operating system or Application software that allows concurrent access by multiple users of a Computer. IBM 5250, originally was a particular model of a terminal device sold with the IBM System/34 Much of the software necessary to run the IBM System i is included and integrated into the base operating system.

The IBM System i also supports common client-server-based technologies such as ODBC and JDBC for accessing its database from client software such as Java, Microsoft .NET languages and others. The client-server Software architecture model distinguishes client systems from server systems which communicate over a Computer network In Computing, Open Database Connectivity ( ODBC) provides a standard Software API method for using Database management systems (DBMS Java Database Connectivity (JDBC is an API for the Java programming language that defines how a client may access a Database.

The IBM System i also provides an environment for AIX applications to run natively on i5/OS without the need for an AIX LPAR.

Programming

Programming languages available for the AS/400 include RPG, assembly language, C, C++, Pascal, Java, EGL , Perl, Smalltalk, COBOL, SQL, BASIC, PHP, PL/I, Python and REXX. RPG is a Programming language for business applications Originally an initialism for Report Program Generator, it officially no longer stands for anything See the terminology section below for information regarding inconsistent use of the terms assembly and assembler tags please moot on the talk page first! --> In Computing, C is a general-purpose cross-platform block structured C++ (" C Plus Plus " ˌsiːˌplʌsˈplʌs is a general-purpose Programming language. Pascal is an influential imperative and procedural Programming language, designed in 1968/9 and published in 1970 by Niklaus Wirth as a small EGL (Enterprise Generation Language is a high level modern business oriented programming language designed by IBM to be platform independent NOTES FOR EDITORS "Perl" is not an acronym (read the "Name" section below Smalltalk is an object-oriented, dynamically typed, reflective programming language. COBOL (ˈkoʊbɒl is one of the oldest programming languages still in active use In Computer programming, BASIC (an Acronym for Beginner's All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code) is a family of High-level programming languages PHP is a computer Scripting language. Originally designed for producing Dynamic web pages it has evolved to include a Command line interface capability PL/I ("Programming Language One" ˌpiːˌɛlˈwʌn is an imperative computer Programming language designed for scientific engineering Python is a general-purpose High-level programming language. Its design philosophy emphasizes programmer productivity and code readability REXX (REstructured eXtended eXecutor is an interpreted Programming language which was developed at IBM. Several CASE tools are available: AllFusion Plex (see *Plex Wiki), ADELIA, Synon, AS/SET, IBM Rational Business Developer Extension, LANSA, ProGen Plus, and PHP. CASE (Computer-aided Software/System Engineering refers to the methods dedicated to an engineering discipline for the development of information systems together with automated tools Synon was a software company which at its height dominated the worldwide market for third party application development tools for the IBM System i (formerly AS/400 IBM Rational Business Developer provides a powerful workbench for Enterprise Generation Language (EGL development an innovative end-to-end rapid development approach LANSA is a development environment for generating applications on multiple computer systems PHP is a computer Scripting language. Originally designed for producing Dynamic web pages it has evolved to include a Command line interface capability

The IBM System i fully supports the Java language, including a 32-bit Java Virtual Machine (JVM) and a 64-bit JVM. A Java Virtual Machine ( JVM) is a set of computer software programs and data structures which use a Virtual machine

Commands in the Control Language (CL) are promptable using the keyboard F4 function key, and most provide cursor-sensitive help to make specifying command parameters simpler. The AS/400 Control Language (CL is a Scripting language for the IBM AS/400 midrange platform bearing a resemblance to the IBM Job Control All command names and parameter keywords are based upon uniform standardized and mostly 3-letter abbreviations for verbs and subjects, making for easy rendering and interpretation by the application developer, as opposed to other operating systems with often cryptic or inconsistent command names for related functions or command parameter switches. For instance, the parameter keyword to apply a text description to any object to be created or changed is spelled the same way for all such commands.

Examples:

• CRTUSRPRF - Create (verb) user (modifier) profile (noun)
• DSPUSRPRF, CHGUSRPRF, DLTUSRPRF - Display, change, and delete user profile
• DLTLIB - Delete (verb) library (noun)
• CRTLIB, DSPLIB, CHGLIB - Create, display, and change a library
• ADDLIBLE, CHGLIBL - Add to or change library list
• CPYF, CRTF, DSPF, CHGF, DLTF - Copy, create, display, change, and delete file
• WRKACTJOB - Work with Active Jobs
• WRKSYSSTS - Work with System Status
• STRSST, STRPASTHR, STRSBS - Start System Service Tools, start pass through (remote login), start subsystem
• VRYCFG - Vary configuration, bring interfaces up or down
• PWRDWNSYS - Power Down System

For traditional business programming languages such as RPG, COBOL, and C, the IBM System i provides an interface to the integrated database that allows these languages to treat database files much like other platforms treat ISAM or VSAM files. ISAM stands for Indexed Sequential Access Method, a method for indexing data for fast retrieval Virtual storage access method ( VSAM) is an IBM disk file storage Access method, first used in the OS/VS2 operating system later used throughout

Support for 5250 display operations is provided via display files, an interface between workstations, keyboards and displays, and interactive applications, as opposed to batch processing with little or no user interaction. IBM 5250, originally was a particular model of a terminal device sold with the IBM System/34 ASCII terminals and PC workstations are equally and well supported, also via internet or LAN network access supplemented by either IBM or non-IBM communication software, for example TELNET or TELNET 5250. Telnet ( Tel ecommunication net work is a Network protocol used on the Internet or local area network (LAN connections Telnet ( Tel ecommunication net work is a Network protocol used on the Internet or local area network (LAN connections

History

The IBM System i, then known as the AS/400, was the continuation of the System/38 database machine architecture (announced by IBM in October 1978 and delivered in August 1979). The System/38 was a Midrange computer Server Platform manufactured and sold by the IBM Corporation The AS/400 removed capability-based addressing. In Computer science, capability-based addressing is a scheme used by some computers to control access to memory ^[1] The AS/400 added source compatibility with the System/36 combining the two primary computers manufactured by the IBM Rochester plant. The IBM System/36 was a Minicomputer marketed by IBM from 1983 to 2000 The System/36 was IBMs most successful mini-computer but the architecture had reached its limit. The first AS/400 systems (known by the development code names Silverlake and Olympic) were delivered in 1988, and the product line has been refreshed continually since then. The programmers who worked on OS/400, the operating system of the AS/400, did not have a UNIX background. IBM i is an Operating system used on IBM Power Systems, a unified server platform from the former IBM System i and IBM System p servers Dr Frank Soltis, the chief architect, says that this is the main difference between this and any other operating system. Frank G Soltis (born 1940 an American computer scientist, is IBM 's Chief Scientist for the System i computers

The AS/400 was the first general-purpose computer system to attain a C2 security rating from the NSA, and in 1995 was extended to employ a 64-bit processor and operating system. Trusted Computer System Evaluation Criteria ( TCSEC) is a United States Government Department of Defense (DoD standard that sets basic requirements The National Security Agency/ Central Security Service ( NSA/CSS) is a cryptologic intelligence agency of the United States government Year 1995 ( MCMXCV) was a Common year starting on Sunday. Events of 1995 '64-bit' CPUs have existed in Supercomputers since the 1960s and in RISC -based workstations and servers since the early 1990s.

In 2000 IBM renamed the AS/400 to iSeries, as part of its e-Server branding initiative. 2000 ( MM) was a Leap year that started on Saturday of the Common Era, in accordance with the Gregorian calendar. The product line was further extended in 2004 with the introduction of the i5 servers, the first to use the IBM POWER5 processor. POWER is a RISC Instruction set architecture designed by IBM. The architecture of the system allows for future implementation of 128-bit processors when they become available. Existing applications can use the new hardware without modification.

Although announced in 1988, the AS/400 remains IBM's most recent major architectural shift that was developed wholly internally. Year 1988 ( MCMLXXXVIII) was a Leap year starting on Friday (link displays 1988 Gregorian calendar) Since the arrival of Lou Gerstner in 1993, IBM has viewed such colossal internal developments as too risky. Louis V Gerstner Jr KBE (born March 1, 1942 in Mineola New York) was chairman of the board and chief executive officer of International Business Machines Corporation abbreviated IBM and nicknamed "Big Blue", is a multinational Computer Technology Instead, IBM now prefers to make key product strides through acquisition -- e. g. , the takeovers of Lotus Software and Rational Software -- and to support the development of open standards, particularly Linux. Lotus Software (called Lotus Development Corporation before its acquisition by IBM) is a Software company with headquarters in Westford, Rational Machines was founded by Paul Levy and Mike Devlin in 1981 to provide tools to expand the use of modern software engineering practices particularly explicit modular It is noteworthy that after the departure of CEO John Akers in 1993, when IBM looked likely to be split up, Bill Gates commented that the only part of IBM that Microsoft would be interested in was the AS/400 division. John Fellows Akers (born December 28 1934 is a US Computer businessman currently on the Board of Directors of Lehman Brothers. If you would like to experiment with Wikipedia please copy (At the time, many of Microsoft's internal systems ran on the AS/400 platform. ^[2])

Hardware

The AS/400 was originally based on a custom IBM CISC CPU which used a CPU architecture known as Internal MicroProgrammed Interface (IMPI) and an instruction set similar to the IBM 370. The IBM System/370 (often S/370) was a model range of IBM mainframes announced on June 30, 1970 It was later migrated to a POWER-based RISC CPU family eventually known as RS64. The IBM RS64 family of processors is used in the late 1990s for IBM's RS/6000 and AS/400 server product lines ^[3]

CPU in AS/400, iSeries, i5

The System i5 uses IBM POWER CPUs. POWER is a RISC Instruction set architecture designed by IBM. These CPUs are developed and manufactured by IBM. The POWER 4/5/5+ chips contain two cores. There are Multi-Chip Modules (MCM) available. A Multi-Chip Module (MCM is a specialized electronic package where multiple Integrated circuits (ICs semiconductor dies or other modules are packaged in such a way as They have 2 CPUs (4 cores) or 4 CPUs (8 cores) in one MCM.

CPU	Year	Clock Speed	Server-Model
Cobra (A10)	since 1995	55 or 75 MHz	Model: 4xx, 5xx
Muskie (A25/A30)	since 1995	125 or 154 MHz	Model: 53x
Apache (RS64) (A35)	since 1997	125 MHz	Model: 6xx, 150
NorthStar (RS64 II)	since 1998	200, 255 or 262 MHz	Model: 170, 250, 7xx, 650, S40, SB1[4]
Pulsar (RS64 III)	since 1999	450 MHz	Model: 270, 820
IStar	since 2000	400, 500, 540 or 600 MHz	Model: 820, 830, 840, SB2, SB3
SStar (RS64 IV)	since 2001	540, 600 or 750 MHz	Model: 270, 800, 810, 820, 830, 840
POWER4	since 2002	1. The IBM RS64 family of processors is used in the late 1990s for IBM's RS/6000 and AS/400 server product lines The IBM RS64 family of processors is used in the late 1990s for IBM's RS/6000 and AS/400 server product lines The IBM RS64 family of processors is used in the late 1990s for IBM's RS/6000 and AS/400 server product lines The IBM RS64 family of processors is used in the late 1990s for IBM's RS/6000 and AS/400 server product lines The IBM RS64 family of processors is used in the late 1990s for IBM's RS/6000 and AS/400 server product lines The IBM RS64 family of processors is used in the late 1990s for IBM's RS/6000 and AS/400 server product lines The IBM RS64 family of processors is used in the late 1990s for IBM's RS/6000 and AS/400 server product lines The POWER4 chip is a CPU that implements the 64-bit PowerPC architecture. 3 GHz	Model: 890
POWER4	since 2003	1. 1 or 1. 3 GHz	Model: 825, 870
POWER5	since 2005	1. POWER5 is a Microprocessor developed by IBM. It is an improved variant of the highly successful POWER4. 5 or 1. 65 GHz	Model: i5-520; i5-550; i5-570; i5-595
POWER5	since 2006	1. 9 GHz	Model: i5-595
POWER5+	since 2006	1. 9 GHz 2. 2 GHz	Model: i5-520, i5-550, i5-515, i5-525 Model: i5-570
POWER6	since 2007	4. The POWER6 microprocessor is IBM 's follow-on to the POWER5. It is part of the eCLipz project, said 0 GHz 4. 7 GHz	Model: BladeCenter JS22 Model: i5-570 (MMA)

Models of AS/400, iSeries, i5 systems

Model	Year	CPU Group	Base - CPW
B10, B20, B30, B35, B40, B45, B50, B60, B70	1988, 1989	P10, P20	2,9 - 20
C04, C06, C10, C20, C25	1990	P10	3,1 - 6,1
D02, D04, D06, D10, D20, D25, D35, D45, D50, D60, D70, D80	1991	P10, P20, P30	3,8 - 56,6
E02, E04, E06, E10, E20, E25, E35, E45, E50, E60, E70, E80, E90, E95	1992	P10, P20, P30, P40	4,5 - 116,6
F02, F04, F06, F10, F20, F25, F35, F45, F50, F60, F70, F80, F90, F95, F97	1993	P05, P10, P20, P30, P40	5,5 - 177,4
P01, P02, P03	1993, 1994, 1995	P05	7,3 - 16,8
150	1996	P05	10,9 - 35,0
S10, S20, S30, S40	1997	P05, P10, P20, P30, P40, P50	45,4 - 4550
SB1, SB2, SB3	1997, 2000	P30, P40	1794 - 16500
10S, 100, 135, 140	1995, 1993	P05, P10, P20	17,1 - 65,6
170	1998	P05, P10, P20,	30 - 1090
200, 20S, 236	1994	P05, P10	7,3 - 17,1
250	2000	P05	50 - 75
270	2000	P05, P10, P20	50 - 2350
300, 30S, 310	1994	P10, P20, P30, P40	11,6 - 177,4
400, 40S, 436	1995	P05, P10	13,8 - 91,0
500, 50S, 510, 530, 53S	1995	P10, P20, P30, P40	18,7 - 650
600, 620, 640, 650	1997	P05, P10, P20, P30, P40, P50	22,7 - 4550
720	1999	P10, P20, P30	240 - 1600
730	1999	P20, P30, P40	560 - 2890
740	1999	P40, P50	3660 - 4550
800	2003	P05, P10	300 - 950
810	2003	P10, P20	750 - 2700
820	2000, 2001	P05, P10, P20, P30, P40	100 - 3700
825	2003	P30	3600 - 6600
830	2000, 2002	P20, P30, P40, P50	1850 - 7350
840	2000,2001,2002	P40, P50	10000 - 20200
870	2002	P40, P50	7700 - 20000
890	2002	P50, P60	20000 - 37400
520	2004 - 2006	P05, P10, P20	500 - 7100
550	2004 - 2006	P20	3300 - 14000
570	2004 - 2006	P30, P40	3300 - 58500
595	2004 - 2006	P50, P60	24500 - 216000
515	2007	P05	3800 - 7100
525	2007	P10	3800 - 7100
570	2007	P40	16700 - 58500
MMA (9406)	2007	P30	5500 - 76900
M15	2008	P05	4300
M25	2008	P10	4300 - 8300
M50	2008	P20	4800 - 18000
MMA (9117)	2008	P30	8150 - 76900
JS22	2008	P10	13800
JS12	2008	P05	7100

See also

• AS/400 Control Language
• AS/400 Libraries
• AS/400 object
• i5/OS
• IBM 5250
• IPDS
• iSeries QSHELL
• COMMON
• IBM System p

References

External links

• IBM's Power Systems product page
• System iPortal
• System iNetwork
• MidrangeWiki
• midrange.com -- free online resources for System i / iSeries / AS400 users
• Russian iSeries Forum by System Integration Service

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