PAGE 54 —

This is the
Jirst in a series
of articles on
IBM s AS/400
mudrange fam:
Uy of comput-
| ers. The AS/400
Jem. |. 35 A important

%. 2) Component of
| IBM s strategy
lo provide great:
ly enhanced, con-
sistency and

connectivity
across multiple
supported envi-

When IBM announced its AS/400 fam-
ily of computers in June 1988, one IBM
executive called the announcement
IBMs most important in 20 years. It is
certainly important, enough to warrant,

- evaluation by all major users of comput:-

er technology. The
Cused product, but its market, is Very
large: midrange commercial Systems.
IBM executives have estimated the
- Worldwide market for midrange systems
at more than $40 billion annually.
Last year, IBM shipped 32,000 AS/400
systems worldwide; this year it is ex-

AS/400 is a highly fo-

They see a switch to the simple environ-

MAY 15, 1989

monality; and support of distributed
data and cooperative processing. ii
The foundation for much of IBM S
strategy is SAA. It represents a major
commitment by IBM to resolve the con-
fusing array of incompatible kos senju
data structures, operating environmen
and interprocess communicatlons across
ajor IBM product lines.
nr the RSI. of SAA evolves, it
will provide the facilities regulred to
build new distributed applications that
operate across a broad spectrum of en-
vironments. A major challenge for infor-
mation-systems managers and analysts
in the '90s will be to learn how to use
such comprehensive environments as
SAA to specify applications that Oper-
ate on networked computers and dis-
tribute both processing power and data.

Access to Diverse Environments
An important goal of SAA is to pro-

vide consistent user, programming and
communication access to environments
as diverse as the System/370, AS/400
and PS/2. It will be used to simplify the
end-user interface on intelligent
workstations, provide Common program-
ming interfaces and tools, support com-
mon communications interfaces that

more complex MVS operati stem. achieve open architectures, open net-

| ; He kimi Works, su lardš for database access,
standard forms of user interaction, stan-
dards for languages that achieve [ ull
portability, and standard application-de-
velopment; environments. Many organi:
zations are turning to Unix to achieve
connectivity and portability among dis-
parate computing environments.

IBM users have complained for years
about, the lack of compatibility and con-
nectivity between IBM's multiple system
architectures and operating environ-
ments. Programming interfaces, lan-
Buages, support services, user interfaces,
Communications facilities and applica-
tions generally have not. been supported

of the 1990s

ment of the AS/400 as
less costly alternative.
A unigue characteristic of the AS/400
is the environment for program develop-
ment. AS/400 users can create machine-
efficient applications rapidly using the
functions offered by IBM System soft:
Ware, languages and utility programs. In
addition to software products provided
by IBM, a number of third-party prod-
ucts offer further enhancement to the
AS/400 programming environment.
As shown in the accompanying figure,
the AS/400 may be used as part of a
multilayered, distributed architecture

an attractive and

The Integrated Architecture

Strategic Element: IBM's AS/400.
Midrange System si

pected to more than triple that. number.
The AS/400 family consists of seven

m da BE Prane. —

comply with international] standards,

present an integrated, seamless interface
between intelligent workstations and Co
models and Mrk a broad range of pro-: host computers, su PPort Cooperative —
|  Sessing capabilities. — processing between elements o t- h:
il The technology of the AS/400 is based work, and provide transparen pna, to el
JI on an innovative architecture intro- 5 —— Communications data anywhere in the network.
duced by IBM in the System/38, or S/38, ih C

Computer. The AS/400, however, repre-
sents a significant improvement in tech-
nology and Capability relative to the

| s s | T
| Server The significance of SAA ;s that it will

eventually provide a £reatly enhanced

level of Consistency and uniformit peh
across ee " | |
S/38. The key f eatures of the AS/400 viole ae ničen em
are a high-level machine interface, ob-, ' other system environments tovili, Gro
Ject-oriented design, single-level | vide standard forms of user access peke | a
addressability, highly integrated systems. IBM computers and standard interfac oh
- funetions, an integrated relational data- to databases and networks regar dese, f Mech
| pa ae NE ENA Changes to individual system architec mej
Nia ša nesla IS its 5 ty peč Nisi: a Uči a zr nee add tures. The architectures of S/370, na
| igle Nata a as, | V. 7 Sa External LAN AS/400 and PS/2 are likely to change sleni
Sika £auires are imp emented ona .. NE sce External Information Sources | Significantly over the next Flin
— new hardware platform that incorpo- | "on že
,  rates highly sophisticated engineering.

More than an S/38 Replacement | : | :

John Avakian
Although the AS/400 was introduced

| | ane has had a dramatic im
as a replacement for the S/36 and S/38 a h | ee mb Mer market. Many us-
series, is a mistake to think of the A major challenge in the '90s will be to learn how to use thele plans če ae los sla
D/A | | nte M i Il. ' . .. | | -CLIVEeE e
O pena, Pan ale sel — SAA to specify applications that operate on networked ae a oditie« As IBM's SEA m
lO dons iluding entry na tor small Computers and distribute both processing power and data. zbi ie ii impleneE ie) ze ie SKA
organization ave PC. | VSTANE nportance
JE A au... in the AŠ/AGO a unerease. Understanc
ie a a re ane solna ONA ri kee sfli | - ions planning to take advantage of
|, The AS/400 poses a significant ti Compalere and malen Če (ene iš jstem connectivite ar Pekel | avallable computer tech OBY.
A vendors « kosi | ati TE TE plen! JOBELNEr..| | eross-system connectivi makes it diffi- X k Ne
| a s DEC. a 6€. with communication networks, One of | cult to build aeranta of eni niše ; ča the major
IE zaj li let. the most important trends of the '90s mainframes, minicomputers, PCs and Computer system. B 94 the AS/400
IA hasten the move of will be to distribute processing rover, terminals that can share resources. učb?
OO" dors toward Unici | and data across networked, multitiered - , In March 1987, IBM introduced the The James Martin Prod uctivity Series
O tems,butit DE K ne ete sistema, UR | Systems Application Architecture (SAA) | an information service kataali guar-
| ofTer the wide cial a ie le DOO nea are the (aa p pro-.'— terly, is available through High pr. za
(O atlons aval] NE alna ee € ductivity Software Inc., o Marble. A ME
k Ig popula Bodi Maga (800) 242.1240, For in ro. — | o... Work
dei SM. midrange načvon on seminars, please contat(in |. 2 Mi
ljo 32 9900-class machines, typicaliy run on 'y of applications Santa Monica, Calif. 90402 (213) 995 Me
ro the DOS/VSE operating sy em, and are s con- 8305. In ) ontact Savant,? 2 moi
nosom A ra an mi United Kingdom om (0524) 734 505. ML JE DOSLOEA
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