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AS/400 Success Factors: - Architecture

The AS/400 system takes a different approach to integration that minimizes costs and increases reliability. It provides the highest levels of integration between its hardware, software, and middleware components. This extensive integration delivers significant benefits such as high availability, easy management, and strong investment protection. As a result, the AS/400 system has been very successful and delivers high performance computing at a low cost of ownership.

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Raunak Roy
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124 views5 pages

AS/400 Success Factors: - Architecture

The AS/400 system takes a different approach to integration that minimizes costs and increases reliability. It provides the highest levels of integration between its hardware, software, and middleware components. This extensive integration delivers significant benefits such as high availability, easy management, and strong investment protection. As a result, the AS/400 system has been very successful and delivers high performance computing at a low cost of ownership.

Uploaded by

Raunak Roy
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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The AS/400 system takes a different approach.

The operating system (OS/400) includes a complete range of "licensed programs" (middleware) and offers the highest level of integration. By effectively reducing the extent of integration required to be performed during implementation, the AS/400 system strategy minimizes implementation costs and increases reliability. The AS/400 system also provides a customer with the highest level of "ease-of-use" in today's market. The initial ease of implementation and the ongoing ease of use, combined with its reliable integration, makes the AS/400 system a high-performing, low-cost business solution.

AS/400 success factors


The AS/400 system has a long and successful history worldwide. There are more than 600,000 AS/400 systems installed in over 150 countries. There are also more than 30,000 business applications worldwide, including over 2,700 for e-business. The reason for the success of the AS/400 system is founded in six basic factors, which are presented in Figure 1, and described in the following list: Architecture The AS/400 system has a layered architecture that is divided into the actual user interface (OS/400) and a Technology Independent Machine Interface (TIMI). This architectural concept has allowed the AS/400 system to undergo several fundamental technology changes, while protecting the customers investment in information technology. The transparent migration of user applications to 64-bit RISC-based hardware technology is a recent example of the benefit of the AS/400 architecture. High level of integration The AS/400 system offers the highest integration of both its hardware and software components. Hardware, microcode, the operating system, and IBM middleware are all tightly interlaced to allow maximum exploitation of all available computing resources. Integration of Input/Output Processors (IOPs) and Direct Access Storage Devices (DASD) yields valuable benefits (for example, an extremely high level of reliability and availability). The AS/400 system's availability techniques range from using an Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS), RAID-5 protection, and DASD mirroring, all the way to continuous operation based on a dual-system availability solution. Other benefits from this kind of integration are proactive. Some of these benefits include remote hardware and software maintenance, detailed and informative diagnostic aids for problem determination and monitoring, and future projection of system performance. The following items are some of the features integrated into the AS/400 system: System availability: Battery Backup Unit (BBU)

Continuously Powered Mainstorage (CPM) Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) Protection against system failures Backup database servers and systems Mirroring and RAID-5 (both at minimal performance cost) Menu-driven backup and recovery Journaling Commitment Control Auxiliary Storage Pools (ASPs) Save While Active function Clustering support Standard ease-of-use functions for: System customization Automatic procedures, start-up programs, and so on System values System tuning (managing memory, disk) Easy system management through: Easy hardware configuration and reconfiguration Autoconfiguration of devices Integrated file system (IFS) accessible through a standard AS/400 interface (DB2/400, PC, or UNIX file system) Minimal database installation, management, and operations activity Simple menu-driven functions Balancing data across disk units Native performance optimization of DB2/400 Database management system integrated with OS/400: No additional cost for database software Integrated database administration tools and automated self-managing database administration functions Excellent performance through microcode-imbedding, fine tuned with hardware and OS/400 Support for parallel database operations, symmetric multiprocessing (SMP), and parallel I/O processing With V4R4 release, DB2 Universal Database (UDB) for AS/400 now supports the storing, managing, and indexing of all forms of information, including binary objects (such as spreadsheets, word processing documents, and multimedia objects) within the database Interoperability and connectivity The AS/400 system offers a wide range of communication capabilities and functions that enable the AS/400 to communicate with IBM and non-IBM systems. The wide range of communication protocols supported by the AS/400 system include:

SNA (APPC, APPN, and HPR) TCP/IP OSI NetBIOS IPX/SPX AnyNet The AS/400 system supports the following protocols and networks: IDLC (ISDN Data Link Control) IBM Token-Ring Network (IEEE 802.5 and 802.2) T1/E1/J1 and Fractional T1 Networks (high bandwidth) Asynchronous Binary Synchronous Synchronous Data Link Control (SDLC) X.21 X.25 Ethernet Version 2 or IEEE 802.3 FDDI LANs ATM LANs OS/400 has the following communication facilities: TCP/IP support X.21 Short Hold Mode (SHM) and Multiple Port Sharing (MPS) Remote workstation support 3x74 Remote Attach 5x94 Remote Attach Intersystem Communications Function Advanced Peer-to-Peer Networking (APPN) Dependent Logical Unit Requester (DLUR) Advanced Program-to-Program Communication (APPC) SNA Upline Facility to System/370 IMS and CICS hosts Binary Synchronous Communications Equivalence Link (BSCEL) ICF retail communications support ICF finance communications support Non-ICF Finance Communications Support SNA Distribution Services (SNADS) SNA Primary Logical Unit 2 Support SNA/Management Services Transport Distributed Relational Database Support Object Distribution Facility (ODF) Display Station Pass-through Distributed Data Management (DDM) SNA Pass-through IBM Network Routing Facility (NRF) Support/400 Autodial Support

3270 Device Emulation 3270 SNA API Support for IBM 3278 Model 3, 4, and 5 ISDN Support 5394/5494 SNA Backbone Support File Transfer Support Interactive Terminal Facility (ITF) SAA Common Programming Interface for Communications (CPI-C) IPX/SPX Communications ATM LAN Emulation The AS/400 system also supports the following functions: Kernel Threads Java Virtual Machine (JVM) Lotus Domino for AS/400 Integrated file system (IFS) Web Serving Integrated PC Server (IPCS) or Integrated Netfinity Server (INS) running the following server environments: Microsoft Windows NT Server IBM Firewall for AS/400 IBM Warp Server Novell NetWare Client/server capability The AS/400 system can operate with almost any client in any communication environment. It can attach the following clients of choice: Microsoft Windows 3.1, Windows 3.11, Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows NT OS/2 Macintosh UNIX (IBM-AIX, HP-UX, SUN-SPARC) Linux Scalability AS/400e servers cover a wide range of performance capacities. For the eBPCS environment, this means the AS/400e server can support from a few users to thousands of users. Most of the AS/400e server models are field-upgradable to more powerful models. This degree of customer investment protection is exceptional. It is one of the contributing factors to the AS/400e system's low cost of ownership in the long term. Price and performance Many independent analysts have confirmed that the AS/400 system represents a cost effective platform in the long run. The AS/400 system's extensive integration yields significant cost advantages, high availability, easy system management, and significant investment protection. This has been the basis for its ten-year success in the dynamic world of information technology. The AS/400 system delivers high computing performance at a low cost of

ownership and, therefore, scores high in customer satisfaction

AS/400 technology in stride


The AS/400 system delivers tremendous growth over its product line. Single level storage (SLS) makes it possible to completely change the underlying hardware without affecting AS/400 applications and operating systems. Just as the AS/400 system continues to deliver tremendous capacity gains in its product line, it is usually the first to bring new technology to the market. In 1997, the 12-way AS/400 system was delivered using Power PC A35 microprocessors. Known as Apache technology, the Power PC A35 microprocessors provided a 4.6x growth. In September 1998, the 12-way AS/400 system was delivered using the Power PC A50 microprocessor. Known as code name Northstar, the Power PC A50 microprocessors nearly doubled the high-end capacity. This set of processors provided the fourth generation since the AS/400 systems inception in 1988, with 64-bit AS/400 Power PCs microprocessors. This growth and implementation of new technology is possible because of the AS/400 TIMI layer. TIMI allows the AS/400 system to incorporate significant new hardware technology more quickly and transparently than any other vendor or platform. Figure 2 shows this change of hardware processor technology and previews what is planned in future generations. More details can be found in "Logical Partitioning: Divide and Conquer", by IBM Chief Engineer Frank G. Soltis, in the January 1999 edition of NEWS/400 magazine.

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