- Model: 30
- Manufacturer: IBM
- Released in: 1988
- Type: Midrange Computer
- Operating System: OS/400, i5/OS, IBM i
Specifications
- CPU : IMPI
- Memory: RAM 20MB
- HDD : 4×400 MB, Magnet Type Unit
- Floppy Disk Drive : 8” and 51/2” floppy disk unit
- Monitor/ Display : Display through colour Matrix
- Connectivity : IBM Tokenizing Network Adapter, Printer 400 cps
Description
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 AS/400 removed capability-based addressing.The AS/400 added source compatibility with the System/36 combining the two primary computers manufactured by the IBM Rochester plant. The System/36 was IBM’s most successful mini-computer but the architecture had reached its limit.
The first AS/400 systems (known by the development code names Silverlake, named for Silver Lake in downtown Rochester, Minnesota, where development of the system took place, and Olympic) were delivered in 1988 under the tag line “Best of Both Worlds” and the product line has been refreshed continually since then. Guy Dehond from Inventive Designers was one of the beta-testers of Silverlake. The programmers who worked on OS/400, the operating system of the AS/400, did not have a UNIX background. Dr Frank Soltis, the chief architect, says that this is the main difference between this and any other operating system.
The AS/400 was one of the first general-purpose computer systems to attain a C2 security rating from the NSA (Gould UTX/C2, a UNIX-based system was branded in 1986), and in 1995 was extended to employ a 64-bit processor and operating system.