IBM Computer History AS/400 Minicomputer Origin Evolution, How Upgrade PowerPC (1994-96) Silverlake

[@captainkeyboard1007]

This is a computer I surely missed. Today, I use a Dell microcomputer and a Canon color laser printer so I may continue producing business documents right at home. I missed the privilege of knowing the IBM AS/400 minicomputer. It could have been the next best thing to a microcomputer. Computer History Archives Project always does a nice job, show after show.

[@ComputerHistoryArchivesProject]

Thanks very much. Your support is very much appreciated! ~ Victor

[@claylanzino9749]

Very didactic explanation, pleasant working memories. Thanks for sharing.

[@ComputerHistoryArchivesProject]

Hi Clay, thank you for the feedback. Glad you enjoyed it! ~ VK

[@KangoV]

I worked on a 720 9406. Happy days. I remember upgrading our system from 48 bit CISC to 64 bit RISC. It went completely smoothly. All objects on the system were converted on the fly as they were accessed. It was like Magic!

[@c1ph3rpunk]

Took a job as the MIS Manager at a manufacturing company around ‘97 with the direction to “bring more PC stuff in”, I inherited a big ole black AS/400 with that gig. Had a crew of 6, an operator and 5 application programmers and boy, did they not like “the new punk PC kid”. Gotta say, that 400 never stopped, ever though green screens were already starting to die off by that point. Put in an all new Cisco WAN using frame relay and shoved the 400 traffic over the IP backbone by encapsulating the SNA stuff inside IP packets (Cisco SNA over IP). Worked great until controllers burped and you had to reset interfaces, what a pain.

[@pmsrodrigues]

I installed IBM Nways multiprotocol routers to do the same for our customers. Also prone to weird glitches that no amount of OS correctives and releases would fix. Talking about even more pain, true that by 1997 5250 terminals were being replaced by PCs running Client Access over IP. But boy, what a buggy piece of software that was, specially when printing. At a certain point over half our reported customer issues were due to it.

[@c1ph3rpunk]

@@pmsrodrigues wasn’t there a PC Twinax card available for Client Access to run over? I remember it going over Token-Ring there. Yea, TR Cisco routers. ;-) Same place wanted to start using Ethernet, I used TR to 10BT adapters because the CFO was so cheap, didn’t want to pull new wires. Side note: we’re old.

[@pmsrodrigues]

@@c1ph3rpunk oh yes, some customers insisted on reusing their old ISA twinax cards in Windows 95, sometimes still 8 bit versions, and after juggling with IO ports and IRQs it could work. But not all hardware was cooperative. Most of these customers were smaller, or legacy, so no Token Ring involved. And cheap as well. All into the AS/400, or a mux controller. Newer, larger installs were all Ethernet by the late 90s. True story: was once whisked from my lunch to run to a customer because a new engineer had taken so much s*it from the furious business owner that he was left crying. The reason? He couldn't get the twinax cards to work in a couple PCs. Getting those cards and their drivers configured was really a sort of black art. True about being old. But I do miss those times. Worked with S/36 and AS/400s from 1990 to 1999, leaving that tech behind when I moved to my current country. But have thought of grabbing myself a smaller tower black AS/400 and running it at my home lab. Just for the nostalgia. 😅

[@c1ph3rpunk]

@@pmsrodrigues oh yes, finicky cards, drivers and endless BBS download searching. My very first real MIS job was backing up a 36. Don’t remember much other than I had to start at 5AM so no files were open when work commenced at 7:30AM. I came up primarily in UNIX, BSD and System V both, AT&T hardware for the SysV stuff. When I landed in IBM shops I was a little, um, out of place? Whole different world than I was used to, UNIX was always a little more “free range”. ;-)

[@ComputerHistoryArchivesProject]

Darren, thank you. Very interesting. Not sure what "BSD" is...? ~ Hunter

[@BlaBla-pf8mf]

THanks, if I ever need to upgrade my nonexistent AS/400 to the PowerPC technology I'm ready.

[@tpcdude]

Do you face problems with bogus copyright strikes on your content? Other YT creators seem to be deluged with bad claims these days.

[@ComputerHistoryArchivesProject]

Hi Gerry, sad to say that is true. Sometimes we see a 20 second public domain clip flagged as "owned" by some music corporation. It can be frustrating. ~ VK

[@pantherplatform]

Yes!

[@KrisRyanStallard]

You sir, have won at the Game of Internet for the day! Congratulations! Here's your prize! 🎊🏆🎉🥂👏😁

[@SlowPCGaming1]

Terminix still uses this thing. So does Qualfon, Prime Pharmaceutical, I've been told that other prominent American businesses are still using the terminal UI only because they've put so much money into it they aren't sure how to migrate to something modern, easier to use. Every training class I've been in that has one of these terminal UIs to learn sees about two thirds of the class never show up again after first seeing what they have to work on.

[@Empterdose]

“Increasing the speed of your processor can help to process information faster once it gets there, but that doesn't necessarily help reduce the congestion on the highway. So what do you do?” Implement effective mixed-mode public transportation, including buses and light rail, in order to dramatically improve passenger density and thereby throughput? “You widen the highway.” Oh. Oh no.

[@thesteelrodent1796]

the Texas way

[@thesteelrodent1796]

in 2003 I worked briefly at a small system builder who built custom servers and workstations. They got two late model AS/400 servers in a trade from a client. Each of these two units had four Pentium Pro 4 MB, but only the one unit had storage - a 16 disk SAS RAID. Can't remember how much RAM they had, but it was a fair chunk for a 90s system. Because they came wiped - without any harddrives - we didn't have the OS, but we tried to make them run Linux. It is supposed to be possible to run Linux on these machines, and it's probably much easier today, but in our attempt at installing Red Hat Enterprise we ran into a lack of required drivers, which were not easy to get hold of back then, so the machines were put into storage where they were kept company by some disused DEC Alpha and SGI Indigo II and III machines

[@javiermesa-martinez8731]

As/400 never used x86 processors

[@jgvillan01]

Ah, and here I am....typing this comment on my 122 Model M keyboard.

[@abdullakc]

worked on it in an airline

[@cameronweston1762]

We actively use the AS/400 system in the commercial airline industry for tech ops and inventory management for aircraft parts. We use this daily and have absolutely no interest in retiring it. Beep! Gong!

[@knm080xg12r6j991jhgt]

The hardware is good, it's just (one of) the user interface(s) is outdated.

[@mikegaskin5542]

@@knm080xg12r6j991jhgtI think the text user interface is timeless. When you have employees who are used to flying through it with function keys, a modern GUI will only slow them down.

[@VioletPrism]

Hypeeee

[@KrisRyanStallard]

I wish I didn't have a hick accent, I'd totally volunteer to do voice work for you guys so you didn't have to use a text-to-speech engine. (alternatively, I have just insulted your voice actor and I sincerely apologize).

[@ComputerHistoryArchivesProject]

I am sure you have a fine voice!

[@tumslucks9781]

Hick accents are unique not freak! 🇺🇸

[@KrisRyanStallard]

I'm very fond of my voice and it's great for doing business over the phone or calming people in crisis. Unfortunately not good for voice over work.

[@ComputerHistoryArchivesProject]

Good voice over skill takes lots of practice, a very good microphone, an accurate sense of timing, excellent pronunciation, versatility of inflection, and a host of other attributes that I definitely do not have. I bet you could do it if you put your mind to it. Just saying...

[@Design_no]

I had an FSIOP in mine. Anyone else?

[@ComputerHistoryArchivesProject]

-- FSIOP "File Serving Input Output Processor" ?

[@daydreamer7694]

MFIOP, Multi-Function IOP

[@BrokebackBob]

DEC blew away the AS/400 series *4* years earlier with the 64-bit Alpha processor which could run UNIX, VMS and Windows. IBM playing catch-up and failing once again in the midrange space.

[@ComputerHistoryArchivesProject]

BobEckert56, interesting. It seems like the "midrange market" was quite a battlefield for the big computer makers for a number of decades.

[@mcsportlust4033]

how did that work out then? :-) totally different apps system... tons of IBMi out there today...

[@BrokebackBob]

@@mcsportlust4033 I think you might want to do some Googling about how DEC's flagship technologies are still in use today. Ever hear of Microsoft's NTFS file system?

[@javiermesa-martinez8731]

​@BrokebackBob I think you may need to do that as well, since NTFS has very little to do with digital

[@TheStefanskoglund1]

funnily enough - current power machines can per default run linux and with correct licensees in the host System i (current OS/400) and AIX.