AS-400

a very rough guide

In 2008

System i

System p

IBM Power Systems

TUG Toronto
http://www.tug.ca/articles/t_magazine.html Rated by Frank Soltis as the most active User Group.

Dr. Frank G Soltis

Chief Architect of AS-400 the man behind AS-400 Has also written the book
Inside the AS/400: Second Edition (1997 ed) (Reviews at http://www.amazon.com/Inside-AS-400Second-Edition/dp/1882419669) Preview @ (Most of the book) http://books.google.co.in/books?id=ypJmzqt7JdUC&prin tsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false. Fortress Rochester: The Inside Story of the IBM Iseries (Reviews at http://www.amazon.com/Fortress-RochesterInside-Story-Iseries/dp/1583040838/ref=pd_sim_sbs_b_2)

Inside the AS/400: Second Edition (1997 ed)

5.0 out of 5 stars A must read for AS/400 developers August 5, 1998 By stephena@lostwax.com Format:Paperback This is your chance to find out what really is going on inside your AS/400. Everything you have always wanted to know. You won't find this out from anywhere else. It will satisy the appetite of even the most technically minded. There's even an historical perspective - the AS/400 really does come from an alternative universe. Fantastic. 4 of 4 people found the following review helpful 5.0 out of 5 stars The best iSeries book ever! September 27, 2001 By Robert J. Cancilla Format:Paperback Did you ever wonder about why IBM is pushing JAVA? Worried about the future of the AS/400? Concerned about personal computers or PC servers that have faster cpu speeds than an iSeries? You must read this book then! Only Frank Soltis could provide the highly readable in depth analysis of the internal architecture that appears to becoming the basis for the entire eServer line of computers to be built by IBM in the future.For many of us who have invested heavily in the AS/400 and are worried about its future this book should put those fears to rest and demonstrate clearly how this amazing machine and its even more incredible layered operating system will be the basis for IBM's future! Bob C. 2 of 2 people found the following review helpful 5.0 out of 5 stars The inside story of a revolutionary computing system July 14, 2004 This book is an exceptionally well-written description of the AS/400. It describes in some detail the internal architecture of both hardware and software. It explains the reasons behind design decisions. Though not a comic strip it contains helpful diagrams to assist the explanations. The AS/400 contains revolutionary concepts not yet found in other less advanced operating systems. It has demonstrated its ability to adapt and coexist with new and superficially rival technologies. Anyone who wants to understand what a real engineer does, to get major insights into and inspiration for software and hardware design cannot afford to ignore this book. To describe it as 'trash', as one reviewer has, is a reflection on the reviewer, not the book.

Fortress Rochester: The Inside Story of the IBM Iseries

Most Helpful Customer Reviews 7 of 7 people found the following review helpful 5.0 out of 5 stars Best book you can get on iSeries and AS/400 March 7, 2004 By Pete O'Neill Frank Soltis' "Fortress Rochester" is the best account of both the way IBM's iSeries works and of the cirumstances inside IBM that lead to its creation. There are of course some highly technical parts to this book, and I followed them fine, but then I'm geeky. I bought three further copies of this book for the managers and executives in my company, and they all found large sections of the book (marked with a single 'chili pepper', indicating technical content was getting hotter (three peppers is the highest level geek stuff)) very readable and easily understandable. Those of us who have had the privilege of seeing Dr Frank speak live at COMMON and at IBM meetings or have attended his University of Minnesota lectures will find that this book is a written version of his Socratic way of teaching and explaining. I give this book six stars. It's the best - buy it - I bought four copies. 6 of 6 people found the following review helpful 5.0 out of 5 stars Everyone should buy this book March 6, 2004 By Matthew Benedict This is the best exposition of the dazzling technology behind the legendary IBM iSeries, written by its Chief Scientist - you can't get a better source than that! Dr Soltis' anecdotal style breathes life into the fascinating technology and the behind-the-scenes maneuvering that gave us the perfect business system - one that has always been years ahead of anything else on the market. I read both of this author's previous books and found an Aladdin's Cave of wonderful new material in this one. 3 of 3 people found the following review helpful 5.0 out of 5 stars This is the most authoritative text on iSeries March 10, 2004 By Curt Middleton This is the most authoritative and clearest description of the iSeries, its predecessors and of the technical innovations that made these systems the world's most-loved servers. Frank Soltis describes the origin and the development of revolutionary technical concepts which are pervaded by one fundamental thought: iSeries and its predecessors were designed for business, optimized for business and built for business. In a world where personal computers or engineering/scientific computers stray into business, and stick on business concepts as an afterthought, it is refreshing to find a clear description of a server that was designed and built as a total system, fully integrating all the hardware and software components a business needs. Throughout this text, Frank uses a conversational style and explains highly-technical concepts with a wonderful clarity. He combines the rare gift of common sense with the still rarer gift of remembering to use it. This gives us a wonderful text which is a pleasure to read and to keep as a reference.

Inside the AS/400: Second Edition

Included are detailed looks at the AS/400's
advanced application architecture, technology-independent machine interface, RISC hardware implementations, objects and object management, integrated database, security and authorization, single-level store - process management, I/0 system, e-business computing capabilities, and future in the 21st century.

As the original architect of the IBM System/38, Dr. Soltis created a revolutionary new computer architecture based on his Ph.D. dissertation research. The single-level addressability of that architecture, along with the technology-independent machine interface he proposed, led to a totally new breed of computers. Today's AS/400 family of computers uses his architecture. Besides his system architecture work, Dr. Solti! s has several technical and management positions at the IBM Development Laboratory in Rochester, Minnesota, involving compute ware and software development, strategic planning, and advanced technology programs. He also holds more than 25 patents and published invention disclosures related to computer systems. During the past few years, he has participated in the definition of the PowerPC architecture and led the effort in Rochester to move the AS/400 to the 64-bit PowerPC RISC processors. He continues to define sever Mite$ en, ut r W e~ the direction for the AS/400 architecture in the future.

Can you recommend a book about the AS/400 that is suitable for beginners?

I teach AS/400 classes in Ohio, and I have a few books that may be of interest to you. I will list them by category and you can then begin your quest... Operations: AS400/OS400: Introduction to AS400 System Operations by Heidi Rothenbuehler & Patrice Gapen This book will give you a good idea on how the hardware interfaces with OS/400 and the different ways AS/400s operate and perform. Programming: Control Language (CL): Control Language Programming For the AS400 by Bryan Meyers & Dan Riehl. I have also used this book for teaching. After 10 years of programming, I carry this book and refer to it from time to time. RPG: Programming in RPG by Judy Yaeger. I have used this book in the classroom, and I like it a lot. All of these books are online at http://www.as400network.com/store/. As I look back over the books I listed above, I would suggest reading them in the order they are listed. There are several sites, newsgroups, and people who can help you on your quest to understand this system. It is like nothing else in the industry and when understood and correctly used, it will outperform any system on the planet. Of course I am bias, but it will do whatever you want it to.

Some imp Websites

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:AS/400 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/System_p http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_System_i http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_Power_System s http://www.iprodeveloper.com/
Erstwhile http://systeminetwork.com

http://theamericanprogrammer.com/books/book s.as400.shtml
List of all possible AS-400 Books

Predecessors - MINIcomputers
System 32 System 34 System 36 RPG-II programming language. AS-400 is MID RANGE http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_System/36

OS/400 i5 IBM i
IBM i is an EBCDIC based operating system that runs on IBM Power Systems and on IBM PureSystems. It is the current evolution of the operating system, previously named i5/OS, and originally named OS/400 when it was introduced with the AS/400 computer system in 1988. It is one of the operating systems supported on IBM Power Systems alongside AIX and Linux and on IBM PureSystems alongside AIX, Linux andWindows. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_i

IBM Power Systems

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_Power_Syst ems

EBCDIC vs ASCII

Single-Level Store
Single-level storage (SLS) is a computer storage concept where the entire storage of a computer is thought of as a single twodimensional plane of addresses, pointing to pages. Pages may be in primary storage (RAM) or in secondary storage (disk); however, the current location of an address is unimportant to a process. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single-level_store