IBM Mainframe Glossary
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A4: The most common of the European standard paper sizes, 210 x 297 mm, and the one closest to the North American standard of 8.5 x 11 inches.
AAL: ATM Adaptation Layer. A layer of the ATM architecture that defines services required by the higher ATM layers. The classes of ATM adaptation layers correspond to types of higher network traffic such as, data, voice, or video. See also ATM2
AAS: Authorized Application Specialist. Obsolete term for an independent software vendor whose products IBM had agreed to sell. The greatest number of AASs were in the CASE and application development market, a traditional IBM weakness. Today, everyone is an IBM Business Partner of one type or another.
AASF: Advanced Address Space Facility. Introduced in ESA as a facility used (among other things) by DB2 to enhance performance.
ABA1: Annual Billing Agreement. An IBM customer contract.
ABA2: Art Benjamin Associates. The first independent endeavor of Canada’s most famous IBMer, Art Benjamin. Art left IBM to pursue his dream of building the perfect prototyping tool after IBM Canada refused to fund it. The result of several million dollars and 1.5 million lines of Assembler was ACT/1, a VSE/ESA CICS, z/VM CMS and z/OS CICS and TSO tool that did a nice job of prototyping but failed to sufficiently simplify the task of putting the prototype into production.
ABARS: Aggregate Backup And Recovery Support. Disaster recovery feature within DFSMShsm for automatically creating files containing backups of critical data. The main use of ABARS is to group all the datasets relating to a particular application together.
ABE: Agent Building Environment. An experimental IBM architecture that provides an open environment in which agents can be added to existing applications, and agent parts, once developed, can be reused across many applications.
Abend: ABnormal ENDing. IBMspeak for an unexpected termination to a program run, e.g., a crash. Originally an error message on the System/360.
ABI: Application Binary Interface. Generic term (also used specifically to refer to Unix ABIs) for an interface that would, in theory, enable application writers to write applications to a single interface and run the same binary code on a variety of systems, without having to re-compile or re-link. Application binary compatibility is the holy grail of the independent software vendors working in the Unix, PC-DOS, and OS/2 arenas, and it ain’t there yet! The ill-fated ACE was a formal attempt to create an ABI, as was the IBM-supported PowerOpen.
ABM: Asynchronous Balanced Mode. The mode of operation used in the TRN – effectively full duplex.
Above the line: In z/OS, z/VM and VSE/ESA, above the line refers to virtual/real memory locations with an address greater than 16Mbytes. The 16Mbyte limit was created by the fact that early versions of MVS (pre-MVS/XA), VM (VM/SP and prior) and VSE (pre-VSE/ESA) only supported 24-bit addressing.
ABS: Application Business Systems. For many years, the part of IBM responsible for the AS/400 and System/3x. Ran as an autonomous business unit headquartered in Rochester, Minnesota.
Abuse: Any behavior violating security procedures.
ACA/ISCF: Automated Console Application for Inter-System Control Facility. Also known as 3090/ACA/ISCF. Basically it was a tailored version of ISCF for the 3090 environment consisting of a set of NetView command lists, panels, and a command processor to enable remote operation of 3090s running MVS/XA or MVS/ESA. Announced April 1989. Replaced by TSCF April 1991.
ACB: Access Control Block. The control block used to tie an application program to a VSAM dataset – the two are connected by the DDNAME.
Access authority: The level of access allowed to a protected resource for a specific user. Levels in RACF are NONE, EXECUTE, READ, UPDATE, CONTROL and ALTER.
Access control: Enforcing rules governing use of computer resources by restricting both the use and type of use to authorized individuals and the computer resources they are responsible for.
Access list: In RACF, the standard access list, not the conditional access list.
Access method1: An IBM-specific bit of jargon for software which moves data between main store and I/O devices. Access methods create channel programs and manage system buffers, and have implicit file structures. IBM access methods include TCAM, BTAM, VTAM, VSAM.
Access method2: Generic term for the way in which workstations access a LAN. The access method in Ethernet is CSMA/CD, and the access method in the TRN is token passing.
Accessor Environment Element: A RACF control block that describes the current user’s security environment.
Access plan: See Plan.
Access token: See authenticator.
acctcom: The accounting command within AIX WLM.
ACD: Automatic Call Distributor. Generic term for a PBX designed for call-center operations. May also be used as an acronym for Automatic Call Distribution.
ACDEB: Data extent block in VTAM.
ACDI: Asynchronous Communications Device Interface. Programming interface introduced in OS/2 EE for establishing asynchronous communications sessions.
ACDI port: Asynchronous Communications Device Interface port. A serial port in Communications Manager/2 that can be programmed for asynchronous communications.
ACE: Advanced Computing Environment. A standard sponsored by a consortium of 22 vendors (including DEC, Microsoft, Compaq, Silicon Graphics, SCO, and MIPS, although IBM declined to join in the fun) in mid 1991. The intention was to create a set of standards to exploit RISC architectures by defining a set of target environments for RISC chip builders to design to. Thus software designers would build products for the Unix or NT environments, and the standard would ensure hardware and network compatibility. By the middle of 1992, ACE was dead.
ACEE: See ACcessor Environment Element.
ACF: Advanced Communications Function. A once popular prefix for IBM software that uses SNA, such as NCP, SSP2, TCAM, and VTAM. It originally indicated versions of software capable of multi-host support to distinguish them from earlier versions. Today, ACF is still occasionally used, but most SNA software is part of Communications Server.
ACF/NCP: See NCP.
ACF/SSP: See SSP2.
ACF/TAP: Advanced Communications Function/Trace Analysis Program. An SSP program service aid that assists in analyzing trace data produced by VTAM, TCAM, and NCP and provides network data traffic and network error reports.
ACF/TCAM: Advanced Communications Function/Telecommunications Access Method. See TCAM.
ACF/VTAM: Advanced Communication Function/Virtual Telecommunication Access Method. See VTAM.
ACF/VTAME: Advanced Communication Function/Virtual Telecommunication Access Method Entry. See VTAME.
ACI: Access Control Information.
ACID: Generic term for what transactions in a TP system should possess – atomicity, consistency, isolation, and durability.
ACL: Automatic Cartridge Library. Synonymous with ATL. Also used to mean Automatic Cartridge Loader, a fairly low-level device which keeps a few cartridges in a loader and runs through them sequentially, typically for archiving a disk.
ACM: Association for Computing Machinery. Founded in 1947 in the USA, ACM was established by mathematicians and electrical engineers to advance the science and application of information technology. It is the oldest and largest international scientific and educational computer society in the industry.
ACO: Automated Console Operations. Automated procedures which replace or reduce the number of actions that an operator takes from a console in response to system or network activities.
AConnS: Application Connection Services. OS/2 and mainframe feature which enables a workstation user to think that he/she has direct connection to a VM or MVS mainframe resource (e.g., a printer). Pre-requisite for some cooperative processing programs (e.g., Delivery Manager, Asset Manager/MVS). Announced June 1991, withdrawn December 1993.
ACP: Airline Control Program. See TPF.
ACPDB: ACP DataBase. See TPFDF.
Acquirer: In the SET architecture, the acquirer is the financial institution that authorizes the transaction after receipt and validation of financial data relating to a transaction.
ACRE: APAR Control Remote Entry. An IBM system for collating APAR information.
ACS1: Automatic Class Selection. A mechanism in DFSMS for centralized and automated control of dataset movement and allocation.
ACS2: Automatic Cartridge System. Effectively the same as ATL.
ActionMedia: PS/2 adapter card from IBM and Intel (March 1990) for multimedia interactive digital video. Uses the DVI standard. Supported in IBM’s Ultimedia. Obsolete.
Active Directory: Microsoft’s new distributed directory service, which complements Windows 2000 and COM+.
Active MWC: An AIX1 feature that helps ensure data consistency on logical volumes in the event of a system crash during mirrored writes. AIX 5.1 added Passive MWC for better random write performance on mirrored logical volumes. See also MWC.
ActiveX: A reincarnation of Microsoft’s Object Linking and Embedding (OLE) technology, geared specifically for Windows-specific Web and networking scenarios. Object-based and closely related to Microsoft COM. In the context of Web-to-host, ActiveX is often a direct competitor to Java applet-based solutions, although ActiveX solutions are always restricted to Windows-based clients using the Internet Explorer browser.
ACU: Automatic Calling Unit. A dialing device that allows a computer to automatically dial calls over a network.
AD/Cycle: IBM’s all-embracing repository/CASE-based application development framework originally intended to see users through the millennium and beyond. Announced September 1989, it was a reasonable try at getting together a set of standards and interfaces to help speed up application development; these included a view of the application development life-cycle, tools supporting the life-cycle, software services for application development, and the much derided Repository. Long dead.
AD/Cycle Alliance: Group of vendors supporting AD/Cycle. July 1993, there were nine members: Digitalk, Easel, KnowledgeWare, Micro Focus, Sapiens, Seer Technologies, Softlab, Synon, and Viasoft. The full name was International Alliance for AD/Cycle. As AD/Cycle faded into the sunset, the Alliance went west with it.
AD/Platform: The workstation development environment within the defunct AD/Cycle architecture. Components included workstation services, library services, repository services, and an information model.
AD/SAA: Application Development/SAA. To all intents and purposes, it’s the same as ADE1.
ADA: Programming language much loved by the military (ADA is a US government standard), which uses it for writing systems for controlling guided missiles and the like. IBM provided ADA systems for VM, MVS, and AIX, and supported the language in various mainstream subsystems including IMS, DB2, CICS, GDDM, and ISPF/PDF. When it appeared to be gradually being replaced by C++, IBM let OC Systems take over the products. Withdrawn August 1994.
ADABAS Database for large applications. Designed to support thousands of users in parallel with sub-second response times.
ADAPSO: Association of Data Processing Service Organizations. Renamed Information Technology Association of America (ITAA).
Adaptive pacing: Facility available with LU6.2 whereby the system automatically adjusts the rate of flow of data according to the prevailing conditions. See also Pacing.
Adaptive Rate-Based Congestion Control: The anticipatory, congestion control mechanism used by HPR.
ADAU: See Automatic Direction of Application Updates.
ADCP: Application Development Common Platform. Set of services for application development. Includes object libraries, models, and an object repository (based on ObjectStore) conforming to the SOM, DSOM, and CORBA standards.
ADCS: Advanced Data Communications for Stores. IBM mainframe software for managing POS networks. Obsolete.
Address Book synchronization for OS/2: Directory synchronization software. Links IBM e-mail directories with Lotus Notes or cc:Mail directories via the IBM Mail LAN Gateway.
Addressing: See AMODE.
Address Resolution Protocol: The Internet Protocol (IP) used to dynamically map IP addresses to physical hardware Media Access Control (MAC1) addresses.
Address space: The virtual storage allocated to an executing task in a mainframe. Generally used within z/OS to mean the space used by one of batch job, system task, or TSO user.
ADE1: Application Development Environment. At one time ADE aspired to be an SAA environment/architecture analogous to the full CASE environments provided by independent vendors which would run across a network of PS/2s + AS/400 or mainframe, and would incorporate library management, change control, object-oriented methods, methodology support, etc. ADE specifications were made public to allow vendors and users to integrate their products into the IBM approved world. Also known as AD/SAA. Like AD/Cycle and SAA, ADE appears to have faded into obscurity.
ADE2: See Tivoli Application Development Environment.
ADF II: See IMSADF II.
Ad-Hoc Tool: A query, report and update tool for IMS1 data. Announced August 1996. Withdrawn November 1999.
ADM/400: Application Development Manager/400. AS/400 version control software announced in February 1992. A feature of ADTS.
ADMF: See Asynchronous Data Mover Facility.
Administrative domain: The combination of interconnecting networks, hosts, and routers that are managed by a single administrative authority.
Adobe: Company which, among other things, specializes in technologies for creating screen and printer fonts. IBM uses Adobe as the supplier of font technology. See PostScript, Display PostScript.
ADPS: Application Development Project Support. Program Product developed by IBM in Vienna and sold in Europe to provide an application development environment under VM and MVS. IBM liked to describe it as the Common Process Manager within AD/Cycle – but that was in the days when it liked to talk about AD/Cycle.
ADRS II: A Departmental Reporting System II. Venerable Information Center product long ago incorporated into IC/1, both of which are now obsolete.
Application Dictionary Services/400. Dictionary product for the AS/400. Provides inventories of all the data on an AS/400 system. Announced February 1992 and withdrawn December 1995.
Audio Distribution System. Defunct IBM voice messaging system from the early 1980s. Based on Series/1, and derived from the Speechfile product. Despite being highly regarded, was a market failure.
ADSL: Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line. A derivative of DSL2 technology designed for applications where the client-to-server data flow is a fraction of the server-to-client data flow. This is appropriate for WWW applications or Video on Demand.
ADSM: The acronym for two of the five names for what is currently the Tivoli Storage Manager: AdStar Distributed Storage Manager and Advanced AdStar Distributed Storage Manager.
ADSM Space Management: Replaced by Tivoli Space Manager.
ADSP: Automatic DataSet Protection. See ADSP attribute.
ADSP attribute: A RACF user attribute that ensures that all DASD datasets created by the user are protected by RACF.
AdStar: ADvanced STorage And Retrieval. The San Jose, California, company formed early 1992, which for a short while made and sold IBM’s storage products – DASD, optical storage, tape drives, controllers, and storage management software. Although the original intention appeared to be to hive off AdStar as a completely separate company, by mid 1993, it had begun to lose its separate identity and was absorbed back into the body corporate, where it became the Storage Systems Division. The name lived on for a while in ADSM.
AdStar Distributed Storage Manager: See ADSM.
AD Strategy: The born-again AD/Cycle which appeared late 1993 and disappeared soon after. Combines the surviving bits of AD/Cycle with AIX CASE. There are two key differences between AD/Cycle and AD/Strategy: AD Strategy is based on the use of objects to build multi-platform systems, whereas AD/Cycle was firmly rooted in the mainframe-centric world and traditional development methods; and AD/Cycle was built on an attempt to create a set of commercial alliances, whereas AD Strategy is based more strongly on IBM creating common services (ADCP) which vendors may or may not wish to license. See also TeamConnection.
ADT: Application Development Tools. IBM name for the development toolset on the AS/400. Included PDM, SEU, SDA, and DFU. Replaced by ADTS.
ADTS: Application Development ToolSet for the iSeries 400 environment. Includes a programming development manager (PDM), source entry utility (SEU), screen design aid (SDA), data file utility (DFU), advanced printer function utility, character generator utility and report layout utilities. CODE/400 was added in June 1995. Replaced by WebSphere Development Studio for iSeries July 2001.
Advanced 36: System/36 line introduced in October 1994 based on the AS/400 Advanced Series and includes 64-bit RISC technology, disk caching, remote operations, etc. It was launched to try to convert the vast numbers of System/36s to the AS/400. In February 1996 a second model was announced which used PowerPC technology. It could run SSP1 and OS/400 concurrently. Obsolete.
Advanced ClusterProven: A status reserved for application software, such as IMS1, that meets IBM’s ClusterProven certification, plus: failure recovery with no impact to application availability by the end user, application recovery with no loss of in-flight data or transaction, and reduction/elimination of downtime for planned upgrades.
Advanced Distributed Storage Manager: See ADSM.
Advanced Function Presentation: See AFP.
Advanced Function Printing: See AFP.
Advanced Function Printing Data Stream: See AFPDS.
Advanced Identification Solutions: The IBM business unit that is concerned with the development of biometric identification processes to combat fraud. The intention is to enable effective validation for everything from passports, welfare benefits, driver licensing, and citizen registries by measuring the physical characteristics of a person, such as a fingerprint, hand geometry, voice characteristics, and comparing this measurement against a version of the biometric taken previously from the same person. See Fastgate, FLASH algorithm.
Advanced Network & Services Inc: A non-profit corporation formed in September 1990, which included IBM, MCI, Merit, Nortel and others. It provided the NSFnet backbone, which connected regional networks serving research and education in the USA at a network speed eventually reaching 45Mbps (T3). In February 1995, ANS sold most of its assets and operations to America Online (AOL).
Advanced Series: AS/400s announced in May 1994. Include Advanced Portable, Advanced Systems, and Advanced Server models. There were a few new features: RAID as standard (not on the Portable), tower packaging, FSIOP on the Server, more I/O card slots, improved price performance, use of RISC PowerPC chips, and black paint on the outside.
Advantis: VANS set up by IBM and Sears in December 1992, with the aim of providing a complete network outsourcing service. Initially most of its work was supporting the SNA requirements of large users, but by mid 1993, Advantis was moving fairly rapidly to ATM2. IBM bought out Sears’ portion in 1997 and swallowed it into IBM Global Services, immediately losing the Advantis name.
AEF: See Tivoli Application Extension Facility.
AES: Architecture Engineering Series. RT PC, RS/6000, and PS/2 CAD software for architects. Bought in by IBM from Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. Withdrawn August 1997.
AFCOM: Association For Computer Operations Management. Originally formed for data center managers in 1981, but now attended by anyone interested in data centers.
AFI: Advanced Fulfillment Initiative. A two-pronged IBM initiative to manage its supply chain logistics to reduce inventory and prices. Achieves this by bringing its major suppliers into its own manufacturing facilities in Raleigh, North Carolina, and also by introducing more snap-in components for easier product assembly. Introduced September 1997.
AFIG(S): Advanced Function Image and Graphics. Feature of large IBM APA printers (e.g., the 3900). Enabler for ImagePlus.
AFP: Advanced Function Printing; briefly Advanced Function Presentation beginning in 1994. General IBM term for advanced printer software, notably the software to support 38xx and 39xx APA printers. Originally AFP was mainly restricted to centralized mainframe printers, but it is now used on distributed printers too. See also IPDS, PostScript.
AFP/IPDS: Advanced Function Printing/Intelligent Printer DataStream. See IPDS.
AFPDS: Advanced Function Printing Data Stream. See AFP.
AFP PrintSuite: A package of fonts and other graphics features for OS/400, promising, among other things, to create electronic forms that will replace preprinted forms. Announced June 1996.
AFP Unicode Font: Alternately the Unicode data can be spooled directly into AFP files to be processed by PSF/400 or Host Print Transform, using the AFP Unicode Font resource product (5799-GHJ) via a PRPQ available through your IBM representative
AFP Workbench for Windows: Windows software which allows the user to view AFP and ASCII files as they would be printed on an AFP device, and then add notes to the files, or extract bits of the files for use elsewhere.
AFTP: Advanced File Transfer Protocol. IBM’s implementation of ftp over APPC/LU6.2. See FTP2
Agent: Generic term for a software entity that can accept instructions from a human being or other software and carry them out independently, often over a distance.
Aggregate: Within the mainframe environment, a file which contains the names of other files. All files associated with the aggregate are considered to be a single entity for the purposes of backup/restore and archive/retrieve. Files within an aggregate cannot be accessed individually.
Aglets: AGent AppLETS. Developed by IBM’s Tokyo Research Laboratory to extend the Java applet concept into mobile agents. See Aglets WorkBench.
Aglets WorkBench: Based on Aglets technology, the AWB is a visual environment for building network-based applications that use mobile agents to search for, access, and manage corporate data and other information. AWB consists of the following components: Aglets, Jodax, JDBC, and Tazza, a visual GUI builder for Java.
AGP: Accelerated Graphics Port. The PC bus standard developed by Intel that has replaced PCI as the standard for video cards (i.e., what you plug the monitor into).
AI: See Artificial Intelligence.
AIM/P: Advanced Information Management Prototype. Same as AIM1.
AIM1: Advanced Information Management. IBM research project (at the Heidelberg research labs) for a non-relational database for unstructured data objects – text and graphics – as well as traditional structured data. Part of the project was based on the NF2 data model. The suggestion – at one time – that it was to be a replacement for DB2 is probably a bit far-fetched.
AIM2: Application Interface Macros. Interface to allow application programs (COBOL, REXX, PL/I, C) to access data in the ill-fated Repository Manager/MVS.
Airline Control System: ALCS, also known as TPF/MVS. Runs TPF under z/OS.
AIS: See Advanced Identification Solutions.
AIX/370: Version of AIX for the mainframe as a replacement for IX/370. Much delayed but eventually announced June 1989, although it ran only as a guest under VM (cf. Amdahl which offered a native Unix for its IBM-compatible machines, UTS). Superseded by MVS/ESA OpenEdition, now known as z/OS Unix System Services. See also AIX/ESA.
AIX/6000: Operating system that was renamed AIX1 in October 1995.
AIX/ESA: Version of AIX, based on OSF/1, for the 370/390 environment announced September 1991. Runs in native mode on ES/9000 under VM or in a PR/SM partition. Has OSF/1, Motif, and X/Open certification, and adheres to POSIX 1003.1. Withdrawn June 1996. Many of the components ended up in z/OS Unix System Services. See also AIX/370.
AIX1: Advanced Interactive eXecutive. IBM’s incarnation of Unix for the RT PC, RS/6000, PS/2, and mainframe (see AIX/ESA) – the AIX Family Definition. Basically it’s an enhanced version of Unix V. Started life as the user interface to the operating system for the RT PC (6150/1) CAD/CAM workstation. Since then, it’s gained POSIX-conformance, 52-bit addressing, enhancements in the areas of file reliability, TCP/IP, fault tolerance, NFS support, support for FDDI, support for symmetric multiprocessing, a new COSE-based GUI, and simplified installation and packaging.
AIX2: Alternate IndeX. A KSDS VSAM file mapping a secondary key to the primary key for the same record.
AIX 5080 Emulation Program/6000: Emulates the 5080 graphics system on the RS/6000. Replaced by Soft5080 for AIX in January 1997.
AIX 5L: AIX Version 5 for POWER- and Itanium-based eserver pSeries systems. Announced April 2001 as specifically tuned for Linux. Supports concurrent running of both 32 and 64 bit applications. See AIX1.
AIX CICS/6000: See CICS/6000.
AIX Connections: Extension to AIX which allows an AIX machine to act as a file/print server on a TRN or Ethernet LAN. Originally developed by Syntax Inc, and sold by IBM. Replaced by AIX Fast Connect January 2000.
AIX Fast Connect: AIX optional feature providing file and print services to Windows workstations.
AIX LDAP Security Audit Plug-in: A server plug-in that provides a parallel auditing service to the SecureWay Directory default audit plug-in. The audit data is written into the AIX audit trails.
AIX NetView/6000: See NetView/6000.
AIX OSI Services/6000: AIX software providing support for X.400, file transfer, virtual terminals, TCP/IP, etc. Announced March 1994. Withdrawn December 1995.
AIX RMONitor/6000: RMON network management for AIX. Replaced by Nways LAN Remote Monitor for AIX June 1996. See RMON.
AIX SNA Server/6000: Provides LAN and WAN connections to SNA networks. Announced December 1993. Replaced by Communications Server for AIX in December 1995.
AIX Toolbox for Linux Applications: The unsupported collection of software bits that comes with most Linux distributions.
AIX Viaduct: Interactive data bridge that enables AIX users to integrate their applications with AS/400 and DB2 databases. Uses LU6.2 to provide connection of AIX with OS/400 and MVS environments through SQL. The AS/400 implementation was replaced September 1993 by AIX AS/400 Connection Program/6000 which was itself withdrawn December 1993. The DB2 bridge was withdrawn March 1992.
AIXwindows: User interface to AIX based on OSF/Motif. Announced with the RS/6000 in February 1990. Incorporates IXI’s X.desktop manager, Silicon Graphics’ GL interface, OSF/Motif, X-Windows, and Display Postscript. Absorbed into the AIX operating system October 1995.
AIX Windows Toolkit: A collection of object-oriented C language subroutines that supplement the Enhanced X-Windows Toolkit. These are designed to simplify the creation of interactive client application interfaces. Obsolete.
Akers: John Akers – the chief executive who presided over IBM during the period when its fortunes slumped calamitously. Akers was replaced in April 1993 by Lou Gerstner.
ALB: Address Lookaside Buffer. Performance improvement feature for large mainframes, which works by reducing the machine time needed for address translation.
ALCS: See Airline Control System.
Alert1: A problem determination message sent to a network operator within an SNA and/or TCP/IP network.
Alert2: Access control package originally from Goal Systems. Provides security at the terminal, user, file, or transaction level. Includes menu-driven administration interface, and facilities for disaster recovery and auditing. Available in CICS, VM, and MVS incarnations. At one time sold by IBM for the VSE environment.
Alert Monitor: Obsolete NetView/PC application that collects network information from IBM, Rolm, and IDNX PABXs and sends it to NetView.
Algorithm: A detailed non-programming-language-specific procedure that can be used to solve a problem or perform a specific task.
Allen-Myland Inc: A refurbishing company whose claim to fame is that it got taken to court by IBM in mid 1990 for splitting dual processors in half and selling them as two single processors. Because the dual processor had less than the power of its two component CPUs, IBM sold the dual processor for less than the price of two separate CPUs (e.g., a 3090 400E was less than twice the cost of a 200E). AMI used this differential to try to earn a crust. IBM took AMI to court on the grounds that it had breached the firmware license. The court agreed with IBM, but the judge also suggested that IBM should charge a more reasonable price for the firmware if it were not to be in danger of breaching anti-trust laws (see Consent decree). In the end the judge decided that AMI had breached copyright and that it owed IBM several million dollars. Mid 1994 the case re-opened when a higher court questioned the evidence given earlier by IBM, and reversed the decision. See LIC1.
Allicat: The basic HDA used in all first-generation IBM RAIDs and sold by AdStar into the OEM market. Consisted of a set of 95mm platters with capacities up to 2GB. See also Corsair, Starfire, Spitfire, UltraStar.
Alpha1: Name for the high-powered processor, and workstation built around it, built by Digital before they were bought by Compaq. Even though Microsoft offered a version of Windows NT 4.0 for Alpha, no one seems interested in the Alpha because it is not Intel compatible.
Alpha2: Software undergoes alpha testing as a first step in getting user feedback. See Beta.
alphaWorks: An IBM combined on-line laboratory and World Wide Web site. The site gives visitors the opportunity to preview, use, and experiment with next-generation Internet technologies still under development. Launched August 1996.
Altium: The name of the IBM company that, for a time in the early 1990s, sold the CADAM products (it used to be called CADAM Inc). Altium was an ill-fated foray into the VAR channel business.
ALU: Arithmetic/Logic Unit. The bit of the CPU which executes the instructions. Known as the execution element on the 308x and 3090.
AM: See Access Method1.
AMASPZAP: z/OS batch utility which can be used to apply a fix directly to object code in situ. Often protected against unauthorized use because of its additional ability to make direct changes to disk. See Zap.
Ambra: Brand name of the clone PCs originally sold by ICPI, IBM’s short-lived clone vendor. Initially sold mainly in Europe: mid 1993, the Ambra machines were launched into the US market by the Ambra Computer Corp, described (unlike ICPI, which appeared to be embarrassed by its origins) as an IBM subsidiary. The name Ambra disappeared in Europe in February 1994 along with ICPI, and in the USA in July 1994. See also IPCC.
America: Code name of the second generation RISC CPU in the RS/6000 workstation. See ROMP II.
AMI1: Access Mode Interface.
AMI2: See Allen-Myland Inc.
AmiPro: Word processor from Lotus which IBM at one time seemed to be building up as its own recommended software for the OS/2 environment (mid 1991). Now called WordPro. See also Signature.
AMMR/VM: Attachable Media Manager/VM. See Attachable Media Manager.
AMODE: Addressing MODE. Attribute of z/OS programs indicating the length (in bits) of the addresses used in the program. Introduced in MVS/XA to differentiate between the new 31 bit addressing that expanded the addressable space from 16MB (24 bit) to 2GB. z/OS introduced 64 bit addressing.
AMRF: Action Message Retention Facility. A facility in z/OS that retains all action messages except those specified by the installation.
AMS: Access Method Services. z/OS and VSE subsystem for performing various data-related actions on VSAM and ICF catalogs, including defining VSAM datasets, and deleting and copying most dataset types. In short, a multi-purpose utility. Also known as IDCAMS because that is the program name you specify.
AMT: Address Mapping Table.
AN/DB2: DB2 modeling and capacity planning tool. No longer marketed.
ANA: Assign Network Address.
Anchor: Within a HTML document an anchor is the tag which associates text with a hypertext link. An anchor can either represent the destination of the link or the start of the link.
ANDF: Architecture Neutral Distribution Format. An attempt to create a standard to allow software to be ported between different incarnations of Unix. In effect, it appears to be an attempt to create a universal computer language. Supported by OSF.
A-Net: VTAM application which links 3270 users into non-IBM (TCP/IP and X.25) networks by enabling 3270-type terminals to pretend to be full-screen ASCII terminals. Developed by Teubner and marketed by IBM. Withdrawn March 1996.
Annandale: Internal IBM code name for its Repository project, which eventually emerged as Repository Manager/MVS.
ANO: Automated Network Operations. NetView software for automating network operations. Became available mid 1989 as a SolutionPac, and as a proper product in June 1991. Could be used to set up a single network control point (based on the interception of VTAM messages) which controls multiple domains, and displays relevant data in real-time. There’s an automated network recovery manager (ANRM) which brings an ailing network back to life again. ANO/MVS was replaced by AON/MVS in the early 1990s. See also LANAO/MVS.
Anonymous FTP: Internet servers known as Anonymous FTP (AFTP) servers allow guests to log in and access public resources. Normally users log in as anonymous, and the browser uses their e-mail address for the password string.
ANR: See Automatic Network Routing.
ANS: See Advanced Network & Services Inc.
ANSI: American National Standards Institute. US standards body.
ANSI X.12: A generalized standard for EDI.
Anti-aliasing: Technique for improving the readability of characters on a screen (even a low resolution one). IBM has a proprietary technique for anti-aliasing which, it claims, increases readability of PC screens by 30%.
Anti-trust: A US term for legislation which prevents large monopolies abusing a dominant market position by restrictive or unfair marketing practices. IBM voluntarily agreed to refrain from such practices (see Consent Decree), but there are many who suspect that it finds the urge irresistible on occasions (see AMI2). Now that IBM has become altogether more humble (sic), all eyes are focused on Microsoft.
AntiVirus: LAN (Enterprise Edition) and shrink-wrapped retail stand-alone workstation (Desktop Edition) software from IBM for OS/2, DOS, Windows and NetWare. Announced 1993. IBM combined forces with Symantec in May 1998 and both companies sold Norton AntiVirus for a while. Unfortunately, IBM AntiVirus supported many workstation configurations that neither Norton nor McAfee could handle, at least initially. IBM stopped marketing Symantec/Norton anti-virus-related products in July 2001.
Anti-virus software: Software that can scan memory, files and magnetic media for viruses, remove them (when possible) and protect a running system from virus attacks.
AnyLAN: LAN standard floated by IBM and HP in September 1993. Enables 100Mbps Ethernet and 100Mbps TRN to run over a range of wiring, including twisted pair. Note that it simply enables either type of network to run on the wiring – it doesn’t provide integrated LANs.
AnyMail: The AnyMail Mail Server Framework was added to OS/400 in October 1994. It provides messaging services to e-mail APIs included with Client Access/400 and Ultimedia Mail/400. POP3 and MIME support was added in June 1996.
AnyNet: Protocol conversion technology from IBM based on the MPTN architecture of the Networking Blueprint. Can be used to convert SNA to TCP/IP or vice versa. AnyNet gateways can also encapsulate IPX and NetBIOS traffic within SNA LU6.2 message units using software that IBM originally marketed as LTLW. AnyNet is available in stand-alone gateway form (e.g., IBM 2217) or as a feature within server software (e.g., OS/2 Warp and z/OS). Now primarily used to convert SNA traffic to TCP/IP, as a direct alternative to DLSw encapsulation of SNA.
AnyNet/2: Implementation of AnyNet under OS/2, announced August 1993. Allows APPC, CPI-C, and Sockets applications to operate independently of SNA and TCP/IP protocols. Replaced by Communications Server for OS/2 Warp.
AO: Automated Operations.
AOC/MVS: Automated Operations Control/MVS. NetView application which automates some console operation functions, including allowing operators to monitor MVS subsystems and local and remote MVS systems from a central location. Facilities include automated response to console messages, operator usability dialogs, real-time data store for automation, and operator-friendly interfaces for installation. Replaces ACO. Replaced by System Automation July 1997. See also AOEXPERT/MVS.
AOEXPERT/MVS: SAA SystemView Automated Operations Expert. Expert system providing intelligent real-time automation under NetView and AOC/MVS. Announced December 1992. Withdrawn January 1997.
AOI: Automated Operator Interface. IMS/VS facility allowing programs to issue and action operator commands.
AOL: America On-Line. The largest proprietary alternative to getting hooked up directly to the Internet. Much more popular than MSN2.
AON: Automated Operations Network.
AON/MVS: Automated Operations Network/MVS. NetView software, announced April 1994, which provides a library of ready-made NetView network automation functions, including automated resource monitoring, recovery, and tracking. Includes support for SNA, TCP/IP, subarea SNA, X.25, APPN, and TRN. Withdrawn January 2000.
AOR: Application Owning Region.
AOX: See MicroMASTER.
AP: Attached Processor. A second CPU attached to the memory of a standard uniprocessor to provide limited (it doesn’t have its own I/O channels) multiprocessor facilities. Not as resilient as an MP configuration. Obsolete concept in a parallel sysplex world.
APA: All-Points Addressable. Able to address all the points (pixels) on a graphic output device. Typically used to describe screens, and laser and other printers able to handle graphic output. IBM’s favored APA printer datastream is IPDS, although PostScript is also supported. Bit-mapped is often used more or less synonymously.
Apache server: Reportedly powering more than half of all Web sites, this freeware Web server was developed by programmers who volunteered their time. It implements HTTP 1.1 protocol and is supported by OS/400 and AIX, as well as being behind IBM HTTP Server within WebSphere Application Server.
APAR: Authorized Program Analysis Report. An official report of a software error to IBM. Also used to refer to the patch supplied by IBM to fix the error (PTF is the correct term). See also SPE.
APD: Applications Program Driver. Software which sits on top of OS/400 and acts as a sort of high-level JCL.
APE: Application Prototype Environment. APL-based system for prototyping applications in VM/MVS environments. Primarily an Information Center tool – notwithstanding IBM’s claims that it is appropriate for professional programmers. Obsolete.
APF1: Advanced Printer Function. iSeries 400 utility providing support for the advanced functions of 5224 and 5225 printers. Part of ADTS
APF2: Asynchronous Pageout Facility. Technique introduced into the new technology ES/9000s in June 1992, which allows processor execution to overlap with the transfer of pages from central to expanded storage. IBM reckons it speeds up paging and is particularly useful to numerically intensive applications (difficult sums, to you and me). Became available on 9121s as from February 1993.
APF3: Authorized Program Facility.
APF-authorized: Programs permitted to use sensitive system functions by the z/OS Authorized Program Facility (APF3).
API: Application Program(ming) Interface. Documented programming procedures to access a given piece of software; typically an entry point name and parameter list. A generic – not IBM-specific – term. The API in one piece of software enables users/developers to hook one piece of software into another. APIs are the interfaces and protocols that turn a set of software products into an architecture – there are no strategic software products – only strategic interfaces.
API/CS: Application Program Interface Communications Services. The interface between NetView/PC and device-dependent applications. Obsolete.
APL: Programming language conceived within IBM by K E Iverson. Was used to promote the Information Center concept in the late 1970s, and formed the basis of a number of decision-support tools, including ADRS II, ADI, and IC/1. Although extremely powerful, APL uses up vast amounts of machine resource, is difficult to use, and requires special keyboards. It has had a mixed reception as a language, and is now largely restricted to enthusiasts.
APL2: IBM’s mainframe APL environment for z/OS, z/VM, Windows NT/9x/2000/Me, OS/2, AIX, and Sun Solaris.
APLDI II: Information Center product, incorporated into IC/1, and now obsolete.
APM: See Tivoli Application Performance Management.
APP: Application.
APPC: Advanced Program-to-Program Communication. SNA facility (based on LU6.2 and PU12.1) for general purpose interprogram communications in the intelligent workstation market (not the 3270 world). Often used synonymously with LU6.2 (LU6.2 is the architecture, and APPC is the programming interface, complete with 130 verbs, to it).
APPC/MLU: APPC/Multiple Logical Units. Enables multiple System/36s to communicate over a single line to CICS. Obsolete.
APPC/MVS: Subsystem announced September 1990 which provides a range of APPC services (including DDM) across a network or across memory via cooperative processing primitives within the operating system. Callable by standard CPI-C procedure calls. Potentially it saves an awful lot of Assembler, VTAM, CICS and TSO programming, and gives much more flexibility in creating applications. APPC/MVS also provides a way for jobs to enter and be scheduled in an z/OS system. See also OLCP, RPC.
APPC/PC: Advanced Program-to-Program Communication for Personal Computers. Package providing LU6.2 and PU12.1 support for DOS PCs. Withdrawn September 1994.
APPC/VM: Primitive (i.e., not LU6.2) version of APPC for VM. Used in TSAF.
APPCCB: An LU6.2 control block.
APPI: Advanced Peer to Peer Internetworking. An alternative solution to IBM’s APPN, initiated by Cisco with the support of various other router vendors. APPI offered similar functionality to APPN, but was built on top of IP (rather than SNA) protocols, and was consequently more open. It was announced in response to IBM’s decision to patent the APPN technology and make it available only under license. It all fell apart in Aug 1993, when Cisco took out a license to APPN, and abandoned the APPI Forum, which subsequently ceased to exist.
APPL: Application.
Apple: The owner of the second most successful proprietary desktop environment after DOS/Windows. Apple’s Macintosh environment has an intensely loyal following, and its user interface is still the standard against which all other desktop environments are measured. July 1991, IBM and Apple set up Taligent, a joint company to create a new object-oriented operating system, which was absorbed back into IBM some four years later. See also Pink, Kaleida, Macintosh, Motorola, PowerPC, Taligent.
Applet: Originally a very twee bit of IBMspeak, introduced with OS/2 Version 2.0, meaning a little application. These days it’s usually used to refer to a small program written in Java, which can be downloaded to a user workstation from an Internet server and executed by a Web browser. Applet security is defined in two ways: first, the applet cannot access the client’s file system; second, the applet’s network communication is limited to the download server.
AppleTalk: Communications protocol used on Apple computer networks.
Application Binary Interface: See ABI.
Application-Centric Terminal: An IBM name (vintage mid 1996) for the Network Computer.
Application Framework for e-Business: A cross-IBM initiative providing a set of open standards, services and products that allow the creation of platform-independent e-business applications. The framework’s architecture model is based on an n-tier distributed environment. Announced late 2000.
Application Layer: In the OSI Reference Model, the Application Layer provides a means for open systems applications to exchange information. It also contains the application-oriented protocols through which these processes communicate.
Application-level gateway: A firewall proxy server that performs a requested service for a client.
Application Mining: An IBM initiative in the late 1990s to interface existing on-line (especially CICS) applications, without modification, to graphical workstations, network computers or web browsers. See also CICS Transaction Gateway, CICS Universal Clients.
Application plan: See Plan.
Application Programming Interface: See API.
Application server: A computer dedicated to running one or more applications, which is able to receive requests from designated clients and return appropriate results. Analogous to a file or database server.
Application System: IBM mainframe decision support system. See AS1.
Application Tag API: This Workload Manager (WLM) function enables multiple instances of the same application to exist in different classes. Using Application Tag API, applications can enable automatic assignment of multiple instances of the same application in different classes.
Application User Identity: An alternate name by which a RACF user can be known to an application.
APPLID: Application ID.
APPN: Advanced Peer-to-Peer Networking. Architecture derived from SNA/LEN (PU12.1), providing mainframeless, peer-to-peer networking with dynamic multipath routing; capable of supporting several hundred thousand nodes. IBM’s answer to the minicomputer suppliers’ networking solutions. Introduced on the System/36, and then the AS/400, APPN was announced for OS/2 EE and the 3174 early 1991, made available in MVS and the 3745 in September 1992, reached VM and VSE in January 1995 and is still going strong today. January 1992 IBM announced that it would sell licenses for network node support to other manufacturers. March 1992 APPN reached its apotheosis, when IBM announced that the APPN approach would supersede subarea SNA as the standard way of building SNA networks. See Networking blueprint.
APPN+: New version of APPN announced early 1993 which IBM positioned (not terribly successfully) as a rival to TCP/IP. 3 to 10 times as fast as standard APPN (achieved largely through reduction in the overhead at the network nodes), and with true dynamic alternative path routing. Designed to support multi-gigabit/sec systems, such as ATM2, as the corporate backbone. See also HPR.
APPNTAM: APPN Topology and Accounting Manager.
Approach: A Lotus relational database that is tightly integrated with Notes.
APR: Alternate Path Retry. Facility allowing a failed I/O operation to be tried on a different channel. The term is yet another example of the inability of the computer industry to use the words alternate and alternative correctly.
APS: Application Processing Services. Component of DIA, facilitating office systems, and supporting other DIA services, including changing a document from revisable to final form, inter-program communications, etc.
APSE: ADA Programming Support Environment. See ADA.
APT: Automatically Programmed Tools. A programming language for numerically controlled machine tools.
Aptiva: IBM’s computer family for the consumer market first announced in October 1994 to replace the PS/1. Replaced by NetVista September 2000.
APUNS: Adjacent Physical Unit Network Services.
AR: Access Register. Introduced as part of ESA, these special registers in processors are used in conjunction with General Purpose Registers (GPRs) to access more than the 2GB of data normally accessible in 31-bit addressing. cf. 64-bit addressing.
ARB: See Adaptive Rate-Based Congestion Control.
Arbre: Almaden Research Back-end Relational Engine. IBM database research project in multi-processor, highly parallel, query systems. Developed in a VM environment using bits of SQL/DS and DB2. Obsolete.
Architect: Those who believe that architect is a noun denoting someone who designs buildings are, of course, completely mistaken. In the wonderful world of IBMspeak, it’s a verb meaning conforming to a grandiose scheme, and it’s usually used in constructions such as an architected solution which means that it conforms to some marketecture or other: for example an SAA-architected product was one that contained the letters SAA in its name.
Architecture: According to the dictionary, architecture is the overall design of the hardware and software of a computer. Architectures and conceptual schemes are a particular strength of IBM, although sometimes (as with bits of SAA) there is more than a hint of retro-fitting the design to the status quo ante. IBM architectures include SAA, SNA, DDM, APPC, APPN, GTA, IAA, and a multiplicity of others. See also Marketecture, Architect.
Ardis: IBM/Motorola joint venture (announced January 1990) to build a US-wide wireless data comms network so that there would be no way of avoiding computers even if you couldn’t get near a telephone. Mid 1994, IBM pulled out and sold its stake to Motorola.
ARF: See Automatic Reconfiguration Facility.
ARM1: ACRE/RETAIN Merge. A combination of ACRE and RETAIN data. Not of great relevance to man or beast except that it’s an instance of that rare animal, the three level acronym – the full expansion is ACRE (APAR (Authorized Program Analysis Report) Control Remote Entry)/RETAIN (REmote Technical Assistance and Information Network) Merge. Good, ennit?
ARM2: Application Response Measurement. An application programming interface that can be used to monitor the availability and performance of business transactions within and across diverse applications and systems. It was developed by a group of technology vendors, including Tivoli.
ARM3: Automatic Restart Manager. A recovery function in z/OS that automatically restarts batch jobs and started tasks after unexpected termination.
ARM agent: A Tivoli agent that monitors software using the Application Response Measurement (ARM2). This is shipped as part of Tivoli Distributed Monitoring.
Armonk: The location of IBM’s Headquarters in Westchester County, New York State, about an hour’s drive north of New York. Urban myth has it that the headquarters were located outside of New York City because Thomas Watson senior thought that it was vulnerable to nuclear attack during the Cold War, and incidentally he did not like the commute. The first headquarters at Armonk were built in 1964 and were moved in 1997 to a new 280,000 square foot building.
ARP: See Address Resolution Protocol.
ARPA: Advanced Research Projects Agency. The agency in the US Department of Defense responsible for creating ARPAnet. This agency is now called the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). See ARPAnet.
ARPAnet: Advanced Research Projects Agency network. The precursor to the Internet. Tradition has it that the network was developed in the 1960s as a military communications system designed to survive a nuclear assault. Unsurprisingly the actual reason which emerges is that it was developed for purely economic motives.
Artic: A Real-Time Interface Co-processor microchannel card originally designed for PC Network and TRN, and used for connecting (as a 3174 controller) real time devices, including programmable controllers, robots, and machine tools. These days Artic is increasingly being used as a pretty generalized family of add-in cards for off-loading I/O and other tasks from the main processor.
Artificial intelligence: Generic term for computer systems that use some kind of reasoning process akin to that allegedly used by the human mind. Knowledge-based, and expert systems are the most widely applied artificial intelligence applications in the IBM world. See Expert systems.
ARTour: Replaced by the IBM eNetwork Wireless product family in September 1997.
ARTour Web Express: IBM software used to extend the World Wide Web to mobile users. Announced February 1997. Renamed in September 1997 as the eNetwork Web Express.
ARU: Audio Response Unit. A device that provides a spoken response to digital enquiries from a telephone or similar. The DirectTalk family of products are ARUs.
AS/400: Application System/400. IBM’s mid-range processor. Announced June 1988 and originally aimed at the System/3x replacement, and departmental and distributed machine market. By January 1994, the 250,000th AS/400 had been shipped (to Coca-Cola in Belgium). May 1994 the Advanced Series came out. Replaced by the iSeries 400 October 2000.
AS/400 Advanced 36: See Advanced 36.
AS/400 Advanced Entry: Entry-level AS/400 which bundles processor, disk drive, tape backup unit, and preloaded software into a single unit.
AS/400 BASIC: AS/400 version of the BASIC programming language.
AS/400e: Replaced by iSeries 400.
AS/400 NetServer: File and print server for Windows workstations accessing AS/400-managed data and printers.
AS/400 Office: Office software for the AS/400. Became OfficeVision/400 in May 1989, and has now been overtaken by PC-based systems, but is still available.
AS/400 PASCAL: AS/400 version of the PASCAL programming language. Based on the ANSI X3.97-1983 standard. Withdrawn December 1997.
AS/400 PL/I: AS/400 version of the PL/I programming language. Withdrawn February 2000.
AS/400 Portable: Portable version of the AS/400 announced September 1993 – aka the Luggable Huggable. Full function, single user, attache case size, and capable of running all software that runs under OS/400. Requires a ThinkPad or similar notebook computer as a console. Initially sold through VARs who customized it and packaged it as an application-specific device. An Advanced Portable model was announced January 1995 with more memory, performance, etc. Withdrawn July 1997.
AS/400 Web Server in a Box: Internet Server package based on the AS/400 Advanced Server. Announced July 1996. Obsolete.
AS/Entry: Originally, the AS/Entry was the 5363, an entry level System/36 which IBM re-christened to try to pretend that it was really a pukka member of the AS/400 family – it wasn’t, since it couldn’t run the OS/400 operating system, just the System/36 SSP. Later versions of the AS/Entry included the option to upgrade to a proper AS/400 by a complete processor board swap. Obsolete.
AS1: Application System. An interactive applications development, decision support, and personal computing facility which runs under z/VM, or z/OS with TSO. Provides graphics, statistical functions, business modeling, and forecasting. Version 4.2 (Oct 1996) provides advanced client/server support for OS/2 and Windows workstations. Sold to ASTRAC and withdrawn by IBM in January 1999. See also Personal Application System.
AS2: See Advanced Series.
ASA: Advanced Systems Architecture. At one time, a rumored top-end MVS operating environment.
ASAI: Adjunct/Switch Application Interface. AT&T’s published interface for linking computers and telephone switches.
ASAP: Automatic Software Alert Process. IBM system providing customers with automatic electronic notification of critical information – notably bugs. Available within the SoftwareXcel program.
ASCII: American Standard Code for Information Interchange. A modification of the international code which has become a de facto standard (except for IBM which uses the EBCDIC code) for transmitting data. Uses seven bits plus a parity bit, and includes alphanumeric and control characters. ASCII must be converted to EBCDIC for uploading to IBM mainframes. ASCII terminals is often used to refer to asynchronous terminals such as those used in the Unix environment. IBM’s main ASCII terminal family is the 3164.
ASCII TTY: ASCII TeleTYpe protocol. Asynchronous transmission of ASCII characters. Long used in Unix, DEC and most minicomputer systems from host to dumb terminal.
Ascot: IBM pre-launch code name for the PS/1.
ASC X12: Accredited Standards Committee X12. Comprises North American industry members who create EDI standards for submission to ANSI for approval or for submission to the United Nations Standards Committee.
ASD1: Application Software Division. Former division within IBM’s Information Systems Group, whose role was to ensure that IBM systems have lots of application software and that IBM can help customers to acquire that software.
ASD2: Automated Software Distribution.
ASF1: Application Support Facility/Feature. Mainframe software (announced April 1988) which was launched with a great fanfare with claims that it would provide a front-end to IBM’s office systems to enable MVS and VSE software products to present a common user interface to 3270 terminals. These days it’s said to be designed for the creation and processing of varied sized volumes of individual and structured documents and business correspondence. Withdrawn for VSE September 2000, but still available for z/OS.
ASF2: Alert Standard Format. See DMTF.
ASG: See Australasian SHARE/GUIDE.
ASGO: Annualized Software Growth Offering. A short-lived and long forgotten IBM discount scheme; you tell IBM how much you spent on software in the last year, and IBM agrees to let you have all the software you want over the next year for that amount of money. The day of reckoning comes at the end of the year, when you find you can’t do without all the software you’ve grown to know and love, and have to start paying the full price to keep it.
ASI: Automatic System Initiation. Startup definitions for VSE/ESA.
ASIC: Application Specific Integrated Circuit. A type of VLSI chip designed to carry out a specific task. IBM sells CMOS ASIC chips in the semiconductor market.
ASID: Address Space IDentifier.
ASIM: Automated Systems Information Management. MVS systems management products. Information/MVS or Info/Man are pre-requisites. Developed by Information Retrieval Co, and marketed by IBM until November 1994.
ASM1: Address Space Manager.
ASM2: Auxiliary Storage Manager. The part of z/OS which looks after the I/O operations relating to paging – specifically the pages and page slots on external storage (typically DASD).
ASM H: Assembler H. Extended version of standard Assembler used in MVS/XA and later.
ASN: Abstract Syntax Notation. ASN.1 is a high level specification language used to define the X.400 protocols.
ASO: Automated Systems Operations.
ASP1: Attached Support Processor. Early OS spooling system which eventually evolved into JES3.
ASP2: Advanced SQL Protocol. SAA standard for shipping SQL between SAA databases, and at one time a candidate as an industry standard. Little heard of these days – DRDA and ODBC now dominate.
ASP3: Average Selling Price.
ASP4: Auxiliary Storage Pools in OS/400. See also User ASP.
ASP5: Active Server Page(s). A Microsoft architecture which allows dynamic commands, such as those necessary to retrieve database information, to be embedded in HTML pages. First introduced with the Internet Information Server (IIS) 3.0 Web Server, and now a popular server-side scripting scheme for creating dynamic, highly interactive Web pages and applications.
ASP Solution Pack: Lotus platform, based on Domino and WebSphere, for developing ready-to-rent web-based applications, and a system for hosting, managing and delivering web-based solutions to end customers.
Assembler: The language which allows the user to get closest to the hardware on IBM mainframes. Assembler statements correspond one-to-one with mainframe, machine-level instructions. (Strictly speaking Assembler is not the language, it’s the software that translates the language into executable code; in most cases Assembler means the language.) Specific to the mainframe; other platforms typically refer to their equivalents as Assembly Language. See also Assembler H, High Level Assembler.
Assembler H: A high level version of Assembler announced early 1992 for ESA environments. Supports ESA dataspaces, 31-bit applications, and other ESA features. Replaced early 1993 by High Level Assembler.
Asset Manager: Asset Manager/MVS. SAA and SystemView product announced September 1990, availability delayed June 1991, then withdrawn April 1992 prior to availability. Promised to manage enterprise hardware, software, and related resources (i.e., it tells you what hardware and software you’ve got), but I guess we’ll never know. The process manager component did show up a month later in Process Services but it was withdrawn March 1994. Customers were referred to Information Retrieval Companies, Inc. (IRC) for their inventory management needs. IRC was a member of the IBM International Alliance for SystemView.
Assist: Firmware and/or hardware which carries out functions formerly carried out by software. Used to provide enhanced performance for frequently-used functions; e.g., in June 1992 IBM introduced three assists on the ES/9000 to improve string handling. Assist is an example of a verb which has been nouned.
ASSIST/400: IBM support program for AS/400 users. Provides problem management, status tracking, and problem resolution for IBM hardware and software.
Asymmetric: A reference to the use of different keys for encryption and decryption in computer security.
Async: Abbreviation for asynchronous.
Asynch: Abbreviation for asynchronous.
Asynchronous: An asynchronous (also known as start-stop) system is one in which there is not a constant time interval between the events in the system. Typically each character in an asynchronous system is de-limited by start and stop bits (cf. a synchronous system, in which bits are synchronized to a timer). Not surprisingly, asynchronous transmission is dreadfully slow and, in the IBM world, has largely been superseded by block-mode protocols such as BSC and SDLC1. Unfortunately the adoption of Unix, which supports asynchronous terminals (also known as ASCII terminals), seems to be slowing its demise. Note that asynchronous is also used to refer to systems with store-and-forward facilities where there is a time delay between events in different parts of the system (e.g., MQSeries); a better term for the latter is de-synchronized.
Asynchronous Data Mover Facility: Function (ADMF) introduced on certain ES/9000s to reduce CPU usage when large amounts of data are moved between central and expanded storage. Requires the appropriate subsystem software. IBM claims that it can improve elapsed time for DB2 queries by up to 20% and it was used by DB2 Hiperpools. Later advancements of the Move Page instruction matched the speed of ADMF, so the Fast Sync Data Mover Facility was invented to indicate to DB2 that Move Page should be used instead of ADMF.
Asynchronous pageout: See APF2.
AT&T: American Telephone & Telegraph Company. The parent company of most of the US common carrier companies, and many subsidiaries in the information industry, and the only company with the muscle to take on IBM. For years the general industry view was that, although it may have had the brawn, AT&T was short on the brain. However, AT&T’s success in persuading the world that its wholly owned Unix was actually less proprietary than MVS suggests that AT&T was rather brighter than most people believed, although the fact that it sold Unix to Novell just when it became flavor of the month may temper that view.
AT&T GIS: The re-named NCR, which was bought up by AT&T at the beginning of 1994. It became NCR again at the beginning of 1996.
ATAPI: Advanced Technology Attachment Packet Interface. A standard which allows the connection of a CD-ROM drive to an enhanced IDE adapter. This has considerably simplified the installation of CD-ROM drives.
ATC: Authorization To Copy. Scheme (restricted to PC software) in which users are allowed by IBM to make duplicate copies of IBM software (for a fee) for use by other users. The copier has to keep a register for inspection by IBM. In effect it’s a sort of site-licensing agreement, but one in which the user does all the work, and IBM gets all the cash. Replaced by DUA in October 1989.
ATCVT: VTAM Communication Vector Table.
ATL: Automatic Tape Library (also known as Automatic Cartridge System – ACS, tape silo, or silo). Type of mass storage system (MSS) in which industry standard (3480/3490) tapes are loaded by a robotic arm. Do not confuse ATLs with automatic cartridge loaders such as that on the 3490. After years of protestation that there was no place for an ATL in its scheme of things, IBM announced its first ATL in May 1992 (the 3495) along with SMS1 support, and introduced the rather more usable 3494 in September 1993. See also 3495, ACL, ACS2, Epic, MSS1, RMM, Silo, Tape silo.
ATM1: Automatic Teller Machine. Generic term for cashpoint/hole-in-the-wall and similar banking machines. IBM, with its customary terminological idiosyncrasy, knows them as Consumer Transaction Facilities. July 1990 IBM and Diebold set up a joint venture – Interbold – to market ATMs worldwide. See 3624, 1/LINK.
ATM2: Asynchronous Transfer Mode. Strategic Layer 2, ITU-T data transfer standard, derived from a 1988 initiative for Broadband ISDN (B-ISDN), that combines the constant bandwidth and consistent delay characteristics of circuit switching with the resource sharing and bursty traffic accommodating features of packet switching. The basis of ATM is the very fast switching of fixed-length, 53-byte cells that permits voice, video and data traffic to be supported across a given link at the same time without the voice or video traffic suffering any disruptive interruptions from other traffic. July 1993 IBM announced a whole strategy for ATM – Broadband Network Services. See also 8260, APPN+, Broadband Network Services, Frame Relay, Nways, PDH, Prizma, PTM, SDH, Switched Virtual Networking, TNN, Turboways 100.
ATM campus network: A network of ATM2 nodes located within the same local area, normally less than a kilometer.
ATMS III: Advanced Text Management System III. Mainframe-based text processing system in use for many years. Extensively used by technical writers for whom its user hostility was not a problem. Runs on the mainframe under VSE or MVS with CICS. Withdrawn January 1990 with migration to BookMaster or CALS recommended by IBM.
ATM traffic descriptor: The intrinsic traffic characteristics (such as forward/backward peak cell rate or forward/backward maximum burst size) of an Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM2) connection.
Atomic transaction: A set of related transactions on the RS/6000 which are grouped as a single transaction in database memory to help recovery/restart after a crash. See also Remote Unit Of Work.
Attachable Media Manager: Automated system under VM for managing attachable devices such as drives, volumes, tapes. Maintains a database about the contents of media. Seems to overlap considerably with some of the functions of DFSMS. Withdrawn May 1994.
Attribute: See user attribute and group-related user attribute.
At Work: A Microsoft initiative in the mid-1990s to set standards for embedding Windows features in office products – photocopiers, faxes, printers, and the like.
ATX: Advanced transistor technology. The base technology used in the top end ES/9000s.
Audit: A thorough and systematic review of procedures, their implementation and the results.
Auditor: An individual who performs audits. Internal auditors work for the organization being audited. External do not.
AUDITOR attribute: A user attribute that permits use of the RACF audit features.
Audit trail: Detailed logging of individual security-related activities, allowing a specific event to be traced from beginning to end.
Auspex: Company specializing in high-performance servers. IBM set up a short-lived alliance with Auspex in late 1992 which produced the 7501 server.
Australasian SHARE/GUIDE: An IBM user group serving Asia and Australia/New Zealand. See SHARE and GUIDE.
Authentication: A term which has a series of meanings in computer security, including the verification of the identity of a user, or the user’s eligibility to access a system. Sometimes it is used to indicate that a message has not been altered or corrupted.
Authentication service: A service in APPC that provides a method for generating authentication information on the originating side and verifying authentication information on the destination side. The authentication service is interfaced with the Generic Security Service Application Programming Interface (GSS API).
Authentication token: See authenticator.
Authenticator: A hand-held electronic device (or software that emulates it) that can be identified because each device generates a unique set of characters at a fixed point in time.
Authority: The right to access resources, objects or functions.
Authorization checking: Checking authority using the RACF RACROUTE macro, with REQUEST= parameters such as AUTH, FASTAUTH and VERIFY.
Authorized path: A facility in VTAM under z/OS that enables an application to specify that a data transfer be carried out in a more efficient manner.
AutoBridge: Tivoli NetView for z/OS facility which enables information to be exchanged automatically between NetView and Tivoli Service Desk. Announced January 1993.
AutoFS: Sun’s ONC+ implementation of automatic mounting. AutoFS was ported to AIX in April 1998.
AutoGUI: Automatic rejuvenation of host screens, as with IBM’s Host On-Demand Screen Customizer.
AutoID: Intended to replace UPC bar coding, tracking not only unique products, but giving each unit of a product a separate AutoID, much as a serial number does for more expensive products.
Automated operator: An application program in IMS1 that can issue a subset of IMS operator commands and receive status information on the execution of the commands.
Automated transfer: A mode that a user can choose to have data automatically transmitted over the network with the IBM eNetwork Mobile Equalizer.
Automatic command direction: RACF’s automatic routing of commands to remote RRSF nodes.
Automatic DataSet Protection: See ADSP attribute.
Automatic direction: See automatic command direction, automatic direction of application updates and automatic password direction.
Automatic direction of application updates: RRSF’s ability to route RACF database update requests, using the ICHEINTY and RACROUTE macros, to remote RRSF nodes.
Automatic Dump Analysis tool: An AIX tool that automatically examines a dump and pulls out (in text) relevant information for forwarding to support entities as an e-mail attachment. This avoids having to send the entire dump file.
Automatic Network Routing: The lowest layer in HPR’s Layer 2 routing scheme. A low-overhead, connectionless routing mechanism for rapidly switching message units along a predetermined path based on Routing Information Field (RIF) concept akin to that used by Source Route Bridging (SRB).
Automatic password direction: RRSF’s ability to change the password for a user ID on remote RRSF nodes whenever the password is changed on the local system.
Automatic profile: The tape volume profile created by RACF when a RACF-defined user protects a tape dataset.
Automatic Reconfiguration Facility: A PR/SM feature that allows you to reset and reconfigure one or more LPARs and their related storage, then redistribute workload from the failed primary system to the backup system without operator intervention. Announced June 1992.
Automation script: A script in the IBM eNetwork Mobile Equalizer that performs certain operations automatically in response to system events or user preferences. For example, an automation script can determine which files to transfer based on the type of network connection, the bandwidth of the network connection, and the file size.
Auxiliary storage: All storage which needs a channel I/O to access it (basically cache, SSD, disk, tape, mass storage).
Availability management: The Tivoli management discipline that considers the collection and analysis of information regarding the operational status of an organization’s network allowing for the appropriate corrective action to be taken.
AVC: Audio Visual Connection. OS/2 and DOS software for creating presentations which mix video, text, and audio. Provides synchronization of audio, video and text, graphic manipulation, some ability to link images with text, and full motion video. AVC is designed for environments where a single master is produced by a professional, and distributed for play-back on lots of fairly low-power systems (i.e., it’s not something for the manager in the street to develop his own presentations). Typical uses would include development of a computerized mail order/parts catalog for use in showrooms/shops. Can be used in conjunction with KnowledgeTool. According to IBM, voice, stereophonic music, and the amazing visual quality of the IBM PS/2 all combine to make this the most amazing concept in Personal Computing – amazing isn’t it? Obsolete.
AVS: APPC/VM VTAM Support. The VTAM equivalent of TSAF for VM environments. Allows connection of APPC programs running in non-VM systems.
AVT: Address Vector Table.
Axiom: Software developed at the IBM labs at Yorktown Heights. Used for solving algebra, calculus, graphics functions, and for using as a calculator for very difficult sums.
B
B1: B1 Trusted Computer Systems Evaluation Criteria. A US Department of Defense security rating. IBM has acquired B1 status for z/VM and z/OS.
B2B: See Business to Business.
B2C: Business to Consumer. A subdivision of e-commerce in which a business interacts with retail customers (usually by offering goods or services for sale in an online shopfront).
Bachman: At one time an IBM business partner which provided AD/Cycle and SystemView tools, including the Database Administrator for DB2, the Data Analyst process and data modeler, and the Designer CSP code generator. The partnership broke up early 1993. Early 1996 Bachman merged with Cadre Technologies to form Cayenne Software, which was purchased by Sterling Software in August 1998. Sterling was purchased by Computer Associates in February 2000.
Backbone: Generic term for a LAN or WAN – or combination of the two – which provides connectivity between subnetworks across the enterprise. The subnetworks are connected to the backbone via bridges and/or routers, and the backbone acts as a communications trunk for LAN-to-LAN traffic.
Back door: See trap door.
Backend: The program in the AIX operating system that sends output to a device.
Back-level: IBMspeak for a prior release of an IBM product, which may not support certain functionality in a more recent release.
Backout: Originally, a process in IMS1 which removes all database updates performed by an application that has abended. Is now offered in DB2, VSAM (CICSVR) and other environments.
Backup dataset: In RACF, a dataset in the backup RACF database.
Backup RACF database: A RACF database defined in the dataset name table (ICHRDSNT) that is kept current with the primary RACF database. No IPL is required to switch to the backup should the primary fail.
BAL: Basic Assembler Language. The machine language on the original 360 from which the modern Assembler languages are derived.
Balanced routing: A networking methodology where network routes are assigned in such a manner that all routes are used equally.
Balun: Generic term for a small, passive, impedance-matching device for connecting BALanced and UNbalanced cables (e.g., 3270 coax cable with twisted pairs). Often produces a small performance degradation. Used in the IBM Cabling System.
BAN: See Boundary Access Node.
Bandwidth: A measure of how fast a network can transfer information, originally measured in Hertz (Hz), but now used for any measure of network throughput. The more precise definition: frequency range within a radiation band required to transmit a particular signal. Measures the difference between the highest and lowest signal frequencies in millions of cycles per second.
BARC: An acronym for before, after, removal, and commit. An obsolete term for a configuration program.
Bar code: See UPC.
Bar code reader: See scanner3.
Bart: Code name for the VisualAge for Visual BASIC software released in June 1996.
Baseband: Generic term for a type of transmission medium capable of carrying just one channel. Ethernet and the IBM Token Ring Network are baseband systems. cf. Broadband.
Base Control Program: The core MVS, OS/390 or z/OS operating system, not including components such as JESx, ISPF, TSO/E.
BASE disk: The z/VM virtual disk that contains the text decks and macro-instructions for VTAM, NetView, and VM/SNA console support.
Base LIC load: The original firmware delivered with a system or device when it came from the factory.
Base segment: The segment within the RACF profile that contains the most fundamental information.
BASIC: Beginners All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code. Universal interactive programming language. See also Visual BASIC.
Batch: An accumulation of data brought together for processing or transmission, usually unattended. Less formally, the processing of such data, as opposed to on-line processing where a user is present to respond interactively.
BatchPipes: z/OS software product that began life as BatchPipes/MVS, announced April 1994. After a second release in September 1995, it was replaced March 1997 by SmartBatch for OS/390, which includes BatchPipes functionality plus some BMC software. Then, in April 2000, SmartBatch was withdrawn, and a few days later, Version 2 of BatchPipes for OS/390 was announced. Currently, BatchPipes uses the Coupling Facility to pipe data between jobs running on different systems in a Parallel Sysplex. Includes the BatchPipeWorks component.
BatchPipeWorks: A component within BatchPipes that provides over 100 functions that can be used to operate on data as it passes through a pipe.
Batch Terminal Simulator: See BTS.
Baud: Generic term in asynchronous transmission for the number of frequency changes per second, most commonly used as the unit of speed in communications systems. More widely, but not strictly accurately, baud is used to mean bits per second, which gives the mindlessly pedantic the opportunity to congratulate themselves on how much more they know about technology than the poor benighted individuals who use the word in this way.
BBNS: See BroadBand Network Services.
BCC: Block-Check Character. In redundancy checking, a character that is transmitted by the sender after each message block to determine whether all the bits transmitted have been received.
BCCA: Buffer Chaining Channel Adapter. Feature (announced September 1990) in the 3745 which moved the NCP into the channel adapter firmware. Withdrawn October 2000.
BCD: Binary-Coded Decimal. A binary-coded notation in which each of the decimal digits is represented by a binary numeral. This differs from the pure binary notation, where the entire number is represented as a single binary numeral.
BCDIC: Binary-Coded Decimal Interchange Code. A 6 bit character representation used by most non-IBM-compatible mainframes in the 1950s through 1970s. cf. ASCII, EBCDIC.
BCE: Byte Channel Enhancement. Feature introduced first on 9121s which enabled any eight parallel channels to be specified as byte channels.
B-channel: A 64 kilobits-per-second channel in ISDN, for the transport of data or speech between the ISDN service provider and the user.
BCOCA: Bar Code Object Content Architecture. September 1991 architecture for dealing with those horrible little stripy markings used by shops to conceal the price of goods from customers. See UPC.
BCP: See Base Control Program.
BDAM: Basic Direct Access Method. Access method1 which allows the programmer to access specific blocks of data on DASD. Difficult to work with, but still supported in z/OS DFSMS for compatibility.
BDOS: Basic Disk Operating System. The core part of a simple operating system (e.g., PC-DOS). BDOS uses the BIOS to interface programs with the hardware. BDOS is by its nature machine-independent.
BDT: Bulk Data Transfer. z/OS product for transferring datasets from one system in an SNA network to another. Data is transferred directly without having to go through an intermediate JES spool file.
BDU: Basic Device Unit.
Beaconing: The repeated transmission of a frame sent by an adapter to indicate a serious ring problem, such as a broken line or power failure. The transmission will continue until the error is corrected.
Beamer: US name for someone who works for IBM (I-BeaMer – get it?). Fell into disuse after the general public started using the term to refer to any BMW automobile.
Bean: A reusable Java component built using JavaBeans technology.
Benchmark: An agreed workload used as a standard against which to compare the performance of different hardware/software. For a benchmark to be useful it needs to be a public standard. IBM, naturally, has its own proprietary (and hence farcical) standards, the best known of which is RAMP-C. Other benchmarks frequently cited for IBM machines include LINPAK, Gibson Mix, ET-1, Debit-Credit, Dhrystone, RPMark, and the TPC family.
Benchmarking: Although it can mean to benchmark (see benchmark), more commonly it refers to the practice of measuring an organization’s performance against best practices, as determined by a consulting or research firm.
BEST: Build Enterprise Systems Today. Long forgotten IBM marketing program based on the idea of a customer-solution objectives plan. You pay for everything, not separately for the bits – what IBM calls a bottom-line bid. The marketing/sales people get paid on whether they can shift the plan, not the traditional product-based commission. IBM used it as a way of moving users onto strategic products as early as possible. BEST was part of IBM’s plan to develop out of box-shifting and into the systems integration market. From the user point of view BEST could be a good deal.
BESTE: Letterpress printing unit built by BESTE Bunch Inc, and sold by IBM/Pennant from March 1993 until December 2001. Adds color to output from 3900 and other AFP printers.
Best practices: Consulting and research firms try and determine what works best for a given business process as practiced by organizations who do the best job at it.
Beta: Software undergoes beta testing shortly before it’s released, to determine applicability and effectiveness and aid in final debugging. In traditional IBMspeak it is often referred to as an EEP. See Alpha2.
BFS: Byte File System. A POSIX standard, z/VM supports it within the CMS1 Shared File System (SFS).
Big Blue Zoo: The IBM Laboratories in Rochester, Minnesota.
Big Decimal Extension: IBM’s addition of decimal floating point to the Java Big Decimal class.
Big iron: Industryspeak for large, expensive, ultra-fast computers. These include conventional commercial mainframes, of which IBM is king, and other number crunching supercomputers such as Crays. See Heavy metal, Dinosaur1.
Binary compatibility: Indicates that a program will run, without recompiling from source code, in a new hardware/software environment, just as it did on the old. For example, 64-bit applications produced using AIX1 Version 4 will not execute on AIX Version 5 unless they are recompiled.
Binary Synchronous: See BSC.
BIND1: An SNA request to activate a session between two logical units.
BIND2: The message that’s sent from one LU to another to request the establishment of a session. Under LU6.2, BINDs are negotiated by the two LUs. The LU which initiates the BIND is known as the primary LU, and the LU which receives the BIND request is known as the secondary LU.
BIND3: Berkeley Internet Name Domain. The implementation of the Domain Name System (DNS) by the University of California at Berkeley.
BIND4: Within DB2, the process of extracting and converting embedded SQL statements into a plan. The bind determines access paths to data.
BIND5: The z/VM command to execute the DFSMS/MVS Program Management Binder.
Binder: See Program Management Binder.
Biometrics: Identification through the use of any human attribute that is unique to each individual.
BIOS: Basic Input/Output System. The I/O component of a simple operating system defining the interface between the operating system and the outside world – i.e., it’s the machine-dependent part of the operating environment. Accurate imitation of the PC’s BIOS is the key to compatibility with the PC. Infringement of IBM’s copyright on its BIOS is a good way of getting yourself into court very quickly.
Bi-polar: Chip fabrication technique. In the early 1990s, bi-polar was fast but expensive, compared to CMOS – the other main technique used in IBM computers. Bi-polar was used in the large ES/9000s, but by early 1995, IBM was saying that bi-polar had had its day as the base technology in large mainframes, and that everything was coming up CMOS now. The announcement of the S/390 Parallel Enterprise Server (G4) signaled the end of bi-polar.
Bi-processor: A single box which contains two processors with different architectures – as in the MicroChannel 370-14 which contains separate mainframe and PS/2 processors.
BIPS: Billions of Instructions Per Second. See MIPS.
BISAM: Basic Indexed Sequential Access Method. Old access method1 that used index structures to access data on DASD.
B-ISDN: See Broadband ISDN.
Bisync: See BSC.
Bisynch: See BSC.
Bit: Short for binary digit. Either of the digits 0 or 1 when used in the binary system.
Bit hoses: IBMspeak for the thick channel cables which used to connect old-style, floor-standing, 14 inch hard disks and other antique devices. See Boa2.
Bit-mapped: A bit-mapped display is one in which the screen display (characters and/or graphics and/or image) is generated or retrieved from a full representation in memory (the bit map). The bit map contains a bit for each point of the screen display which enables high resolution screens to be displayed rapidly and accurately, but at the expense of a lot of memory (e.g., a VGA/2 screen with a resolution of 1024 x 768 pixels needs about 100KBytes of memory). Often used synonymously with APA.
BIU: Basic Information Unit. The unit of data and control information in SNA that consists of a request/response header followed by a request/response unit and that is passed between half-sessions.
BizTalk: An industry initiative headed by Microsoft to promote XML as the common data exchange language for e-commerce and application integration on the Internet. The BizTalk Framework provides guidelines on how to publish schemas (standard data structures) in XML and how to use XML messages to integrate software programs. Microsoft has also announced a product called the BizTalk Server.
BLL: Base Locator for the COBOL Linkage section.
BLOB: Binary Large OBject. A generic term for a file containing some kind of binary data (text, image, document, sound, etc). Typically BLOBs can be transferred and manipulated across a wide range of platforms. BLOBs became available in DB2 CS mid 1995.
Block: A string of data elements, such as characters, words, or physical records, that are recorded or transmitted as a unit.
Block cipher: Algorithms that encrypt data a chunk (e.g., 64 bits) at a time, rather than as a continuous stream of bits. cf. stream cipher.
Block multiplexer: Medium- to high-speed mainframe channel. Typically used for DASD, tapes, etc.
BLU: Basic Link Unit. The unit of data, in SNA, that is transmitted over a link by data link control.
Bluebird: IBM code name used for the WorkSpace On-Demand product in the eNetwork Software family.
Blue Glue: IBMspeak for SNA (Systems Network Architecture).
Bluegrass: At one time, an internal IBM code name for a planned, low price AT-compatible PC. There were three flavors of machine: Bluegrass good, Bluegrass better, and Bluegrass best.
Blue Letter: The oldest form of IBM customer announcement letter, which preceded the Ivory letter. Named because of the color of the paper on which they were written.
Blue Lightning: IBM-built 486 processor brought out mid 1993. Has optimized instruction set, 16KB internal cache, and lowered power consumption. It’s actually a 486 without a mathematical co-processor, built using high-speed CMOS. Obsolete.
Blue Pacific: An IBM supercomputer that could perform 3.9 trillion calculations per second (TeraOps). It was used for US nuclear weapons simulations.
Blueprint: See Networking Blueprint.
Blue wire: IBMspeak for patch wires added to circuit boards at the factory to correct design or production problems. See also purple wire, red wire, yellow wire.
BMF: Batch Maintenance Facility. Command language for model (submodel) maintenance within the late, unlamented Repository Manager/MVS.
BMP: Batch Message Processing program. A batch processing program in IMS1 that has access to message queues and on-line databases.
BMS1: Basic Mapping Support. An interface between CICS and an application to control the movement and presentation of datastreams to and from a dumb terminal. BMS allows data to be displayed without allowing for display-dependent formatting characters. Equivalent of the IMS1 MFS.
BMS2: Broadcast Message Server. Hewlett-Packard CASE product licensed by IBM mid 1992. BMS helps integrate a variety of CASE tools into a fairly coherent environment, and was used in IBM’s SDE2 environment under AIX. See also Communique.
BNC: Bayonet Neill-Concelman. A standard coax cable connector which is used, for example, in Ethernet.
BNN: Boundary network node. Obsolete SNA terminology for a boundary node.
BNS: See Broadband Network Services.
BOA1: Basic Object Adapter. CORBA-compliant software designed for object implementations.
Boa2: IBMspeak for the big fat bus and tag cables used on pre-ESCON channels.
Boat anchor: IBMspeak for a product that is just so bad that it should be dropped over the side of a ship – like a boat anchor.
BOCE: Branch Office Customer Engineer.
BOM: Branch Office Manager.
BookManager: Publishing software for creating, formatting, reading, or browsing books and manuals. BookMaster Build modules can be used to assemble existing BookMaster files into a book, and BookMaster Read software on workstations, or AS/400, z/VM or z/OS terminals can be used to read and browse the electronic publications. Includes CD-ROM support. October 1994 enhancements included proportional fonts, color, and application initiation within books. There’s also a Library Reader Kit which allows vendors and publishers to distribute electronic books in-house without requiring a license for each user. The BookManager GUI is used by IBM as one way of delivering manuals to Web browsers (for free) on their Web site.
BookMaster: Software for developing technical publications. It’s based on SCRIPT/VS, uses GML and DCF, and runs in z/OS and z/VM environments. IBM once touted it as the documentation tool within AD/Cycle.
Boolean: An operation that follows the rules of Boolean algebra.
Boot: To prepare a computer system for operation by loading an operating system. See also IPL, IML.
Borg: Part of Microsoft’s Millennium research project, which automatically makes ordinary programs distributed without any source code modification or programmer involvement.
BOSS: Business Object Server Solution. IBM initiative for managing the middleware environment, not so much at the middleware level itself but at the next level up, where it is deploying a range of OO tools, frameworks, and class libraries which overcome some of the inconsistencies between middleware object standards. See Component Broker.
Bottleneck: A software or hardware element that can degrade the performance of a device, or network.
Boundary Access Node: IBM’s variant on the RFC 1490 standard for encapsulating SNA/APPN traffic within Frame Relay. Uses the same encapsulation scheme used by bridges, which is slightly longer than the native encapsulation scheme for SNA/APPN as specified by RFC 1490/FRF.3.1.
Boundary Function: In SNA, a set of services, including Address Conversion, provided by a Subarea Node to the peripheral nodes attached to it; in HPR, the set of services provided by an HPR NN to ensure interoperability between HPR and APPN nodes.
BPAM: Basic Partitioned Access Method. Used to read a Partitioned DataSet (PDS) at a low level, such as when you want to write a program to look at the directory of PDS members.
BPM: See Business Process Modeler.
Bps: Bits per second. In some contexts, bps means bits per second and Bps bytes per second, as in Mbps and MBps.
BQM: Business Quality Messaging.
BRADS: Business Report Application Development System. Application/Report generator, the most recent incarnation of which was announced May 1983 for the System/36. Withdrawn December 1997.
Breeze for SCLM for z/OS: Browser/e-mail-based software package notification, review and approval tool for approving the promotion of packages through the software development life cycle. See also SCLM.
BRI: Basic Rate Interface. The basic interface to the ISDN.
Bridge: A generic term for a device (such as IBM’s 8209) for connecting two networks. The bridge functions at layer 2 of the OSI model (the data link layer), and makes interconnected LANs appear as a single LAN to attached devices. In effect the bridge sits and listens to the traffic on the two networks, and when it hears that a packet on network A is intended for network B, it makes the transfer. The two networks may be physically different; the bridge will convert the physical protocols while leaving the data formats and control data intact. As far as the end-user is concerned, all devices are connected on a single network. Compare Gateway, Router, Brouter.
BRMF: Repository Manager Batch Load Facility.
BRMS: Backup Recovery and Media Services for iSeries. Provides policy-driven backup, recovery, tape media management and archive services for tape devices. Can be used on a stand-alone iSeries 400 or in a network supporting a shared tape media inventory.
Broadband: A frequency band that is broad enough to be divided into several narrower sub-bands. This allows different kinds of transmission (such as voice, video, and data) to occur simultaneously (typically by frequency division multiplexing – see FDM). Broadband is used in the MAP standard and IBM’s DAE, and was used as the carrier technology in the defunct PC Network. cf. Baseband.
Broadband ISDN: A nascent, 150Mbit/s, packet switching, carrier technology expected in the late 1990s. A ITU-T standard.
Broadband LAN: A local area network (LAN) that consists of more than one channel, in which data is encoded, multiplexed, and transmitted with modulation of carriers.
Broadband Network Services: IBM high-speed networking architecture announced July 1993 to support ATM2 and other broadband services. Includes control and management functions, support for open interfaces, managed pipes for user traffic, and support for ATM cells and variable length packets. Implemented in a range of chip-level technologies.
Brochureware: Non-existent product which is being actively marketed. See also Vaporware.
Brouter: Generic term for a hybrid bridge and router. Typically it functions as a router at layer 3 of the OSI model and then steps down to layer 2 if it can’t find the network information it needs to function at layer 3.
BrowseMaster: z/VM and z/OS product enabling the user to view and manipulate (fairly limited) documents to be printed on a page printer. Part of the VM SolutionPac publishing system. GDDM is a pre-requisite. Still available.
Browser: Generic term for software which allows users to meander around a collection of information. Usually used to refer to Web browsers (such as Netscape or IE1) which enable people to waste inordinate amounts of time failing to find any useful information on the Internet (assuming they can get a reliable Internet connection in the first place).
Browser plug-in: A client application, usually not Java-based, that can be dynamically downloaded from a Web server when invoked from a Web browser, and then executed on the client. A browser plug-in is required to run IE1-centric ActiveX software with Netscape.
BRS: Business Recovery Services. IBM disaster recovery service in the USA. Set up early 1989 to provide backup for users of mainframes, AS/400s, and System/3xs. Now a part of IBM Global Services known as Business Continuity and Recovery Services.
BSAM: Basic Sequential Access Method. One of two access method1s used to read and write sequential dataset1s in z/OS. A part of DFSMSdfp. See also QSAM.
BSC: Binary Synchronous Communications. A character-oriented synchronous link communications protocol evolved from the old async (start-stop) protocol. Originated by IBM in 1964. Synchronization of the sending and receiving stations is established before the message is sent, which allows faster block-mode data transmission and fewer data errors than start-stop. Speed comes from the lower ratio of checking bits to data bits (i.e., it’s not carrying as much junk around as async). Widely used, but superseded within IBM’s mainstream products by SDLC1/SNA protocols. Also known as Bisync, Bisynch and Bisynchronous.
BSCA: Binary Synchronous Communications Adapter.
BSCEL: Binary Synchronous Communications Equivalence Link.
BSD: Berkeley Software Distribution. A version of the Unix operating system.
BSDM: Business System Development Method. IBM-endorsed application development method. Supported by the BSDT product.
BSDT: Business System Development Tool. Upper CASE1 tool for OS/2 PM environments. Based on work done by Systematica, a now defunct IBM business partner in England. Supports BSDM. Obsolete.
BSL: Basic System Language. Programming language used in the development of VM. Superseded by PL/S and PL/AS.
BSM: See Tivoli Business Systems Manager.
BSP: Business Systems Planning. IBM methodology (announced in 1970) for analyzing the structure/clustering of business activities. Uses the top-down approach. An enhanced version of BSP was used as the basic modeling technique for IBM’s ill-fated Repository.
BTAM: Basic Telecommunications Access Method. The first access method common to the predecessors of VSE/ESA and z/OS: provides low-level services for reading from and writing to TP devices. Problems with the complexity of BTAM led to the evolution of TP monitors such as CICS. BTAM was largely superseded by access methods, such as VTAM, which implement the SNA procedures (BTAM does not support SNA devices). Withdrawn for VSE/ESA June 2000 and z/OS March 2000. Support ends March 2002 for both platforms.
BTAM-ES: BTAM Extended Support. BTAM for VSE. Based on the BTAM component of DOS/VS Release 34. Announced January 1979, withdrawn June 2000 with end of support March 2002.
BTLS: Basic Tape Library Support. Program offering providing entry level automation support for the 3495 in a non-SMS1 environment.
BTO: See Build-to-Order.
BtoB: More commonly B2B. See Business to Business.
BtoBI: See WebSphere Business Integrator.
BTP1: Basic Terminal Processor.
BTP2: See Build-to-Plan.
BTS: Batch Terminal Simulator. Product allowing on-line IMS TM programs to be tested in a batch environment.
BTU: Basic Transmission Unit. SNA terminology for the unit of data and control information that is passed between path control components.
Bubblegum: IBMspeak for the IBM Boeblingen Lab in Germany at which much of the development of VSE/ESA and mid-range mainframes happened.
Buckets-based: An optional extension to the malloc subsystem, the default AIX1 memory allocator. Intended to speed up applications that issue large numbers of small allocation requests. A buckets-based approach satisfies all small memory requests with pre-divided chunks of memory of a uniform fixed size. Announced April 2001 in AIX 5L Version 5.1.
Buffer: A relatively small amount of memory, directly available to the CPU, which momentarily holds either instructions or other information. Not to be confused with memory cache. Buffers are used to overcome factors that affect direct access of instructions or data to the CPU, such as speed differences, interface delays, and other variations between a device and the CPU.
Buffer pool: Main memory holding data being read or written.
Build-to-Order: A way of buying IBM hardware or software that sees them custom-assemble the product(s) you ordered. cf. Build-to-Plan.
Build-to-Plan: One of several approaches to order fulfillment that IBM uses. This one sees them preassembling hardware and software products based on forecasts of exactly what configurations customers will order. cf. Build-to-Order.
BUNCH: IBM and the BUNCH was the industry term for the main players in the computer industry during the heady days of the 1960s and 1970s. The BUNCH, who had emerged from the Seven Dwarves, were Burroughs, Univac, NCR, Control Data, and Honeywell. However, Honeywell was bought out by Bull, Univac merged with Sperry to form Sperry/Univac, which in 1984 merged with Burroughs to form Unisys, and in 1991 AT&T absorbed NCR. See Seven Dwarves, Dinosaur mating.
Bundling: The practice of selling hardware and/or software in packages, so that users get (and pay for) all sorts of things they may not want. The attraction to the vendor is that the unit of purchase is large. IBM voluntarily abandoned such practices in the US (see Consent decree) but Microsoft now gets accused of similar activities.
Burst: Data communication terminology for a data sequence that is counted as a single unit based on a specific criterion or measure.
Bus: Generic term in data communications to describe a wiring topology (such as that used in Ethernet) in which devices are connected along a single linear medium.
Bus and tag: The physical cabling system for attaching high-speed devices to mainframe processor channels. Uses a synchronous byte-oriented (9 bits in parallel) protocol in which bus wires carry data, and tag wires carry control information. Unfortunately, if the distance or baud rate is too great, the parallel electrical signals can get skewed – i.e., they arrive at different times – limiting both the distance of the connection (to about 122 meters) and the bandwidth (about 4.5MB/sec). Bulky and clumsy, traditional copper bus and tag were replaced by ESCON fiber optics throughout the IBM mainframe range. See Boa2.
Business Continuity and Recovery Services: Part of IBM Global Services.
Business Process Modeler: OS/2 CASE1 tool for modeling workflow. Built on IBM’s Line of Visibility Enterprise Modeling (LOVEM) methodology and integrated with FlowMark. Announced February 1996 and withdrawn June 1998.
Business Recovery Services: See BRS.
Business to Business: Buying and selling between organizations, as opposed to Retailing, where Consumers are involved.
Bus master: A device that controls data transfers between itself and a subordinate.
Busmaster: PS/2 LAN adapter cards providing co-processor support for machines acting as LAN servers. The Busmaster takes over the MCA or EISA bus and off-loads processing work from the main processor – usually by transferring data directly into memory without any involvement by the processor. IBM’s product, the Token Ring Network 16/4 Busmaster Server Adapter/A was announced December 1990 and withdrawn June 1993.
BYPASS2000: AS/400 software that assists the conversion of two-digit dates in RPG and COBOL programs. BYPASS2000 analyses an application’s programs and files, stores information, traces memory use of data, handles overlays, rewrites source programs, generates file-conversion programs, and assists data-simulation tests. Withdrawn May 2000. See Y2K.
Byte: A string of 8 bits that represents one EBCDIC character. The IBM mainframe architecture is organized around the concept of the byte.
Byte multiplexer: Low- to medium-speed mainframe channel. Typically used for card readers, communications FEPs, and terminals.
Byte stream: A file type capable of storing long continuous strings of data. Though normally thought of as a Unix file type, OS/400 also supports it.
C
C: A programming language developed at Bell Labs in 1972, so named because its predecessor was named B. Unix was written in C, and C’s popularity, both on and off of Unix platforms, peaked in Unix’s early years of widespread use. Still available on most platforms, but most new development is done in one of its object-oriented successors, such as C++, or newer languages like Java or Visual Basic.
C&IR: Commercial and Industry Relations.
C++: An object-oriented version of C that has pretty much replaced it. See also C/C++, Visual BASIC.
C/370: C compiler and library for MVS and VM. Replaced by C/C++ (z/OS) and C for VM/ESA (z/VM).
C/400: An early C implementation for the AS/400. Replaced by ILE C for AS/400 December 1995. See also System C/400.
C/C++: An optional, separately priced feature of z/OS, available with or without Debug Tool. The C/C++ IBM Open Class Library is included with z/OS, but is only enabled when C/C++ is licensed.
C2: A security classification level set by the US National Security Agency (NSA). There are other levels within the Trusted Computer System Evaluation Criteria (TCSEC).
C2T: See Cable Chaining Technology.
C4 joints: Controlled Collapse Chip Connection points. The first eserver zSeries 900 used MultiChip Modules (MCM), each with 85,000 C4 joints.
CA1: Channel Attachment.
CA2: See Certification Authority.
CAATT: Computer Assisted Auditing Tools and Techniques. A generic term for software tools to help carry out internal audits.
Cable Chaining Technology: A technique to drastically reduce the number of cables in rack mounted systems by creating a single chain of cables between systems, through which any system can communicate with any other.
Cable-on-line: Uses IBM-designated cable modem, software, and switching hardware allowing cable TV systems to provide data services to subscribers, including high speed Internet access. Announced December 1996.
Cabling System: IBM standard for wiring up sites for compatibility with current and future IBM systems. A laudable attempt, although the initial spec used fat, expensive cables and space-consuming hardware in the wiring closet. Changes to the cable specs (notably use of twisted pair) and more compact closet hardware have made it a better proposition.
Cache/400: AS/400 PRPQ which allows main memory to be used as a DASD cache. It seems a remarkably silly idea, since main memory is over-expensive for this purpose, and its use requires the kind of expertise which is meant to be unnecessary in the AS/400 environment. Obsolete.
Cache1: High-speed buffer between a fast device and a slow device. In large IBM systems caching may take place in the CPU (in main or expanded storage), the controller, device head-of-string, or the device itself (e.g., in a track buffer). It is used to reduce access time.
Cache2: The installation of downloaded applets on a client’s hard drive, to eliminate the need for repeated downloads. Automatic version checking occurs with the server that originally downloaded the applet each time the applet is invoked, to ensure that users are notified when a newer version of the applet is available. (See also smart caching). Static Web pages, previously displayed, may also be cached at the client or at an intermediary caching agent to expedite subsequent accesses.
Cache Fast Write: Facility on cached DASD controllers to improve the writing performance of DASD. Data is written to cache (although not to a non-volatile medium), thereby removing the need for a program to wait for data to be written to disk before it can continue. Typically used for temporary data (e.g., by DFSORT) and other specialist system software. See also SSD1, DASD Fast Write.
Cache structure: A Coupling Facility structure that contains data shared by systems in a sysplex.
Caching proxy server: A proxy server that stores the documents that it has retrieved in a local cache. This allows for improved response times when these documents are subsequently requested.
CAD: PS/2 drafting/design software. Supports bill of materials data, interfaces to CADAM, CATIA, and non-IBM systems. As it did with PC and Laser Printer, IBM appears to have hijacked a generic term and used it to refer to an IBM product. CAD/Plus had additional features. Both were withdrawn March 1993.
CAD/CAM: Computer Aided Design/Computer Aided Manufacturing. What people used to call systems which control design and manufacturing systems (nowadays they tend to be called CIM). See 6090, Artic, CATIA, CAEDS, COPICS, DAE, MAPICS.
CADAM: Computer Aided Design And Manufacture. At one time, an IBM product originally developed by Lockheed. Merged with CATIA and the CADAM name gradually disappeared. See CATIA.
CADAM Inc: Lockheed software subsidiary acquired by IBM November 1989 for $80m as part of IBM’s drive into CIM, and renamed Altium in March 1993. Merged with IBM’s CATIA group a few years later.
CADD: Computer Aided Drafting and Design. Generic term for software that automates drafting and design, notably of integrated circuits and printed circuit boards.
CAE: Computer Aided Engineering.
CAEDS: Computer Aided Engineering Design System. Integrated computer aided design system for engineers. Over the years, there have been versions that ran on the 5080 graphics system, z/OS, z/VM, RS/6000 under AIX, even the RT PC. In March 1994, they were all replaced by the I-DEAS Master Series from Structural Dynamics Research Corporation (SDRC).
CAF: See Call Attach Facility.
Cairo: A promised version of Windows NT based on distributed object technology, which was to be the successor to both NT 4.0 and Windows 95. Instead the operating systems remained divergent until Windows XP in 2001.
Call-AIX: Remote support service for AIX and RS/6000.
Call Attach Facility: Interface which enables application programs to access DB2 tables from outside the DB2 environment.
CallPath: CallPath started life in mid 1989 as a way of linking Rolm 9750 voice exchanges with mainframe-based data applications, using a PS/2 to manage the protocol conversions between the data and the voice. Mid 1990, CallPath became CallPath Services Architecture (CSA) a generalized way of integrating a PABX with a computer system to allow application-initiated calls, call transfer, redirection of inbound calls, etc, and ultimately to allow the integration of voice with data applications. The first CSA product was CallPath/400 for AS/400. Later announcements included MVS/CICS, RS/6000, and PS/2 versions. In May 2001, IBM sold the CallPath product line to Alcatel.
CallUp: On-line office directory application for VM (April 1992). Stores, maintains, and gives access to information about the people and services of an organization. Used to provide office directory support for OfficeVision/VM. Obsolete.
CALS: Computer-aided Acquisition and Logistics Support. A US Department of Defense standard for exchange of electronic information. Mandatory after 1990 for weapons system documentation. Not surprisingly, IBM provides CALS products, mainly built around its SCRIPT text processor, which uses GML, which is the source of SGML, which is part of the CALS specification, which is the key to megasales of IBM equipment, which is recognized as a good thing by IBM. Support began in October 1989 with OS/2 and mainframe. Today, CATIA and ENOVIA are where you are most likely to see it.
CAM: Computer-Aided Manufacturing.
CAMkit: CADAM and Professional CADAM software for driving numerical control machines. Announced September 1991. CAMkit/370 was withdrawn August 1997. AIX CAMkit/6000 was withdrawn August 2001.
Capacity Backup: Closely related to Capacity Upgrade on Demand (CUoD), CBU lets a small zSeries 900 be a backup for another system by expanding its capacity to meet emergency situations, such as hardware failure or disaster recovery. For example, an additional processor can be activated from the system’s reserve capacity. See also Geographically Dispersed Parallel Sysplex (GDPS).
Capacity on Demand: Several IBM upgrade schemes for some iSeries 400 models. See Processor on Demand for one example. See also Capacity Upgrade on Demand.
Capacity Upgrade on Demand: An IBM upgrade scheme that delivers eserver zSeries 900 systems with unused capacity so they can be upgraded when needed. An upgrade from a uniprocessor to a 10-way server is possible with no downtime. See also Vertical Capacity Upgrade on Demand, Horizontal Capacity Upgrade on Demand, Storage Capacity Upgrade on Demand.
Career Transition Program: Ghastly IBM euphemism for a program to reduce its manpower by helping people to leave. Congratulations, we’ve decided to enroll you on our new Career Transition Program sounds so much nicer than Clear your desk, you’re fired.
Carrier: An electric or electromagnetic wave that may be modulated to transmit information over a communication system.
CASE1: Computer Aided Software Engineering. Generic term for systems designed to provide computer support for software development. Very fashionable at one time – although objects now command the attention of the dedicated follower of programming fashion. Typically, CASE systems support the analysts’ activities as well as programmers’, and involve sophisticated workstation graphics and advanced software engineering techniques. A distinction is sometimes made between upper CASE tools which support requirements and systems analysis, and design and data modeling, and lower CASE tools which support application generation. IBM failed to make an impact on this market, even with its most unequivocal endorsement of the CASE philosophy – the defunct AD/Cycle. See ADE1, WASE, MAESTRO, CAST.
Case2: See Object.
CAST: Computer Aided Software Testing.
Casters up: Slang terminology for dysfunctional hardware.
Castors-up mode: IBMspeak for broken.
Catalog: A dataset that contains information about other datasets, e.g., type, location, size, format. The mainframe equivalent of the PC directory. The z/OS master catalog usually also contains entries for user catalogs. See also ICF2, CVOL, VTOC.
Category: See security category.
CATIA: Computer graphics Aided Three dimensional Interactive Application. Originally a CIM1 tool for design, drafting, solid modeling, numerical control; written by Dassault, and available from IBM as a package on mainframes and AIX boxes. Today, CATIA has absorbed the CADAM line and bills itself as the world’s leading CAD/CAM/CAE software. CATIA runs on Windows 9x/NT/2000, AIX, HP-UX, SGI IRIX and Sun Solaris. See also ENOVIA.
CATV: CAble TeleVision. Wired, rather than wireless, reception of television, typically received off-air or via satellite at a central point then distributed, typically through an entire town or city, by coaxial and, more recently, fiber optical cable. Cable companies have traditionally operated as regulated monopolies, but that is changing, slowly.
CAU: Controlled Access Unit. See 8230.
CAW: Channel Address Word.
CBDS: Circuit Board Design System. Graphics-based printed circuit design tool. Runs under VM and AIX. IBM withdrew from marketing the products after Valid Logic Systems and Cadence Design Systems merged under the Cadence name January 1992.
CBEMA: Computer and Business Equipment Manufacturers’ Association. Renamed to Information Technology Industry Council (ITI) December 1994.
CBIPO: Custom-Built Installation Process Offering. Package of system software together with a system for installing the relevant bits in the customer installation. One of IBM’s multitude of attempts to kill off the system programmer.
CBPDO: Custom-Built Product Delivery Offering. IBM software distribution technique in which the user receives from IBM an incremental upgrade to an existing z/OS system. cf. CBIPO which is a complete system, not an upgrade.
CBT: Computer-Based Training.
CBU: See Capacity Backup.
CBX: Computerized Branch eXchange. IBM/Rolm family of voice data exchanges (see 8750). CBX is also used in the US as a generic name for PABXs.
CC1: Communications Controller.
CC2: Control Code.
cc:Mail: Lotus e-mail product which IBM took on (June 1991) as an alternative to the e-mail functionality of OfficeVision. Mid 1994 IBM stopped marketing cc:Mail when it brought out its AnyMail and UltiMail products, and then took it up again – via Lotus – when it bought Lotus.
CCA1: Concurrent Communication Adapter. Facility on 3174 which provides concurrent host access. Became available end 1989.
CCA2: See Common Cryptographic Architecture.
CCCA: COBOL and CICS/VS Command-Level Conversion Aid. Tool to convert OS/VS COBOL, DOS/VS COBOL and ANSI 74 VS COBOL II into ANSI 85 VS COBOL II or IBM COBOL for OS/390 and VM. Runs in the z/OS and z/VM environments.
CCE: Channel Control Element. The RISC processor boards that drove the channels in the 3090 and ES/9000.
CCHHR: Cylinder-Head-Record. See CKD.
CCITT: Comité Consultatif International de Téléphonie et de Télégraphie. International Telegraph and Telephone Consultative Committee. The CCITT used to be an element of the ITU (International Telecommunications Union). When the ITU was reorganized in March 1993, responsibility for standards was placed under the control of the ITU-T (ITU-Telecommunication Standardization Sector).
CCM1: Concurrent Channel Maintenance. Feature, originally announced September 1991 for the 9021, which allows channels to be maintained without shutting down the whole CEC.
CCM2: The CORBA Component Model, which (broadly speaking) generalizes EJB to multiple languages. CCM can be seen as a crystallization of best practice to date in building CORBA systems.
CCP: Configuration Control Program. An IBM program used to define, display, and alter configurations that contain network controllers.
CCS1: Common Communications Support. One of the pillars of SAA, CCS specifies the core communications functions and products for SAA-compatible systems. The original elements of CCS were those of SNA – later incarnations introduced new facilities or strategic directions mainly from outside the true-blue world; e.g., OSI was brought into CCS September 1988, ISDN in September 1991, TCP/IP and APPN in March 1992. Nowadays a discreet silence is maintained over the whole notion.
CCS2: Console Communications Services. Feature of z/VM used by VCNA to communicate with z/VM routines.
CCSID: Coded Character Set Identifier. Used to specify what national language character set is being used. For example, Japan Katakana extended range has a CCSID of 5026.
CCU: Central Control Unit.
CCV: Culture Compatible Vendor.
CCW: Channel Command Word. An instruction to an I/O processor (channel). Performance-oriented Assembler programmers used to code their own CCWs because they thought the standard I/O macros generated inefficient CCWs.
CD: Compact Disc. Can refer to a prerecorded music CD, CD-ROM, CD-R, CD-RW, or even a CD drive, recorder or player.
CDDI: Copper Distributed Data Interface (also known as TPDDI – Twisted Pair Distributed Data Interface). A proposed copper wire version of FDDI. The idea is to use copper cable (UTP or STP) to support transmission rates up to 100Mb/sec – but only over very short distances (up to 100 meters). Strictly an interim solution to stave off a conversion to fiber optics.
CDE: Common Desktop Environment. A desktop manager from the COSE initiative.
CDF: Communications and Data Facility. The part of IBM’s CIM Architecture which provides data management services for CIM data. Consists of a DB2 repository and a data store. Used by IISR. Replaced by CDF/MVS.
CDF/MVS: Common Data Facility MVS. February 1992 software which originally provided the communications and data management base for mainframe CIM systems. Built around DB2, and stores image, graphics, text, and data. Replaces CDF. Enhanced January 1993 with support for optical storage and binary large objects. IBM appeared at one time to be positioning it as a generalized, i.e., not just CIM, operational repository. An OS/2 GUI front end was announced mid 1993, and DataGuide, which is supported in CDF/MVS, was announced in October 1993. Withdrawn February 1996.
CDIF: CASE Data Interchange Format. A generic sequential file interface specification for data models and related information.
CDIM: Change Delivery and Implementation Manager. MVS software which delivers software, application programs, and data to multiple MVS systems allowing central control of large networks. Withdrawn February 1999.
CDLA: Computer Dealers and Lessors Association. Has been renamed Information Technology Resellers Association (ITRA).
CDLI: See Common Data Link Interface.
CDMF: See Commercial Data Masking Facility.
CDPF: Composed Document Printing Facility. Print driver for the 4250.
CD-R: Compact Disk – Recordable. Exploits a specially designed recording layer in CD-R media, which undergoes a physical change at the spot where the high-power laser beam is focused to form a pit. The pits produced cause changes in reflectivity, and those changes are decoded to produce the 1s and 0s of the digital code stream. CD-R is based on WO technology.
CDRA: Character Data Representation Architecture. IBM architecture (announced July 1990 and implemented in the 370/390 September 1990) which provides management of graphic character integrity across any pair of SAA database systems. See also GCD.
CDRM: Cross Domain Resource Manager. SNA (VTAM) component for managing multi-domain SNA networks. Processes logons for other domains.
CD-ROM: Compact Disk – Read Only Memory. Laser optical method of information retrieval from high capacity disk (normally 640MB). Initially defined by Philips and Sony in 1983, with their Yellow Book standard. This was later modified by the industry-wide High Sierra specification which defines the logical structure, file structure, and record structures of the CD-ROM disk. This served as the basis for the ISO 9660 international format standard for CD-ROM. See CD-RW, CD-R.
CDRSC: Cross-Domain ReSourCe. A definition of cross domain resources (applications in other subareas of the SNA network).
CD-RW: CD-ReWritable. A CD format developed jointly by Hewlett-Packard, Mitsubishi, Philips, Ricoh, Sony, and Verbatim which allows CD-RW disks to be written over repeatedly. Announced October 1996.
CDS: Configuration DataSet.
CDSA: Common Data Security Architecture. A framework set up between IBM, Security Dynamics, and RSA Security, aimed at establishing an open, multi-vendor environment for integrating and deploying security solutions for applications using the public key encryption methodology developed by RSA Security. Announced January 1998.
CDSM: See Tivoli Cable Data Services Manager.
CDT: See Class Descriptor Table.
CDU: Coolant Distribution Unit. Box providing liquid cooling to the processor unit. Back in the days when processors had to be water-cooled or worse (Freon).
CEC: Central Electronic Complex. IBMspeak for a group of processors which present a single system image to the users.
CED: Compound (or possibly Comprehensive) Electronic Document. IBMspeak for something sent through an electronic mail system which either holds – or is capable of holding – a mix of data types. CEDs can hold information in a variety of formats – voice, data, image, text, high-resolution graphics, video, or a mixture of some or all of these.
CEDA: A CICS transaction for on-line definition of CICS resources.
CEDF: CICS Execution Diagnostic Facility. Testing aid from IBM.
Celeron: A low end Pentium III processor introduced in 1999. Initially, virtually crippled, but later models were better than the Pentium III models of just six months earlier.
Cell relay: A packet switching technology which uses standard sized packets over Broadband ISDN networks to simplify and speed up data transmission.
Cemetery: IBMspeak for a bureaucratic non-job into which an older member of IBM staff has been shunted. There’s no way out other than retirement. See also Parking lot, Penalty box, Cooling house.
Center for On-Line Addition: The first private, non-profit behavioral health care firm to specialize in Internet-related conditions. Does extensive research on the subject. Offers virtual clinics with on-line counseling through e-mail or chat rooms, as well as telephone counseling. Founded by Dr. Kimberly S. Young, Clinical Psychologist and Assistant Professor of Psychology at the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford (Pennsylvania, US). See Internet Addiction Disorder.
Central storage: The storage which is directly linked to and accessible from the CPU. Used to be known as real or main storage. Does not include expanded storage.
CEPT: European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations. In 1988, all standards work was transferred to the newly-created European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI).
CERN: Center Européen pour la Récherche Nucleaire, the European laboratory for particle physics near Geneva where the efforts of Tim Berners-Lee produced the World Wide Web and the first Web server.
Certificate: See digital certificate.
Certificate-authority certificate: RACF-managed digital certificate associated with a certification authority, used to verify signatures in other certificates.
Certificate Management Protocol: Defines the interactions between PKI components. A certification authority (CA) is an example of a PKI component. Based on Internet standards RFC 2510 and 2511, which includes X.509 CRMF.
Certificate Name Filter: In the SET architecture, a mapping of digital certificates to multiple user IDs created by RACF’s RACDCERT MAP command,
Certificate Request Message Format: See CRMF.
Certificate Revocation List: In the SET architecture, a list of digital certificates that are no longer valid. A certification authority (CA) makes the list available and keeps it current. But it only lists certificates issued by that CA. cf. Certificate Trust List.
Certificate store: In the SET architecture, a storage location for digital certificates, Certificate Revocation Lists, and Certificate Trust Lists.
Certificate Trust List: In the SET architecture, a predefined list of items that have been signed by a certification authority. The items need not be (just) digital certificates.
Certification: See digital certificate.
Certification authority: In the SET architecture, any trusted entity that follows established procedures when requested to issue a digital certificate by an individual, organization or machine.
CETI: Continuously Executing Transfer Interface. Product which enabled the 9370 to talk with its integrated communications adapter at the physical and data link layers. In effect it was an alternative to VTAM for LAN attachment. Note that the user either had to re-write the operating and network software or use 4331/4361 emulation (supported by the CETI).
CF: See Coupling Facility.
CFCC: See Coupling Facility Control Code.
CF Channel: The connection between a Coupling Facility (CF) and an operating system logical partition (LPAR). There are currently five types: Inter System Coupling link, HiPerLink, Integrated Cluster Bus link, Internal Channel link and Integrated Coupling Migration Facility link (ICMF).
CFO: Customer Fulfillment Option. IBM procedure whereby direct account customers bought kit from dealers, but the IBM reps got the credits from the sales. The idea was to stop IBM competing too hard against its dealers.
C for VM/ESA: C compiler for z/VM that supports Language Environment (LE) and OpenExtension. Announced October 1995.
CF Search/370: VM Contextual Search/370. VM/CMS product enabling text search through CMS files based on full text indexing. A STAIRS basher. Withdrawn March 1991.
CFSizer: See Coupling Facility Structure Sizer Tool.
CFSW: An IBM software configurator accessible from IBMLink and HONE.
CGA: Color Graphics Adapter. Original IBM PC color graphics standard. Offers 16-color palette with four colors simultaneously available in medium resolution (320 x 200 pixel), or 2 colors in high resolution (640 x 200 pixel). Succeeded by the EGA standard.
CGI: Common Gateway Interface. A mechanism used by HTTP servers to invoke arbitrary programs for additional processing of certain requests: typically, those involving database access. While simple and convenient, CGI is now often replaced by ASPs, JSPs, or servlets when performance is important.
CGI Informatique: A French computing services company which IBM acquired mid 1993. Quite why IBM wanted to buy a company with 4,000 employees at a time when it was laying off its own people in droves, is difficult to explain. The only likely reason seemed to be that IBM wanted to get its hands on CGI’s CASE expertise and products, notably Pacbase.
CGM: Computer Graphics Metafile. A standard for defining vector (object-based) images, widely used in SGML-tagged documents. The preferred format for transferring two-dimensional drawings over the World Wide Web.
CHA: CHAnnel driver card. I/O support card in the eserver zSeries 900 and previous System/390 systems. Introduced September 1996. See also FIBB.
Change management: The methodology for planning and controlling software changes. This used to be more commonly known as the discipline of software management.
Channel: A specialized computer used in the IBM mainframe architecture to control transfers between devices and the processor unit. The channel off-loads some of the processing associated with I/O from the main CPU. May 1993, mainframe channel emulation was announced for the RS/6000, allowing 3480/3490 and 3495 to be attached, presumably for distributed data management. Channel is also used to refer to the cable used to connect the channel processor to the peripherals. See Bus and tag, CTC, CTCA, Fiber optic channel, FICON, ESCON.
Channel adapter: Hardware unit to attach a channel to a processor.
Channel attached: Devices that are directly attached to the processor by cable rather than over a communications link.
Channel extender: Device for extending the distance over which devices can be attached to a processor channel. IBM’s preference is to use FEPs for this (although see 2944, 3737), but independent vendor products (Hyperchannel, Paradyne, CNT, Comparex) often did the same job better and/or cheaper. The need for channel extenders was reduced (although not eliminated) by the introduction of the ESCON channel architecture. The 9036 allows the channel to be connected across a PTT network.
CHANNELink: Remote channel connection system from Computer Network Technology for connecting devices to mainframes across a WAN. Used in 3990-6 Extended Remote copy.
Channel link: An I/O channel-to-control unit interface found on mainframes that have an SNA network address. A channel link can be a subarea link, a peripheral link, a LEN link, or an APPN link.
Channel router: Generic term for a device which acts as a multiway switch between a processor and device. The ESCON director is such a beast.
Channel Subsystem Priority Queuing: New with z/OS, WLM now prioritizes channel I/O requests across all LPARs.
Checksum: A mathematical calculation made on data in a file, database or transmission, used to check the integrity of the data.
Chestnut: IBM code name for DAE.
Chicago: The code name for what became Windows 95.
CHPID: CHannel Path IDentifier. A single byte binary value used to uniquely identify each channel path on an eserver zSeries 900 and previous mainframe systems.
CHRP: Power Reference Platform. An IBM standard architecture for systems built using the PowerPC chip. Appears to be much the same as PReP. See PowerPC Platform.
CI: Command Interface. Interface between CLISTs and QMF – the interface enables CLISTs to make use of QMF services.
CIB: Control Information Base. IBM term for a type of Management Information Base (MIB) which contains control information – short-lived, requiring a prompt response, and of limited applicability. The CIB is quite likely to be on a distributed node in a network. cf. EIB.
CICS: Customer Information Control System (although these days IBM tends to say that it stands for Certainly Is Client/Server, or, for the stomach-churning Continually Increasing Customer Satisfaction). General purpose TP monitor for terminal-oriented and inter-system transaction processing in z/OS and VSE/ESA environments. Sits between user application programs, teleprocessing access method (e.g., VTAM), and database managers – i.e., CICS invokes user-written application programs in response to transactions entered at TP terminals. Originally developed for (the predecessors of) z/OS and VSE/ESA, but has evolved into a client/server product, in a number of ways. There are several non-mainframe versions, but only CICS Transaction Server for iSeries and OS/2 are still available. The CICS Transaction Gateway interfaces CICS on z/OS with clients on a broad range of platforms. And, for a time, there was the TXSeries, which merged CICS, Encina and IBM Transaction Server.
CICS/400: AS/400 version of CICS first announced in February 1992 as Version 2.2. Renamed CICS Transaction Server for iSeries.
CICS/6000: Written in C by IBM using TP technology from Transarc, and incorporated the Encina software. Replaced by Transaction Server for AIX in January 1997, which was withdrawn December 1998. See CICS.
CICS/AMA: CICS Application Migration Aid. IBM program designed to help people convert their COBOL programs from CICS macro-level to command-level. Originally available as a licensed program and as a remote service. No longer supported December 2001.
CICS/AO: See CICS Automation Option.
CICS/BMS: See BMS1.
CICS/CMS: VM product for developing CICS command-level applications in a VM/CMS environment. Replaced by CICS/VM April 1989.
CICS/ESA: Release of CICS announced July 1989 on CICS’ 20th birthday. Claimed to offer lots of enhancements in reliability, serviceability, and performance (particularly a reduction in the resource requirements of CICS own monitor), and to address 200 user requirements initiated from groups such as GUIDE and SHARE. It was a major re-write (using the Z technique) which stripped out a lot of redundant code, and made CICS leaner and fitter than it had been for years. It’s also OCO, and finally did away with macro-level programming, whose demise has been the cause of many a tear among CICS buffs. Replaced by CICS Transaction Server for z/OS. See also CICS.
CICS/MVS: Version 2 of CICS in February 1987 which gave a degree of fault tolerance (filched from the IMS XRF), and interfaces to C. Replaced by CICS/ESA, but supported for many years because it was the last version of CICS that supported macro-level programming. Withdrawn April 1994, with support ending December 1996.
CICS/Unix: A version of CICS/6000 which IBM sold to the open Unix market – i.e., to run on other vendors’ platforms. Obsolete.
CICS/VM: Version of CICS which ran under VM/IS on the 9370. Designed for applications where seamless integration is more important than high performance, which is a polite way of saying that it ran with great dignity – but slowly. In fact it was a non-starter for production applications – just a development and testing environment. Replaced CICS/CMS and was itself withdrawn December 1992.
CICS/VSE: September 1990 version of CICS for VSE/ESA users. Offered functional, RAS and performance enhancements over previous versions. Replaced by CICS Transaction Server for VSE/ESA.
CICS/XRF: See XRF.
CICSAO: See CICS Automation Option.
CICS Attach: Generic name for software within a database system (IBM or third-party) which enables the DBMS to support CICS applications.
CICS Automation Option: July 1991 MVS NetView application which automates CICS functions from a single point of control. Can be used to drive multiple local or remote CICS regions by automating functions such as start-up, shut-down, and recovery. Replaced by the CICS Auto Feature of AOC/MVS.
CICS Clients: Replaced by CICS Transaction Gateway and CICS Universal Clients.
CICS Connector for CICS TS: Part of CICS Transaction Server for z/OS. Enables Java enterprise beans to invoke non-Java programs using code that can be generated automatically by VisualAge for Java.
CICS External Call Interface: An API that allows a non-CICS client program to call a CICS program.
CICS External Presentation Interface: An API that allows a non-CICS client program to appear to CICS as if the program is a 3270 terminal, thereby eliminating the need to change existing CICS applications.
CICS for AIX: Obsolete. See CICS.
CICS for OS/2: System (announced October 1988) for running small TP-type systems on a PS/2 or PC/AT – i.e., it allows a PC to be used as a CICS transaction server on a LAN. Supports an application-oriented subset of the COBOL CICS command-level API, and includes LU6.2 support. Available in client and server (CICS OS/2 Multiuser) form. Renamed CICS Transaction Server for OS/2. See CICS.
CICS for Windows NT: Obsolete. See CICS.
CICS Fundamentals for e-business: Not a piece of software, but an HTML-based self-study course that describes the main concepts and facilities of CICS and the most commonly used CICS transactions.
CICS Gateway for Java: Originally shipped as a component of Version 1.2 of CICS Transaction Server of OS/390. Replaced by the CICS Transaction Gateway.
CICS Internet Gateway: Replaced by the CICS Transaction Gateway.
CICS Monitoring Facility: Creates SMF type 110 records with data about the performance of all user- and CICS-supplied transactions. See also CICS Performance Analyzer.
CICS ONC RPC: See CICS Open Network Computing Remote Procedure Call.
CICS Open Network Computing Remote Procedure Call: Allows non-CICS applications to access CICS-managed data.
CICS OS/2 Multiuser: Version 2 of CICS for OS/2, announced March 1993. Turns a PS/2 into a full blown TP server. IBM sold it both for systems downsized from the mainframe, and systems upsized from LANs. Renamed CICS Transaction Server for OS/2. See CICS.
CICS PA: See CICS Performance Analyzer.
CICSPARS: CICS performance monitor. Collects information about such things as transaction rates, response times, paging rates, virtual/real storage use. There were separate versions for MVS and VSE environments. Withdrawn February 1991.
CICS PD/MVS: CICS Problem Determination/MVS. Set of tools, announced September 1990, for the diagnosis and resolution of CICS region failures in CICS/ESA. March 1993, IBM sold the marketing rights for PD/MVS to Compuware Corporation (which originally developed the system in 1989).
CICS Performance Analyzer: A z/OS product that analyzes the SMF records created by the CICS Monitoring Facility (CMF), creating reports and extracts useful for tuning and system management. Announced May 2001.
CICSplex: A single system formed by interconnecting multiple CICS systems (originally using MRO), to form a single system image (see SSI1).
CICSplex SM: See CICSplex System Manager.
CICSplex System Manager: February 1994 system management product, initially for CICS/ESA, (bought in from Boole & Babbage Inc) which enables all of the CICSplex systems in a network to be managed as a single system image (see SSI1) without the operator having to know where the component systems are located. Designed for use by systems programmers, systems administrators, and master terminal operators. Web User Interface announced November 1999. Pre-requisite for the Parallel Transaction Server.
CICS Transaction Affinities Utility: z/OS software introduced in February 1994 which identifies transactions requiring two programs to share the same application owning region. No longer supported after December 2001. See also CICSplex.
CICS Transaction Gateway: A multi-user CICS gateway which supports programming interfaces on the same (middle) tier as the Web application server, for use by Web applications in Java and other languages. CTG runs on z/OS, Linux/390, AIX, Windows NT/2000, Sun Solaris and HP-UX. See also CICS Universal Clients.
CICS Transaction Server for iSeries: See CICS.
CICS Transaction Server for OS/2: See CICS.
CICS Transaction Server for VSE/ESA: A packaging of CICS and some products that had been sold separately. Includes CICS Web Support, REXX for CICS, CICS Universal Client and the CICS Transaction Gateway function. Announced September 2000. See also CICS.
CICS Transaction Server for z/OS: IBM repackaging of CICS for z/OS (November 1996), replacing CICS/ESA version 5. Version 1 was intended primarily to exploit the Parallel Sysplex – a Coupling Facility is a prerequisite. Includes server, client, and management functions, and facilities such as VSAM data sharing, shared temporary storage, and resource definition for transient data. Version 2 announced September 1997. See also CICS.
CICS TS: See CICS Transaction Server for z/OS and CICS Transaction Server for VSE/ESA.
CICS Universal Clients: Part of IBM’s Application Mining initiative. Provides access to any CICS platform from a single workstation user running Windows, OS/2, AIX and Solaris. CICS Transaction Gateway is intended for multi-user applications. CICS Universal Clients was withdrawn December 2002 with functionality included in other products, most notably CICS Transaction Gateway.
CICSVR: CICS VSAM Recovery. Software providing forward recovery of VSAM datasets. A utility is invoked each time a CICS journal is archived, which reads the CICS journal and stores information in the CICSVR recovery control dataset (RCDS), which is used for recovery. The recovery can be carried out on a system where CICS is not installed so that the CICS service can be continued in parallel with the recovery.
CICS VSAM Recovery: See CICSVR.
CICS Web 3270 Bridge: See 3270 Bridge.
CICS Web Interface: Originally, a free CICS feature that provides direct access to CICS from a Web browser. Announced September 1996. Later became a part of CICS Web Support.
CICS Web Support: HTML protocol support within CICS.
CID: Configuration, Installation, and Distribution. IBMspeak for the information/functions needed to manage distributed workstations.
CIEDS: Computer-Integrated Electrical Design Series. Mainframe, PC, AIX software. Replaced by CBDS December 1990.
CIM1: Computer Integrated Manufacturing. Generic term for systems used to control manufacturing processes. CIM tools include MRP, CAD/CAM, inventory control, just-in-time scheduling, etc. IBM CIM products include Artic, CATIA, CAEDS, CIM Advantage, COPICS, DAE, Gearbox, and MAPICS (with over 65,000 licenses). See also CATIA, ENOVIA.
CIM2: Common Information Model. See DMTF.
CIM Advantage: IBM family of CIM products announced October 1989. Also goes under the name Industrial Solutions. Withdrawn December 1993. See also CATIA, ENOVIA.
CIMAPPS: CIM Advantage Production Planning Series. MVS and VSE CIM software derived from COPICS for the SQL environment. Withdrawn December 1993. See also CATIA, ENOVIA.
CIM Architecture: Yet another architecture. CIM Architecture (announced October 1989) was based on SAA and AIX platforms, and included various bits of software which, according to IBM, all talk to one another. Frankly, it was all rather vague, and seems to have fallen into disuse. See also CATIA, ENOVIA.
CIM Series/400: Suite of CIM products for the AS/400. Announced September 1990. Provides a building block approach for integrating various systems – including RS/6000 CAD, OS/2 CAD, MAPICS. Withdrawn April 1995. See also CATIA, ENOVIA.
CIO: Channel Input and Output.
CIP1: Cisco’s Channel Interface Processor that permits a Cisco 7000/7500 class bridge/router to be ESCON or bus-and-tag attached to a mainframe. And can optionally act as a tn3270 server.
CIP2: Controlled Introduction Program.
Cipher text: A message that has been encrypted. See also encryption.
Circuit-level gateway: In a firewall1, a proxy server that redirects a client’s request through the firewall to the intended server. cf. application-level gateway.
CISC: Complex Instruction Set Computer. The opposite of a RISC. The Intel chips used in the PC and PS/2 are typical CISCs, as is the processor in IBM mainframes and the Motorola 68000.
CIT: Computer Telephony Integration. See CTI, CST.
Citrix MetaFrame: Provides support within AIX for high bandwidth X.11 and Java applications over thin connections.
CKD: Count Key Data. The original way that disk drives were formatted on mainframes. CCHHR would locate a record on disk by cylinder number (CC), track number within the cylinder (HH for head number) and physical record (block) number within the track (R). cf. FBA.
Class: A collection of RACF-defined entities with similar characteristics.
Class Authority: A user attribute specifying the classes, if any, where the user may create RACF profiles.
Class Descriptor Table: A RACF table containing entries for each class, except USER, GROUP and DATASET.
Classic Connect: SQL read-only access to IMS databases and VSAM datasets. A middleware server than runs on z/OS and provides access from other platforms. Announced April 1999, replacing DataJoiner Classic Connect.
CLAUTH attribute: See class authority.
CLAW: See Common Link Access for Workstations.
Clear data: In cryptography, data that is not enciphered.
Clever: The code name for an algorithm developed at the IBM Amalden Research Laboratories for refining the search ability of search engines.
CLI1: Call Level Interface.
CLI2: Calling line identification. Within telephony systems, the mechanism which enables the called telephone to know the caller’s number.
Client/server: Generic term for systems (also known as server/requester) in which one machine provides a range of services to one or more other machines. Typically, intelligent workstations (clients – also known as requesters) share access to one or more other machines (servers) which provide services to the workstations. Services may include printing, filing, processing, database access, etc. These days the server and the client both tend to be intelligent (except for print servers), to be transparent to the user, and to work cooperatively using program-to-program communication. Note that in the context of X-Windows, the terms have exactly opposite meanings; an X-Windows server is the user’s terminal, and an X-Windows client is the computer to which the server terminal is connected. See also Cooperative processing.
Client Access: A family of products providing access to iSeries 400, originally a mid-1990s replacement of PC Support. Client Access Express for Windows provides TCP/IP connectivity for Windows workstations, including 5250 emulation, DB2 data transfer and access to the OS/400 Integrated File System (IFS) and printers. iSeries Access for Web provides a subset of these functions for Web browser users.
Client Access Express: Part of the Client Access family of products.
Client daemon: A process in AIX that performs a client’s operations.
CLIST: Control language used to manage interactive applications in the z/OS TSO environment. Largely superseded by REXX, which SAA brought from VM as the procedure language standard. Also used generically to refer to any set of control language statements which can be called by name.
Clone: More or less synonymous with PCM machine. Originally referred to non-IBM replicas of the IBM PC.
Closed: Usually a reference to a proprietary system that therefore cannot readily be connected to other systems. cf. Open.
Cloud 9 for SCLM for z/OS: A browser-based centralized Software Configuration Management (SCM) tool for developing and deploying z/OS-based e-business applications containing objects such as HTML files, Java programs, z/OS objects, Web applications, documents and spreadsheets stored on various platforms. See also SCLM.
CLPA: Create Link Pack Area. An option used during IPL to initialize the Link Pack Area (LPA).
Cluster1: A group of devices comprising a cluster controller and one or more devices.
Cluster2: A VSAM structure comprising a group of related components.
Cluster3: A measure of space on a PC diskette. PC-DOS allocates space to files in cluster increments.
Cluster4: An architecture, employing hardware, software, or both, in which multiple computers behave as one. Parallel sysplex is a good example. Technically, even one computer becomes a cluster when all the parallel sysplex pieces are put into place. And this is typically how most parallel sysplexes begin, just to test the technology in a production environment, in preparation for the real thing. Clusters have several advantages, particularly in regard of reliability and ease of upgrade.
Cluster controller: A device that can control the I/O operations of multiple devices. A cluster controller can be controlled by either software, such as the 3601, or hardware, such as the 3272. Now known as Establishment controller.
Clustered FORTRAN: Version of FORTRAN announced with Supercomputing Systems Extensions (see SCSE). Enables up to 24 processors (in up to four 3090s or ES/9000s) to be linked together via a 4GB common memory to execute a single application. Also supports the PIOAM and File striping. Obsolete.
Cluster Management Utility: OS/400 software that allows you to create and manage a simple two-node, switched disk cluster. The utility includes wizards and help text that simplify the tasks involved in defining and managing the cluster.
ClusterProven: IBM certification for a combination of application software and IBM server cluster that has passed a test for total system availability, scalability and resiliency characteristics. A year after being introduced in 1999, 60 applications from 40 different vendors had passed the test, including IBM, of course. See also Advanced ClusterProven.
Cluster System Management: AIX’s support for management from a single point of control, monitoring, running commands and collecting output across a domain of AIX machines.
CM: See Communications Manager.
CMC: Communications Management Configuration. IBM method of concentrating all of the network management functions onto one processor (sometimes also known as the CMP – Communications Management Processor) in a multi-host SNA network. The CMC host does no work other than managing the network, while the other hosts perform no network management. Never very popular.
CMF: See CICS Monitoring Facility.
CMIP1: Common Management Information Protocol. OSI standard for network management data which should enable different network management systems to exchange information. Although it was designed for OSI networks, CMIP is transport independent, and there is no reason why CMIP shouldn’t be used directly on SNA networks. CMIP is supported in IBM’s OSI/CS product, and in September 1991, IBM announced that it would support CMIP across a wide variety of networking environments. See also CMOL, CMOT, CMIS, HLM, SNMP.
CMIP2: IBM Content Manager ImagePlus for z/OS. See ImagePlus.
CMIS: Common Management Information Service. The interface used by applications to access OSI network management functions. Uses the CMIP1 protocol.
CMOL: CMIP1 over LLC. 3Com/IBM protocol for the use of the CMIP network management protocol over LLC-based Ethernet and Token Ring networks. Never really took off.
CMOS: Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor. A chip technology used almost universally for processors today. Mainframes were the last to move to CMOS because, until the mid-1990s, bi-polar technology, though much more expensive, was the only way to make a single processor fast enough to handle many batch workloads in large organizations. As well as cost, CMOS also eliminated the need for water-cooling that larger bi-polar processors required.
CMOS copper technology: See copper.
CMOS Cryptographic Coprocessor: Encryption hardware that is included with the eserver zSeries 900. See also PCI Cryptographic Coprocessor.
CMOT: CMIP1 over TCP/IP. IETF standard supporting the use of the CMIP management protocols over TCP/IP networks. Published April 1989 as RFC 1095.
CMP1: Cooperative Marketing Program. A quick and dirty method for IBM to market third-party software without having to get tangled up in lengthy agreements.
CMP2: Communications Management Processor. The processor in a CMC.
CMP3: See Certificate Management Protocol.
CMS1: Conversational (originally Cambridge – the lab where it was built) Monitor System. Operating system running under VM, and providing timesharing and program development facilities. Comparable in function to TSO but less resource hungry and generally friendlier. Main use is for software development, and latterly for end-user Information Center support. The original file system was mainly oriented towards small files which made it a non-starter for critical applications.
CMS2: Cross Memory Services. MVS extension to the basic mainframe architecture which uses DASF to simplify sharing data between address spaces. CMS is a way of circumventing the 5MB private area limitation of MVS. Used extensively in the distributed version of DB2. Also known as XMS.
CMS3: Custom Migration Support.
CMSDESK: CMS Desktop. A GUI providing a subset of CMS functionality on a z/VM host from a Windows, OS/2 or AIX workstation.
CMS Pipelines: CMS job control product for z/VM that enables complex tasks to be specified and executed. CMS Pipelines has three parts – a command parser, a library of built-in programs, and a dispatcher.
CMVC: Configuration Management and Version Control. Development tool for OS/2, and RS/6000 and other Unix platforms, announced January 1992. Provides configuration management, version control, integrated problem tracking, and notification and reporting. Replaced by VisualAge TeamConnection Enterprise Server October 1999.
CNAT1: Central Node Administration Tool. z/OS ISPF application (announced July 1989) for running distributed VSE/ESA systems. Includes facilities for generating and submitting jobs to VSE/ESA nodes, and for central management of software. Withdrawn March 1993.
CNAT2: See Tivoli Comprehensive Network Address Translator.
CNM: Communications Network Management. Interfaces and entities (e.g., programs such as NPDA, RTM1, NPA) of SNA’s network management architecture.
CNMI: Communications Network Management Interface. VTAM interface allowing an NCCF command processor to request and receive network management information from the network.
CNN: Composite Network Node. A node in an SNA network which includes a VTAM (host) node and all of the NCP nodes within its domain. To an APPN network, a composite node appears as a single APPN network node.
COACH: COgnitive Adaptive Computer Help. A system which is included as a standard part of IBM’s OS/2 Warp operating system, called WarpGuide. It models user behavior and uses an inference engine to provide proactive and adaptive assistance. COACH has been applied to both application-specific environments and general-purpose system interfaces.
COAR: Computer Output Archival and Retrieval. A possible replacement for COLD technology. COAR is more representative of the current archival and search and retrieve technologies, which will add more value and broad accessibility to applications based on computer output. See COLD, COM.
Coax: Coaxial cable. The standard medium (like a bloated version of TV aerial cable) for connecting mainframe (3270 family) terminals. Although coax is capable of carrying lots of information, it’s the bane of many a DP manager’s life – it’s fat, inflexible, and incompatible with telephone wiring. The IBM Cabling System, which can use standard telephone twisted pair wires, marked the start of the end for coax.
COBOL: Widely-used programming language for commercial applications. SAA-anointed in the ANS X3.23 (1985 Intermediate Level) version. COBOL has always been the most popular programming language on the IBM mainframe, from System/360 to eserver zSeries 900. For more than 20 years, the popular mainframe compilers have been DOS/VS COBOL, OS/VS COBOL, VS COBOL II and IBM COBOL. IBM COBOL runs on z/OS, z/VM and VSE/ESA. IBM ILE COBOL runs on OS/400 and VisualAge for COBOL on Windows. And there is COBOL Set for AIX.
COBOL/2: SAA-anointed Version of COBOL for the workstation (OS/2). Originally developed by Micro Focus, but marketed by IBM. Obsolete.
COBOL/SF: COBOL Structuring Facility. z/VM and z/OS software which uses expert systems to turn tacky old COBOL programs into paragons of structure. Includes complexity metrics, and code restructuring. Withdrawn March 2001.
COBOL Productivity Suite: Integrated set of host and workstation tools that help improve programmer productivity. Withdrawn June 1996.
COBOL Set for AIX: COBOL application development environment for AIX1 with object-oriented and client/server support. See also COBOL.
COBOL VisualSet for OS/2: See VisualSet.
COBTEST: COBOL test tool. Replaces TESTCOB. Obsolete.
Codasyl: Conference On Data Systems Languages. A standard for database systems (strictly it’s the committee which maintains the standard). IBM does not itself provide a Codasyl database – the only Codasyl database available for the IBM mainframe sector is IDMS.
CODE/370: CoOperative Development Environment for System/370. Mainframe/workstation software, announced September 1991, which provides combined edit, compile, and debug facilities for high-level (initially COBOL and C) languages to create applications for the z/OS and z/VM environments. Uses cooperative processing techniques, with an OS/2 front-end talking to a host mainframe. The workstation portion was replaced by VisualAge and C/C++ Productivity Tools in February 2000. The host Debug Tool is still available.
CODE/400: CoOperative Development Environment for iSeries 400. Workstation software, announced mid 1991, which provides combined edit, compile, and debug facilities to create applications for the iSeries 400. Initially, it only supported RPG, but has since been expanded to COBOL, C, C++, DDS, CL (Control Language) and Java. Uses cooperative processing techniques, with a workstation front-end, initially OS/2, now only Windows, talking to a host iSeries 400. Became a part of ADTS (Application Development Toolset) in June 1995. In turn, ADTS became part of WebSphere Development Studio for iSeries in July 2001.
CODEC: COmpression-DECompression. Adapters that compress and decompress audio/video files. Used to stand for COder-DECoder.
Coexistence: In z/OS, the ability of up to four consecutive releases of the operating system to run on a multisystem configuration.
Coign: Part of Microsoft’s Millennium research project, which analyses application code (both statically and dynamically) and decides how best to partition it to optimize performance.
COLA: See Center for On-Line Addition.
COLD: Computer Output to Laser Disk. Early systems often used optical disks (or laser disks) as the archival media. Current optical technology, however, offers CD-ROM-based archival subsystems, RAID subsystems, various optical disk jukeboxes or autochanger systems, and others – with an assortment of software for their use. See COM, COAR.
COM: Component Object Model. Microsoft’s rules and architecture for software objects. See also COM+, DCOM.
COM+: An improved version of COM, incorporating the functionality of MTS1 and providing sophisticated runtime services.
Com300: IBM branding of the Siemens Hicom300 digital PABX; at one time available in Germany, Luxembourg, Belgium, the UK, and other countries where the local PTT allowed IBM to sell it. Replaced the 1750 and 3750. Defunct.
Comb: An assembly of access arms in a magnetic disk unit that move as a unit.
Command Direction: RRSF’s ability for users to issue a command and specify it be run on a local or remote RACF, on their own or another user ID.
Command interpreter: A program in AIX that sends instructions to the kernel.
Command-level: A method of CICS application programming that provides a much simpler method of programming than the macro-level CICS programming which it replaced.
Command operator: A special character in OS/2 or DOS, used to redirect input or output, or for conditional processing or grouping.
CommercePOINT: A suite of payment programs for Internet commerce. Using the SET security procedures, CommercePOINT Wallet allows use of credit/debit cards through PCs. CommercePOINT Till is the electronic cash register for vendors. CommercePOINT Gateway allows connection between banks/credit card providers and merchant sites. Became the Payment Gateway for OS/390 mid 1998.
Commercial Data Masking Facility: Part of the IBM Common Cryptographic Architecture. 40-bit encryption used by RACF to mask the data portion of RRSF transaction processing message packets.
Commit: The point in a TP system at which a transaction actually takes place. In an industrial strength TP system, such as CICS, the commit only takes place when the system is sure that all data so far processed is recoverable in the event of a system failure. On-line programs typically commit automatically at the end of a transaction. For batch programs, the programmer typically initiates the commit at regular intervals during processing.
Commodity: Commodity items in the computer industry are those sold on a lowest bid wins basis with none of the value-adds beloved of IBM. PC compatibles and clones are typically sold as commodity items. In the past, IBM had always steered clear of commodity markets, but increasingly was dragged into them as the computer industry matured. With the exception of the iSeries 400, virtually all IBM hardware is now sold into what are effectively commodity markets.
COMMON: International user group for users of mid-range IBM systems.
Common Area: Area within the z/OS operating system containing the z/OS code itself, plus key z/OS data (e.g., control blocks). Shared by all users.
Common Cryptographic Architecture: September 1990 vintage architecture which provides a standard cryptographic API for z/OS and VSE/ESA applications. Implemented in the Integrated Cryptographic Feature.
Common Data Link Interface: Allows snmpd to monitor Ethernet, Token Ring and FDDI devices even if they are not running TCP/IP. Supported by AIX1.
Common Data Security Architecture: See CDSA.
Common Link Access for Workstations: The IBM Layer 2 channel-protocol used by IBM on the 3172 and Cisco on the CIP to transport TCP/IP traffic across bus-and-tag or ESCON II channels.
Common LISP: IBM environment – comprising mainframe and PC or PS/2 software – for developing and running LISP programs. Developed and jointly marketed by IBM and Lucid Inc. IBM withdrew from the joint marketing agreement in March 1990.
CommonPoint: The first deliverable – an object-oriented application development system/environment for OS/2 and AIX. From the Taligent company. Withdrawn December 1997.
Common Process Manager: See ADPS.
Common Queue Server: Used by IMS and other software for Shared Message Queuing with the Sysplex Coupling Facility.
CommonStore: See Content Manager.
Communications Manager: The bit of OS/2 that – surprise, surprise – manages communications. Supports lots of protocols, including asynchronous, SNA LU0, X.25, Ethernet, IEEE 802.3, and also provides an SNA LAN gateway. Available only as part of the OS/2 EE bundle until early 1991, when it became available separately. Includes support for APPN, host NetView, CPI-C, and enhanced NDIS. Withdrawn July 1994.
Communications Server: IBM software that supports several APIs that may be called concurrently and that are designed for client/server and distributed application programs. Available on AIX1, OS/2, z/OS, and Windows NT/2000. An SCO UnixWare version was withdrawn March 2001. The z/OS version includes VTAM and is an optional, separately priced element of z/OS. This implies full integration testing with z/OS and all its other elements.
Communications Server for MVS/ESA: Multiprotocol networking solution from IBM (Nov 1996), which includes VTAM 4.3, TCP/IP 3.2, and AnyNet. Intriguingly, it’s aimed at users who don’t intend to go to OS/390. Withdrawn March 2000.
Communications Suite for Windows: See eNetwork Communications Suite for Windows.
Communique: Group of vendors, headed by HP and IBM, which at one time was developing the Broadcast Message Server (BMS) CASE standard. Not a lot is heard from it these days.
Compaction: Within DFSMShsm, a method used for compression and encoding of data during migration or backup to reduce required storage space.
Compile: The translation of a high-level programming language (source program) into a machine language program (an executable program). Some operating systems, including z/OS, z/VM and VSE/ESA, require an additional step before the program can be actually executed; see Program Management Binder for the z/OS and z/VM requirement.
Compiler: A program that translates high-level programming languages into machine language programs.
Compiler for REXX/370: A compiler for the normally interpretive REXX language, available for z/OS and z/VM. Intended to speed up large REXX applications.
Component Broker: Originally known by its code name of BOSS. It is a super middleware framework from IBM. A component-based application development strategy with common tool interfaces with which IBM intends to promote its object oriented technologies such as SOM/DSOM and Bighorn server software. Now part of WebSphere Application Server, Enterprise Edition.
Componentization: Customizing an applet’s functionality to match the needs of a specific set of users, to eliminate the downloading of unnecessary code to the client. This cuts down applet download times.
Composer: See DisplayWrite Composer.
Compression: Generic term for a method of reducing the amount of space needed to store data, by encoding the data. This is achieved through the elimination of empty fields, gaps, redundancies, and unnecessary data to shorten the length of records or blocks. Also used specifically by IBM to refer to the technique of removing embedded, unused space from between members of a partitioned dataset. A compression TCM1 (which requires special versions of the appropriate software, including MVS/ESA 4.3) was introduced into the ES/9000 in February 1993. See also Compaction, IDRC.
COMTI: Microsoft’s COM-based Transaction Integration. An extension to Microsoft Transaction Server (MTS) to enable it to support CICS, IMS, DB2 and 3270/5250 transactions.
Concurrent Channel Maintenance: First introduced as an optional feature on the Summit ES/9000s which allows a failing channel to be repaired or replaced without interrupting processor operation.
Conditional Access List: RACF users and groups permitted access only when a specified condition is true. For example, access to a dataset may be permitted only when executing a specific program.
Confidential mailbox: An option available on the IBM Network Printer 17 that ensures confidential print jobs are output into a locked security box which can be accessed only by inputting a PIN to the printer. The Network Printer 17 has 10 of these secure bins, which can hold a maximum of 40 sheets each.
Connect for iSeries: B2B software integration framework using Java, XML and the Internet to connect an organization’s application software with its trading partners. Supports Domino, WebSphere and MQSeries.
Connectionless communication: A type of communication in which there is no formally established physical communication path between the two communicators; i.e., there is no notion of a set-up and take-down phase at the start and finish of the connection. Packet switching, datagrams, store and forward, and asynchronous delivery services such as SNADS, are examples of connectionless communications.
Consent decree: A voluntary agreement entered into by a US company to avoid Uncle Sam clobbering it under anti-trust legislation. IBM has entered into various consent agreements (notably one in 1956) covering such topics as unbundling, and selling as well as renting its hardware. By 1994, IBM’s market dominance had eroded to the extent that it launched an appeal against the 1956 consent decree, and after forty years and nine months IBM finally extracted itself from the decree in May 1997.
Consumer Transaction Facilities: IBM’s verbally succinct terminology for hole-in-the-wall machines. See also 1/LINK, 3624, ATM1.
Content Connection: Replaced by Content Manager.
Content Manager: A portfolio (product family) providing an enterprise content management infrastructure for e-business information. Supports z/OS, iSeries 400, AIX1, HP-UX, Sun Solaris and Windows NT/2000. Includes ImagePlus, OnDemand and VideoCharger components, as well as CommonStore components for Domino and SAP2. Replaces Content Connection, Digital Library, EDMSuite and FAF.
Content policy: Rules within an organization regarding what type of material may not be stored on computers, such as pornography.
Content security: Enforcement of content policy.
Contingency planning: Any cost-effective preparations for negative future circumstances.
Control block: Areas of storage within mainframe system software much loved of systems programmers. Control blocks contain data used to control part of a system or subsystem – system parameters, addresses, pointers, counters, etc.
Controller: Specialized processor which sits between a channel and one or more peripherals. IBM controllers include the 3880 and 3990 disk controllers, the 3725 and 3745 communications controllers (FEPs), and the 3274 and 3174 cluster controllers.
Control point: A program which manages an APPN network node and its resources, enabling communication to other control points in the network.
Conversation: The logical connection between two programs serially sharing an LU6.2 session.
Convertible: IBM laptop PC which claimed to be a member of the PS/2 family but was nothing more than a physically small PC. Didn’t do very well in the market and ended up being sold off as a special offer in high street hi-fi shops. Obsolete.
Cookie1: IBMspeak for the recording medium of a diskette, i.e., the spinning disk inside the jacket.
Cookie2: User preferences and data that the user may submit while browsing the site that a Web server stores as a small file on a user’s computer when the user browses a particular Web site. The use of cookies enhances Web site interactivity on future visits. But they are the subject of considerable debate among security and consumer groups as to their ability to tie together (for marketers) otherwise disparate pieces of information about individuals.
Cooling house: IBMspeak for a bureaucratic non-job into which a youngish member of IBM staff has been shunted. Apparently there’s still hope for you if you’re young, which is why IBM is keeping you in suspended animation in the cooling house. If you pass the magical age of 45 and you’re still in a cooling house, the cooling house becomes a Cemetery. See also Parking lot.
Cooperative processing: Generic term for systems in which the processing is spread across two or more systems. The most common use of cooperative processing is where a system is provided partly on an intelligent workstation (the user interface) and partly on a minicomputer or mainframe (database access, application processing, etc). SAA was designed as an architecture for cooperative processing, and OfficeVision was one of the first whole-hearted attempts by IBM to create a cooperative application. The term has rather gone out of fashion, and people tend to call the concept client/server these days.
Coordinator system: The system in a RACF data sharing group where a RACF command is entered by a system operator or administrator and is propagated to the entire group.
COPICS: Communications Oriented Production and Information Control System. Venerable CIM MRP software for the mainframe. Enhanced October 1989 with shop floor interfaces and CDF compatibility. SQL versions announced October 1989 as a part of CIM Advantage. COPICS Enhanced (July 1991) is a COPICS re-vamp by IBM, General Electric, and some third parties. Obsolete. See also CATIA, ENOVIA.
Copper: IBM was the first company to commercially manufacture computer chips with copper instead of aluminum, for the metallic circuitry linking transistors on the semiconductor. IBM overcame problems of copper leaching into the silicon with a patented fusion barrier. The result was smaller chips that integrated more complex functions, used less power, and required less cooling. Announced September 1997.
COPR: Control operator control block.
Co-processor: An additional processor within a CPU which off-loads (it’s also known as an offload engine or IOP – Integrated Offload Processor) specific tasks from the main CPU. Co-processors provide a very effective way of building parallelism into each mainframe processor and IBM has always provided mathematical co-processors. In September 1990 a cryptographic co-processor (see Integrated Cryptographic Feature) was announced, and in February 1993 a data compression engine.
CORBA: Common Object Request Broker Architecture. Set of standards for distributed object management from the Object Management Group (OMG). Supported in IBM’s SOM and DSOM architectures.
CORMES: Communications Oriented Message System. VSE/MVS system for building electronic mail systems under COPICS. Withdrawn August 1994.
Corporate portal: A company-specific Web portal that provides selective access to the company’s Intranet and information systems resources. See also WebSphere Portal Server.
Corrective Service Diskette: A diskette provided by IBM that includes updates to a program designed to resolve problems. The diskette is distributed to registered service coordinators for resolving user-identified problems with previously installed software.
Corsair: IBM code name for a 95mm, high performance disk which it sells on the OEM market, and uses in its own products. Part of the same family of devices as Allicat.
Cortina: See 4391.
COS1: Corporation for Open Systems. US corporation, similar to the European SPAG, which aims to promote the use of OSI standards. Members (including IBM) are vendors and users. By mid 1993 it had got into such a state squabbling over TCP/IP that it decided to re-organize itself completely. Dormant.
COS2: Class Of Service. A mechanism within SNA which assigns virtual routes and priorities to sessions.
COSE: Common Open Software Environment. Alliance (March 1993) between IBM, HP, Sun, Unix System Labs, and others aimed at improving interoperability between their respective Unix workstation platforms. The agreement includes a Common Desktop Environment, based on HP VUE, OSF Motif, and Sun ToolTalk; marketing agreements covering OSF DCE and Sun ONC; and a range of draft specifications concerning multi-media, object-orientation, networking, graphics, and system management. COSE was probably inspired by Windows NT paranoia, but it’s good news for Unix users. See also CDE, Spec 1170, WABI. Dormant.
COTS: Commercial Off-The-Shelf software. Generic term for shrink wrapped commercial products which are not custom designed for a specific user.
Country code: The 3-digit number in X.25 that precedes the national terminal number in the network user address for public networks.
Coupling: Generic term used to mean connecting of processors together into a more or less tightly-knit computing complex. Used specifically by IBM to mean the connection of multiple eserver zSeries 900 processors in a sysplex.
Coupling Facility: Hardware from IBM, such as the 2064 model 100, where common tables can be shared in a sysplex, for high speed caching, update locking of shared data, list processing and workload balancing between multiple processors.
Coupling Facility Control Code: The code (small operating system) implementing the Coupling Facility.
Coupling Facility Structure Sizer Tool: A tool on IBM’s Web site that can be used to calculate storage usage within a Coupling Facility for the major IBM software products that use it.
Coupling Link: See CF Channel.
COW: Character Oriented Windows. A Microsoft user interface employed in LAN Manager for the user and administrator interfaces, where it presents an appearance very similar to OS/2 Presentation Manager.
CP: Control Program. The collection of software modules that make up the core (nucleus) of z/VM.
CP/67: A very early IBM mainframe operating system which eventually evolved into VM. Originally written for the S/360 Model 67, the only S/360 with the DAT hardware required to do paging in support of virtual memory.
CP/88: Concurrent operating system developed by IBM for use within the NetView/PC product. Capable of running a PC-DOS program as a task. Obsolete.
CP/MSU: Control Point Management Services Unit.
CPA: Cisco’s Channel Port Adapter – a smaller version of the CIP for Cisco 7200 family bridge/routers.
CPAR: Customer Problem Analysis and Resolution. Process in which a customer identifies the cause of a problem and the appropriate fix. It brings sunshine into IBM’s life when customers who carry out a CPAR, issue an APAR. Obsolete.
CPC: Central Processor Complex. Synonym for CEC.
CPE: Customer Premises Equipment. Generic term for telecommunications equipment – handsets, PBXs, modems, etc – that lives on the customer’s rather than the PTT’s premises.
CPF: Control Program Facility. The operating system for the System/38. Highly integrated, with database and communications facilities all tied in to the basic system (cf. the mainframe operating systems which comprise a minimal set of core functions and a mass of subsystems – VTAM, VSAM, CICS, IMS, DB2, etc). OS/400 builds on and expands CPF. Support for CPF was withdrawn mid 1992.
CPI: Common Programming Interface. The part of SAA which specified the languages conforming to the SAA. The idea was to make it possible to write an application in one of the SAA languages or application generators and then run it on any SAA architecture. The initial presentation by IBM focused on software portability, moved to productivity improvement, and then to support for client/server (it would have saved IBM a lot of trouble if it had just said that reducing the number of programming languages is self-evidently a good thing). CPI components include CSP1, REXX, COBOL, C, FORTRAN, RPG, Resource Recovery Interface, Language Environment Interface.
CPI-C: Common Programming Interface for Communications. A superset of IBM communications verbs containing bits of APPC/VM, TSAF, and SRPI. Provides a high-level interface to APPC, and consists of 30 standard calls available in SAA high-level languages and other subsystems, including consistent APPC interfaces. CPI-C licenses (which IBM offered at a knock-down price) have been taken up by many major vendors, and it rapid becoming an industry standard (X/Open took it up). Version 2 May 1994 introduced full duplex, non-blocking calls, and OSI enhancements.
CPI-CI: Another name for CPI-C.
CPI-M: Common Programming Interface – Messaging.
CPI-RR: Common Programming Interface for Resource Recovery. The bit of SAA for controlling access to a TP resource recovery subsystem.
CPLOG: The IMS Checkpoint Log.
cps: Characters per second.
CPSA: CallPath Services Architecture. See Callpath.
CPU: Central Processing Unit. Processor. The part of a computer that executes instructions.
CQS: See Common Queue Server.
CRAD: Customer-Requested Arrival Date. IBM term for when you want their product delivered.
CRAM: Consolidation, Rationalization, Automation, Management. A program which IBM applied to itself in the early 1990s to rescue itself from the mess it had fallen into.
CRC: Cyclic Redundancy Check. An error detection and/or correction mechanism based on cyclic codes. Or the storage location used to store CRC value for a block of data.
CREN: Corporation for Research and Educational Networking. A large computer network formed after the merger of BITNET and CSNET. Headquartered in Washington, D.C.
CRL: See Certificate Revocation List.
CRM: See Customer Relations Management.
CRMF: Certificate Request Message Format. The X.509 Internet standard as defined in RFC 2511.
Cron table: Chronological table. A table in AIX that is used to schedule application programs and processes.
Cross Platform Extension: A SCSI to ESCON gateway, based on Seascape architecture, that allows zSeries 900s to share RAMAC2 storage with UNIX and Windows servers.
Cross System Coupling: See XCF.
CRT: Cathode ray tube. And computer monitors built with them. Similar technology to a television picture tube. The once-popular term was rarely heard until the late 1990s when it was used to differentiate from the emerging LCD monitor technology that became practical for more than just laptops.
CRU: Customer Replaceable Unit. A unit replaced lock, stock, and barrel by the customer if it breaks. See FRU.
Cryptanalysis: Interpreting cipher text without being given the key.
Cryptoanalysis: Less common spelling for cryptanalysis.
Cryptographic Coprocessor: See CMOS Cryptographic Coprocessor, PCI Cryptographic Coprocessor.
Cryptographic hardware: A specialized processor for providing system security. It is faster and more secure than software encryption and less vulnerable to corruption by unauthorized users. See also 4758, CMOS Cryptographic Coprocessor, PCI Cryptographic Coprocessor.
Cryptography: Designing an algorithm for cipher text.
Cryptology: The mathematics behind cryptography and cryptanalysis.
Cryptolope: A mechanism invented by IBM as part of its infoMarket service, which lets owners of digital information distribute it over the Internet securely, while ensuring payment for its use. Potential users can receive a cryptolope, but can only see a headline; the useful information is inside the cryptolope, and the user can choose whether to open and pay for it. Information can be passed on to other users, who in turn must decide whether to unlock and pay for it.
Cryptolope clearing center: Provides server support for cryptolopes, including registration, authentication, key transformation and management, event logging, and access to billing services.
Cryptolope Live: The next generation of the cryptolope secure Java component. It will be able to create information objects, components that could be static content or content linked by an IBM subset of Java surrounded by business logic. Previously a cryptolope opener was required on the desktop to add the business logic, but Live makes the containers more generic and easier to distribute by having the rules inside the containers. Announced September 1997. But nothing seen or heard since.
Cryptolope opener: Enables users to access or purchase the contents of a cryptolope container by requesting keys to decrypt the content from a clearing center.
Cryptolope packer: Assembles the content to be enclosed in a cryptolope container, encrypts that content with appropriate keys registered with a clearing center, and allows the content owner to specify the terms and conditions, prices, usage rules, and access restrictions for that content.
Cryptosystem: The world’s first public-key encryption scheme that provides a mathematically proven uniform level of data encryption. It is based on the difficulty in finding what is called the unique shortest vector in an n-dimensional lattice, which is apparently impossible. Announced May 1997 but not a product yet.
CS1: Customer Service.
CS2: See Communications Server.
CSA1: Common Service Area. Part of the common area of z/OS. Mainly used for data for VTAM, IMS1, etc.
CSA2: Corporate Service Amendment. IBM maintenance scheme.
CSA3: Callpath Services Architecture. See Callpath.
CSAT/400: Central System Administration Tools/400. AS/400 software (February 1992) which allows a central AS/400 to control a network of AS/400s running DSAT/400. Facilities include planning and tracking of file distribution, problem management, distribution of fixes, configuration audits. Withdrawn December 1995.
CSC: Cross Systems Consistency. A philosophy which became SAA when it grew up.
CSCM: Central Site Change Management. Software allowing 3174 firmware to be updated electronically from a central site. Requires NetView/DM.
CSCW: Computer Supported Collaborative Working. A self-explanatory term for the activities supported by groupware. Used by IBM in response to Microsoft making first claim on the less tortuous term workgroup computing.
CSD1: Corrective System Diskette. A diskette, or more usually quite a number of diskettes, supplied by IBM to correct bugs in OS/2 software.
CSD2: Communications System Division.
CSD3: CICS System Definition.
CSE: Cross System Extensions.
C Set++: IBM system for developing C++ programs. Included 32-bit compiler, class libraries, full function browser, etc. Available on several platforms before being withdrawn.
CSF1: COBOL Structuring Facility. See COBOL/SF.
CSF2: Common Storage Format. A specific implementation of the Fixed Block Architecture (see FBA), long recognized as the best format for delivering predictable response times from DASD. As well as simplifying data formats, the CSF allows new facilities, including: backup while open, backup at record level, enhanced file sharing and improved space allocation. Also known as M4K.
CSF3: 4690 Controller Services Feature. See StorePlace.
CSFI: Communications Subsystem for Interconnection. An early 1991 VTAM application which acts as a protocol converter between SNA and OSI environments. Uses NPSI on the FEP. It appears to be aimed at the e-mail, videotext, and EDI markets, and should simplify 3270-to-ASCII connection. Although the Networking Blueprint wasn’t around when it first appeared, CSFI belongs to the Multi-Protocol Networking layer of the Blueprint, as it allows SNA and non-SNA terminals to interoperate with SNA and non-SNA applications through different types of networking facilities, like SNA, TCP/IP, and OSI. Enhancements in January 1993 included improved TCP/IP (MVS only), use of VT220 applications from 3270, and enhanced X.25 performance. VSE/ESA and z/VM support has ended, but new releases continue to appear for z/OS.
CSI1: Copy Screen Image. Facility on AS/400 which allows the screen image on one workstation to be copied to another local or remote workstation. Used for Help Desk activities or remote diagnosis and repair.
CSI2: Computer Security Institute.
CSL: Callable Service Library. Package of VM/CMS Assembler routines that can be stored as an entity for use by a high-level language, REXX, or Assembler.
CSMA/CD: Carrier Sense Multiple Access/Collision Detection. A LAN protocol in which the workstations all listen to a common channel, and wait for a lull before transmitting; if two channels transmit at the same time (i.e., there’s a collision), both wait for some suitable (i.e., different!) period of time before trying again. It’s a terribly egalitarian system since all the workstations have equal access rights and privileges, and hence it’s difficult to manage explicitly – a point which IBM reiterates endlessly. Used in the Ethernet and PC/Network LANs and within the IEEE 802.3 standard. cf. Token passing.
CSNET: Computer Science Network. A large computer network, composed of universities, research labs, and some commercial companies mostly in the United States but with international connections. Now CSNET and BITNET have merged, it is a component of the Corporation for Research and Educational Networking (CREN).
CSO: Consistent Sign-On.
CSP/AD: The part of CSP1 providing the development environment. Obsolete.
CSP/AE: The part of CSP1 providing the run-time (execution) environment. Obsolete. See also EZ-Run.
CSP/AG: See EZ-Prep.
CSP/Q: Query/Report Writer for CSP users. Provides casual access to VSAM or CMS files, mainly for non-DP users. Obsolete.
CSP1: Cross System Product. IBM application generator. Over the years, it ran on quite a number of environments including the AS/400, PC-DOS and OS/2 workstation, 8100 and mainframe running VSE/ESA, z/VM, z/OS and DPPX/370. At one time CSP was IBM’s strategic 4GL, but by December 1997 it had been withdrawn from all platforms, with VisualAge Generator the suggested replacement.
CSP2: Cooperative Software Program. An agreement between IBM and an Independent Software Vendor (ISV).
CSS: Channel SubSystem.
CST: Computer Supported Telephony. Another name for Computer Telephony Integration. See CTI.
CSTA: Computer Supported Telecommunications Applications. An ECMA interface standard for PABX-computer communications. IBM and Ericsson worked together to create CSTA-based links between Ericsson PABXs and Callpath products.
CSV: Comma Separated Value. Free format file standard for PCs in which a comma is used for separated fields (text is delimited by quotation marks).
CSW: Channel Status Word. The word in main store where channel status information is held. The operating system looks at the CSW to find out whether a channel (I/O) operation has completed successfully.
CT: Control Terminal.
CTC: Channel-To-Channel. The technique of connecting channels, allowing data transfer between two mainframe systems at channel speeds over short distances. Used by IBM subsystems such as JES3 and VTAM. CTC connection is useful where faster communication than can be provided by a communications link is required.
CTCA: Channel-To-Channel Adapter. Device for directly connecting the channels of two machines to one another. CTCAs have been replaced by the integrated CTC function in the channels of the ES/9000 and newer mainframe systems.
CTG1: Computer Task Group. System integrator in which IBM took a 15.3% stake in May 1989 as part of its program of getting into the systems integration market. CTG bought back IBM’s share in December 1994.
CTG2: See CICS Transaction Gateway.
CTI: Computer Telephony Integration. Generic term for systems – àla IBM CallPath – which integrate computer and telephone systems. aka CIT and CST.
CTL: See Certificate Trust List.
CTR: Computing-Tabulating-Recording. The company which in February 1924 became International Business Machines (IBM).
CTS: Common Transport Semantics. A layer within IBM’s Networking Blueprint which acts as an interface between the application and the underlying protocols, and, in effect, makes applications independent of the network across which they run. See also MPTF, MPTN.
CUA1: Common User Access. The part of SAA which specifies the ways in which the user interface to systems is to be constructed. Includes standards for such things as the position of items on screens, use of mouse, meanings of terms, etc. There are two main versions of the CUA based on different models of the user interface – the graphical model for the Programmable WorkStation (PWS), and the entry model for the Non-Programmable Terminal (NPT). There’s also a version which provides the interface to OfficeVision, and a text subset of the graphical model which enables you to build interfaces on NPTs so that they look vaguely like proper WIMPS environments. Note that the CUA does not require IBM hardware or software – it can be implemented using Windows, Motif, OpenLook, etc.
CUA2: IBM Computer Users’ Association. The UK IBM users association.
CUA 87: The original CUA1 specification built around the 3270 dumb screen.
CUA 89: The version of the CUA1 built around the programmable workstation, and based on the WIMPS notion.
CUA 91: The version of the CUA1 which builds on the concept of object orientation. The base technologies for CUA 91 were Easel and Smalltalk/V.
CUD: See Capacity Upgrade on Demand.
CUoD: See Capacity Upgrade on Demand.
Current: IBM PIM software introduced December 1989 for creating simple personal databases. It’s a single user DOS product incorporating a run-time version of Windows, and includes word processing, calculation, file transfer, and hypertext. Available as a front-end to OfficeVision/400 from March 1993, and as a front end to OfficeVision/MVS and VM from April 1993. And upgraded to run under Windows 3.x. The last Current product was withdrawn August 1997.
Current Connect Group: The RACF group assigned to the user at logon.
Current Security Label: The RACF security label assigned to the user at logon.
Customer Relations Management: Focusing, on an on-going basis, on how an organization deals with its customers.
Customer value pricing: IBMspeak for not having a price list. The idea is that the customer pays whatever he thinks the product is worth, rather than a notional (and probably heavily discounted) list price. In effect it meant that IBM had stopped publishing its price list. Introduced worldwide in February 1993 (the same principle had been in use in the UK since early 1992).
CUT: Control Unit Terminal. A mode of operation used by the 3274 where the device LU logic is maintained in the controller on behalf of the terminal; i.e., the controller, not the terminal, interprets the 3270 datastream. The 3278, 3178, and other very dumb terminals use this mode. cf. DFT.
CUTPWHIS: A free utility from IBM that removes non-usable passwords from the RACF password history.
Cut-through: Switching mode used by LAN switches (e.g., IBM 8270) and WAN switches where the switch starts to forward bits that make up a frame to its destination as soon as it has determined the relevant destination port without waiting to receive the end of the frame and checking whether it is error-free. Opposite of store and forward.
Cut-through routing: Communications technique of the store and forward ilk. Unlike conventional store and forward in which a whole frame of data is received before it is forwarded, in cut-through routing, the node begins to forward the data after it has received the first few characters. Used within the Serial Storage Architecture.
CVOL: Control VOLume. Obsolete, but still in use, z/OS catalog stored in a non-VSAM dataset with the name SYSCTLG.V followed by the VOLSER. Replaced by ICF2.
CVT: Communications Vector Table. The central control block in the z/OS environment. Can be used in read-only mode by applications programs to access certain system tables and control areas related to the active address space.
CWM: The OMG’s Common Warehouse Metamodel, a standard model of data warehouse metadata.
CWS: See CICS Web Support.
Cylinder: The tracks, in an assembly of magnetic disks, that can be accessed without repositioning the access mechanism.
Cypress: Combined telephone and computer terminal (ASCII) which emerged during IBM’s short-lived marriage to Rolm.
Cyrix: Semiconductor manufacturer with a particularly strong presence in the Intel-compatible market. After a protracted legal battle with Intel, Cyrix won the right to make Intel clones. From early 1994 IBM manufactured Cyrix’s 486 chips for use in its own machines and for sale in the open semiconductor market.
D
DA/2: Distributed Application/2. OS/2 software providing a set of APIs for building client/server applications. The APIs hide the complexity of underlying communications (APPC, NetBIOS, Named Pipes, etc). Supports CID, CICS, IMS1, APPC. Withdrawn December 2000.
DACTLINK: Deactivate link.
DACTLU: Deactivate logical unit.
DACTPU: Deactivate physical unit.
DACU: Device Attachment Control Unit. See 7171.
DADSM: Direct Access Device Space Management. Space allocation software within DFSMSdfp.
DAE: Distributed Automation Edition. Set of tools, services, and interfaces for developers to use to create factory-floor applications. Announced February 1989. One by one, it has all been withdrawn over the years.
Daemon: An event-driven process, implemented as a memory-resident program that remains in the background until an event of interest occurs, then jumps into action. The term is most commonly used in the Unix environment.
DAISY: Dynamically Architected Instruction Set. A VLIW software translator which can convert Java code and PowerPC machine code. Not a product but a prototype developed at IBM’s research center at Yorktown, which began working on VLIW techniques in 1986.
DAN: Direct Attachment Node.
DARI: Database Application Remote Interface. A stored procedure API supported by DB2 CS.
Dark fiber: A fiber optic cable path without any repeaters for reamplification in between.
DARPA: Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. Formerly called the Advanced Research Projects Agency, DARPA is the US Department of Defense agency responsible for creating ARPAnet.
DASD: Direct Access Storage Device. IBMspeak for disk. When RAMAC RAID was announced, it looked like IBM had finally capitulated to the word Disk, but it was not to be.
DASD farm: Term coined as sites started to install huge amounts of DASD, and to manage all the DASD as a single data resource – the DASD farm. The confines of the farm are rather indistinct, but it normally stretches from the processor side of any storage control devices to the slowest layer on the storage hierarchy, which does not normally contain DASD per se. See also Information warehouse.
DASD Fast Write: Facility introduced on the 3990-3 to improve the writing performance of DASD. Data is written to cache and non-volatile storage in the DASD controller, which then writes it to disk at its leisure, thereby removing the need for a program to wait for data to be written to disk before it can continue. Fast Write extends the range of datasets which can be considered for caching, and improves performance by about 28%. Key feature when it was introduced, since the ability to write data very quickly is essential to a memory-based computing environment. See also SSD1, Cache Fast Write.
DASF: Dual Address Space Feature. Facility in z/OS enabling a user to connect a secondary address space to a program, notably in JES3. A very similar feature appears to have been used to create z/OS dataspaces and Hiperspaces. See also Dataspace1.
DAT: Dynamic Address Translation. The process by which virtual addresses are converted into real addresses during instruction execution.
Data Analyst: See Bachman.
Data Analyzer: A Microsoft Office visualization and analysis product announced November 2001 and sold separately, rather than being a part of any Office XP offering.
Database/2: See DB2.
Database Administration Tools: A set of DB2 utilities. A member of the Data Management Tools for DB2 family, announced September 2000 as a replacement for DB2 Utilities. See also Database Recovery and Replication Tools.
Database Manager: The IBM-developed database manager originally available only as part of the OS/2 EE bundle until early 1991, when it became available separately. The unbundled version was renamed DB2/2 in January 1993.
Database memory: Feature on the eserver pSeries which uses a combination of hardware and software to allow related transactions to be grouped as a single atomic transaction; it’s meant to help recovery/restart after a crash.
Database Navigator: An OS/400 Operations Navigator GUI that displays the relationship among relational objects such as tables, views, and indexes.
Database Recovery and Replication Tools: A set of DB2 utilities. A member of the Data Management Tools for DB2 family, announced September 2000 as a replacement for DB2 Utilities. See also Database Administration Tools.
Datablazer: Range of fixed and removable storage devices announced for the OEM market early 1993. Given to Xyratex when it was founded in a management buyout (MBO) from IBM in 1994. Obsolete.
Data Class: One of the SMS1 storage management classes. Data Class defines the physical characteristics of a dataset.
Data Dictionary: A data dictionary (DD) is a database which contains information about the way items of data are used. Typically a DD contains details of data names, data usage, data structures, data models, and so on. IBM’s eponymous Data Dictionary was never appreciated in a marketplace dominated by third-party products.
Data flow control: Layer 5 of SNA; manages the logical sessions over a single connection between two locations.
DatagLANce: IBM system administration tool for Ethernet and Token Ring LANs, announced October 1993. Provides facilities for the collection of LAN statistics in real time, and can be used for application software debugging, capacity planning, network reconfiguration, and internetwork trouble-shooting. Withdrawn March 1995.
Datagram: Generic term for a transmission method used in packet switched networks in which sections of a message are transmitted in an arbitrary order and then re-assembled by the recipient. Each datagram packet is sent without any regard to previous or subsequent packet. Typically individual datagrams are not explicitly acknowledged.
DataGuide: Information Warehouse software (vintage October 1993). Creates and searches a catalog of information on all databases using various extract tools. Originally for accessing DB2 on z/OS and OS/2 only, but support for OS/400 and AIX was added December 1995. DataGuide for Windows and DataGuide for Lotus Notes were announced October 1994 then withdrawn March 1996. DataGuide Version 1.1 was announced December 1995 for Windows and OS/2 clients to DB2 on OS/2, AIX, OS/400, z/OS and Windows 95/NT. In May 1998, it was replaced by Visual Warehouse, which became part of DB2 Enterprise Edition then DB2 Universal Database.
DataGuide Tags: An IBM technology for storing and sharing metadata.
Data heap: A term used in Unix and AIX to refer to a section of memory set aside to store a specific type of data.
DataHub: DBMS product set (full name SystemView Information Warehouse DataHub) of database tools which provides a workstation-based control point for database management. Includes MVS, VM, OS/400, RS/6000, and OS/2 (DB2/2) host components, plus a workstation component. First emerged in September 1992 when various vendors (including Candle, Platinum, and Legent/CA) promised that they would support DataHub. Withdrawn October 1995.
Data integrity: The knowledge that information has been unaltered during transmission or storage.
DataInterchange: See expEDIte.
Data Interpretation System: See DIS2.
DataJoiner: IBM Information Warehouse Software for AIX, announced October 1994. Provides transparent SQL access to data on relational and non-relational databases on a number of platforms. HP-UX version announced June 1996. DB2 version announced September 1997. Version 2.1.1 was announced July 1998, running on AIX, Windows NT and Sun Solaris, leaving HP-UX users still supported by marooned at June 1996’s Version 1.1. The iSeries 400 with the Integrated PC Server (IPCS) is also supported with the NT version.
DataJoiner Classic Connect: Expands DataJoiner access to IMS1 and VSAM data. Announced July 1996. Replaced by Classic Connect July 1999.
Data link: A physical link, e.g., a wire or a telephone circuit, that connects devices or communications controllers. Specified in layer 2 of the OSI reference model. See OSI layer.
Data link control: Layer 2 of SNA; manages the physical connection between two locations.
Data Link Switching: See DLS3.
Data Management Tools for DB2: A family of DB2 utilities, announced September 2000 as a replacement for DB2 Utilities. Includes Database Recovery and Replication Tools and Database Administration Tools.
Data Mart: Storage of the data required to meet the information needs of a department or group of users. Typically read-only. Optimized to satisfy their query and/or reporting needs.
Data mining: The practice of using a data warehouse for highly complex, ad hoc queries. Data mining and data warehousing have become synonymous in the hearts and brochures of most database salesmen.
Data Propagator: Became one word in more recent versions. See DataPropagator.
DataPropagator: z/OS program developed in association with the Swiss Bank Corporation, and announced September 1990 as Data Propagator (later made into one word). Initially it automatically copied changes in an IMS database to a DB2 database using a two-phase commit protocol so that the end-user DB2 database could be kept in sync with the production IMS database. A bi-directional version which propagated changes either from DB2 to IMS or from IMS to DB2 was announced in March 1993 looking suspiciously like a migration aid from IMS to DB2. A version which allowed parts of a mainframe database to be replicated (in read-only form) on OS/2 workstations was announced in October 1993, AS/400 implementations in April 1994, and an HP-UX version in February 1995. Withdrawn October 1995. Also known as DPROP. See also TPFDDA.
DataRefresher: GUI-based software (October 1993) which moves large amounts of data from databases and flat files to refresh relational databases from existing MVS relational and non-relational applications. Uses a client/server paradigm based on an OS/2 client. Supports IMS/ESA, DB2 (under MVS, VM, OS/2, and RS/6000) flat files, and various non-IBM files. Replacement for DXT. Withdrawn April 1999.
Data Sciences: UK system/software integrator bought by IBM in March 1996.
Data Security Monitor: An auditing tool that comes with RACF. Reports on the status of resources that RACF controls.
Dataserver: See 3995.
Dataset1: A unit of data storage and retrieval consisting of one or more data records. Outside of the IBM mainframe environment, people call them files.
Dataset2: AT&T term for a modem – presumably in contrast to a handset.
Dataset profile: A profile used by RACF to protect one or more datasets.
Dataspace1: Areas of storage (up to 2GB) accessible to mainframe programs for storage and retrieval of data. In effect, the dataspace concept is a mapping facility which allows the user to pretend that he has loads more central storage (16 terabytes under MVS/ESA) than he actually has.
Dataspace2: Within MVS VSAM, the area on a disk allocated to a VSAM catalog on which VSAM datasets can be placed.
DataStage: Software from Ascential Software announced marketed by IBM beginning September 2001. Works with DB2 Warehouse Manager to bring together multi-platform data.
Data striping: A technique for achieving parallel transfer of data by splitting up data across a number of devices and transferring parts of sets of data in parallel. See File striping, Disk striping.
Data Tables: CICS feature announced March 1989 which allowed heavily used data to be held in CICS controlled main storage above the 16MB line. Gave substantial performance improvements by reducing I/O. Shared Data Tables were announced in March 1992, and gave massive improvements (up to 70% for local reads) compared to VSAM. Part of the Data In Memory (DIM) philosophy.
DataTrade: A set of IBM communications programs – announced April 1990 – designed to provide a consistent API for data transfer between distributed applications on processors running different IBM operating systems. Available for PS/2, RS/6000, and System/88. Each program is in two parts, a Manager in a server, and a Workstation Feature in a workstation. Withdrawn between mid 1992 and mid 1994.
Data Warehouse: General term for a collection of database, middleware, and query tools that allow fast, flexible access to near-operational corporate data. Data warehousing has proved invaluable in industries such as retail for tracking buying patterns and forecasting future customer requirements. It has also provided a handy marketing tool for database vendors trying to breathe new life into their products.
Data Warehouse Center: Provides a data warehouse creation and management GUI. Handles tasks such as registering and accessing data sources, and defining data extraction and data transformation steps. Part of DB2 Warehouse Manager and integrated with DB2 Control Center.
DAT box: A hardware feature of some System/360 and most System/370 systems that translated virtual into real addresses. Mention of the DAT box brings nostalgic tears to the eyes of hoary old systems programmers and to the eyes of the DP managers who bought $200,000 DAT boxes in 1970 only to find DAT as a standard 370 feature two years later. No one talks about them anymore, but they are standard equipment in all IBM mainframes since the 370. Virtual memory and paging would be impossible without it.
DATE: Dedicated Access to X.25 Transport Extension. SNA facility for handling X.25 packets. Configuration option under NPSI.
DB/DC: DataBase/Data Communications. Generic name for on-line database system + TP monitor. IMS1 is an example, with IMS DB as the database and IMS TM as the monitor.
DB2: Database/2. Relational database management system first announced for z/OS environments in 1983. Originally promoted as an end-user tool, but is now IBM’s preferred DBMS for just about everything apart from the legacy applications serviced by IMS1. DB2 became a family in the early 1990s and there are now DB2 versions, most under the name DB2 Universal Database, for a broad range of platforms. Since some began as other products, there were initial compatibility problems, they seem to have disappeared over the years. See also DB2 Universal Database, DB2 Server for VSE and VM, DB2 Everyplace.
DB2/2: A renaming of OS/2 Database Manager in January 1993 when it was unbundled from OS/2 Version 2.0. The new version was a true 32-bit product, and included enhancements in performance, portability, DB2 and SQL compatibility, and systems management. Replaced by DB2 Universal Database.
DB2/400: The SQL implementation on the AS/400. A subset of full IBM SQL, but a full implementation of the SAA version of SQL. Includes compilers for calls from high-level languages, and interactive options for table and file definition. Originally called SQL/400. Replaced by DB2 Universal Database.
DB2/6000: The relational DBMS for the RS/6000 announced in March 1993. Built on top of the OS/2 DB2/2 code, but with industrial strength features more akin to mainframe DB2 – extensive locking, on-line optimizer, and performance management. Supports DDCS and DRDA, and enables the RS/6000 to act as a database server, perhaps in an Information Warehouse set-up. POWERparallel support announced April 1994 (see DB2 Parallel Edition for AIX). Replaced by DB2 Universal Database.
DB2/6000 Parallel Edition: See DB2 Parallel Edition for AIX.
DB2/MVS: The original DB2 incarnation first announced in 1983. Technically, SQL/DS was first, but DB2/MVS was the first to bear the DB2 name. Originally promoted as an end-user tool, but is now IBM’s preferred mainframe DBMS. Its key strength is the SQL interface which is now a de facto industry standard. A major re-vamp in March 1993 added Hiperpool, access to Asynchronous Data Mover Facility, improved partitioning, and better availability. Enhancements in Version 4 (announced October 1994) included support for parallel query, domain definition by users, and much better support for distributed processing. Version 5 (announced Nov 1996), which was supposed to be version 4.2, included much higher prices than users had expected. Replaced by DB2 Universal Database.
DB2/UX: Mid 1995 implementation of DB2 for HP-UX. Shares a common code base with DB2/6000. Replaced by DB2 Universal Database.
DB2/VM: A renaming (mid 1993) of SQL/DS for the VM environment. Renamed DB2 Server for VSE and VM May 1997.
DB2/VSE: A renaming (mid 1993) of SQL/DS for the VSE environment. Renamed DB2 Server for VSE and VM May 1997.
DB2 buffer-pool tool: IBM software that helps performance analysts tune DB2 relational databases, to optimize memory usage and I/O. Produces statistics for all pools and objects, simulation of changing pool sizes, prediction of effects of moving DB2 objects into new pools. Announced September 1997.
DB2 Catalog: The set of tables within DB2 which maintain the descriptions of objects such as tables, plans, views, and indexes. See DBRAD.
DB2 Common Server: Obsolete term for DB2 Universal Database.
DB2 Connect: Middleware that runs on AIX, HP-UX, Linux, NUMA-Q, OS/2, Sun Solaris and Windows to enable applications running on those platforms to access DB2 data residing on z/OS, z/VM, VSE/ESA and OS/400. Announced September 1997.
DB2 Control Center: A Java-based GUI that provides a single point of control and consistent procedures for managing DB2 systems on different platforms, including the mainframe. It can run directly on the workstation as a Java application or on a Web server and run through a Web browser.
DB2 CS: See DB2 Common Server.
DB2 Estimator: Originally a Windows and OS/2 software product for estimating resource requirements and modeling the performance of z/OS DB2 systems. Announced June 1994. Became a component of DB2 itself in December 1996.
DB2 Everyplace: DB2 for mobile and embedded devices. Runs on Linux, Palm OS, QNX Neutrino, Symbian EPOC, Windows CE/PocketPC and Win32-based platforms. Has its own data store that can be used to store local data or data downloaded from elsewhere. The Sync Server component runs on AIX, Linux, Sun Solaris and Windows NT/2000/XP. It synchronizes the Everyplace data store with external databases on DB2 Universal Database for z/OS, iSeries 400, Unix, OS/2 and Windows, as well as Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server, Informix and Sybase.
DB2 Extenders: Software that supports new DB2 data types. For example, DB2 XML Extender enables defining, accessing, storing, and searching data stored using the XML data type. See also Net Search Extender, Starburst.
DB2 Governor: A component of DB2 which sets a CPU limit on queries to prevent users hi-jacking a machine. Also known as RLF (Resource Limit Facility).
DB2I: DB2 Interactive. z/OS ISPF techie’s tool providing interactive access to DB2.
DB2ICF: DB2 Integrity Control Facility. Programmer’s z/OS DB2 development tool running under ISPF.
DB2 Intelligent Miner: See Intelligent Miner.
DB2 Parallel Edition for AIX: Version of DB2/6000 announced in April 1994 along with the POWERparallel hardware. Decomposes complex queries into small parts which can be run in parallel. Also allows updates, index creation, and backup and restore to be run in parallel. Formerly known as DB2/6000 Parallel Edition. Replaced by DB2 Universal Database (UDB) December 1997.
DB2 PM: DB2 Performance Monitor. Performance monitor for DB2 Universal Database for z/OS that produces all sorts of pretty colored pictures showing how much resource both it and DB2 are consuming. Now part of a family called IBM Tools for Database Performance Management. Other members include DB2 SQL Performance Analyzer, DB2 Query Monitor, IMS Performance Analyzer and IMS Queue Control Facility.
DB2 Server for VSE and VM: The very first DB2 implementation was on VM and VSE in the early 1980s. But it was known as SQL/DS. Curiously, despite several renamings, it is now almost an orphan, being only one of two DB2 products not (yet?) given the Universal Database (UDB) moniker (DB2 Everyplace is the other).
DB2 Solaris: Mid 1995 implementation of DB2 for Sun Solaris. Shares a common code base with DB2/6000. Replaced by DB2 Universal Database.
DB2 Sort Assist: A standard feature of eserver zSeries 9000 that accelerates DB2 performance during sorting. Sorting is very common when processing SQL queries. See also Assist.
DB2 Text Extender: See Text Extender.
DB2 UDB: See DB2 Universal Database.
DB2 Ultralite: Cut down version of DB2/2 once intended as a competitor for the likes of Microsoft’s Access and Borland’s Paradox in the OS/2 and Windows markets.
DB2 Universal Database: With the exception of z/VM, VSE/ESA and mobile/embedded platforms, all DB2 implementations are known as DB2 Universal Database. Those platforms include z/OS, AIX, HP-UX, Linux, OS/2, NUMA-Q, Sun Solaris, Windows and iSeries 400. There is also the Satellite Edition, which runs on occasionally-connected remote systems running Windows. See also DB2, DB2 Server for VSE and VM, DB2 Everyplace.
DB2 Warehouse Manager: A set of tools to build, manage and access data warehouses built in z/OS DB2 Universal Database. See also Data Warehouse Center.
DB2WWW: DB2 World Wide Web Connection. First previewed June 1995, free software, downloadable from the Internet, which allows users to access DB2 data via the Internet using a web browser. Initially available for DB2 under AIX and OS/2, and promised for MVS, VM, and AS/400. Versions for Windows NT, Solaris, and HP-UX were announced mid 1996. A VM/ESA version was previewed in May 1997, two months after the same product name was used for a CBT course for Internet application developers. Nothing has been heard since.
DBA: DataBase Administrator. The person who is responsible for a database system.
DBCS: Double-Byte Character Set. Coding sets used for certain far-East languages, including Japanese and Korean. cf. SBCS, MBCS.
DBCTL: DataBase ConTroL. z/OS facility which improves the interaction between subsystems (notably IMS and CICS) and multiprocessor performance.
DBEDIT: DataBase EDIT. DB2 and SQL/DS editor, allegedly suitable for users without DP or relational database experience. Withdrawn March 1997.
DBICF: IMS DataBase Integrity Control Facility. Set of inter-related programs and procedures, originally written by Swiss Bank Corporation, for simplifying recovery of IMS and CICS DL/I databases.
DBMAUI: DB2 Migration Aid Utility. Withdrawn January 1993.
DBMS: DataBase Management System. Generic term for a computer system, usually software-based, for storing and accessing data. IBM’s DBMSs include DB2 and IMS1, but not VSAM. Although VSAM has the ability to lookup records directly by key, it does not allow the definition of fields, a key feature of a DBMS.
DBPROTOTYPE II: Design/prototyping tool for designing IMS databases. Withdrawn January 1989.
DBRAD: DataBase Relational Application Directory – available as DBRAD/MVS and DBRAD/VM. A crude data dictionary for DB2, announced with DB2 Release 3, which was initially seen as a solution to the weaknesses of the DB2 Catalog. In fact, DBRAD was not a lot better than the Catalog itself; it’s little more than a Catalog front end which adds the ability to store and report data relationships, but is not a full data dictionary. Users say it’s cumbersome and incomplete. DBRAD/MVS was withdrawn January 1993. DBRAD/VM was not withdrawn until December 1997 in a purge of non-Y2K-compliant software.
DBRC: DataBase Recovery Control. Originally an IMS tool for automating a large part of system recovery, but now used by DB2 as well. DBRC maintains logs and generates recovery job streams.
DBRM: DataBase Request Module. Dataset containing source SQL code created by the DB2 pre-compiler. The SQL is removed from the source code of the program and replaced by calls to DB2 modules. The DBRM entry is used as input to the bind processor to create a plan which is stored with a time stamp in the database.
DBSYNC: A free IBM utility that compares two RACF databases and generates the RACF commands to make them similar.
dbx: Debugger for Unix programs, available for AIX1 and z/OS Unix System Services. Provides source-level debugging and services to debug C language programs in a multi-threaded environment.
DC: Data Chaining.
DCA: Document Content Architecture. Set of rules (machine-independent datastream) about document formats, meanings of control characters, handling of non-text material, etc. The objective of DCA is to enable any DCA hardware or software to receive and interpret any DCA document in the same way. Now incorporated within MO:DCA.
DCAF: Distributed Console Access Facility. OS/2 facility (June 1990) which uses LU6.2 to enable an OS/2 workstation to control another DOS or OS/2 device across an SNA or gatewayed TRN network. Can transmit files, dump, or re-boot remote file servers and workstations. Works by receiving screens from, and controlling the keyboard of, the remote machine. Sold for Help Desk type applications. Replaced by Tivoli Remote Control July 1997.
DCB: Device Control Block. The control block used to tie an z/OS application program to a non-VSAM dataset – the two are connected by the DDNAME.
DCC: Data Country Code. A 3-digit code used in X.25, as a unique country identifier.
DCE1: Data Control (sometimes Configuration, sometimes Circuit-terminating) Equipment. ITU-T term defining the network end of a link on the user’s premises; the other end is the DTE. A modem is a typical piece of DCE.
DCE2: Distributed Computing Environment. An attempt by the IBM-backed OSF to create an independent standard for cooperative processing systems. Comprises standards for distributed services (name and directory services, remote procedure calls, etc), and data sharing services (distributed file system, PC integration, diskless operation). DCE was the basis of the CICS/6000 product. IMS support was announced in October 1993, AS/400 support in January 1994. By the middle of 1994, IBM had worked itself up into a state of great enthusiasm for it, and before long DCE support seemed to be in every IBM platform.
DCE Security Server: A component of SecureWay Security Server that is integrated with RACF and provides a fully functional OSF DCE2 security server for z/OS Unix System Services (USS).
DCF: Document Composition Facility. Mainframe text composition software consisting of a text formatter (SCRIPT/VS) and an environment feature. Works with ATMS III, DLF and PROFS, where it was one of the least liked features of the package (it was replaced by DisplayWrite/370 within PROFS, and nobody liked that much either). The emergence of CALS in the early 1990s gave DCF a new lease on life. Still supported in z/OS, z/VM and VSE/ESA but there has not been a new release in over a decade.
DCI: Display Control Interface. Microsoft/Intel standard for multimedia and video software under Windows.
DCLGEN: DB2 facility for creating COBOL or PL/I copybooks based on table definitions.
DCM1: Dynamic Channel Path Management.
DCM2: See Digital Certificate Manager.
DCME: Dynamic Cache Management Enhanced. DB2 facility introduced after Version 3.0 for exploiting DASD cache controllers.
DCMF: Distributed Change Management Facility.
DCollect: DFSMSdfp utility for collecting data storage usage information.
DCOM: Distributed COM. Obsolete since COM now supports both local and remote operation. See also COM, COM+.
DCSS: DisContiguous Saved Segment. DCSS areas are bits of virtual storage in a z/VM system used to hold a single copy of shared code. The objective is to improve performance and reduce storage requirements.
DD1: See Data dictionary.
DD2: Data Definition. The MVS JCL statement used to associate a dataset with the application program processing element (e.g., ACB, DCB). The DD statement is characterized by its bewildering number of parameters with unusual spellings.
DDBMS: Distributed DBMS. Generic term for a database system in which the physical data is distributed across different machines, but which presents a single database image to the user – i.e., it provides location transparency. Technically it’s extremely difficult, and no vendor has a complete solution. See DB2, DDF, DDM, Distributed Unit Of Work, DRDA, QMF, Remote Unit of Work, Two-phase commit.
DDCS: Distributed Database Connection Services. Software which creates a transparent connection between a client workstation application (DOS, Windows, OS/2) and a DB2, SQL/DS, RS/6000, or AS/400 database server, allowing the client to read and update the database on the server. DDCS was a key implementation of the DRDA architecture. DDCS software was available from IBM for OS/2, AIX, HP-UX, and Sun Solaris. Replaced by DB2 Connect September 1997.
DDE: Dynamic Data Exchange. Method in Windows and OS/2 Presentation Manager of transferring data in real time among applications. Supported in Easel. See also OLE.
DDF: Data Distribution Facility (also Distributed Data Facility). LU6.2 facility for getting DB2 databases to talk to one another.
DDL: Data Description/Definition Language. Generic term for a language used to describe data elements and their relationships. Also used specifically to refer to the part of SQL used for data definition.
DDLSw: See Desktop DLSw.
DDM: Distributed Data Management. A cross platform function using LU6.2 and APPC facilities to network processes on one machine with data on another. In effect, it’s a protocol for distributed file access. DDM is one of the base architectures for IBM’s distributed database and was implemented in September 1990 on the mainframe, having been available for many years prior on the AS/400, System 38 and System/38. Other platforms followed. Today, it is still a key component of DRDA in DB2. See also FTS1, DRDA.
DDN1: Defense Data Network. MILNET and several other United States Department of Defense networks.
DDN2: Document Distribution Node. Network node with storage, processing, and communications capabilities to attach and support workstations within a DIA network.
DDname: Data Definition Name.
DDNS: Dynamic DNS.
DDOS: Distributed Denial of Service. Hacker technique of first secretly gaining remote access to a large number of Internet-attached computers, then triggering all of them to simultaneously flood a specified Web site with spurious traffic. The Web site is effectively shut down.
DDP: Distributed Data Processing. Generic term for applications where the intelligence in the system is not located at a single point or in a single device. Though very popular in the late 1970s, the term has not been heard much since. Nonetheless, client/server is a DDP architecture.
DDR: Dynamic Device Reconfiguration. z/OS facility for reconfiguring a broken device. Can be used dynamically, i.e., without stopping the program using the device, or shutting down the system.
DDS1: Document Distribution Services. Component of DIA supporting distribution, requesting, store and forward, and delivery in a document distribution system. DDS can function in a store and forward mode – that is the originator and receiver do not need to be connected when the transmission of information is initiated.
DDS2: Database Definition Specification. Utility on the iSeries 400 for the development of display, print, and database definition files. Offers similar facilities to SQL.
DDS3: Data Definition Statement.
DDS4: Distributed Data Services. See StorePlace.
DDV: Direct Document View. Obsolete 8100/DOSF feature enabling users to view a DISOSS document without first having to retrieve it onto the 8100 system.
DEA: Data Encryption Algorithm. Public standard for data encryption. Used in IBM’s Integrated Cryptographic Feature.
Dead Gateway Detection: An AIX networking function. IP multi-path routing with multiple gateways where a failure of a gateway is detected and data is automatically routed through alternate gateways.
Deadlock: A conflict in resource locking order between two requestors both wishing to update the same resources. The simplest example is two programs both wishing to lock the same rows in the same two tables at the same time. One locks the first table first and the other locks the second table first. They will both wait forever for the other to complete. The OS/400 Integrated File System, for example, has a deadlock detection feature that helps diagnose applications with conflicting lock ordering.
Debit-Credit: A transaction processing benchmark for OLTP systems. Developed by the Bank of America and has become a de facto standard, although IBM shows little enthusiasm for it, preferring its own RAMP-C measure. Unlike RAMP-C, Debit-Credit is a public standard, but one which vendors treat with scant respect, and comparing one set of Debit-Credit results with another is by no means straightforward. Debit-credit is now largely out of fashion, replaced by the TPC’s benchmarks. See ET-1, TPC, TP-1.
Debug: The human problem determination process for software. Literally, to remove bugs.
Debugger: A tool for debugging.
Debug Tool: Debugger. An optional feature of many IBM compilers, such as IBM PL/I for z/OS and z/VM where it is part of the Full-Function Feature.
DEC: Digital Equipment Corporation. Computer manufacturer founded in August 1957 by Kenneth Olsen. During the eighties, DEC was a large pain in IBM’s corporate derrière – its VAX line sold very well into IBM accounts, much to the jolly giant’s chagrin. By the 1990s, DEC was in just about as much trouble as IBM. In January 1998 DEC was sold to Compaq for $9.6 billion – the largest acquisition in the history of the computer industry.
DECnet: DEC’s family of network products based around Ethernet.
Decode: Translating an encoded object back to its original form.
Decryption: Converting cipher text to plain text.
DEDALE: Expert system for analog circuit diagnosis. IBM research project.
DEDB: Data Entry DataBase.
Dedicated Token Ring: 32Mbps Full Duplex Token Ring technology on new adapters and on certain Token Ring switches. See also Token Ring Network.
Deep Blue: The 1.4 tonne, chess playing IBM RS/6000 SP that finally beat chess grand master Gary Kasparov in New York in May 1997. IBM’s RS/6000 SP, with its 32 P2S3 microprocessors and 512 dedicated chess processors, with the ability to assess 200 million possible moves per second, beat Kasparov in a six game contest. IBM considers the RS/6000 SP as having application for pharmaceutical drug development, molecular dynamics, and financial risk assessment.
Deep Thought: An IBM chess playing machine which was the first artificial intelligence machine to be granted Grand Master status in the chess world in 1983. It was the precursor to Deep Blue, the RS/6000 SP which eventually beat Grand Master Gary Kasparov in May 1997.
De facto: Actual, not rightful according to the dictionary. Used to describe standards such as SNA, the mainframe architecture, and the PC, which dominate the market, usually to the detriment of the rightful (de jure) standards such as OSI.
Default group: The group specified in the RACF user profile that becomes the current connect group unless another group is specified at logon.
Defragmentation: The use of a software utility to improve access and retrieval time by rewriting fragmented data to contiguous sectors of a computer storage medium.
Delegation: Giving groups or users the authority to use some security administrator functions of RACF.
Delivery Manager: IBM SystemView product (also known as SAA Delivery Manager) announced September 1990. Enables software and data to be delivered to networked OS/2 workstations from an MVS or VM host, and between hosts. Can be driven centrally or remotely. AConnS is a prerequisite. January 1992, CICS and PC-DOS support added. Withdrawn December 1993.
Delta disk: The virtual disk in VM that holds temporary program fixes.
DEN: Directory Enable Network. See DMTF.
Dependent LU: See DLU.
Dependent workstation: Old IBMspeak for MFI workstation (dumb terminals). Preferred to MFI in the UK, where MFI is the name of a large chain of stores purveying low-price furniture.
DEQ: See Dequeue.
Dequeue: The removal of a named entry from an z/OS system resource queue in which it has been enqueued (see Enqueue). Also known as DEQ.
DES: Data Encryption Standard. Originally developed by IBM in 1971, now an NIST standard first published in 1977. A block cipher that encrypts 64 bits at a time using a symmetric algorithm. Supported by IBM in z/VM passwords, the Common Cryptographic Architecture, RACF, and ICRF.
Design Center for e-transaction Processing: Project teams pulled together from across IBM to help large companies build comprehensive e-business environments with IBM servers, software and services, and integrate their business processes with that new environment they just built. Began July 1999, with a dedicated facility in Poughkeepsie, New York in March 2000, a second and third soon after in Montpellier, France and Makuhari, Japan.
DeskStar: Version of the UltraStar disk drive for use in desktop PCs.
Desktop DLSw: A scheme whereby SNA/APPN traffic is encapsulated within TCP/IP packets right at its source (e.g., PC/workstation) even before it reaches the LAN. Only justifiable in dial-in scenarios for mobile-users.
DET: Device Entry Table.
Developer Network: A service for people building applications around Lotus products. Includes a technical forum, expanded knowledge base, tools and newsletter.
Developmate: Business modeling and prototyping tool announced along with AD/Cycle in September 1989 to run in MVS+OS/2 environments. Defines a business’s processes and data in terms of entity-relationship models stored in a Repository. An analyst’s, not a programmer’s tool. Withdrawn July 1994.
Device driver: The code needed by a computer to allow it to interface with an attached I/O device.
Device Level Select: Feature first introduced on 3380D/E that lets any two devices in a two path string read or write data simultaneously. DLS Enhanced was introduced with the 3380J/K, expanding DLS to four data paths. See also Dual porting.
Device pool: A group of similar devices that can be shared by a group of users.
DFC: Data Flow Control. SNA layer (number 5) defining protocols for managing LU-LU data flows.
DFDS: Data Facility Device Support. Venerable software product for supporting various devices – mainly DASD. Withdrawn December 1991.
DFDSM: Data Facility Distributed Storage Manager. Became ADSM then Tivoli Storage Manager.
DFDSS: Data Facility DataSet Services. Renamed DFSMSdss.
DFEF: Data Facility Extended Function. MVS software now integrated into DFSMSdfp.
DFHSM: Data Facility Hierarchical Storage Manager. Renamed DFSMShsm.
DFP1: Data Facility Product. Renamed DFSMSdfp.
DFP2: Dynamic Feedback Protocol.
DFS: Distributed File System. Runs on DCE2 to provide a single, shared file space for all authorized users from all possible locations across different platforms. Supports replication, providing high availability by placing multiple geographically-dispersed copies of files and applications. File names and paths are location-independent so that files can be relocated without renaming. Caching stores the most commonly used files close to the workstation that is using them. Available for AIX. Supported as Distributed File Service (DFS/SMB) in z/OS.
DFSMS: Data Facility Storage Management Subsystem. An element of z/OS and also available for z/VM, as DFSMS/VM. But it began life February 15, 1988, as an IBM term for its then-new approach to data management: the notion that you will no longer need armies of systems programmers and data administrators to look after your data – you simply tell the system about the storage, backup, performance and other requirements of the data, and the system does the rest for you. Then some bright boy in IBM mainframe software management realized that the company could save a bundle of money by packaging related software together, thereby avoiding the need to test every possible combination of supported version/release of each product together. He named his guinea pig DFSMS/MVS and it was announced May 19, 1992. It combined and replaced MVS/DFP1, DFHSM, DFDSS and TLCS, as they had been previously known, renaming them DFSMSdfp, DFSMShsm, DFSMSdss and DFSMSrmm. The bundling concept worked so well that it was tried on a much grander scale: OS/390, a bundling of MVS/ESA and many systems software products. z/OS continued the tradition, with DFSMS as a component.
DFSMS/VM: Data Facility Storage Management Subsystem/VM. z/VM version of z/OS DFSMS, providing SMS1 space management for SFS and mini-disk files, including migration and management classes. ISMF is also included, along with 3495 tape library support. But, when first announced in October 1989, there was lots of marketing hype but not a lot of product substance. It was little more than a utility with an ISMF interface for speeding DASD conversions, and managing mini-disks. Things got better by mid 1992 with space management for SFS files, FBA support and 9348 tape support under VM/ESA. Today it is a component of z/VM.
DFSMSdfp: DFSMS Data Facility Product. A component of z/OS DFSMS that provides functions for storage, data, program, and device management, in conjunction with distributed data access. Enables the definition of the services to be assigned to new datasets. Handles catalog management and access methods. Formerly a separate product known as DFP.
DFSMSdss: DFSMS DataSet Services. An optional, separately priced feature of z/OS DFSMS that handles device migration, copy, space management, and dump/restore. It also converts existing data between non-SMS and SMS volumes, and provides an interface for storage administrators (ISMF). Formerly a separate product known as DFDSS (Data Facility DataSet Services).
DFSMShsm: DFSMS Hierarchical Storage Manager. An optional, separately priced feature of z/OS DFSMS known mainly for its uncanny ability to migrate your datasets to tape just before you next need to use them. In fact, hsm is a sophisticated automated system for both backup and hierarchical storage management. It includes an ISPF interface for end users who wish to migrate, recall, backup or recover individual datasets, or to override the default migration and/or backup parameters. The hierarchy being referred to is flexible, but most installations define so that Level 0 is standard disk storage, Level 1 is compressed disk storage and Level 2 is tape. Datasets have to be recalled to Level 0 before they can actually be read or written. hsm also includes a disaster recovery feature known as ABARS. Originally introduced in the early 1980s as a separate product known simply as HSM, then later renamed DFHSM (Data Facility Hierarchical Storage Manager), before becoming the DFSMShsm component of DFSMS/MVS (now just DFSMS) in May 1992.
DFSMSrmm: DFSMS Removable Media Manager. Initially, as TLCS, it was a rather unpopular tape library management system. A major revamping and inclusion in DFSMS/MVS (now just DFSMS, a component of z/OS) when it was announced in May 1992 saw customers flocking to it, most from supposedly enternched non-IBM tape library management products. Its goal was to integrate the system managed storage principles of DFSMS into all removable media, most notably tape and optical. Manages shelves and media storage as well as the media volumes themselves. An optional, separately priced feature of z/OS DFSMS.
DFSORT: Data Facility Sort. An optional, separately priced feature of z/OS, it began its life as the venerable Sort/Merge of the original System/360 OS/360 and DOS/360 operating systems, back in the days when software was free and hardware was what you paid for. It had a reputation for sluggishness, but it was hard to compete with free. Nonetheless, given how much sorting is involved in business batch data processing, competitive sort/merge packages were one of the first software products to hit the market. At one time, SyncSort had over 70% of the market. Computer Associates was founded with an acquired sort/merge package as its first product. Until the 1990s, DFSORT was dogged with performance problems, but started to shake them as each new release bested SyncSort in benchmarks and in-house tests. SyncSort, of course, would then come out with a new release that beat DFSORT. Beyond sorting, DFSORT has become a major utility in its own right, especially with the addition of ICETOOL. See also DFSORT/VSE, DFSORT/CMS.
DFSORT/CMS: Data Facility Sort/Conversational Monitor System. The z/VM implementation of DFSORT. Announced February 1988, but no new releases announced since Version 2 in September 1990. Still marketed and still supported. Replaced DOS/VS-VM/SP Sort/Merge.
DFSORT/VSE: Data Facility Sort/VSE. Announced September 1994 as Version 3, replacing Version 2 of DOS/VS-VM/SP Sort/Merge, DFSORT/VSE has evolved into a close match to the z/OS implementation of DFSORT.
DFT: Distributed Function Terminal. A mode of operation used in a 3274/3174 controller where the device LU logic is maintained in the (intelligent) terminal downstream of the controller. In this mode the terminal can manage more than one session with the host. The controller has a much more passive role when DFT is in use. DFT allows terminals to communicate using the LU6.2 protocols, and is likely to replace the CUT protocol in the long term. Used by the 3290 and IBM PC when attached to a 3274 in DFT mode.
DFU: Data File Utility. iSeries 400 utility for developing simple data maintenance systems (query, file maintenance, etc). A System/36 leftover that is now part of ADTS.
DFW: See DASD Fast Write.
DH: See Diffie-Hellman algorithm.
DHCF: Distributed Host Command Facility. Feature supporting SNA network management for System/3x, AS/400 and iSeries 400. System/36 DHCF provides access to System/36 applications from 3270 terminals on a mainframe host.
DHCP: Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol. A protocol defined by the IETF for dynamically assigning (on demand) IP addresses to computers in a network.
Dhrystone: A measure of machine performance for compute-intensive applications. Roughly, 1757 Dhrystones/second is 1 MIPS.
DHTML: Dynamic HTML. A synergistic combination of HTML, style sheets, and JavaScripts that exploit the newest capabilities in Version 4 (and above) Web browsers, to allow the development of animated and interactive Web pages.
DIA: Document Interchange (Interface) Architecture. The set of standards and rules (part of SAA CCS1) for sending documents around IBM computer systems – the electronic envelope. DIA is implemented as a set of SNA communications programs – IBM would like all DIA to use LU6.2, but for compatibility LU2 is also supported.
DIAL-IBM: Direct Information and Assistance Link to IBM. Telephone link to an IBM database to enable IBM to shift more iron. Defunct.
Dialog Manager1: Application announced May 1989 for creating CUA1 compliant systems on the PS/2. Obsolete.
Dialog Manager2: Term often used to refer to ISPF, as opposed to its PDF1 component.
Dial-up: See Switched line.
Dial-up line: See Switched line.
Dictionary Model Transformer: See DMT.
DIDOCS: Device Independent Display Operator Console.
DIF1: Document Interchange Facility. IBM program which provided a link between DCF/DLF and DOSF/8100 terminals. Ran on mainframes and the 8100. Obsolete.
DIF2: Data Interchange Format. A standard format (developed by Software Arts in the US) for interchange of ASCII data. Became a de facto standard for interchange of data between PCs – most spreadsheet and several database packages can read DIF files. Obsolete.
DIF3: Display Information Facility. Rudimentary application generator and query system on the System/38. Obsolete.
Diffie-Hellman algorithm: A public key algorithm used for secure key exchange.
DiffServ: Differentiated Services. A Quality of Service (QoS) function of OS/400.
Digital certificate: In the SET architecture, a digital document containing the certificate owner’s public key and a digital signature. The certificate authenticates the identity of the owner because it is issued by a certification authority.
Digital Certificate Manager: OS/400 software with SSL that supports X.509 certificates and Global Server Certificates for HTTP, LDAP, telnet and client access servers, DDM, DRDA, Management Central and Operations Navigator.
Digital envelope: In the SET architecture, this is a unit of encrypted data and the encryption key.
Digital Equipment Corporation: See DEC.
Digital Library: Replaced by Content Manager for Multiplatforms.
Digital Research: Microcomputer software company which failed to build on the success of its CP/M, the first successful microcomputer operating system. The story, still shrouded in controversy to this day, is that the DR bigwigs were out when IBM called in the early 1980s to ask DR to develop an operating system for IBM’s new PC. Unused to being treated with such scant respect, the IBM executives stomped off in a huff to Microsoft, where, ten years later they found they were treated with even less respect. In 1991, DR was taken over by Novell.
Digital signature: In the SET architecture, a digital string used to authenticate the message it is attached to, verify that it has not been tampered and, optionally, identify the sender.
DIM: Data In Memory. The principle of always holding as much data as possible in the main memory of the computer – or at least as high up the data storage hierarchy as possible. When the idea was first floated by IBM in the late 1980s, many a Technical Support manager dreamed of buying enough memory to store his primary DB2 databases totally in memory. And DIM proved itself quickly in Hiperbatch and CICS with customers reporting throughput improvements of over 60%. See also Memory-based computing.
Dinosaur1: Unflattering terminology for old minicomputers and mainframes. Many mainframe enthusiasts have embraced the term, pointing out that dinosaurs survived for 150 million years. There is even a Dinos Web ring linking Internet sites covering mainframe topics.
Dinosaur2: IBMspeak for a conservative user with a closed mind. See Zipperhead.
Dinosaur mating: A derogatory industry term to describe the process of big iron mergers in the 1960s and 1970s. In the 1960s the main players in the computer industry were IBM and the Seven Dwarves, the Dwarves being Burroughs, Control Data, General Electric, Honeywell, NCR, RCA, and Univac. After the loss of GE and RCA the Seven Dwarves metamorphosed into the BUNCH (Burroughs, Univac, NCR, Control Data, and Honeywell). Further mergers and sell outs left the marketplace unrecognizable. See Dinosaur1, BUNCH, Seven Dwarves.
DIOF: Display Input/Output Facility. Full-screen (3270) I/O facility for z/VM. Also known as IOS3270.
DIP: Document Image Processing. Generic term for systems and equipment which create and store images, usually of correspondence and documents. See 389x, 3117-9, ImagEdit, ImagePlus.
Directed command: A RACF command specifying AT or ONLYAT, issued from a user ID on an RRSF node.
Director: IBM Director with UM Services. See NetFinity.
Directory Audit: An AIX directory server security audit log facility that includes a time stamp and BindDN in each log record. Audit plug-in support allows any application, such as a centralized audit package, to receive the audit data and filter to incorporate with other audit information.
Directory-based Resolvers: Name resolver routines have been enhanced to include resolving hostnames through an LDAP server
Directory server: APPN network node which serves as a repository for information about where things are in a network. Directory servers help to focus APPN network searches and limit the number of network-wide (broadcast) searches.
Directory services: Generic name for the network control element which contains a directory of the names and addresses of all the network elements and the translation tables to turn a partial address (e.g., a name) into a full address. Within traditional SNA, directory services are provided by VTAM in the SSCP; in APPN and more distributed network architectures, the directory services may be distributed around the network in directory servers. See also X.500.
Direct Route/2: OS/2 voice/data application which intercepts incoming telephone calls, and brings the caller’s details up on the operator’s screen by the first ring of the telephone. The system was developed by IBM in conjunction with a US electricity company. Usable only with Nortel exchanges. Not a terribly important product in its day – CallPath was the key voice/data offering. Obsolete. See also DirectTalk.
DirectTalk: CallPath and Direct Route/2 facility announced July 1991 which runs on RS/6000 and PS/2, and enables the user to access spoken information from a standard telephone. The message sent to the caller is either pre-recorded or created by speech synthesis. Long-term replacement for the 9270/4.
Direct Window Access: Beginning with AIX 5L, OpenGL on POWER GXT4000P and GXT6000P graphics adapters supports 64-bit Direct Window Access (DWA). Intended to boost performance for 64-bit OpenGL applications by allowing them to render using the OpenGL protocol directly, rather than going through the Xserver and GLX Extension.
DirMaint: Directory Maintenance. A z/VM CMS subsystem used to maintain the VM directory. User IDs and their private mini-disk can be defined with DirMaint commands.
DIS1: Direct Information Services. On-line catalog of all IBM products and services. Available through IBM’s INS service. Defunct.
DIS2: Data Interpretation System. Workstation tool (data access, analysis, presentation, etc of EIS/DSS-type data), based on the Metaphor user interface. From April 1993 DIS was sold only under Metaphor’s name, not IBM’s. And IBM stopped marketing it altogether in October 1994. Metaphor stopped marketing the product at some point after that.
Disaster Recovery Manager: An optional feature of ADSM. Replaced by Tivoli Disaster Recovery Manager.
Disaster Recovery Plan: A documented set of procedures to be used in the event of a major computer outage.
Discontinuous Binary: A date format used in some mainframe systems.
Discount: For years it was beneath IBM’s dignity to join in the hurly-burly of the marketplace with anything quite as vulgar as discounts. These days, times are tough, things are different, and the IBM salesman slugs it out with the rest of them – see ASGO, DSLO, GIO, HESC, Market basket, OSTA, SCO2, Special bid, TSP, VLA, VPA, VWA.
Discovery: The ability of software to determine the existence and identity of hardware or software, typically on a network, but arguably also on a workstation in the way that Windows operating systems fill the screen with those annoying Found New Hardware dialog boxes.
Discovery Server: Lotus Discovery Server. Extracts, analyzes and categorizes structured and unstructured information, attempting to determine the relationship between the content, people, topics and user activity within an organization. It will automatically generate and maintain a Knowledge Map (K-map) to display relevant content categories. Originally part of the Lotus Knowledge Discovery System, which also includes K-station. Version 1.1, announced October 2001, became a stand-alone product.
Discrete profile: A resource profile that provides RACF protection for a single resource.
Discretionary access control: The resource owner defines who can access the resource.
Disk array: Generic term for a disk drive made up of a large number of small platters and heads. Compared with traditional DASD design, the technology offers the potential for better performance (the smaller disks spin faster, and the head has less distance to travel), a high degree of fault tolerance, and the ability to use techniques such as disk striping (although, the performance improvement is small in practice). The first disk array that IBM produced was part of the Super Computing Systems Extensions (see SCSE, 9570); there are now RAID disks for all IBM platforms, and IBM is committed to a strategy of using arrays as the basis of all its disk products. The technique is also known by the generic term Redundant Arrays of Inexpensive Disks (see RAID for further details). See also 9337, Iceberg, RAMAC2.
Disk striping: Technique for very high-speed data access from multi-platter DASD. Data is stored one bit on each platter, and all data bits are accessed in parallel (a bit like early drums). See also File striping.
DISOSS: DIStributed Office Support System. At one time the principal IBM mainframe system for office automation. Was the first strategic implementation of DIA/DCA on a mainframe. Runs on z/OS under CICS. Although it was strategic for some time, DISOSS is now just another bit of system software which provides three functions for connecting incompatible systems – e-mail, text database, protocol/format translation. Obsolete.
DISOSS/PS: DISOSS Professional System. Obsolete.
Display PostScript: Screen writing version of Adobe’s PostScript language. Originally a feature of the AIXwindows user interface, it was announced as a separate product July 1994: IBM AIXwindows Display PostScript (AIX DPS). Withdrawn July 1997 after support ended December 1996 with the suggestion that Adobe might have a replacement.
Display Technologies: Joint venture formed between Toshiba and IBM in 1989 to build large liquid-crystal color displays. The partnership ended in August 2001, each company absorbing portions of DTI.
DisplayWrite: Family of IBM word processor software originally for the PC, PS/2, System/3x, and mainframe (including DPPX/370). The OS/2 and PC-DOS versions were withdrawn in May 1995, although support had already ended in December 1992. Support ended for the VSE/ESA version March 2002. The z/OS and z/VM versions of DisplayWrite/370 are still available.
DisplayWrite Composer: Text layout tool designed for use with DisplayWrite under OS/2 and, since October 1990, DOS. Withdrawn September 1992.
Displaywriter: Defunct IBM stand-alone word processor and desktop micro. The announcement of DisplayWrite software for the PC, System/36, and mainframe was the kiss of death for the hardware, and the apotheosis of the software.
Distributed: Distributed systems are those that run on a collection of separate computers, with each computer performing part of the overall workload. See also DDP.
Distributed Debugger: A GUI for debugging programs, found on many platforms, for many programming languages, in many IBM products. Including C/C++ Productivity Tools, where it runs on Windows NT/2000/XP workstations, working with IBM Debug Tool to source level debug z/OS C and C++ programs running in TSO, batch, CICS, IMS, DB2, Unix System Services and WebSphere. It can even debug multi-threaded and multi-process C/C++ applications. Distributed Debugger is also a part of the CODE component of WebSphere Development Tools for iSeries. It can also be found in VisualAge for Java Enterprise Edition. And WebSphere Application Server Advanced Edition. There is also an AIX version that runs on Windows NT/2000/XP workstations.
Distributed File System: See DFS.
Distributed Key Management System: Security management software from IBM that provides central management of encryption keys.
Distributed Security Manager: Family of security administration programs first mooted in September 1994. Available February 1996, initially on z/OS with an OS/2 workstation GUI. An AIX version was previewed October 1995. In 1997, both products were withdrawn and absorbed by Tivoli, eventually becoming part of Tivoli SecureWay Security Manager.
Distributed Unit Of Work: A distributed unit of work is a group of SQL statements, accessing data that may be situated at multiple physical locations, which would need to be rolled back as a group if any single statement in the group could not be executed. Each SQL request in the DUOW can access only one system. The DUOW is the basic recovery unit where SQL originated on one machine accesses a database on a number of other machines. Supported in DB2 with effect from March 1993. See also Remote Unit of Work.
DITTO: Data Interfile Transfer, Testing and Operations. Venerable VSE/ESA, z/VM and z/OS utility for tape, card, and disk devices, and OAM objects. Allows the user to browse, copy, print, update, and create files. Runs interactively, in batch and callable from REXX. Still alive and well, and currently known as DITTO/ESA for all three platforms.
DIU: Document/Distribution Interchange Unit. The unit of interchange within the DIA architecture.
DIV: Data In Virtual. A z/OS technique for holding specific types of data, such as VSAM linear datasets, permanently in virtual memory. See also DIM, Memory-based computing.
DIVE: Direct Interactive Video Extension. A set of APIs within OS/2.
DKMS: See Distributed Key Management System.
DL/I: Data Language/I. The I is the Roman numeral one. The data manipulation language within IMS DB. DL/I is also the product name for IBM’s VSE/ESA implementation of IMS DB.
DL/I transparency: The ability to process relational data through DL/I calls in an application. DL/I transparency enables existing applications to be run using the new database. cf. SQL transparency.
DLC: Data Link Control. The rules (protocol) used by nodes on a network connection (data link) to communicate with each other. See also GDLC.
DLF: Document Library Facility. Library facility for storing text. DLF includes security, user types etc. Input data can be from user systems, DOSF, ATMS III, DCF, etc. Text is stored in VSAM files. Runs in batch on z/OS and VSE/ESA. It does not run directly in z/VM, but can run on a z/OS or VSE/ESA guest, handling text edited in CMS1.
DLL: See Dynamic Link Library.
DLPI: Data Link Protocol Interface.
DLR: DOS LAN Requester. Component of the OS/2 LAN Server which provides LAN connectivity to PC-DOS clients.
DLRPL: Dump/Load/Restart Parameter List.
DLS1: Document/DISOSS Library Services. Component of DIA supporting the storage and retrieval of information. Replaced by DLS-E1.
DLS2: See Device Level Select.
DLS3: Data Link Switching (aka DLSw). Technique introduced in the 6611 router early 1993 for transporting SNA, APPN, and NetBIOS traffic through a multiprotocol network as efficiently as possible without affecting the end-system applications. Works by encapsulating data within a TCP/IP datagram. Supported in the 6611, 2210, and many non-IBM products, and more or less an industry standard.
DLS-E1: Document/DISOSS Library Services – Enhanced. Program offering which provided some add-on features to DLS1 (more tools, wider access, more administrative services). Withdrawn June 1998.
DLS-E2: Device Level Selection – Enhanced, aka DLSE. Provides four independent and simultaneous data transfer paths to a single mainframe DASD string.
DLSw: Data Link Switching. See DLS3.
DLU: Dependent Logical Unit. SNA logical units which require the presence of an SSCP – LU0, LU1, LU2, LU3. DLUs are the most commonly used type of LU in legacy networks, and some way of handling them will be necessary when the world switches from Subarea SNA to APPN.
DLUS/DLUR: Dependent LU Server/Requestor. A technique for allowing traditional SNA traffic (including 3270) to be routed in APPN, and to share some of the advantages of APPN – dynamic multi-hop routing and resource allocation, and simplified host configuration. Transparent to dependent devices and applications.
DM/VSE: Document Management VSE. A little known product supporting document management in the VSE environment. Replaced by VSE Office Offering May 1990.
DM1: Distribution Management. The name for the combination of the DSX host and DSNX node products providing host management for the distribution of software, updates, listings etc to remote System/3x nodes. Now part of Tivoli NetView Distribution Manager.
DM2: Database Manager. The relational DBMS within OS/2 Extended Edition. Replaced by DB2 Universal Database for OS/2.
DM3: See Dialog Manager2.
DMA: Direct Memory Access. Generic term for a hardware feature for transferring data between memory and I/O units without processor intervention.
DMAPI: Data Management Application Programming.
DME: Distributed Management Environment. The part of the OSF specification which provides the architecture for vendor-neutral distributed systems. Includes AIX’s System Resource Controller, and IBM database technology.
DMI: Desktop Management Interface. A protocol-independent set of APIs produced by the Desktop Management Task Force (DMTF).
DMIG: Data Management Interfaces Group. Group of vendors – including IBM, HP, Transarc, Unisys – set up mid 1993 to define and promote specifications for Unix systems administration and storage management technologies. Disbanded.
DML: Data Manipulation Language. The part of SQL used for data manipulation.
DMM: Tivoli Data Message Manager. See Tivoli Data Exchange.
DMS/CMS: Display Management System/CMS. Old and much-loved z/VM system for generating screens. Still available.
DMS1: Development Management System. Defunct 8100/DPPX and mainframe application development system. Not well-loved and was replaced by CSP – which nobody seems to like very much either.
DMS2: Delegated Management Services.
DMT: Dictionary Model Transformer. Product for transferring information from the IMS1 Data Dictionary to Repository Manager/MVS. Defunct.
DMTF: Desktop Management Task Force, Inc. Huge group of vendors and educational institutes worldwide, which is developing management standards for distributed desktop, network, enterprise and Internet environments. Board members include IBM, Compaq, HP, 3Com, BMC, Cisco, Dell, Intel, Microsoft, NEC, Novell, Sun and Symantec. Standards include the Common Information Model (CIM), Desktop Management Interface (DMI), Directory Enabled Network (DEN), Web-Based Enterprise Management (WBEM), Alert Standard Format (ASF).
DNA1: Digital Network Architecture. DEC’s answer to SNA. Comprises all of DEC’s networking products – DECnet, DECnet/SNA Gateway, communications servers, etc.
DNA2: Microsoft’s Distributed iNternet Architecture, announced in 1997. The acronym was contrived to match human DNA. DNA 2000 announced in 1999.
DNA 2000: A revised version of DNA2, announced in 1999.
DNS: Domain Name System. The distributed database system (directory) used to map domain names to IP addresses.
DOA: Dead on arrival. Popularized by IBM’s early ThinkPads with their high initial failure rate out of the box.
Doctor DOS: Another name for DR-DOS.
Document Object Model: See DOM.
Document Search/400: Full text retrieval system for the AS/400. Designed to work with ImagePlus and OfficeVision. Supports WAF. Obsolete.
DOLS: Domino Offline Services.
DOM: Document Object Model. An object hierarchy used by DHTML scripts and supported by HTML 4.0.
Domain1: An SNA domain is the set of resources owned by a host SSCP, including the PU1s, LUs, links, link stations, and all the bits and pieces that the SSCP can control. It is assigned by a system programmer.
Domain2: A group of servers in an OS/2 LAN Server network.
Dominion Semiconductor: An equally-owned, joint venture between IBM and Toshiba that aimed to produce advanced microchips for computers and other products. The Dominion plant in Manassas, Virginia started operations in September 1997 with mass production of 64-megabit DRAMs. Toshiba bought IBM’s 50% share in December 2000.
Domino: Web server technology from Lotus (June 1996), which allows browsers to interact with Notes and access Notes databases. An important milestone in groupware/intranet integration, Domino quickly took over the groupware server role from Notes, which has effectively been relegated to a client system. Products include Domino Application Server Domino Application Studio Domino Designer Domino Enterprise Server Domino Extended Search Domino Global Workbench Domino Mail Server Domino Offline Services Domino Workflow Domino.Doc
Domino.Action: Intranet creation and management tool, from Lotus, powered by the Domino Server. Includes the SiteCreator and Domino.Applications modules. The modules are template-based software for the creation of customizable homepages, discussion databases, whitepaper databases, FAQs, etc. Obsolete.
Domino Designer: A Lotus integrated development environment for Domino applications.
Domino Everyplace: A family of products that provides access to mobile devices, such as PDAs, cell phones, pagers. Includes Domino Everyplace Access, Domino Everyplace Enterprise and Domino Everyplace SMS.
Domino Go Webserver: Lotus Domino Go Webserver for OS/390. Web security and e-commerce software for z/OS. Announced October 1997.
DOR: Data Owning Region in a CICS environment.
Dormant: Under z/VM, a dormant state occurs when the active pages of a virtual machine have been paged out.
DOS/VS COBOL: As the name implies, a COBOL compiler originally released in the 1970s, in the days of DOS/VS. Replaced March 1997 by IBM COBOL for VSE and Language Environment (LE) for VSE.
DOS1: Historically, DOS/360 was developed in a hurry for smaller System/360 mainframes after OS/360 developers discovered that they had created a monster too large for the low-end models. DOS/360 became DOS/VS, DOS/VSE then VSE/ESA, as it remains today. In the early 1980s, a simplified, though limited, version of DOS/VSE was known as SSX/VSE, which prompted the reference to VSE, and saw the dropping of DOS, speeded, no doubt, by the other DOS, from Microsoft. VSE/ESA is still alive and well today, despite several near-death experiences over the years. See also VSE1.
DOS2: Generic term for PC-DOS, MS-DOS, and Novell-DOS (DR-DOS).
DOS3: Denial of Service. See DDOS.
DOS box: Facility of early OS/2 (also known as the DOS compatibility box) enabling users to run PC-DOS as an application under OS/2.
DOSF: Distributed Office Support Facility. Defunct 8100/DPCX software which provides shared facility word processing/office automation (OA) system, with mainframe communications capability. At one time DOSF with DISOSS was going to see IBM OA users into the 21st century (it didn’t!!).
Dotted decimal notation: The method of representing an IP address. The 4 bytes of the address are written as four decimal numbers separated by dots, e.g., 9.48.33.417.
Double-Byte Character Set: See DBCS.
Down and out: Once popular name for a DP manager who downsizes to a smaller machine and then outsources his information systems to a facilities management company, thereby saving his employer money but destroying his career in the process. Down and outs can often be spotted on park benches and at industry conferences, muttering about the relative price/performance of mainframes and workstations.
Download: The transfer of data from a computer to a connected device, such as a personal computer or workstation. cf. upload.
Downsizing: The philosophy of moving a computing task off a big machine and onto a little one (e.g., from a mainframe to an iSeries 400, Unix or Windows environment). The benefit is that processor cycles are apparently cheaper on smaller machines; the drawback is that you almost inevitably reduce data integrity, security, database access, and all the good things that mainframes and professional DP do so well. Admittedly, the rest of the world has made some efforts to catch up over the years. See also Re-hosting.
Downstream: The direction of data flow from the host to the user. Downstream can provide an indication of the location of devices and lines.
Downstream PU: A remote SNA node supported at the data center by an SNA gateway of some sort. Mainly used to refer to LAN-attached devices supported by SNA-LAN Gateways (e.g., NetWare for SAA).
DPA1: Document Printing Application. An OSI standard which allows electronic documents to be sent to shared dispersed printers in the distributed open systems environment.
DPA2: Dynamic Paging Area.
dpAM: DP Accounting Manager. Software which collects chargeback data into an Enterprise Performance Data Manager/MVS database. Withdrawn December 1997.
DPCX: Distributed Processing Control eXecutive. Defunct 8100 operating system for high-performance interactive processing and support of text processing (DOSF); a hangover from the 3790. Based on highly centralized concepts, largely incompatible with, and even more obsolescent than DPPX.
DPD: Data Processing Division. Many years ago, DPD was the part of IBM responsible for marketing and supporting IBM mainframe systems and certain other products (e.g., 8100). DPD, OPD (Office Products Division), and GSD (General Systems Division) each had responsibility for product development, and this split contributed to IBM’s overlapping and incompatible product range for which SAA was to be the panacea.
DPL: Distributed Program Link. CICS facility which simplifies the creation of distributed applications among CICS systems. Allows a CICS client program to call a CICS server program in another CICS region or system. Can also be used instead of, or to reduce the use of, MRO/ISC1.
DPMI: DOS Protected Mode Interface. A technique used in MS-DOS to access more memory than the 640KB it was originally designed around.
DPN: Destination Program Name.
DPPX: Distributed Processing Programming eXecutive. 8100 operating system optimized for general purpose transaction processing. Although the 8100 was long gone, DPPX/370 was not withdrawn until June 1997.
DPPX/370: Version of the DPPX operating system which ran on the 9370 and low-end ES/9000s (models 120-170). Not a terribly important product – just a way of squeezing the last drop out of the 8100 user base (Preserving customer investment in IBMspeak). It was still going in April 1992, when APPC was added. Finally withdrawn June 1997.
DPR: Dynamic Path Reconnect. z/OS feature enabling data transfers to/from DASD to be completed on the first available path.
DPROP: See Data Propagator.
DPS: Distributed Presentation Services. Obsolete 8100/DPPX screen management product.
DRAM: Dynamic Random Access Memory. A commonly-used memory chip technology that used capacitors to store electrical charges. Dynamic indicates that the capacitors eventually lose their charge, and must be regularly refreshed. See also SDRAM, SRAM.
DrawMaster: Venerable line drawing package for VM1/APL/GDDM environments. Withdrawn April 1993.
DRDA: Distributed Relational Database Architecture. The agglomeration of bits and pieces of communications supporting distributed databases in the IBM world announced July 1990. DRDA has since become an Open Group Technical Standard and there is widespread software support for DRDA in the vendor community. DRDA is the key enabler for the Information Warehouse. See also DDCS.
DR-DOS: PC-DOS compatible microcomputer operating system from Digital Research. Never did very well against MS- and PC-DOS, despite being widely considered superior to the Microsoft-based DOS – it had better memory and disk management, and it usually worked out a bit cheaper. After Digital Research passed into the hands of Novell in 1991, DR-DOS received new impetus, particularly as a client in NetWare networks, and became Novell-DOS. But, all that changed in July 1996 when Caldera acquired it from Novell as the basis of a law suit against Microsoft. But, then again, it was a Windows world by then, anyway.
DRM1: See Tivoli Disaster Recovery Manager.
DRM2: Dynamic I/O Reconfiguration Management.
Drop: IBM terminology for the cable in a wiring closet that runs from a faceplate to the distribution panel.
DRP: See Disaster Recovery Plan.
DS: Dictionary Services. Tool which would have transferred definitions from external libraries (load library, COBOL copy library) into the Repository Manager’s information model had the Repository Manager not bitten the dust.
DSA1: Direct Serial Attach. Architectural feature in which the disk controller is part of the disk device, and is connected directly to a serial ESCON channel.
DSA2: Digital Signature Algorithm.
DSAT/400: Distributed Systems Administration Tools/400. AS/400 software (February 1992) which allows remote AS/400s to communicate with a central AS/400 running CSAT/400. Withdrawn December 1995.
DSB: Dispatcher/Scheduler Block.
DSC: DataStream Compatibility – e.g., 3270 DSC. Usually applied to terminals and printers of LU type 3, which allow 3270 conventional formatting capabilities compatible with those permitted under BSC protocols.
DSD: Dedicated Servers for Domino.
DSECT: Dummy control SECTion. An Assembler statement usually used to define a record layout, control block or other formatted area of memory. But, the trick is, it is not mapped to memory, allowing it to used repeatedly in an Assembler program for different areas of memory, or dynamically assigned to an area of memory by the program. The DSECT statement names the dummy control section, as well as indicating that the memory definitions that follow are in that dummy control section.
DSF: Device Support Facility. See ICKDSF.
DSL/VS: Dynamic Simulation Language. Mainframe package for simulating continuous systems describable by differential equations. Ran on VM/CMS and TSO in MVS. Announced April 1984 as a Program Offering with support ending June 1987.
DSL1: See Dynamic SQL.
DSL2: Digital Subscriber Line. Digital communication protocol which transforms twisted-pair copper (telephone) lines into high-speed data channels: initially 1.54Mbps but much more now. Genealogy derived from AT&T’s video-on-demand protocol. Often known as xDSL because of all the different variations. It competes well against ISDN, cable modem and even T1, but most of the connections are in the consumer market, for high speed Internet. The ADSL variation is especially well suited because it dedicates most of its bandwidth where it is needed: from the ISP to the customer.
DSLO: Distributed System License Option. Discount for users buying multiple copies of IBM software. In exchange for the discount, the user agrees to distribute the software himself rather than letting IBM do it.
DSM1: Distributed Storage Manager. See Tivoli Storage Manager.
DSM2: Distributed Systems Management.
DSM3: See Distributed Security Manager.
DSM4: Data Services Manager. A function in Tivoli NetView for z/OS that provides VSAM services for data storage and retrieval.
DSMON: See Data Security Monitor.
DSN: Dataset name.
DSName: Dataset name.
DSNX: Distributed Systems Node Executive. Software which sits in a distributed system to support unmanned data distribution across a network – essential for effective distributed processing. The DSNX machine talks to a host machine running the DSX software which is used to distribute software, updates, etc. The combination of DSX and DSNX is known as DM. Now part of Tivoli NetView Distribution Manager.
DSOM: Distributed System Object Model. An object-oriented architecture (vintage June 1993) developed from SOM. Provides a common mechanism (based on DCE2) for communicating between objects across a network. Obsolete.
DSORG: Data Set Organization. The type of data set (file) being created or referenced if the data set is usually not cataloged; e.g. DSORG=PS or DSORG=PO (PO-Partitioned) (PS-Physical Sequential)
DSP: Digital Signal Processors. Specialized processor chips used especially in modems, sound boards, and serial ports.
DSPT: Display Station Pass Through. Facility on the iSeries 400 enabling workstations on one machine to log on to applications on another.
DSPU: SNA DownStream Physical Unit. See Downstream PU.
DSR1: DataSet Ready. DSR is sometimes seen on modems, as the label for a status light.
DSR2: Dynamic Storage Reconfiguration.
DSS1: Decision Support System. Generic name for a class of end-user tools – typically high level financial and market modeling tools – which allegedly help people to make decisions, by providing user-friendly tools for ad hoc query, data analysis, one-off report writing, information presentation, etc. More commonly, they enable people to postpone decisions by encouraging them to spend hours drawing graphs and diagrams on a workstation instead of actually making their minds up. IBM DSS offerings have included OfficeVision, APL and AS1. DSSs are often confused with EISs (Executive Information Systems) – see EIS2 for an explanation of the difference. See also PIM, ESS1.
DSS2: Digital Signature Standard.
DSSSL: Document Style Semantics and Specification Language. International Standard ISO 10179 (ISO1994), adopted at the beginning of 1995. It presents a framework for transforming a structurally marked up document into its final physical form. The standard is primarily targeted at document handling, but it can also define other layouts, such as those needed for use with databases.
DSU: Distribution Services Unit. In effect the node in a SNADS network. A DSU may be an originator, recipient, or an intermediate store-and-forward node.
DSU/CSU: Data Service Unit/Channel Service Unit. See 5821/2.
DSX: Distributed Systems Executive. Venerable product providing central host library support, program dump, and batch data transmission among mid-range systems (8100, Series/1, and System/3x) connected in an SNA network. DSX on the host communicated with DSNX on a distributed node. The z/OS version of DSX was replaced by NetView Distribution Manager in May 1988 but the product lived on in the VSE environment until it was withdrawn in August 1993. The combination of DSX and DSNX is also known as DM. Now part of Tivoli NetView Distribution Manager.
DTB: Dynamic Transaction Backout.
DTD: Document Type Definition. This is a specific markup language, written using SGML.
DTE: Data Terminal Equipment. Term describing the subscriber equipment attached to a ITU-T network (usually packet switched). The DTE serves as a data source, data link, or both, and provides the protocol support for the link. A 3745 is a typical piece of DTE.
DTI: Display Technologies Inc. See Display Technologies.
DTL: Dialog Tag Language. Language for developing dialog panels, command tables, and messages.
DTMS: Database and Transaction Management Services. Venerable CICS-like 8100/DPPX product for supporting interactive systems. For its time, it was a quite sophisticated and complex system, with such facilities as forward recovery, transaction back-out, multiple indexes, etc. Obsolete.
DTP1: DeskTop Publishing. Generic term for systems which produce typeset quality artwork from a user workstation (e.g., a PC). The market has traditionally been dominated by Apple with its Macintosh.
DTP2: Distributed Transaction Processing.
DTR1: Distribution Tape Reel. Magnetic tape on which IBM distributes software.
DTR2: See Dynamic Transaction Routing.
DTR3: See Dedicated Token Ring.
DUA: Distribution and Usage Authorization (sometimes Agreement). IBM contract, which allows users to distribute software to host-connected machines. It’s a sort of site license. Replaces the ATC program.
Dual Boot: Originally, an OS/2 utility enabling users to load OS/2 and DOS from the same disk drive. Now a generic term used by Microsoft and others. For example, Windows 2000 has both dual boot and multi-boot capabilities, with other operating systems or just multiple copies of the same operating system.
Dual Copy: Mirroring facility provided by the 3990 Storage Controller which maintains two identical copies of important data to give improved recovery. However, note that both the copies must be on disks downstream of the same controller which somewhat compromises the resilience since the controller is a single point of potential failure. Much delayed, and was finally delivered May 1990. Now an obsolete capability and not offered on the 2105, which replaced the 3990.
Dual porting: PCM name for Device Level Select (DLS).
Dumb head: IBMspeak for a dumb terminal.
Dump: To copy data, at a particular instant, from one storage device to another. Dumping is usually for the purpose of collecting error information for analysis.
Dump Viewing Facility: Originally replaced IPCS as the standard tool for reading all VM dumps. z/VM introduced the VM Dump Tool, but it has replaced the Dump Viewing Facility only for CP dumps. The Dump Viewing Facility continues to be the supported vehicle for reading non-CP (e.g., CMS) dumps.
DUOW: See Distributed Unit Of Work.
Duplex: A generic term for a mode of communication. In full duplex, both participants can transmit at the same time (typically over four wires), and in half duplex, only one participant can transmit at a time – each participant has to wait for the other to stop before transmitting.
Duplex pair: A DASD logical volume consisting of two physical devices with all data recorded twice, once on each volume (as in 3990 Dual copy).
DVD: Digital Video Disk. See DVD-R, DVD-RAM, DVD-ROM, DVD-V.
DVD-R: Digital Video Disk – Recordable. A recordable CD format which allows the storage of 3.95GB on a single high density disk.
DVD-RAM: Digital Video Disk – Random Access Memory. A recordable CD format which allows the storage of 2.6GB on a single high density disk.
DVD-ROM: Digital Video Disk – Read Only Memory. Another CD format which allows the storage of several GB (it keeps growing) on a single high density disk.
DVD-V: Digital Video Disk – Video.
DVF: See Dump Viewing Facility.
DVI1: Digital Video Interactive.
DVI2: Digital Video Interface. An Intel interface (with accompanying products). DVI supports digital storage and retrieval of audio, computer graphics, and full motion video. Available for PCs for use in creating interactive video systems. See ActionMedia.
DVT: Destination Vector Table.
DW: See Displaywriter or DisplayWrite.
DWA: See Direct Window Access.
DWS: Dependent WorkStation. A synonym for MFI workstation.
DXT: Data eXTract. Utility for extracting data (one-off or regularly) from a database. Its main use was to help move IMS and DL/I databases to DB2. Replaced by DataRefresher in October 1993. Withdrawn September 1995.
Dyadic: A two-way tightly-coupled multiprocessor.
DYNALLOC: Dynamic allocation. The z/OS term for allocating datasets from within a program without using JCL statements. Very useful, and widely used by TSO.
Dynamic I/O reconfiguration: IBMspeak for the ability to connect and disconnect devices in an ESCON configuration without having to close everything down. Also known as hot-plugging.
Dynamic Link Library: Generic term for a program or a routine that can be loaded by an application or as part of a program.
Dynamic load balancing: Generic term for a way of automatically distributing the workload around a multi-processor complex so that the resources available to individual systems vary continuously according to how much resource is needed and how much is available. See also JES.
Dynamic memory array: Memory technology introduced on the Summit ES/9000s in September 1991. The dynamic memory array performs pro-active self-diagnosis and preventive maintenance, so that when a predetermined error threshold is reached, it replaces the failed chip with a standby.
Dynamic path reconnect: Feature in IBM I/O systems in which a channel can initiate an I/O and then free itself while the device is actually finding the data. Dynamic I/Os may be initiated on one channel and completed on another. Available under z/OS and VSE/ESA.
Dynamic resource allocation: An allocation methodology in which the resources assigned for execution of computer programs are determined by criteria applied at the moment of need.
Dynamic SQL: Generic term for SQL implementations in which the SQL statements are compiled/interpreted at run-time. DSL has the advantage over Static SQL of flexibility, bought usually at the cost of increased resource usage – authorizations, etc must be verified at run-time. The result is worse performance and security, and for distributed applications, there’s more network traffic. Also known as DSL.
Dynamic transaction routing: Facility which allows the user to choose how to distribute transaction work across multiple CICS regions at execution time. Available internally within a CICSplex.
E
E1: The European equivalent of a T1 line. See T1.
E0-E6: E0, E1, E2, E3, E4, E5, E6. ITSEC certification of software products based on security assurance levels, EO being inadequate.
EAB: Enterprise Address Book. Obsolete IBM standard for electronic mail.
EAC: Extended Access Control.
Eagle: Code name for aborted project to create an IMS1-DB2 bridge. Also the code name for Amdahl’s ES/9000 basher, the 5995, and for an OS/2 Warp server project (late 1995).
EAI: Enterprise Application Integration. A generic term applied to a variety of software packages that aim to co-ordinate independent applications within and outside an organization. See also WebSphere Business Integrator.
Early Support Program: See ESP1.
Early Test Program: Scheme which gives third-party software suppliers access to new IBM system software before it becomes generally available (they get inexpensive test time, plus documentation and technical support). Used by IBM to promote certain key strategies where a healthy supply of third-party software is essential for the promotion of IBM’s own products.
Early Token Release: Technique introduced into the IBM TRN late 1989 to speed up traffic. A station normally has to wait for its data packet to come back round the ring before it can release the token for somebody else to use; on 16Mb rings this can be very wasteful. Early Token Release allows a station to release the token before its message has come back (thus there will be two tokens on the ring at the same time); according to IBM, this can increase utilization of the ring by up to 90%.
Easel: See ESL2
EasySync for Notes: Lotus software that provides bi-directional synchronization between Notes and an IBM WorkPad or 3Com Palm Computing Device.
EBCDIC: Extended Binary Coded Decimal Interchange Code. Coded 8-bit character set (giving 256 characters) used in IBM minis and mainframes, and SNA. One of two character codes used in IBM kit. See also ASCII, Unicode, BCDIC.
e-business: All forms of business conducted electronically across the Internet through Web sites. See also Business to Business.
EC: Engineering change.
ECA: Electronic Commerce Association. An independent, UK-based, non-profit-making organization which provides information regarding electronic commerce. Merged with the Article Number Association in October 1998. The new organization is known as e center UK, although the official name is the Association for Standards and Practises in Electronic Trade – EAN UK Ltd.
ECB: Event Control Block. Control block used for the control of asynchronous processes in IBM mainframes.
ECC: Error Checking and Correcting. Memory technology with extra bits added for detecting bad memory and often recovering its contents.
ECC-P: Error Checking and Correcting Parity. Memory technology used in some PS/2s. Now simply known as ECC memory.
ECF: Enhanced/Extended/Enhancement Connectivity Facilities. Suite of programs – vintage mid 1986 – providing PC to mainframe link. In effect ECF transformed TSO and VM1 into information servers for PC users (virtual disks, virtual files, virtual print, and file transfer with application/character format translation) using 3270 datastreams. Makes use of SRPI which provides ECF’s API. OS/2-CMS servers announced May 1990, and OS/2-TSO servers October 1990. Withdrawn March 1997.
ECFORMS/VM: Electronic Forms Management System/VM. Creates forms on-line, and routes them electronically. Positioned by IBM as a workflow management tool. June 1993 announcements included performance enhancements and integration with OfficeVision/VM. Withdrawn June 1997.
ECI: See CICS External Call Interface.
ECKD: Extended Count Key Data. See CKD.
ECL1: Enterprise Communication Link. At one time IBMspeak for an all singing, all dancing, all (or largely) unspecified local/wide area network.
ECL2: Emitter Coupled Logic. A semiconductor technology once used in the very fast logic circuits of large IBM computers (cache, processors, etc). High performance ECL manufacture was a difficult process, and even IBM had trouble getting its production yield up to the required levels – although it seemed to crack the problem with the 9121 and 9021 models. Obsolete. CMOS is the sole technology used in mainframe processors today.
ECLPS: Enhanced Common LISP Production System. See Common LISP.
ECMA: European Computer Manufacturers’ Association, of which IBM is a member. Founded in May 1961. Renamed in 1994 to European Association for Standardizing Information and Communication Systems, though the acronym ECMA remains the same.
ECMAScript: A scripting language, based on Netscape’s JavaScript, developed by the ECMA.
ECN: See TCP Explicit Congestion Notification.
e-commerce: A subset of e-business, that deals with the entire process of buying and selling items over the Web.
ECPS: Extended Control Program Support. Firmware introduced to improve z/VM performance on medium-sized machines.
ECPS/VSE: Extended Control Program Support/VSE. VSE/ESA implementation of virtual storage that does not require software to translate virtual into real addresses.
ECS: Electronic Customer Support. Range of IBM services available electronically, initially over dial-up and dedicated lines, now mostly over the Internet. Includes remote diagnostics, marketing, and so on. IBMLink was an early example. There is an ECS service built into the OS/400 operating system.
ED: See Executive Decisions/VM.
Eden: Project at IBM in Austin, Texas aimed at developing processors using heavily parallel configurations. The SP1/SP2 and Parallel Transaction Server probably owe much to the Eden project.
EDI1: Electronic Document/Data Interchange. Generic term for a set of techniques worked out in the 1980s for allowing organizations to electronically exchange documents without the use of paper, usually over a third party’s network. EDI services are provided by many network vendors, who also do the protocol conversion, formatting, incompatibility resolution, etc. IBM supported EDI through VANS such as INS and IN. Internet-based initiatives, most notably XML, are replacing EDI, reducing both cost and complexity. IBM EDI Services were rebranded as IBM Interchange Services for e-business in August 2000. See EDIFACT, expEDIte, SGML.
EDI2: Execution Diagnostic Indicator.
EDIFACT: EDI For Administration Commerce and Trade. International EDI standard developed by the ISO standards body and agreed with ANSI. Supported by IBM in the expEDIte products.
EDI Services: Rebranded as IBM Interchange Services for e-business in August 2000.
EDMSuite: Replaced by Content Manager.
EDP: Electronic Data Processing, now more commonly known as Information Technology, though Computing is a term that never goes out of fashion.
EDS: Extended DataStream. Additional attribute information provided with each character sent from a mainframe – color, blinking, underline, etc.
EDT-DistribuTAPE: Extended Data Technology. Software from Gresham Software marketed by IBM and announced August 2001. Allows multiple TSM2 servers and LAN-free clients to dynamically share multiple tape drives installed in a StorageTek library environment.
Education Allowance: A discount offered by IBM to qualified educational institutes. For z/VM, for example, it amounts to 15%.
EDX: Event Driven eXecutive. Operating system for the defunct Series/1 family of minicomputers.
EEP: Early Experience Program. IBMspeak for beta test. See also beta, alpha2, alphaWorks.
EEPROM: Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory. A storage device exploiting a technology similar to EPROM but with the ability to discharge the floating gate electrically. Usually bytes or words can be erased and reprogrammed individually during system operation.
EEROM: Electrically Erasable Read-Only Memory. Generic term for a type of ROM which can be erased although not usually by the user of the device in which the EEROM is installed.
EF: Extended Function.
EFM: See Enterprise Firewall Manager.
EFP: See Extended Facilities Product.
EFT: Electronic Funds Transfer. Generic name for systems which transfer cash around between accounts at the speed of light, thereby preventing people using delays in cheque clearance to keep themselves solvent.
EGA: Extended Graphics Adapter. Successor to the CGA as the IBM PC graphics standard. Capable of a maximum resolution of 640×350 pixels in 16 simultaneous colors from a total of 64 possible colors. Itself succeeded by the VGA standard.
EHLLAPI: Emulator (sometimes Extended) High Level Language Application Program Interface. Still used (and supported) for 3270 terminal emulation on Windows workstations.
EIA: Electronic Industries Alliance (originally Association). An organization of electronics manufacturers, of which IBM is a member, that develops industry standards.
EIB: Enterprise Information Base. IBM term for a type of Management Information Base (MIB) which contains planning and long term control information. cf. CIB.
EIDE: Enhanced IDE.
EIF: See Tivoli Event Integration Facility.
EIO: Early Installation Offering.
EIP: IBM Enterprise Information Portal. Multiplatform client software intended to provide access to structured and unstructured data across an entire organization.
EIS1: Enterprise Information System. See Enterprise.
EIS2: Executive Information System (also known as ESS – Executive Support System). End-user systems for really important people. EISs are most widely used to provide Briefing Book summaries of key statistics in the business, so that senior managers can understand where the business is at, and so make sensible decisions. EISs are often confused with DSSs (Decision Support Systems, see DSS1), the key difference being that DSSs are designed mainly to enable their users to program the system themselves to support modeling and prediction, whereas EISs are programmed by professional DPers to create customized information displays for bigwigs. EISs also use a wide variety of input sources – the corporate database, public databases, line managers’ data, etc. Executive Decisions/VM was IBM’s first serious attempt at an EIS. See also DIS2.
EISA: Extended Industry Standard Architecture. Open standard for I/O buses for industry-standard computers, developed by nine PC vendors, excluding IBM. Comprises an extension of the AT-compatible 16-bit bus to 32 bits, and was designed to stop IBM’s MCA from becoming the industry-standard 32-bit interface (although IBM’s failure to show any real benefits from MCA seems to have done that fairly successfully anyway). EISA has 32-bit address and data bus extensions for memory beyond 16MB, and 32-bit direct memory access. See also Busmaster, MCDA, ISA.
EJB: Enterprise JavaBeans. A server-side, transaction-oriented extension to the JavaBeans component model specification published by Sun. EJB are JavaBeans, but have no user interface and are designed to run within a special EJB container. In principle, any properly coded EJB should run within any fully compliant EJB container.
ELA: Enterprise License Agreement. An IBM customer contract.
ELAN: Emulated LAN.
ELC: Extended License Charge. An IBM pricing option based on the capacity of a machine as stated in MSUs. For example, it is available for z/VM, but not z/OS.
Electronic commerce: Conducting business electronically. The term has come to encompass a considerable number of technologies, processes and strategies ranging from traditional EDI to Web-based transactions. Now more commonly known as e-commerce, cf. e-business. IBM has committed considerable resources to electronic commerce initiatives. See Energy Network Exchange, Insure-commerce, PetroConnect.
Electronic Customer Support: See ECS.
Electronic purses: Devices which exploit smart card technology to store cash electronically on a microchip, to produce a pre-payment card which can then be used to buy a range of goods and services. This theoretically allows the safe transfer of currency to another electronic purse. In the UK, the Mondex electronic purse trial started mid 1995.
Element: In z/OS, a base function that can be dropped and replaced by a non-IBM product, but all z/OS integrated testing results and performance claims are voided with such replacement.
ELIAS: Entry-Level Interactive Applications System. Early application generator from IBM. Obsolete.
ELS: Entry Level System.
EmailConnect: E-mail service on the defunct IBM Information Network. See IN.
Embedded Security Subsystem: An IBM security chip and client security software for NetVista, PC 300PL and IntelliStation systems.
EMC: ElectroMagnetic Compatibility. A problem which causes some electrical devices to interfere with others. This, of course, is terribly anti-social and inconsiderate. IBM was very proud of the fact that you don’t get EMC problems with the MicroChannel architecture (it droned on at great length about the fact in its publicity), because the connectors are properly grounded. Isn’t it great to know that even the largest corporations have a heart?
EMCS: Enterprise Management Control Series. Set of IBM mainframe programs for project control based on critical path method. Withdrawn June 1990.
EMCS AFMT: EMCS Advanced Function Management Tools. Part of EMCS. Withdrawn June 1990.
EMEA: The IBM sales region which covers Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.
EMI: ElectroMagnetic Interference. aka RFI.
EMIF: ESCON Multiple Image Facility. June 1992 facility which enables sharing of ESCON channels among PR/SM logical partitions, allowing users to use fewer channels to support the same I/O load. Originally available on 9021s only, but extended to 9121s in February 1993. Now a standard hardware function of eserverzSeries 900.
EMO: Extended Maintenance Option. Advanced payment, fixed term maintenance agreement introduced in June 1988 for PS/2s. Expanded to other hardware, but finally withdrawn February 1999.
EMS: Expanded Memory Specification. See LIM EMS.
Emulation Program: See EP.
ENA: Extended Network Addressing. Feature of SNA (VTAM and NCP) enabling the construction of extremely large (up to 8 million LUs and 255 subareas) networks. The network address is split into an 8 bit subarea, identifying processors and communications controllers, and a 15 bit element, identifying network resources. One of two ways of building very large SNA networks, the other being SNI.
Encapsulation: In object-oriented programming, a technique in which data is packaged, usually to hide the inherent details of an object.
Encina: ENterprise Communication In a New Age. Multi-platform OLTP from IBM subsidiary Transarc, typically sold as a toolkit. Encina formed the basis of the obsolete CICS/6000 and CICS/Unix products. Supports DCE. IBM supports Encina in product lines such as WebSphere and VisualAge.
Encina for AIX: Replaced by the now obsolete Transaction Server for AIX1 January 1997.
Encina Toolkit Executive: An element of z/OS. See Encina.
Encode: To convert data into a stream of bits so that it can be transmitted over a serial line.
ENCP: End-Node Control Point.
Encrypt: See encryption.
Encryption: An attempt to translate data (plain text) into a form where the only practical way to reconstruct it is by knowing a specific algorithm (fixed) and a key (can vary).
Energy Network Exchange: IBM initiative to introduce secure, electronic commerce and information clearing houses across the Internet for electric utilities. Announced November 1996 and nothing has been heard about it since. See Insure-commerce, PetroConnect.
eNetwork: An April 1997 branding of IBM products that is now obsolete. The host integration products were renamed with the SecureWay brand July 1999.
eNetwork Communications Suite for Windows: A suite of software produced by IBM’s Network Software Division which combines IBM’s Terminal Emulation Software, LotusNotes mail client, FTP1 software’s TCP/IP stack and client applications, and the Netscape browser. Introduced April 1997. Withdrawn April 1999.
eNetwork Emulator: IBM’s September 1997 rename of the ARTour Emulator. As with eNetwork Web Express, data from a gateway on the corporate network is compressed for transmission across the wireless network, then decompressed and displayed on the eNetwork Emulator or a browser. Bandwidth consumption is reduced through data caching. Withdrawn December 2001.
eNetwork Firewall: Renamed SecureWay Firewall.
eNetwork Mobile Equalizer: Client/server software that extends LotusNotes, MQSeries messaging and Tivoli software distribution to mobile Windows workstations that are disconnected for long periods of time and only have access to low speed (dial-up) access for short periods of time. Announced April 1998. Withdrawn December 1998.
eNetwork Web Express: IBM’s September 1997 rename of the ARTour Web Express. It consists of an Windows NT 4.0 Server or AIX1 gateway on the corporate network and mobile client OS/2 or Windows software. Data is compressed for transmission across the wireless network, then decompressed and displayed on the terminal emulator or browser. Bandwidth consumption is reduced through data caching. Support ended December 2001.
eNetwork Wireless: IBM’s September 1997 rename of the ARTour product line. Three major products include eNetwork Web Express, eNetwork Emulator and the eNetwork Wireless Gateway.
eNetwork Wireless Gateway: Both the eNetwork Web Express and the eNetwork Emulator rely on the AIX-based eNetwork Wireless Gateway server. Replaced by SecureWay Wireless Gateway for AIX July 2001.
Enhanced X-Windows Toolkit: A collection of basic tools for developing X-Windows application environments in AIX.
ENOVIA: e-business Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) for manufacturing companies. Developed by Dassault Systemes, also responsible for CATIA. Runs on Windows and AIX, HP-UX, Sun Solaris and SGI IRIX. Where a database is required, DB2 and ORACLE are both supported.
ENQ: See Enqueue.
Enqueue: The z/OS expression (often abbreviated to ENQ) for requesting resource serialization. ENQ can be used to put a user-named entry in the system resource queue in order to prevent another program using a serially usable resource. See also DEQ.
Enterprise: IBMspeak for an organization. Suddenly we didn’t work for companies or firms any more – we worked for Enterprises; and we don’t do DP, EDP, or MIS any more – we worked in Enterprise Information Systems. Yet another leap forward for computing, courtesy of the jolly blue giant.
Enterprise Alliance: Obsolete IBM service in which IBM went into an organization, looked at its systems, and then tied them all together to present a nice tidy, coherent system image to all the users. Initial Enterprise Alliance projects were directed at integrating discrete PS/2 systems.
Enterprise bid: Another name for revenue bid.
Enterprise Extender: IBMspeak for routing HPR over IP1.
Enterprise Firewall Manager: An element of the SecureWay Firewall that facilitates the configuration and management of multiple firewalls from a central location.
Enterprise Information Portal: See EIP.
Enterprise Integrator: Lotus Enterprise Integrator. Server-based data distribution software that exchanges data between Domino and a large number of host and relational applications, including DB2, Oracle, Sybase, ODBC, EDA/SQL and ERP1 applications. Formerly NotesPump.
Enterprise JavaBeans: See EJB.
Enterprise Performance Data Manager/MVS: DB2 SystemView software, announced June 1993. Collects system management and performance data (from DB2, DFP, DFSMS, EREP, JES2/3, MVS, NetView, RACF, RMF, and VM) in a DB2 database, and generates tabular or graphical reports. Includes an OS/2 reporting component, and is able to support connected AS/400s and RS/6000s. Went through several renamings before becoming Tivoli Decision Support for z/OS.
Enterprise Solution Builder: Lotus development and runtime service for integrating non-Domino applications with Domino applications.
Enterprise Storage Server: A second-generation SeascapeRAID 5 disk storage system that concurrently supports zSeries 900, iSeries 400, pSeries, NUMA-Q, Sun, Data General, DEC, HP, Compaq, NetWare, and Windows servers via FICON, Fiber Channel, UltraSCSI and ESCON connections. Up to 13.9TB capacity. Announced July 1999.
Entity: A user, group or resource defined to RACF.
Entity-relationship: Generic term for a formal technique for modeling business processes and data. An entity is anything describable by data, and entities have relationships to other entities. The entity-relationship technique is particularly suited to describing data for use in relational databases, and was supported by IBM in Repository Manager/MVS before the latter started pushing up the daisies.
Entry/36: The 5363. The last of the System/36 product line – well that’s what IBM said at the time, but see Advanced 36. Withdrawn October 1992.
Entry Point: A product that links to a Focal Point using SNA protocols, and is able to be controlled by a Focal Point in a NetView environment. NCP, 3174controllers, and 3708 network conversion units are all Entry Points. You can think of the Entry Points as being subservient nodes in a network management system.
Entry Support License: Software pricing for very low-end processors. Currently available for z/VM, but not z/OS.
ENVR object: A transportable format for ACEE data that allows the ACEE to be recreated without referencing the RACF database.
Envy/400: Object-oriented, Smalltalk-based language for the AS/400 developed by Object Technology International Inc and sold by IBM. Announced mid 1993. Similar to and replaced by VisualAge in March 1995, which, in turn, was later renamed to VisualAge Smalltalk.
EOCF: Extended Operations Console Facility 2 (EOCF/2). OS/2 software which enables an OS/2 workstation to act as a central or remote TPF console. Also provides console automation. Announced October 1991.
EOL: End of Life. The EOL date is the IBM term for the effective date of withdrawal from marketing. cf EoS. See also withdrawn.
EOS1: Embedded Operating System. A low-end version of the Microkernel designed for handheld computing devices.
EoS2: End of Service. Date when IBM stops support for a product. cf EOL, withdrawn.
EP: Emulation Program. Pre-SNA IBM control program resident in a channel attached IBM communication controller (FEP), such as the 3745, that enables it to support physical management of the network. Emulates the functions of either a 2701 data adapter unit, a 2702 transmission control or a 2703 transmission control. Beginning with Release 14, announced September 1998, it was no longer necessary to order and install two separate releases of EP when two separate environments were being run: PEP (with NCP) and stand-alone (without NCP).
EPDM/MVS: See Enterprise Performance Data Manager/MVS.
EPI: See CICS External Presentation Interface.
EPIC: Explicitly Parallel Instruction Computing. Intel architecture used in Itanium.
Epistle: Expert system for spelling, grammar, and style checking. IBM research project. Obsolete.
EPM: Enhanced editor for Presentation Manager. An editor in OS/2 used for creating and editing text files.
EPROM: Electrically Programmable Read Only Memory. A type of storage device in which the data is determined by electrical charge stored in an isolated (floating) MOS transistor gate. The gate can be discharged by applying ultraviolet light to the chip’s surface, erasing the memory contents and allowing the chip to be reprogrammed.
EPS1: Electronic Payments System.
EPS2: Encapsulated PostScript. Allegedly portable file format based on Adobe’s PostScript page description language.
E-R: See Entity-Relationship.
EREP: Environmental Reporting, Editing, and Printing. Seemingly as old as the mainframe itself, EREP is a free report generator for hardware and some software errors. IBM mainframe hardware service personnel rely upon it. Runs on z/OS, z/VM and VSE/ESA. An element of z/OS, but separately licensed for z/VM.
ERP1: Enterprise Resource Planning.
ERP2: Error Recovery Procedure.
Error log: A dataset or file that contains a record of machine checks on device errors, which are stored for later analysis.
Error record template: A template in AIX that describes the type of error, its class, description, probable causes, recommended actions for an error log entry.
ES/64000: Defunct name for the parallel mainframes promised by IBM in October 1993 which eventually became the 9672 and 9673. See Parallel Transaction Server, Parallel Query Server.
ES/9000: IBM’s family of processors announced September 1990. Featured high-density packaging, bipolar and CMOS, and one and four megabit chips. At launch there were three physical forms of the ES/9000: air-cooled and rack-mounted àla 9370 (the 9221), air-cooled and frame-mounted àla 4380 (the 9121), and water-cooled àla 3090 (the 9021). February 1993 announcements included 18 new models, including an 8-way processor, Asynchronous Data Mover Facility, increased channels, data compression, and 18 new models, bringing the total range up to 46 models. It also saw the emergence of an almost rational model naming system where the last two digits of the model number suffix indicate the number of processors and sides – e.g., a 9021-942 is a four processor, two sided model. Mid 1995 new and more powerful models were announced. Gradually withdrawn in favor of the System/390 all CMOS machines (9672) that were themselves replaced by eserverzSeries 900 October 2000. See also Summit, Foothill, 9021, 9121, 9221.
ES1: See Expanded Storage.
ES2: Enterprise Systems.
ESA: Enterprise System Architecture. See MVS/ESA.
ESA/XC: ESA eXtended Configuration. z/VM feature which allows CMS applications to create dataspaces, and share them between virtual machines. Announced September 1990.
ESAF: External Subsystem Attach Facility. Part of IMS TM. Other products can use it to attach to IMS TM, then IMS TM application programs can access resources owned by the attached products. The most common use of ESAF is to allow DB2 to attach so that IMS TM applications can have access to DB2 data.
eSAR: electronic Solution Assurance Review. Web-based tool which generates IBM product implementation recommendations based on customer input. Designed to speed implementations while mitigating risk.
ESB: Media name for a rumored new IBM operating system to replace MVS/ESA, supporting 64-bit addressing, expanded storage shared between processors, high-speed fiber optic LAN linking processors in a sysplex, single level storage, etc. z/OS meets some of those criteria. See also Saturn.
ESCC: ESCON Connection Converter. See ESCON Converter.
ESCD: ESCON Control Director. See ESCON Director.
ESCE: Expert System Consultation Environment. See ESE.
ESCE/PC: Expert System Consultation Environment. See ESE.
ESCM: See ESCON Manager.
ESCMS: ESCON Monitor System. Dial-up system which enables users to control and monitor the power supply of devices on an ESCON network – enables you to turn remote equipment on and off from a central site. ESCMS can detect power loss as well as unauthorized intrusion, water leaks, smoke, fire and all sorts of hazards; and it can telephone up the fire brigade or police too!! If you’ve really got things organized, you can turn your computers on with ESCMS, and then control them using TSCF. Announced September 1990. Replaced by SystemView SiteManager Services February 1992.
ESCON: Enterprise System Connectivity. The high-speed fiber optic channel architecture (using a serial, packet-switched protocol) first available on ES/9000 and 3090-Js and many peripherals. The original ESCON used LEDs and worked at 10MBps over 3km stretches (up to 9km total distance with repeaters). September 1991 IBM announced a laser version (ESCON XDF) capable of working at greater distances. The ESCON architecture also allows multiple controllers to be connected to one ESCON channel, and enables I/O devices to be connected and disconnected with the main system running. The standard fiber optic trunk cable can contain 72 pairs of fibers, giving 72 channel links. June 1992 IBM announced sharing of ESCON channels across PR/SM partitions (EMIF). Replaced by FICON May 1998, though still available. The last version of ESCON runs at 17MBps simplex. See also Paradyne.
ESCON Converter: Device (also known as ESCON Connection Converter – ESCC) which enables ESCON fiber optic channels to work with traditional devices (ESCC model 1 – the 9034), and ESCON devices to work with traditional channels (ESCC model 2 – the 9035). In effect it’s a protocol converter between the channels using the bus and tag parallel architecture and channels using the serial ESCON architecture. Obsolete.
ESCON Director: The 9032/9033 device (also known as the ESCON Control Director or ESCD) to which all ESCON channels and control units can be attached and which provides the dynamic switching and reconfiguration – it’s a router or smart switch. ESCON Directors can be attached to one another as well as to channels and control units. Console sharing across ESCON Directors was announced September 1991, and redundancy, concurrent LIC upgrade, dynamic port addition, and extended distance console support in October 1994. ESCON Director support is an element of z/OS. See also 9032, 9033.
ESCON EMIF: See EMIF.
ESCON Manager: SystemView facility (also known as ESCM) under z/OS and z/VM enabling host management of fiber optic connections using ESCON Directors. ESCM monitors and controls local and remote ESCON Director connections. Replaced by System Automation August 1997.
ESCON Monitor System: See ESCMS.
ESCON XDF: ESCON eXtended Distance Feature. The laser-driven version of ESCON (announced September 1991) which can work at up to 60km (with repeaters).
ESCS: ESCON Supervisor.
ESD1: Electronic Service/Support Delivery. IBM system for electronic delivery of z/OS and z/VM fixes.
ESD2: Electronic Software Distribution. Once a generic term, now an IBM term referring to a Lotus initiative begun as a pilot project in October 1996, where software products are distributed via the Internet to its channel partners. See also ESD3.
ESD3: Electronic Software Delivery. Some IBM chargeable software can be downloaded from a Lotus Web site. Both business partners and individual customers can use ESD.
ESDE: Expert System Development Environment. See ESE.
ESDS: Entry Sequenced DataSet. VSAM sequential dataset in which the data is held in the order in which it was originally entered (i.e., new records are placed on the end of the dataset). Can be used as a replacement for BSAM and QSAM in z/OS. But most commonly used as a replacement for sequential datasets in VSE/ESA. See also Linear dataset.
ESE: Expert System Environment. Expert system shell for z/VM and z/OS, announced by IBM in 1985. Less powerful than KnowledgeTool, but more suitable for use by non-professional programmers. ESCE, ESDE and ESCE/PC were associated products, the latter allowing completed ESE applications to run on a PC. The z/OS and z/VM components were withdrawn February 1996, with the PC component withdrawn in a sweep of non-Y2K-tested software in March 1998.
e-security: Security for electronic commerce on the Internet.
eserver: A complete replacement of IBM’s hardware server platforms with four new series: zSeries 900, iSeries 400, pSeries and xSeries. Announced October 3, 2000. The e actually has a circle around it, like the a does in the @ symbol.
ESF1: Extended Superframe Format. Technique for reduction of error rates on T1 lines.
ESF2: External Source Format. A data format (originally part of AD/Cycle) used to pass data between tools and CSP1 generators. Functions as a universal target language for anyone wanting to write applications for supported platforms. Also used in HighPoint.
ESL1: See Entry Support License.
ESL2: Under its original name, Easel, ESL was an OS/2 and DOS screen scraping product designed to convert dumb terminal applications into CUA1-compliant front-ends for the PS/2. In 1989, it was the IBM-recommended tool for developing graphical CUA interfaces. In 1991, IBM announced distributed CICS applications development and CSP1 support, and pulled back support for Easel. ESL now belongs to EslSyndetic, and is “a visual development tool for building workstation applications that can interact with mainframes, servers and databases using a wide variety of protocols.”
ESM: See Tivoli Event Services Manager.
ESMS: Enterprise System Managed Storage. The stage beyond SMS in which MVS acts as a super-server providing data across a network to all and sundry. Initiated by IBM when it announced the Sun NFS in September 1990, but not spoken of much since.
ESO Hiperspace: Expanded Storage Only Hiperspace.
Esoteric unit name: In z/OS, a single installation-specific name that can apply to multiple, usually similar, logical or physical I/O devices. Can be used in JCL DD statements or specified to DFSMShsm to refer to any of a group of devices, reducing contention for a single device.
ESP1: Early Support Program. The process of giving new products a final run-through on selected users’ facilities. So-called because you need powers of extra sensory perception (another type of ESP) to find out what the software’s meant to do. See also EEP, QIP.
ESP2: Extreme Support Personalized. Originally, Extreme Support through Personalization. An IBM service offering for iSeries 400 customers. It involves a customized blend of support over the Internet, voice, and on-site support, along with support integrated into the iSeries 400 itself.
ESQL: Embedded SQL. SQL statements coded explicitly in an application program.
ESS1: Executive Support System. See EIS2.
ESS2: See Enterprise Storage Server.
ESSA: Extended System Service Amendment. Withdrawn in favor of SSA1 in mid 1990.
ESS eSAR: Enterprise Storage Server electronic Solution Assurance Review. See eSar.
ESSL: Engineering and Scientific Subroutine Library. ESSL Vector and Scalar/370 was introduced to exploit the vector facility of the 3090 and some ES/9000 mainframes, but not available for eserverzSeries 900. Withdrawn March 2001. ESSL for AIX and Parallel ESSL for AIX are still available.
ESSL/6000: Version of ESSL for the RS/6000. Announced in January 1990. Replaced by ESSL for AIX.
ESS SAPR: Enterprise Storage Server Solution Assurance Product Review.
Establishment controller: What used to be called a Cluster controller.
ESTAE: Extended Specify Task Abnormal Exit. An z/OS Assembler macro instruction that provides recovery capability and gives functionality to the user-specified exit routine for processing, diagnosing an abend, or specifying a retry address.
ESTOR: See Expanded Storage.
ET-1: Industry standard benchmark for OLTP systems. Also known as the Debit-Credit transaction. Sometimes ET-1 is used to refer to a trimmed down version of Debit-Credit.
EtherChannel: The Cisco System Network Bandwidth Aggregation and Load Balancing technology, called EtherChannel, builds upon standard and 802.3 Fast Ethernet to provide the functionality to aggregate a bandwidth of multiple Ethernet interfaces.
EtherJet: Family of IBM Ethernet adapters first announced November 1995.
Ethernet: A baseband LAN technology, originally created by Xerox, DEC, and Intel. Ethernet is the base for the IEEE802.3 LAN standard (although it doesn’t actually conform fully), and, until the advent of the TRN, was by far the most popular high-speed LAN product in the market. IBM now provides a high level of support for Ethernet. See also Gigabit Ethernet, Isochronous Ethernet.
eTill: An electronic equivalent of a cash register that accepts payment for the goods and services selected for purchase in the IBM Payment Suite. The eTill is used in conjunction with a payment gateway and a payment management system, to complete the financial transactions.
ETM: Enterprise Transaction Management. IBMspeak for big operational on-line systems.
ETO: Extended Terminal Option. A separately priced feature of IMS TM that enables workstations to be added or deleted from a live computer system. Does for IMS TM what RDO does for CICS. Announced September 1990.
ETP: See Early Test Program.
ETR1: External Throughput Rate. Performance measure in which throughput is specified as transactions/jobs per second of elapsed time. Favored as a benchmark by Amdahl as against ITR which is favored by IBM.
ETR2: External Time Reference. The fiber optic interface from zSeries 900 processors to Sysplex Timers. A standard feature, having previously been optional on System/390 processors.
ETSI: European Telecommunications Standards Institute. A standards body created by CEPT in 1988. Headquartered in southern France, ETSI has nearly 800 members from more than 50 countries, many not in Europe.
euro: The monetary unit of the European Monetary Union (EMU), originally introduced alongside national currencies on the first of January 1999 by Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Spain. euro notes and coins (hard currency) were put into circulation January 1, 2002, with all national currencies withdrawn by February 28, 2002. The accommodation of the euro by the IT industry has resulted in changes to both hardware and software.
EuroReady: IBM considers their products to be EuroReady if the product, when used in accordance with its associated documentation, is capable of correctly processing monetary data in the euro denomination and of respecting the euro currency formatting conventions (including the euro sign). See also euro, EuroSign Support.
EuroSign Support: Support for the special character used as the euro symbol. z/OS has EuroSign support. See also EuroReady.
EUSS: IBM End User Solution Services. Software products and services for the travel and transportation industry.
Everyplace: An IBM brand name for software products that support embedded and mobile clients. Announced April 2000. See also MQSeries EveryPlace, Everyplace Wireless Gateway for Multiplatforms.
Everyplace Wireless Gateway for Multiplatforms: A Unix platform (AIX1 or Sun Solaris) intended to extend existing applications to mobile workers over wireless networks. Supports both WAP and non-WAP clients running on Windows CE, Palm OS, Windows 9x/Me/NT/2000 and QNX/Neutrino. Announced June 2001 to replace the SecureWay Wireless Gateway for AIX (withdrawn December 2001).
Exabyte: 1024 petabytes, 2 to the sixtieth, or 1,152,921,504,606,846,976 bytes.
Exchange Server: Client/server messaging product from Microsoft, launched after a prolonged beta-testing in April 1996. Originally described as a Notes Killer, turned out to be Microsoft Mail in new clothing. Runs only on Windows NT/200x Server. Despite those facts, it was caught in the late 1990s rush by organizations to standardize on a Microsoft Office and Windows NT 4.0 desktop. Exchange Server seemed the logical choice as a backend to Office’s Outlook. After all, it was made by the same company.
EXCI: External CICS Interface.
EXCP: EXecute Channel Program. Usually refers to a z/OS, z/VM or VSE/ESA Assembler macro call to initiate an I/O (more accurately it requests the execution of a channel program on a specific device). The number of EXCPs performed gives the count of the actual number of read/write operations. It can also refer to the type of I/O being performed, as seen, for example, in output from a sort/merge program.
EXDC: EXternal Data Controller. Within the mainframe extended architecture (on 308x and later processors), the EXDC is a device which carries out I/Os requested by the CPU. The EXDC is the channel of a 3090 machine. Obsolete term.
EXEC: See EXEC/EXEC2.
EXEC/EXEC2: VM procedural languages, now stabilized by IBM. Programs written in EXEC/EXEC2 are known colloquially as EXECs. IBM has been trying for years to persuade users to migrate from EXEC to REXX.
EXEC2: See EXEC/EXEC2.
ExecJet: See 4072.
ExecJet II: See 4076.
Executive Decisions/VM: EIS tool for very senior executives which provides an easy-to-use interface to various MIS tools and services (e-mail, calendar, address book, etc). Uses both z/VM and OS/2 to provide workstation access to mainframe data. Also a version for z/OS announced December 1989. Both withdrawn June 1992.
Exit: A piece of code that, if executed, stops a program running, typically handing control back to the operating system for exception handling. Exits are much loved by systems programmers who can often be seen on cold winter’s nights huddled around the nostalgic glow of an eserverzSeries 900, yarning and joshing about great exits they worked on in the good old days when mainframes ruled the earth.
EXLST: VSAM and VTAM terminology for EXit LiST.
Expanded memory: PC memory conforming to the LIM EMS 4.0 spec. Gives access to more than 640K of memory on Intel processors before the 80386. Used in a number of Windows-based products. EMM386.EXE is an expanded memory emulator for 80386 and newer machines. Obsolete.
Expanded storage: Option on the eserverzSeries 900, first introduced on the 3090, providing on-board cache memory on the processor side of the channel. Data is paged between main memory and expanded storage in 4096 byte pages synchronously with processor functions. Note that expanded storage is physically different from main memory; it uses a much less complex design (no storage protect keys, no execution circuitry, 4K addressing only) and is 4-6 times more reliable. There seems a distinct possibility that transfers to and from expanded storage may be done quite autonomously at some time in the future (perhaps through the ICE1). See also SSD1, SES.
Expedite: The IBM Interchange Services for e-business Expedite family of software which translates data into standard EDI formats including ANSI/X12, UN/EDIFACT (including ODETTE), TDCC, and UCS. The first products were announced in April 1989 under the DataInterchange family name with the unusual capitalization expEDIte. DataInterchange became part of IBM EDI Services, which was renamed IBM Interchanges Services for e-business. The DataInterchange name got lost along the way, but popped up in WebSphere as the name for their EDI gateway. The currently available products are Expedite Base for PC-DOS, OS/2, Windows, SCO OpenServer, AIX and z/OS, Expedite/CICS for z/OS and VSE/ESA, Expedite Notification Manager for PC-DOS, Windows, iSeries 400 and z/OS, and Expedite for Windows.
Expert systems: Computer systems in which the knowledge of experts can be incorporated into the system (hence they are also known (loosely) as knowledge-based systems). An expert system has two parts – a knowledge base, and an inference engine which works on the knowledge base. Such systems are particularly useful for dealing with highly complex tasks (e.g., network management, medical diagnosis) in which it is difficult to make the expertise of specialists sufficiently explicit to incorporate in a conventional computer program. IBM forays into expert systems have included CSF1, DEDALE, Epistle, ESCE/PC, ESE, Handy, KnowledgeTool, KEE, TQA, YES/MVS, TIRS, Integrated Reasoning Shell, GPSI, Neural Network Utility. Unfortunately, expert systems never really delivered on their promise, and their failure gave Artificial Intelligence (AI) a black eye in the business world. AI has been quietly used in many successful software products in the last few years, now that the processing power exists to actually make it work properly.
Export Language: IBM’s expert system language used in TIRS.
Extended character: A character other than a 7-bit ASCII character.
Extended Facilities Product: z/OS and z/VM software, which IBM says is technically optional (not required for compatibility or operation), but is essential to unlock the total potential of the RAMAC Virtual Array Storage. Announced July 1996 and still available, even though the RAMAC Virtual Array Storage has been replaced by the 2105.
Extended License Charge: See ELC.
Extended Memory: Memory above the 1MB mark in an 80286/386 machine. Used in OS/2 and Windows/386 environments. Not much use in a DOS environment. Obsolete.
Extended storage: An earlier term for what is now known as expanded storage.
Extensible Stylesheet Language: See XSL.
Extent: IBMspeak for a continuous space on a DASD volume occupied by a dataset or part of a dataset.
External Call Interface: See CICS External Call Interface.
External Presentation Interface: See CICS External Presentation Interface.
External Time Reference: See ETR2.
Extranet: A community of trading partners communicating via a controlled business network, using Internet communication protocols and Web browser technology.
Extreme Support Personalized: See ESP2.
Extreme Support through Personalization: See ESP2.
EZ-Prep: Cross System Product/Application Generation. Feature of CSP1. PC software for customizing CSP programs to the PC environment. One licensed copy shipped with CSP/AD. Obsolete.
EZ-Run: Cross System Product/Application Execution. Feature of CSP1. PC software providing a CSP run-time environment on the PC. One licensed copy shipped with CSP/AD. Obsolete. See also CSP/AE.
EZ Setup: Software that walks you through OS/400 installation and customization. Part of iSeries Client Access Express. Shipped with all orders on the Setup and Operations CD-ROM.
EZ-VU: PC product derived from mainframe ISPF, and used to provide a dialog development environment. Long obsolete.
F
FAA: Financial Application Architecture. An IBM marketecture for the finance/banking sector.
FABPMAIN: FABPMAIN is used for the IMS database to download the segment details.
Facilities Management: The notion of contracting out the entire management of your computer shop to a third party. IBM has been heavily involved in this market since its inception.
FAF: IBM SAA ImagePlus Folder Application Facility MVS/ESA. Software supporting image storage and retrieval under z/OS. Manages the indexing and workflow through an ImagePlus system. Replaced May 1999 by IBM Content Manager ImagePlus for OS/390.
Failsoft processing: A RACF state when no datasets in the primary RACF database are available, RVARY INACTIVE has been specified or a serious system error has occurred.
Fall over: To crash or abend.
Farm1: A collection of workstations networked together and used as a compute server; often synonymous with cluster4.
Farm2: See DASD farm.
FAS-90: Financial Applications Support for the 1990s. A one-time IBM project to create SAA-compatible financial applications systems, which faded away with SAA itself, long before the 1990s did.
FAST: Federation Against Software Theft. Independent UK body which finds and frequently prosecutes users of pirated software (mainly on PCs). Set up in 1984 by the British Computer Society’s Copyright Committee. Its first action was to have software better served by the British Copyright Act of 1956.
FASTAUTH request: A RACF request using in-storageprofiles to check a user’s authorization to a RACF-protected resource or function via the RACROUTE macro with REQUEST=FASTAUTH specified.
FastCall: Call management software for integrating telephone functions with LotusNotes and SmartSuite PC software. Developed by Aurora System, and announced as a Lotus product May 1996. Withdrawn October 1999.
Fastgate: Automated system for accelerating passenger throughput at airport immigration checkpoints. Based on a system tested at Bermuda International Airport in 1997. Fastgate is an ATM2-like device that compares either passengers’ fingerprints, hand geometry or voice prints, with those previously placed on file to verify identity. It then requests on-line confirmation from the border control authority database that no security alerts have been issued for the traveler. In general, the process takes less than 15 seconds to clear a traveler through an immigration checkpoint. Developed by IBM’s Hursley Laboratory in the UK.
Fast Packet: A packet switched technology, invented by Stratacom, and designed for fiber networks, which offers substantial performance benefits over X.25 and Frame Relay, by exploiting the greater transmission accuracy of fiber over copper. Fast Packet uses small fixed length (53byte) packets, and the ATM2 (asynchronous transfer mode) protocol. Capable of supporting transmission speeds up to 1.2 gigabit/sec.
Fastpath1: IMS feature for high performance on-line systems. Improves transaction rates by reducing the number of instructions that have to be executed for specific transactions – by up to 50%.
Fastpath2: Fastpath 9750 and 9770 were FEPs which enabled high-speed file transfers between IBM mainframes and minicomputers, and LAN-based workstations. Used CETI to connect to the 9370. They were Intel products sold by IBM. The 9770 replaced the 9750 in September 1988 and was withdrawn August 1992.
FastRef/2: Workstation OS/2 tool which was designed to interact with the now-defunct Repository Manager/MVS to enable users to evaluate the impact of proposed software changes without actually making them. Announced September 1991. Withdrawn March 1998.
Fast Response Cache Architecture: A set of AIX APIs enabling e-business applications to cache data such as Web content in the Network Buffer Cache (NBC). It can significantly reduce the path length, providing a performance boost.
FASTService: Failure Analysis and Support Technology Service. IBM Service which was intended to help users resolve problems in their z/OS application software. Used proprietary hardware and software on an IBM-run iSeries 400 which monitored probes installed by users in COBOL, PL/I, or Assembler applications. If the probe was activated (e.g., by a program error), the program telephoned up the iSeries 400 which used a database of problems to identify what was wrong, and suggest solutions. Withdrawn March 1996, with SystemView SiteManager Services suggested as a possible replacement.
Fast Service Upgrade: IBM software installation service that eases upgrade from one release of VSE/ESA to another. Includes system software products, like CICS/VSE.
FastSite: Lotus end user tool for easily creating Web pages for Internet, intranet or extranet sites, from existing files of several different formats, including Adobe PDF documents. Integrated with Microsoft FrontPage.
Fast Sync Data Mover Facility: Mechanism to tell DB2 that the Move Page instruction on the processor is just as fast, and should be used instead of, the Asynchronous Data Mover Facility (ADMF).
FAStT: IBM Fiber Array Storage Technology.
Fast Write: See DASD Fast Write, and Cache Fast Write. When the term Fast Write is used without qualification, it usually means DASD Fast Write.
FAT: File Allocation Table. A table in PC-DOS and early Windows operating systems, used to allocate space on a disk for a file and to locate parts of the file that may be found on different sectors. Notorious for getting corrupted, especially in early versions of DOS. Replaced by FAT32, NTFS and HPFS. Also known as FAT16.
FAT32: A 32 bit implementation of FAT16 that overcame many of its shortcomings. First available in Windows 95 Service Release 2.
Fat DASD: Pre-release nickname for the 3390-9.
Fax: Facsimile. Transmission of a monochrome image of a page across the standard telephone system by dialing the telephone number of another Fax machine. International standards exist for several transmission speeds and display resolutions, although IBM promoted a standard of their own for a while. Rose from obscurity to universality during the 1980s, replacing the Telex and TWX. But Fax is not new. It had become quite popular in the 1930s within police departments for transmitting photographs (mug shots) of criminals.
FaxConcentrator: PS/2 board which allows you to send and receive faxes using group 3 standards. An API is provided for use in developing applications. Obsolete.
FBA: Fixed Block Architecture. A way of formatting disk drives in which the disk is allocated in fixed length (e.g., 512 bytes) blocks rather than cylinders.
FBC: Funny Black Connector. Slang terminology for the hermaphrodite connector used for cabling. See Boa2.
FBSS: Financial Branch System Services. System for banks and the like. Based on a client/server architecture using PC-DOS, Windows, or OS/2 clients, and AS/400 servers communicating across a Token Ring network. Replaced by LANDP in June 1992.
FBU: See Field Business Unit.
FCB1: Forms Control Block. Originally a continuous carriage control tape, similar to paper tape, only wider, for the 1403 printer. Later, on high speed printers such as the 3800, a hardware buffer controlled by special characters embedded in the printer datastream. In either case, the FCB controls the vertical format/spacing of the printer to match the currently mounted paper forms. For example, to avoid printing over the header, footer and perforation.
FCB2: File Control Block.
FCC: Federal Communications Commission. American authority which regulates and oversees wire and radio transmissions, and stops PCs and the like emitting noxious radiation that could interfere with the reception of other noxious radiation such as TV soap operas.
F-Coupler: Frequency Coupler. A device that merges broadband analog signals with digital data using shielded twisted-pair wiring. This allows the cabling system to accommodate simultaneous analog video with data traffic on a Token Ring Network.
FCS1: First Customer Ship.
FCS2: Fiber Channel Standard. ANSI standard for 1 gigabit/sec fiber channels that IBM uses in FICON.
FCT: File Control Table. A CICS table where datasets are defined so they can be used by CICS applications and other software.
FD:OCA: Formatted Data Object Content Architecture. An architecture for describing field formatted data such as database elements. The idea is that the data description is attached to the data object and carried around with it over networks, so that receiver and sender share a common understanding of the data. FD:OCA should save an awful lot of converting and reconciling of data as it passes between systems – albeit at the expense of more data traffic across the network. FD:OCA is central to DRDA. Announced July 1990 and first implemented in September 1990.
FDDI: Fiber Distributed Data Interface. An ANSI standard for use of fiber optics to provide networks up to 100 Megabits/sec and up to 250 km long. Incorporates token passing and supports circuit-switched voice and packetized data. 3172 FDDI gateway announced September 1990, RS/6000 adapter in January 1992, and ten different FDDI adapters in June 1993. At one time FDDI was the hot favorite to become the standard MAN technology, but ATM2 has lengthened the odds. See also SDDI.
FDM: Frequency Division Multiplexing. A means of sending more than one set of messages down a single line by using a different carrier frequency for each message. FDM is the technique used on broadbandLANs.
FDP: Field Developed Program. Program developed unofficially – usually by a customer – and available somewhat grudgingly from IBM. You almost never heard about them anymore.
FDX: Full DupleX. See Duplex.
FEDI: Financial Electronic Data Interchange. Process for the transmission of both payment instructions and remittance details from computer to computer using international message standards.
FEL: Flexible Exchange Lease. Obsolete IBM lease offering which made it easy for customers to change to new IBM products as they emerged. Many FELs included Technology Conversion Options.
Fellow: You get to be an IBM Fellow for sustained technical achievement. The prize is 5 years off work at your full salary to pursue any research or technical projects you like so long as it’s related to IBM’s business.
FEP: Front-End Processor. Generic (non IBM-specific) term for a specialized computer linked to the front end of a DP machine to support a specialized function (e.g., communications). IBM’s 3705, 3720, 3725, and 3745 are communications FEPs.
FEPI: Front End Programming Interface. A CICS feature (announced late 1991) which helps users to integrate unrelated IMS and CICS applications under the CICS umbrella. Works by enabling CICS applications to look like terminals to other CICS and IMS1 applications. Potentially it enables a wider range of systems to work with CICS. Not terribly strategic – rather it’s a way of prolonging the life of legacy systems.
FFST: First Failure Support Technology. Technology first introduced in the 3990-6 in May 1993, and described by IBM as a strategic IBM technology for automated software problem detection and support. When an error first occurs, FFST captures all the appropriate diagnostic information to minimize the chances of the error occurring again. Later implemented in z/OS and z/VM.
FFST/ESA: First Failure Support Technology/Enterprise Systems Architecture. An element of z/OS. See FFST.
FFTDCA: Final-Form Text DCA. Version of the DCA architecture for final form documents (i.e., with all the formatting and control characters in place). Generally it’s easier to ship final-form documents around than to ship revisable-form documents where the format and control characters are not in a fixed form.
FIBB: Fast Internal Bus Buffer. I/O support card in the eserverzSeries 900. Introduced September 1996.
Fiber Channel Connectivity: See FICON.
Fiber optic channel: Channel technology which replaces the copper bus and tag channel cables with fiber optic links. Fiber optics have lots of advantages – greater bandwidth, less signal attenuation, lower weight (1/900th that of bus and tag), greater security. First used, September 1990, in IBM’s System/390ESCON architecture which introduced the new serial protocol needed to achieve bandwidths beyond the 4.5MB/sec practical limit of copper bus and tag. Fiber-optic channels were announced for the AS/400 in May 1991. FICON was introduced, effectively replacing EICON, in May 1998. IBM, along with other vendors, has developing standards for fiber channels for connecting workstations.
Fiber Transport Services: See FTS2.
FICON: FIbre CONnections. An eserverzSeries 900 channel that implements the ANSIFCS2 transport. Each FICON channel can handle over 4,000 I/O operations per second, equivalent to eight ESCON channels. The FICON channel link speed is 100MBps full duplex, compared with 17MBps simplex with ESCON links. Announced May 1998.
Field Business Unit: IBM sales and marketing location with profit objectives.
Field-level access checking: A RACF facility that can be used to control access to segments of a RACF profile, and fields within those segments.
FIFO: First In, First Out. A queuing method also known as FCFS: first come, first served. Always process the item that has been in the queue the longest. LIFO, last in, first out, is the opposite, where the most recent addition to the queue is processed first; also known as a push-down stack.
File-Aid: File-AID/Express migrates and transforms data, converts data for new DBMS environments, creates temporary or permanent interfaces between new and existing applications, and interactively converts subsets of data for testing applications or interfaces.
File Control Table: See FCT.
File striping: IBM technique for very high-speed DASD. Uses the Parallel Input-Output Access Method (PIOAM) – a set of routines which enable very high-speed access to data by scattering consecutive fields across multiple devices and data paths, thereby allowing some degree of I/O parallelism. It’s a special case of disk striping. PIOAM was announced July 1989 and withdrawn April 1995. It was used from Clustered FORTRAN under z/OS. And also supported by ftp in z/OS TCP/IP. See also Sequential data striping.
FIPS: Federal Information Processing Standard. Under the US Information Technology Management Reform Act, the Secretary of Commerce approves standards and guidelines that are developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) for federal computer systems. These standards and guidelines are issued by NIST as Federal Information Processing Standards for use government-wide. For example, FIPS 140 sets several security levels for cryptographic hardware. IBM has several products that meet these standards.
Firewall1: Generic term for security software, often with a stand-alone computer system, that controls all of an organization’s incoming traffic from the Internet at one location, most notably unauthorized access attempts, though many larger firewalls also filter for viruses. So-called hardware firewalls usually use a security-hardened version of an operating system to overcome the risk of software-only firewalls: direct attacks on weaknesses in the operating system. See also SecureWay Firewall.
Firewall2: IBM Firewall. Renamed SecureWay Firewall.
Firewall Technologies: A firewall1 component of z/OS SecureWay Security Server.
Fireworks Partners: IBM venture capital arm set up in January 1993 to foster multimedia developments for the commercial and consumer markets. Disappeared without a trace.
Firmware: Software permanently stored within a hardware device as an alternative to hardware circuitry to make it function. Most devices that have firmware can have it updated. It may, for example, be stored in EPROM. IBM originally invented diskettes as a medium for loading firmware on each IML, since early computers did not permanently store firmware at all. Examples of firmware include the BIOS on a motherboard and complex mainframe machine instructions like Move Page. Firmware is safer than software loaded from an alterable medium and more adaptable to change than pure hardware circuitry.
First Touch: A programming technique that only builds elements of a large complex structure as they are needed. IBM uses it for AIX Fast Server Startup where each attribute table is not created until an entry is added that uses that attribute.
Fix: A botch to repair (fix) a problem.
FLASH algorithm: Fast Look-up Algorithm for Structural Homology. FLASH is a probabilistic indexed algorithm that is used to carry out extremely fast similarity matching of objects in a database. The algorithm looks for matches only in those places where it’s likely to find them and ignores the rest of the database. Because its performance degrades very slowly as the size of the database increases, it allows very high scalability. Applications of FLASH include matching new DNA and protein sequences, matching molecular structures, and identifying fingerprints for civil applications. FLASH started as a computer vision program developed at IBM’s Thomas J. Watson Research Center.
FlashCopy: A point-in-time copy feature of Enterprise Storage Server (ESS). Can be used to create a valid copy of an open database while it is being updated, without risk of having different parts of the database accurate to different moments in time. For example, related rows of different tables.
Flash memory: Any type of read-only memory, such as EPROM, that can be updated. Typically stored in integrated circuits and used for firmware.
Flat file: Any file (dataset1, mainframe parlance) stored in a file access method without an index, which, of course, eliminates all DBMS. cf. flat file system, which refers to the directory that files are stored in, rather than the file itself. There are also non-relational DBMS known as flat file databases.
Flat file system: A directory system for files that does not have a hierarchy, which means there are no subdirectories, and each file name is unique.
Flat Workload License Charge: A flat monthly charge for a software product, no matter what size of eserverzSeries 900 it is being run on.
Flexlease: A leasing deal invented and sold by Atlantic Computers in the UK, and widely considered to be the cause of Atlantic’s spectacular £ 1500m collapse in early 1990. The customer signed a lease (usually a seven-year lease rather than the more normal five years) with a finance house. A separate agreement between the leasing company and the customer contained walk and flex clauses. In the walk clause the leasing company agreed to take over the lease a year or two before the full term of the lease, allowing the customer to walk away from the lease with no further obligation; payments still needed to be made to the finance house, and the leasing company usually sold the equipment to help service the outstanding lease. The flex clause gave the customer the option of changing the equipment – in effect the leasing company arranged a new lease incorporating payments for the old lease and the new equipment. It was all hunky-dory for as long as the leasing company could keep on growing the business; when the growth stopped, so did Atlantic.
Floating point: One of several methods of storing numbers on an IBM mainframe and most other computers. Similar to scientific notation, such as 3.75 times 10 to the 25th power, only it is 2 or 16 that is taken to some power. For example, short floating point on the mainframe is a sign bit followed by a 7 bit exponent then 3 bytes of mantissa. To make matters even more confusing, the exponent is stored in Excess-64 notation. All of which means you have to subtract 64 from the exponent to get the power to which 16 must be taken, times the value of the mantissa as if it had a decimal point in front of it. Not something you want to figure out from a hexadecimal dump. Especially without a hex calculator.
FLOPS: Floating Point Operations Per Second. Generic term used mainly to specify the performance of very powerful scientific and mathematical computer systems (supercomputers).
FlowMark: Object-oriented workflow management platform developed by IBM’s Vienna labs, and announced September 1993. It’s a generalized set of services which allow users to define and manage standard business activities. Included interfaces to DataHub, and was promoted by IBM for designing, implementing, and controlling distributed CICS applications. Internet add-ons announced February 1996, and links with MQSeries and Lotus Notes in March 1996. Platform support varied over the years, but at one time or another included z/OS, Windows (including iSeries 400 IPCS2), AIX, OS/2 and HP-UX. Replaced by MQSeries Workflow December 1999.
FLPA: Fixed Link Pack Area. Area within z/OS holding programs typically used by many different address spaces simultaneously.
FLSF: Font Library Service Facility. Font management utility for use with 3800 and 4250 printers. Obsolete.
FM: See Facilities Management.
FMCB: Function Management Control Block.
FMDS: Function Management Data Services. Layer 6 in SNA.
FMH: Functional Management Header. An SNA data structure.
FMLC: Fixed Monthly License Charge. See MLC. cf. GMLC, IMLC.
FOCA: Font Object Content Architecture. IBM architecture defining the structure and content of digitally described fonts. Superset of the font standards of IPDS.
Focal Point: A network node within an ONM network that collects information and makes it available to network personnel, and to Entry Points and Service Points. From a network management point of view, the Focal Point is the hub of the network.
Foothill: Term used to describe the members of the ES/9000 range that were derived directly from the 3090J – i.e., all the water-cooled models at the launch except the 820 and 900. They’re basically the 3090J internals with new environmentals. They were superseded in February 1993 with the new 9021s.
Footprint1: Generic term for the measure of floor space required for one or more pieces of hardware.
Footprint2: Canadian company bought by IBM in mid 1995 for its object-oriented bank automation software.
Fork lift upgrade: IBMspeak for a complete machine swap – i.e., you get a fork-lift truck to take away your old machine, and put a new one in its place.
Form factor: A technical term meaning physical size, and widely used by disk specialists to mean diameter – why they can’t just say diameter is one of life’s little mysteries.
FormTalk: OS/2 software for creating, routing, approving, and tracking business forms. Works with Microsoft Mail, Lotus Notes, cc:Mail, and FlowMark. There’s a Windows version too. Withdrawn February 1996.
Fort Knox: Internal IBM code name for a project to produce a computer which combines the mainframe and iSeries 400 architecture in the same box. IBM has firmly denied that such a box will ever appear. It is probable that the project was killed, or at least shelved, in 1984. See also MVS/400.
FORTRAN: FORmula TRANslation. A programming language best suited for engineering, scientific and mathematical applications. Historically, it was the first programming language taught in many universities and colleges. SAA-anointed in the FORTRAN 1977 ANSI version, but FORTRAN has been withdrawn from most SAA platforms. Currently, there are three available versions of FORTRAN: VS FORTRAN for z/OS and z/VM, XL Fortran for AIX and XL High Performance Fortran for AIX. See also Clustered FORTRAN.
FPA: See Function Point Analysis.
FPDIF: Floating Point Data Interchange Facility. A set of FORTRAN subroutines within SCSE for high-speed transfer of numerical data. Obsolete.
FPoSS: Flexible Point of Sales Services. IBM initiative which provided a flexible need analysis and insurance product framework. It was a set of tools that provides dynamic models of customer behavior and dynamic combinations of product offerings. Obsolete.
FPR: Floating Point Register. The bit of the CPU which does all the difficult sums. The standard IBM mainframe has four FPRs each of 64 bits and stores floating point numbers to the base 16. FPRs can be paired to process extended floating point numbers.
FPS II: Information Center product that ended up in IC/1.
FR: See Frame Relay.
FRACHECK: RACF function replaced by the FASTAUTH request.
Fragmentation: When an operating system writes data to disk, or other storage medium, and there is insufficient contiguous space, the data is then written to discontiguous sectors. The result is fragmented data. Fragmentation can cause increased data access times because the operating system must search different tracks for information. See Defragmentation.
Frame: The unit of transmission in a Token Ring Network. It includes delimiters, control characters, information, and checking characters.
FrameNode: See 2218.
Frame Relay: High-performance packet-switching network standard, intended to replace X.25 (over which it claims a six-fold performance improvement because of reductions in network functions) on ISDN networks. Frame Relay is a particularly strong candidate for networks which mix different types of traffic (e.g., voice and data). IBM strongly embraced the technology. A particular attraction of the technique is that it’s a handy stepping stone on the way to ATM2. See also Fast Packet, RouteXpander/2.
Framework: IBMspeak for an abstract edifice that’s not quite as well worked out and complex as an architecture, but that’s a bit more than just a glint in a marketer’s eye. Usually a framework will involve a few specifications and lots of strategic alliances between IBM and third-party vendors who hope to pick up a few crumbs which fall off the table. The Information Warehouse and SystemView are of this ilk. These days, frameworks are spoken of in the same breath as WebSphere.
FRCA: See Fast Response Cache Architecture.
Freelance Graphics: Lotus presentation graphics package that competes with Microsoft PowerPoint. Included in SmartSuite.
Front End Programming Interface: See FEPI.
FRU: Field Replaceable Unit. A unit that is replaced lock, stock, and barrel if it breaks. See CRU.
FS: Future System. IBM project started early 1970s to design a follow-on to the mainframe architecture. The design turned out to be too revolutionary and was axed in 1975. Spin-offs from FS include the System/38, TCM1s, extended architecture, dynamic channels, single level storage. The name FS is often revived by pundits to refer to whatever they think the next mainframe machine architecture will be.
FSF/6000: File Storage Facility/6000. Software which provides a file server function on a networked pSeries. Keeps important and frequently used files on the client, and tucks less frequently used files away on the server. Announced May 1994, withdrawn February 1997.
FSIOP: File Server I/O Processor. Feature (add-in card) introduced on the AS/400 Advanced Server (see Advanced Series) which provides high-performance file serving for PC workstations using the AS/400 as a file server. Announced May 1994. Replaced by the Integrated Netfinity Server February 1999. See also Integrated PC Server (IPCS).
FSU: See Fast Service Upgrade.
FTAM: File Transfer, Access and Management/Manipulation. OSI-compatible protocol for distributed data management. A layer 7 Application Service Element intended to be used for creating, accessing, and moving large structured files between heterogeneous systems. The FTAM standard considers all data to have a generalized virtual filestore structure, consisting of named collections of hierarchically organized data. Included in SAA and supported in OSI/FS.
FTP1: File Transfer Program. General purpose file transfer/update program (IND$FILE) for transferring files in 3270 format in an SNA environment. Widely used to transfer files between PCs and mainframe. Withdrawn January 1992. See also NetView File Transfer Program, FTTERM.
ftp2: File Transfer Protocol. General purpose file transfer protocol for TCP/IP systems, including the TCP/IP components of IBM Communications Server. Originated on the Internet. See also AFTP.
FTS1: File Transfer Support. Facility first introduced on the System/36, and now part of OS/400, enabling files to be sent to and retrieved from remote systems. Much simpler than DDM, which provides a more generalized mechanism for data transfer.
FTS2: Fiber Transport Services. An area within IBM Global Services that provides and installs fiber optic cables.
FTTERM: PC/Host File Transfer and Terminal Emulator Program. PC-DOS 3270/5250 emulator that also provides 3101 and DEC VT100 terminal emulation. Supports various file transfer protocols, including IND$FILE for mainframe file transfers. Not withdrawn from marketing until March 1998, even though support ended in December 1991.
FTX: Version of Unix which ran on the System/88. Obsolete.
FUD: Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt. Phrase (generally reckoned to have been coined by Gene Amdahl) to describe what IBM has often been accused of trying to introduce into its customers’ minds when it believed that the customer was about to tread a non-IBM path. Alleged FUD tactics include pre-announcement, OCO policies, black-box products, and refusal to support PCM or modified IBM products.
Full duplex: See duplex.
Fully-qualified generic profile: A dataset profile defined to RACF as Generic, but with a dataset name specified, i.e., without any generic characterS.
Functionally stabilize: See Stabilize.
Function Point Analysis: Productivity measure of application development developed by A.J. Albrecht at IBM in 1977. Became quite popular industry-wide within the next 15 years, but little is heard of it today, though there are still a few fans left. Function point analysis measures the size and complexity of software in terms of the number of user functions delivered. It’s independent of the traditional – and very misleading – use of number of lines of code as a productivity measure. As you might guess, it was heavily supported by IBM at one time with education and training, and even a software product called the Function Point Calculator.
Function shipping: CICS function that allows one CICS application to access data via another CICS region, perhaps on another processor. Function shipping was originally used to get round addressing limitations within CICS and MVS, then later to support distributed TP between mainframes and PCs running OS/2 CICS.
Future System: See FS.
FWLC: See Flat Workload License Charge.
G
G2G: Green-to-GUI. A cute term for user interface rejuvenation.
GaA: See Gallium arsenide.
Gallium arsenide: Semiconductor fabrication technique which does away with silicon as the substrate for chip manufacture and uses gallium arsenide (GaA) instead. However, fabrication is expensive, compared with CMOS, and chip yields are low. This has limited its use to supercomputer and military applications. See Silicon/germanium.
GAM/SP: Graphic Access Method/System Product. z/VM facility enabling users to write software for driving IBM graphics systems (e.g., 6090, 5080, 3250, 2250, 2840). Withdrawn June 1997.
Garbage collection: A software technique to free up previously-used, but currently unneeded, storage, typically memory within the allocated address space for a program/application/system. Because the result may be a lot of little pieces of non-contiguous memory, some garbage collection algorithms also include a compaction of the memory that is still in use. Obviously, garbage collection is only required for software that does not automatically release memory along the way, when it first stops being used, though compaction would still be of benefit.
GATE: General Access to X.25 Transport Extension. SNA extension for handling X.25. Configuration option under NPSI.
Gateway: Equipment on a network that enables a terminal on one network to communicate with a terminal on another (incompatible) network. The gateway may convert data formats and protocols as well as physical formats and protocols. Most widely used in the IBM world to connect LANs and SNA networks, where the gateway (often a card plus some software in a PC) converts the NetBIOS protocols into SNA protocols. PADs and protocol converters are typical gateways.
Gb1: See Gigabit.
GB2: See GigaByte.
GbE: See Gigabit Ethernet.
Gb Ethernet: See Gigabit Ethernet.
Gbit: See Gigabit.
Gbps: Gigabits per second.
Gbyte: See Gigabyte.
GC: See Garbage collection.
GCD: Graphic Codepoint Definition. Part of the IBM office systems architecture which maps internal character codes onto keyboards and national alphabets. See also CDRA.
GCLISP: Golden Common LISP. See Golden.
GCS: Group Control System. A component of z/VM, intended for use with SNA products, that supports multiprogramming and shared memory support to virtual machines. See VM/SNA.
GDDM: Graphical Data Display Manager. Widely used IBM mainframe package for creating and displaying graphic data on a terminal. Currently available for z/OS, z/VM and VSE/ESA.
GDDM-PGF: GDDM Presentation Graphics Facility. Library of business graphics routines (bar/pie charts, etc) for the GDDM environment. An optional, separately priced feature of z/OS.
GDF: Graphics Data Format/File. Either the data format used internally by GDDM, or a file in that format. May also be used by application programs such as QMF to save charts.
GDG: Generation Data Group. Collection of (z/OS non-VSAM) datasets (see GDS2) all with the same logical name (GDG Base Entry); the individual datasets are uniquely identified by the generation number which is stored as part of the dataset name. The datasets can be referenced either by the explicit generation number or the relative generation number. GDGs are useful where datasets are cycled – standard JCL can be used without having to change the dataset names for each run.
GDLC: Generic/General Data Link Control Interface. Defines a common interface with the same set of commands for multiple DLCs. DLCs that conform to the GDLC interface include Token Ring, IEEE802.3 for Ethernet, Standard Ethernet, SDLC1, QLLC and FDDI.
GDMO: Guidance for Definition of Managed Objects. An ISO standard for object-oriented systems.
GDPS: Geographically Dispersed Parallel Sysplex. A service offering of IBM Global Services that manages z/OS remote copy configuration and storage subsystems, automates Parallel Sysplex operational tasks and performs failure recovery from a single point of control. Comes in two flavors: GDPS/PPRC and GDPS/XRC.
GDPS/PPRC: Geographically Dispersed Parallel Sysplex/Peer to Peer Remote Copy. A hardware-only GDPS approach that synchronously mirrors data residing on a set of z/OS disk volumes to a remote site. cf. GDPS/XRC.
GDPS/XRC: Geographically Dispersed Parallel Sysplex/eXtended Remote Copy. A combination of hardware and z/OS software that performs an asynchronous remote copy. Unlike GDPS/PPRC, no dark fiber is required, and there is no 40km distance limit. See also GDPS.
GDQF: Graphical Display and Query Facility. Displays images – typically CADAM – on high resolution 3270 screens, and/or prepares output for high resolution printers/plotters. Runs on z/OS and z/VM.
GDS1: General DataStream. Under LU6.2, all data sent between TP programs is sent in GDS variables. A GDS variable comprises a length field, an identifier, and the content of the variable.
GDS2: Generation DataSet. One of the dataset1s in a GDG.
GDT: Global Descriptor Table. A set of data structures used in OS/2 to manage memory in a protected mode environment.
Gearbox: Ruggedized shop floor 25MHz 80386PS/2 for CIM1 applications – configured much like a programmable logic controller. Obsolete.
GEM1: Graphics Environment Manager. Obsolete PC GUI from Digital Research.
GEM2: See Tivoli Global Enterprise Manager.
General availability: Perhaps one of IBM’s oldest terms still in use. The time period beginning on the first scheduled day of shipment of a product to customers not involved in beta testing or other early release programs. And ending on the Withdrawal date. More precisely, the Marketing Withdrawal date, as opposed to the end of support. It is always amusing to find Withdrawal dates that are years behind end of support.
General Parallel File System: See GPFS.
General Purpose Register: See GPR.
General Register: See GPR.
General resource: In RACF, anything defined in the Class Descriptor Table (CDT).
General resource profile: A profile used by RACF to protect a general resource.
General user: A RACF user with no security administration privileges beyond: logging on, access to certain resources and control over owned datasets.
Generic character: In RACF, a special pattern-matching characters, such as the asterisk (*), known as wildcard characters in other operating systems, that are invalid in dataset names, but are used in generic profiles to specify all dataset names that match the specified pattern.
Generic Data Link Control Interface: See GDLC.
Generic profile: A resource profile that protects zero or more resources having the same RACF security requirements.
Generic Security Service Application Programming Interface: See Authentication service.
geoGPG: GEOgraphic Graphics Program Generator. AIX geographic information system (GIS) based on a network topological model. geoGPG allows automated mapping and facility management (AM/FM) applications to manage geographically located facilities, assets and events. Announced February 1991 as IBM AIX geoGPG/6000, then renamed IBM geoGPG for AIX December 1995.
Geographically Dispersed Parallel Sysplex: See GDPS.
Geographic Interface for OS/2: See geoInterface.
geoInterface: Geographic Interface. Workstation GIS interface used to visualize, analyze, and update GFIS data. Announced 1996, first for OS/2 then Windows. The OS/2 version was withdrawn April 2001.
geoManager: IBM geoManager Relational Database System. Provides DB2 support for GFIS in z/OS, z/VM, AIX and Windows environments, as well as Oracle support for AIX. The graphic analysis feature allows editing and update of attribute data stored in the database.
GeoPort: Apple standard for real-time telephony on PCs, at one time pursued by Versit as a standard.
GeoRM: See HAGEO/GeoRM.
Gerstner: Lou Gerstner is the man who became Chief Executive of IBM in April 1993 (it just had to be April the 1st, didn’t it?). His background was in biscuits (leading to suggestions that he must be crackers) and charge cards. The non-computer background augured well, since he’s not carrying the burden of a lifetime’s immersion in the IBM culture.
GF11: IBM supercomputer development project.
GFIS: Geographic Facilities Information System. IBM GIS system. See also geoInterface.
Gibson Mix: A synthetic workload (benchmark) used by IBM to calculate the effective MIPS ratings of its large processors. Effectively it measures the average execution time of a mix of instructions.
GID: Group Identifier. A string of one to eight characters that identifies a RACFgroup. In AIX1 and z/OSUnix System Services, a number that uniquely identifies a specific group name.
GIF: Graphics Interchange Format. A standard for defining raster (bit-mapped) images, whose wide popularity suddenly dropped after Unisys declared that it would be asserting its intellectual property rights in it. Largely being replaced by JPEG though you still see a lot of GIFs on Web pages.
Gigabit: 1,073,741,824 bits. Abbreviated as Gb1.
Gigabit EtherChannel: See EtherChannel.
Gigabit Ethernet: A standard for Ethernet using optical fiber cable to obtain 1Gbps data transfer rates.
Gigabyte: Roughly a billion (American) bytes. Actually it’s 1,073,741,824 bytes – but who’s counting? Abbreviated as GB.
GigaFLOPS: 1000 million FLOPS. Measure of supercomputer performance.
Giga processor: The name of the eserver pSeries in the media when it was still in the rumor stage.
GIO: Growth Incentive Option/Offer. IBM marketing program. Basically you get a whopping discount on upgrades if you commit to them early.
GIOP: General Inter-ORB Protocol, an OMG standard that specifies the transfer syntax and message formats for communication between ORBs.
GIS: Geographic Information Systems. Systems which manage geographic information for map making, demography, geology, and the like. It has proved a lucrative market sector over the last 15 years, and IBM has set up a number of joint ventures to exploit it (e.g., with the University of California at Santa Barbara, UGC, the geoGPG product, and the National Center for Geographic Information and Analysis).
GKS: Graphical Kernel System. ISO graphics standard. Supported by IBM in GDDM and the GDDM-GKS interface.
Glasshouse: The mainframe machine room (also known as the Raised floor).
Glass teletype: A generic name for dumbCRTs. More strictly it’s used to mean terminals which appear to be teletypes as far as other devices are concerned, but which have a screen rather than a roll of paper as the output medium. Obsolete.
GLISP: Golden Common LISP. See Golden.
Global access checking: A RACF performance feature that allows certain resources to be security checked against an in-storage table.
Global Financing: IBM Global Financing. The largest lender of money in the Computing world, to the tune of $20 billion to customers and another $30 billion to business partners. Operates in 40 countries. Is also behind Capacity Upgrade on Demand, financing the spare hardware until it is required.
Globally RACLISTed profiles: In-storageprofiles for RACF-defined resources that are shared with other RACF nodes. See also RACLISTed profile, locally RACLISTed profiles.
Global Network: A division of IBM which AT&T bought in December 1998 for $5 billion cash. As part of the deal IBM outsourced a large amount of its global networking needs to AT&T, which in turn outsourced certain applications processing and data center management back to IBM.
Global Services: IBM Global Services. IBM’s consulting practice, averaging 50,000 consultants at work worldwide. Outsourcing is about 40% of the business.
GMF: Graphics Monitor Facility. See NGMF.
GML: Generalized Mark-up Language. The language for specifying output formats in the SCRIPT system. See also SGML, SCRIPT/VS, DCF.
GMLC: Graduated Monthly License Charge. A monthly charge for mainframe software based on the power of the processor on which the software is to run. Introduced at the beginning of 1989, superseding the flat monthly license charge (MLC). Currently available for z/VM, but not z/OS. See also GOTC, FMLC, IMLC.
GMR: Giant MagnetoResistive head. IBM-developed technology for enhanced hard drive capacity. First deployed commercially in November 1997, in the Deskstar 16GP, a 16.8-gigabyte drive.
GNM: NetCenter Graphic Network Monitor. See NetCenter.
Go: See Domino Go Webserver.
Goal mode: A mode of processing within Workload Manager (WLM) where the active service policy determines system resource management. The alternative is Compatibility mode where the IEAIPSxx and IEAICSxx parmlib members determine system resource management. The z/OS Intelligent Resource Director requires that WLM be running in Goal mode.
GOCA: Graphics Object Content Architecture. Defines the structure and content of graphic image data. Includes location and content of lines, curves, drawing orders, etc. Superset of the I/O graphics standards of IPDS.
Godzilla: Slang terminology used by systems programmers for SMS1. Named because the main module of SMS is called IGDZILLA.
GOLC: Growth Opportunity License Charge. A monthly IBM software fee for the operating system and systems software introduced September 1999 to support the System/390 Multiprise 3000 line of small mainframes. Initially, GOLC provides a discounted price based on the size of the previous processor, then continues with a lower price that recognizes the size (small) of the Multiprise 3000. Includes both z/OS and z/VM.
Golden: Golden Common LISP. LISP learning tool and development environment for PC-DOS from Gold Hill Computers. Announced December 1985 as an IBM Program Offering. Withdrawn June 1987. Abbreviated as GCLISP and GLISP.
Golden Screwdriver: In the old days when a customer ordered the smallest mainframe in a range IBM had the option of shipping a machine with a bigger processor and more memory but with software which prevented the extra power and storage being exploited. If the customer at a later date wanted an upgrade then an engineer would arrive with his golden screwdriver and erase the code which was slowing down the machine. The result was a more powerful machine and a huge invoice for the upgrade.
Gopher: An Internet protocol, developed at the University of Minnesota, that provides a menu-driven interface for accessing files and information on other computers. The protocol was named Gopher after the Minnesota University mascot, the Golden Gopher. Few Internet sites use Gopher anymore, as HTTP-based Web sites offer more flexibility.
GOSIP: Government Open Systems Interconnection Procurement/Profile. A Government standard for communications based on OSI and TOP developed in the US, UK, Germany, and France. Obsolete.
GOTC: Graduated One Time Charge. One time charge for IBM software introduced at the beginning of 1989. Unlike OTC, the GOTC varies according to the processor for which the software is licensed. At the beginning of 1999, OTC and GOTC options were dropped from any mainframe software product for which a monthly charge option was available. See also GMLC.
Governor: See DB2 Governor.
GPFS: General Parallel File System. GPFS for AIX is a shared disk file system for parallel and serial applications. GPFS for Linux is similar but for Red Hat Linux running on xSeries.
GPR: General Purpose Register. Also known as a General Register (GR). 370-architecture machines have 16 GPRs each of 32 bits. ESA augments the GPRs with a set of Access Registers.
GPS: General Purpose System. Occasional IBMspeak for small business systems (e.g., iSeries 400).
GPSI: General Purpose System for Inferencing. Expert system used in the RT PC for diagnostic services. Developed at the University of Illinois with IBM funding. Obsolete.
GPT: Generalized Path information unit Trace. A record of the flow of path information units (PIUs) between a network control program and its resources.
GR: General Register. See GPR.
Graduated Monthly License Charge: See GMLC.
Granularity: Although it can refer to level of detail in almost any context, granularity is more commonly used to refer to the closeness of the incremental power steps in a manufacturer’s processor range. A highly granular range is one where you can move to a more powerful processor without having to buy one far too big for your needs. The IBM mainframe range is pretty granular today, although it hasn’t always been so in the past, and some of the PCM vendors had a fine old time filling the gaps in a non-granular (lumpy?) IBM range.
GraphicsView/2: SystemView graphics application on OS/2 EE. Provides an SAA-conformant graphical interface for displaying network configurations to help the operator interpret LAN management data. Announced September 1990. Withdrawn September 1997.
graPHIGS: Support for the ANSI PHIGS standard. Originally in stand-alone products, but now included in AIX.
Green card: The name given by system programmers for the IBM mainframe reference summary booklets, no matter what the color. Named because the original System/360 versions were green fan fold cards. At least, the size remains the same: just right for slipped into a shirt pocket. The problem, of course, is the lack of shirt pockets in much of today’s attire.
Group: Zero or more users defined with the same security requirements for specified RACF resources.
Group authority: Which RACF functions a user can perform on a group: USE, CREATE, CONNECT or JOIN.
Group dataset: A dataset with a qualifier with the same name as a RACF group name. Normally, the high level qualifier, but installations can choose another qualifier.
Group ID: In RACF, now known as group name.
Grouping profile: A RACFprofile in a resource grouping class.
Group name: One to eight characters that uniquely identifies a group to RACF.
Group polling: Enhancement to NCP and 3174firmware enabling substantial reduction in polling overhead when a 3174 gateway has a large number of DSPUs.
Group profile: The RACFprofile that defines a group.
Group-related user attribute: Allows a user to control RACF security for a group and its subgroups.
Groupware: Once a popular buzzword for software which provides support for groups of people working collaboratively on projects. IBM’s principal groupware offering is the Notes software from its Lotus subsidiary. See also Person to Person.
GRPACC attribute: Gives all RACF users in a group UPDATE authority to any group datasets created by any user in the group.
GRS: Global Resource Serialization. z/OS subsystem for sharing resources in a multisystem environment, including a sysplex, to ensure data integrity. See also Dequeue, Enqueue.
GSAM: Generalized Sequential Access Method. A feature of IMS1.
GSD: General Systems Division. GSD used to be one of the three major product divisions of IBM (see DPD, OPD). The System/3x products originated in GSD, evolving into the iSeries 400.
GSE: See GUIDE SHARE Europe.
GSE U.K.: The United Kingdom section of GUIDE SHARE Europe.
GSKit: IBM Global Security Kit. Provides SSL security.
GSS API: Generic Security Service Application Programming Interface. See Authentication service.
GTA: General Trading Architecture. IBM architecture for financial (e.g., stock exchange type) applications.
GTF: Generalized Trace Facility. An optional z/OS utility that records system events, which can be used for problem diagnosis. Events such as supervisor calls and start I/O operations are recorded. Very resource greedy (up to 20% of processor cycles) but useful for intractable system problems.
GTMOSI: General Teleprocessing Monitor for OSI. z/OS CICS teleprocessing monitor providing tools to help users write native OSI applications at layers 6 (presentation) and 7 (application). Offers protocol conversion between OSI and SNA. The combination of GTMOSI, OSNS, and OTSS is an OSI analog of CICS. IBM pronounced it Je t’aime OSI, although the words probably stuck in the corporate throat. Replaced by CSFI.
Guest: A second operating system that runs on the user’s primary operating system – e.g., VSE/ESA running as a guest under z/VM.
GUI: Graphical User Interface. Generic term for the WIMPS type interfaces used in OS/2, Windows, and the Macintosh. IBM has been involved to varying degrees in any number of GUIs – see AIXwindows, CUA1, Metaphor, Motif, NeXTStep, OpenLook, Presentation Manager, Windows, X-Terminal, X-Windows.
GUIDE: Guidance for Users of Integrated Data processing Equipment. For many years, an international user group for users of large IBM equipment. Main GUIDE interests were in applications and the commercial world. Depending on the area of the world, either stepped aside for SHARE or merged with SHARE. See also International User Group Council.
GUIDE SHARE Europe: An IBM user group serving Europe. Formed by the merging of the local SHARE and GUIDE chapters. See also GSE U.K.
GUI Facility: A set of z/VM workstation agents, help files and modules available from the VM Download Library.
GW: See Gateway.
GW/NCP: Gateway NCP. Version of NCP software used with SNI to enable separate SNA networks to talk with one another. See also Gateway.
GW/SSCP: Gateway SSCP. An SSCP which acts as a gateway between two independently administered SNA networks in an SNI environment.
GW/VTAM: Gateway VTAM. Version of VTAM software used with SNI to enable separate SNA networks to talk with one another. See also Gateway.
H
H5: System/390 bi-polar chip.
HA: High Availability. See High Availability Services.
Hacker: Anyone purposely attempting unauthorized access to a computer system, without the organization’s permission. See also firewall1.
HACL: IBM’s Host Access Class Library. Object-oriented, JavaAPI implemented on Host On-Demand that is now also available as an API on other Web-to-host products, e.g., Hummingbird’s HostExplorer Web.
HACMP: High Availability Cluster Multi-Processing software for the pSeries, announced June 1992. Designed to allow up to 32 pSeries systems to share critical components to provide high availability without too much redundant hardware. Different modes of coupling are possible: Mode 1 where one machine sits idle and takes over if another machine dies; Mode 2 where processors support their own users and applications, and provide mutual backup; and Mode 3 (loosely coupled multi-processing) where the machines support the same users and cooperatively run both applications. Mid 1995 it became HACMP for AIX.
HAGEO/GeoRM: High-Availability Geographic Cluster for AIX and Geographic Remote Mirror for AIX programs. Allows geographically dispersed sites to mirror customer data in real time using LAN or point-to-point networks. Basically a wide area version of the HACMP clustering technology.
HALDB: High Availability Large Databases. Enables partitioning of IMS DB databases, supporting as many as 1,001 partitions. Each partition can be 40GB. Partitions can be processed in parallel. ISPF panels with help screens are provided for creating and migrating databases. cf. Partition2. Announced as part of IMS1 Version 7 in August 1999.
Half duplex: Data communication terminology for the transmission of data in only one direction at a time. See Duplex.
HANDY: IBM expert system and artificial intelligence research project. Defunct.
Hardcoded: The use of a constant, rather than a variable, for a value in the source code of software. If there is ever a need to change that value, it is difficult and error-prone, especially if the value is used in more than one place in a program.
Hardware Management Console: See HMC.
Hardware monitor: A component of Tivoli NetView for z/OS that helps identify and solve problems related to physical network elements.
Harmony: See 4391.
Hashing algorithm: A method used to transform a record’s key into a location within a file where the record will be stored.
HASP: Houston Automatic Spooling Program. Early batch job manager developed by IBM for in-house use and subsequently released as JES2 (which is why JES2 messages are always prefaced by HASP).
HA Switchable Resources: High Availability Switchable Resources. A chargeable OS/400 option that allows resources, typically disk drives, to be physically switched between systems, such as would be required should a production disk drive fail.
HCD: Hardware Configuration Definition. An element of z/OS that provides the interactive tool which is used to define the hardware configuration. HCD eliminates batch I/O gens. See also HCM.
HCF: Host Command Facility. Originally part of 8100 Host Support Services providing central control and operation of multiple 8100/DPPX systems, and distributed system management using NCCF facilities. Later a VTAM facility which allows one device to log on to another as if it is a local user, when it’s very useful for management of remote IBM and non-IBM devices. Withdrawn March 2001.
HCM: Hardware Configuration Manager. An optional, separately priced feature of z/OS that provides a client/server application for driving HCD. Announced June 1995.
HCPLDR: CP Loader.
HCPSADMP: Stand-Alone Dump Utility.
HDA: Head/Disk Assembly. The read/write head and associated bits and pieces that read data from disks. The implication is also of a sealed unit, at least from the customer perspective, as opposed to a removable disk pack.HDA
HDAM: Hierarchical Direct Access Method for IMS DB.
HDBV: Host DataBase View. Micro to mainframe link from IBM for business professionals. Allows access from PCs to certain tools, including QMF, AS, Info Center/1. Also re-formats data from some PC packages (e.g., Lotus1-2-3). Obsolete.
HDDI: Host Displaywriter Document Interchange. A venerable program which enabled Displaywriter users to transfer documents to a host machine. Defunct.
HDL: Host Document Library. The DISOSS library. Obsolete.
HDLC: High-level Data Link Control. A set of ISO standard link protocols for carrying data over a link with error and flow control. One variant is used by X.25, another is compatible with SDLC1.
Head of string: DASDsub control unit between a DASD controller and storage devices.
Heartbeat: Message passed between two processors in a fault-tolerant (e.g., XRF) configuration. The heartbeat tells the other processor that its colleague is alive and well.
Heavy metal: Obscure industryspeak for Big iron.
Helical scan: A technique for recording data onto magnetic tape where the data is stored in a series of diagonal stripes on the tape. Basically it’s a derivative of VCR technology but highly modified for data recording devices to reduce tape wear, improve reliability, etc. The technique was originally planned for use in the Magstar, but IBM engineers could not figure out how to avoid having to replace the tape head every month, so it was scrapped for good old fashioned parallel tracks which run along the length of the tape. The technique has long been used in the mid-range and PC markets (e.g., in the IBM 7208), but only started to come into the mainframe market with StorageTek’s Redwood device.
Help Desk: A facility, common in many IBM installations, which provides a single focal point for support services for end-users. At the end of 1989, IBM announced that it was providing such a service itself through its End-User Support program. In an alliance with Peregrine Systems, IBM formed an Infrastructure Resource Management (IRM) practice in August 2001 to provide, among other things, a Help Desk service offering.
HelpWare: PC service offering introduced by IBM early 1992 in the USA and the UK. You pay your money and you get a helpline, trade-in program, and a magazine. Aimed mainly at the stand-alone and small business user, not the corporates. One of IBM’s early attempts to differentiate itself from the clone vendors (and to avoid the hurly-burly of a commodity market) by offering service, rather than low prices. Still being offered for products such as the NetVista line.
Hercules: An obsolete screen standard for IBM PCs. Monochrome only, but fairly high resolution.
HESC: Higher Education Software Consortium. IBM discount scheme for US schools and colleges. Members pay a fixed membership fee and no software license fees. The program was terminated June 30, 2000.
HFGD: High Function Graphic Device (e.g., the 5080).
HFS: Hierarchical File System of z/OS Unix System Services and Unix-based operating systems such as AIX1.
HIDAM: Hierarchical Indexed Direct Access Method. Access method used in IMS DB.
High-Availability Cluster Multi-Processing: See HACMP.
High-Availability Geographic Mirror: See HAGEO/GeoRM.
High Availability Services: IBM fee-based offerings to assess, implement and support measures to increase the reliability of eservers.
High Level Assembler: Version of Assembler introduced early 1993 for z/OS, z/VM and VSE/ESA. Replaces Assembler H. An element of z/OS. aka HLASM. The HLASM Toolkit is an optional, separately priced feature of z/OS.
High Performance Optical File System: A replacement for FAT-based file systems within optical library hardware such as the 3995. It includes redundant control structures that help prevent data loss during unscheduled power outages. HPOFS also erases rewritable media in the background to boost data write performance by 33%.
HighPoint: Code name in the October 1993 Statement of Direction (SoD) for what became VisualGen, officially announced May 1994. Development tool promised as an eventual object-oriented, client/server replacement for CSP1 and/or VisualAge. Like CSP it allows code to be generated in one environment for execution in another. Generates COBOL, and includes a GUI interface builder.
High Speed Links: iSeries 400 interface to a server, or the loop and cables for the interface, with data transfer rates of up to 1GBps.
Hiperbatch: z/OS facility announced October 1989 to speed up common batch processing applications. Hiperbatch reduces disk and channelI/Os by placing sequential batch data into Hiperspace for the whole of a multi-job batch run. The Move Page facility is then used to transfer data between expanded and central storage. In batch processing using sequential files, data can be shared among programs. Improvements in batch performance of up to 60% are claimed by IBM.
HiPerLink: High Performance Coupling Links. One of five types of CF channels that can be used to connect a CF to an LPAR.
Hiperpool: DB2 UDB for z/OS facility (announced March 1993) which allows DB2 buffer pools to use Hiperspaces.
HiperSockets: Network in a box functionality that allows high speed any-to-any connectivity among operating system images within a zSeries 900 without requiring any physical cabling. The zSeries 900 does a direct move from one LPAR’s memory to another’s memory using QDIO.
Hipersort: See Hipersorting.
Hipersorting: DFSORT’s use of hiperspace to improve sorting performance in z/OS. Introduced in DFSORT Version 11, announced February 1989.
Hiperspace: HIgh PERformance SPACE. A range of contiguous virtual storage addresses that a z/OS program can use as a buffer, which can extend up to 2GB. Read and written exclusively in 4KB blocks. Announced February 1988. See also Hipersorting, Hiperbatch, Hiperpool.
HIPO: Hierarchy, Input, Process, Output. A development and documentation methodology commonly used by IBM for system documentation in bygone days.
HIPPI: HIgh-performance Parallel Processor Interface. An ANSI standard for attaching devices to parallel processing systems. IBM has several HIPPI implementations. September 1990 it announced a system for connecting two high-end ES/9000 processors together to create a single-system image (i.e., a single resource). HIPPI is also used in the SCSE package to support a high-speed disk array. PR/SM support for HIPPI attachment was announced September 1991. RS/6000 (pSeries) support announced July 1993. A HIPPI Protocol Support Service Program was announced for AIX October 1999. See also 9570.
HLASM: See High Level Assembler.
HLASM Toolkit: High Level ASseMbler Toolkit. See High Level Assembler.
HLL: High-Level Language. A programming language that does not reflect the structure of any particular operating system or computer machine instruction architecture.
HLLAPI: High-Level Language Application Programming Interface. An API within all of IBM’s 3270 terminal emulators that allows other programs to call the API to create 3270 format input and interpret 3270 output.
HLM: Heterogeneous LAN Management. Joint project (announced early 1993) between LAN specialist 3Com and IBM to develop a set of network management specs (based to some extent on NDIS) for mixed TRN and Ethernet systems. Uses the CMIP1 protocol.
HLMI: High-Level Machine Interface. A layer within the AS/400’s software structure. After mid 1995, the HLMI became the TIMI.
HMC: Hardware Management Console. The operator’s console on the mainframe, such as the 2074 on the eserverzSeries 900.
HMF/VM: See Host Management Facilities.
Hogan: Banking systems specialist. IBM had exclusive rights to market Hogan’s IBA products, but transferred the rights back to Hogan early 1994.
Hollywood: Presentation graphics product from Publishing Solutions Inc for the PC-DOS Windows 3.0 environment. As from July 1991 Hollywood was sold by IBM. Withdrawn January 1992.
Holographic storage: Based on the principle that certain inorganic crystals are photo-refractive, which allows optical information to be written to and read from the crystal by laser beams. Using two beams, an object beam and a reference beam, to create an interference pattern, the actual substance of a hologram gets stored as a page of defined optical characteristics. Although not commercially available, its low cost, random access and ultra-mass storage characteristics will be a prime consideration for commercial development. At one time being developed by StorageTek.
Home page: The introductory page for an InternetWeb site. This provides an introduction to the site and hypertext links to local and non-local resources or pages. For sites with their own domain names, this is what you get when you type www. followed by the domain name (e.g., www.ibm.com) into a Web browser.
Hook: A helpful way, built into software or hardware products by the original developers, to allow others to add custom features or to interface with the product.
Hop: In APPN, a portion of a route that has no intermediate nodes.
Hop count: A reference to the maximum number of nodes through which a frame may pass on the way to its destination in a Token Ring Network.
Horizontal Capacity Upgrade on Demand: An IBM Global Financing offering that sees additional processors and storage shipped in advance of actual need, and available for use as soon as the additional capacity is required. And, of course, not paid for until actually used.
Host: A computer system that is a server and/or serves attached terminals.
Host Access Client Package: The combination of Personal Communications, WebSphere Host On-Demand and Screen Customizer. Covers workstation-based viewing of 3270, 5250 and DEC VT (e.g., VT100) host terminal sessions through both Windows GUI and Web browser interfaces, as well as converting host screens into a GUI without any programming or host source code modifications.
Host integration server: Server-side middleware, with extensive connectivity options to disparate host systems, for the creation of new e-business applications that rely on the manipulation and synthesis of data from multiple, existing mission-critical applications, e.g., WebSphere Host Publisher.
Host Management Facilities: z/VM SystemView software for automated monitoring and scheduling of z/VM work. A system programmer’s and operator’s tool. Includes an OS/2 workstation GUI. aka HMF/VM. Announced September 1991. Withdrawn September 2001.
Host On-Demand: An IBM Java applet-based product that performs tn3270, tn5250 and DECVT100 emulation to enable users to access SNA and DEC applications from a Web browser. Replaced by Host Access Client Package September 2000.
HostView: Rumored name for what eventually emerged as SystemView.
Hot-plugging: IBMspeak for the ability to connect and disconnect devices in an ESCON or FICON configuration without having to close everything down. Also known as dynamic I/O reconfiguration.
HP: Hewlett-Packard Company. Founded in 1939 as an electronics company, its first product was the HP 200A, a resistance capacity audio oscillator, used to test sound equipment. In the early 1970s, developed the first hand-held calculators that engineering students were forced to buy, costing them more than a full year’s tuition. Today, a huge computer company, though they are still heavily into other electronics. See also HP-UX.
HPCS: Highly Parallel Computer Systems. IBMspeak for what emerged as the 9672R CMOS machines.
HPDT: High-Performance Data Transfer services. Functionality in VTAM that increases the efficiency of large message transfers for VTAM application programs.
HPDT interface: An API in VTAM that increases the efficiency of bulk data transfers by eliminating the data copy when data is transferred between an application program and VTAM.
HPFS: High Performance File System. An OS/2 file system that offers multiple improvements over FAT, which OS/2 also supports, at the expense of compatibility with PC-DOS or Windows. No other operating system can read an HPFS-format disk partition, so neither dual boot or partition sharing is not possible (except between two OS/2 systems). HPFS offers greater reliability, 2 to 10 times performance improvement and support for larger files. HPFS is compatible with FAT at the API level. cf. NTFS.
HPL: See HiPerLink.
HPO: High Performance Option. See VM/HPO.
HPOFS: See High Performance Optical File System.
HPQS: High Performance Query System. z/OS DB2 database query system which eventually became the Parallel Query Server.
HPR: High Performance Routing. The first implementation of APPN+. Includes proactive congestion control (which minimizes re-transmissions), non-disruptive re-routing, and improved performance over standard APPN.
HPS: High Productivity System. Client/server CASE1 development environment developed by Seer Technologies and marketed by IBM to selected clients, mainly in the financial sector. HPS provides an environment for the development of cooperative applications. Includes facilities for data modeling, code generation, testing, code distribution, and software maintenance. Withdrawn July 1996.
HPSS: Highly Parallel Supercomputing Systems. See SP1, SP2.
HPT: Host Print Transform. An OS/400 function that does code translation and formatting to enable iSeries 400 print output to be spooled to PC printers.
HPTS: High Performance Transaction System. Enhancement of ImagePlus for the z/OS environment, announced November 1991. It was a joint development between IBM and a number of major banks, and was designed mainly for cheque processing. In September 1998, HPTS was sold to Check Solutions Company, a partnership between IBM and First Tennessee Bank and IBM stopped marketing it soon after.
HPTSS: High-Performance Transmission Subsystem. A high-speed line adapter that connects to the 3745 communication controller.
HP-UX: HP’s version of Unix.
HSA: High-Speed Adapter. Subchannels on an eserverzSeries 900.
HSB: High-Speed Buffer.
HSC: High Speed Channel. ANSI standard for high-speed channels. IBM’s SCSE announcements in June 1989 included a 100Mbyte HSC, which can be used to link any processors (IBM or non-IBM) which implement the ANSI standard. When HSC was officially announced, it had a new name: HIPPI.
H Series: Pre-announcement code name for the 308x Series.
HSL: See High Speed Links.
HSM: Former name of DFHSM, later renamed DFSMShsm.
HSSI: ANSI standard for WANs giving up to 53Mbps over 24-pair twisted copper. Mainly used for moving large amounts of data between workstations or between processing and storage/archiving units.
HSSP: High Speed Sequential Processing. IMS1 feature which reduces contention for data by using its own buffers for database buffering.
HTF: Host Transaction Facility under DPPX on 8100.
HTML: HyperText Mark-up Language. A set of commands that are used in Web pages to format text and to establish hypertext links to other Web pages, including those on other Web sites. These commands are read and interpreted by a browser running on the client machine. An implementation of SGML, HTML is used universally across the Web, and HTML generation is widely offered as a feature of word processors, database packages, and groupware products such as LotusNotes.
HTTP: HyperText Transfer Protocol. A connectionless, layer 4 protocol used on top of IP1 for data transfer between Web servers and Web browsers. Which, of course, is why you will see http:// in front of the URL of a Web page in the address bar of a browser. Just as PC-DOS character-based terminal emulators (3270, 5250, DECVT100) were replaced with Windows GUI-based versions, applet-based versions now offer the option of using HTTP rather than tn3270, in conjunction with a Web server proxy, as a means of easily traversing firewalls using the existing firewall1 definitions for Web server access.
HTTPS: Secure HTTP. Where security in the form of SSL is superimposed on top of HTTP on a transaction-by-transaction basis. Although the little padlock icon in your browser is the only reliable indication of SSL security, seeing https:// in the address bar indicates that a secure SSL connection to the Web page was attempted.
HTTP Server: IBM Web server supported on a number of platforms, including OS/400. It is also an element of z/OS.
Hub: Generic term for a device that supports the connection of workstations and systems over various network topologies and media types. Most commonly used to refer to the central node of a star topology network which manages the network. The 8230, 8240, and 8250 are all hubs.
Hub Management Program: See IHMP.
HUON: Insurance package sold by IBM-HUON Solutions. It was one of the first to receive ClusterProven status in May 1999.
HWMCA: HardWare Management Console Application. Has several types of APIs for the Hardware Management Console (HMC), including management APIs and user interface transition APIs used by System Automation.
Hybrid EDI: Used in situations when only one trading partner is able to use EDI1, while the other continues to trade using traditional methods such as paper or fax.
Hypertext: A way of presenting information on-line with connections (called hypertext links) between one piece of information and another. Given that the HT in HTML stands for hypertext, it is no surprise that Web pages are full of hypertext links.
I
I/O: Input/output. Refers to the transmission of data into or out of a processor’s memory. This would include communication lines and peripherals such as disk drives. This would not include internal transfers within the processor, such as from one level of cache to another, or the loading of instructions from memory into the processor for execution.
i486: Better known as the 486.
IAA: Insurance Application Architecture. An architecture designed by IBM in conjunction with some major European insurance companies. Defines application specific features (data models, function models, communications interface, etc) for the European insurance industry.
IAB: Internet Architecture Board. The technical group that provides high-level guidance to the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF).
IAD: See Internet Addiction Disorder.
IAF: See Item Access Facility.
IAFC: See Item Access Facility.
IAG: IBM Application Generator. Once rumored as the new name for CSP1. In fact, CSP was replaced by VisualAge Generator.
IAX: Image processing software.
IBA: Integrated Banking Applications. Applications software from Hogan Systems to which IBM had exclusive marketing rights. Early 1994 the rights were transferred back to Hogan.
IBF: See Internal Battery Feature.
IBM: International Business Machines.
IBM/COMPLETE: Short-lived IBM packaging of hardware, software, and services (introduced in February 1993) which aimed to provide a solution to a specific problem. The novelty was in the pricing; the customer and IBM sat down and worked out the anticipated business benefit in cash terms. The customer didn’t pay for the products in the package – the price was based on the business benefit, and the customer paid only when that benefit was delivered. First offerings were storage and batch window management.
IBM_Planetwide: Name of the Web search robot IBM used to use to build search engines, back in the days when it was in that business.
IBM COBOL: The current mainframe COBOL compilers. IBM COBOL for VSE/ESA has remained constant in name, but IBM COBOL for MVS and VM keeps getting a new name as the operating systems get new names. IBM COBOL for z/OS & z/VM being the current incarnation.
IBM Firewall: Renamed to SecureWay Firewall.
IBMLink: An on-line service for customers that was built around product-related information systems previously used solely by IBM staff. Justified within IBM, and even offered free in some countries, as a way to reduce the time spent by IBM staff answering customer marketing and technical questions. And often the justification within organizations for getting a communications link to IBM. Key areas included a complete set of announcement letters (going as far back as 1983), education and publications catalog, and a software service database, including both bug reports and general technical Q&A. Hardware and software configurators were also added over the years. In some countries, it could also be used as an e-mail system, both to/from IBM and, if you knew how, with other customers. Unveiled in the late 1980s as a z/VM3270-based system, gradually converted to a Web-based system in the late 1990s. Then, at the turn of the century, things got confusing for a short time. ibmlink.com was suddenly occupied by some weird Yahoo! style portal with very little content, succeeding solely in confusing people looking for the real IBMLink (at ibmlink.ibm.com). Thankfully, it suffered an early death.
IBM Payment: See Payment.
IBM PC: See PC.
IBS/MIGRATOR: Source code translator from z/OS and VSE/ESA COBOL, CICS, batch, JCL and SQL to the iSeries 400. There is also a subset called IBS/MIGRATOR-JCL. From IBS Conversions, Inc. Announced February 1993, but IBM stopped marketing it May 1996.
IBSDM: Integrated Business System Development Method. IBM development methodology (also known as SDM). Was available in the obsolete Developmate product.
IBU: Independent Business Unit. IBMspeak for a small unit within an organization that acts as an autonomous unit.
IC/1: Info Center/1. APL system providing an Information Center environment. Incorporates ADRS II, APLDI II, FPS II. Replaced September 1990 by the IC/E (Info Center/Enhanced) feature of AS1. Version 4.2 was supposed to be the last release of AS to include IC/E. Instead, it was IBM’s last release of the product. It was sold to ASTRAC in 1999, who seems committed to long term IC/E (or ICE as they like to call it) support and enhancement.
IC/E: Info Center/Enhanced. See IC/1.
IC1: Industrial Computer.
IC2: See Information Center.
IC-3: Internal Coupling Channel.
IC4: See Internal Channel link.
IC5: Integrated Circuit. A circuit board on a chip. IBM was arguably the first computer company in the world to use ICs, on the System/360 CPU. Only a few transistors and associated components, but it was a first.
ICA: Integrated Communication Adapter. A communication adapter that is integrated into a host processor. Very appealing when it was first introduced in small mainframes like the 4331, as it meant external communications was suddenly very affordable because you did not have to buy an FEP. Severely limited, in terms of number of ports, and could not be expanded, forcing the purchase of an FEP.
I-CASE: Integrated CASE1.
ICB1: See Inventory Control Block.
ICB2: See Integrated Cluster Bus link.
ICB-3: Internal Cluster Bus-3. See also Integrated Cluster Bus link.
ICC: IBM Credit Corporation. For many years, IBM’s in-house leasing operation. Closely allied to IBM sales and marketing operations, and was able to offer highly competitive services – flexible leases, bundled services, discounts, etc. Renamed IBM Global Financing.
ICCF: Interactive Computing and Control Facility. VSE’s interactive facility. An ISPF/PDF wannabe. Little-liked; most VSE users preferred to use z/VM’s CMS1 despite the fact that CMS may require them to install z/VM.
ICE1: Interconnect Communication Element. Originally introduced on top-end ES/9000s, the part of the CEC which controls data movement between expanded storage, the channel subsystem, and the SCE – the big thick pipe into the heart of the machine. With the initial releases of the ES/9000 it was little more than a very fast switch which takes over some of the SCE’s work, and provided increased parallelism and contention relief.
ICE2: Info Center/Enhanced as ASTRAC likes to abbreviate it. See IC/1.
Iceberg: Long rumored and much-hyped DASD subsystem from Storage Technology Corp, consisting of an array of up to 64 disks, complete with its own controller. To the mainframe, Iceberg looks like a 3990 controller. Formal announcement was in January 1992, but shipment dates kept slipping, and the first customer beta site went live mid 1993. Volume shipments started at the beginning of 1994. As from June 1996 IBM took over marketing of Iceberg under the soubriquet RAMAC Virtual Array Storage.
ICETOOL: Utility included with DFSORT and introduced March 1991. Provides existing DFSORT functionality in an easier statement format, along with new capabilities. One operation in ICETOOL replaces several in standard DFSORT.
ICF1: Inter-systems Communications Function. Software on the iSeries 400 providing support for user communications programs. Supports LU6.2, SNA Upline to CICS/IMS1, BSC, async. Key to the use of iSeries 400 in a network.
ICF2: Integrated Catalog Facility. Replaced the CVOL and VSAMcatalogs as the standard z/OS place to store attributes of data sets. It has not, however, replaced the VTOC. Part of DFSMSdfp.
ICF3: Integrity Control Facility. See DBICF, DB2ICF.
ICF4: See Integrated Cryptographic Feature.
ICF5: Interactive CATIA Facility.
ICHEINTY: A macro1 providing a direct interface to the RACF database, to locate or update a profile.
ICHRIN03: The RACF started procedures table.
ICKDSF: Device Support Facility. Free IBM utility program for z/OS, z/VM and VSE/ESA, used for formatting DASD and for other media maintenance processing. Like EREP, ordering varies by operating system. DSF is an element of z/OS, but is a separately licensed product for z/VM.
ICMF: Integrated Coupling Migration Facility link. One of five types of CF channels to connect a CF to an LPAR.
ICMP: Internet Control Message Protocol. The protocol used to provide reports of problems and incorrect datagram destinations in the Internet Protocol (IP1) layer.
Icon1: A symbol or representation. Anything or anybody uncritically admired according to the dictionary. Usually used with the first meaning to refer to the symbols used in the user interfaces for PCs in which little pictures are used in preference to words (e.g., a picture of a folder is used to represent a subdirectory). There is little benefit to the user in this approach since the pictures are usually completely unfathomable; however, the vendor benefits, because it provides an excuse for not publishing local language versions of software, which would be necessary if words rather than icons were used.
Icon2: A public domain multi-platform programming language written and supported at the University of Arizona by Ralph Griswold, based on his experience as prime author of the SNOBOL series of languages at Bell Labs. The compiler, interpreter and run-time system are all written in C, and the language syntax is based on the C language. But there the similarity ends, as what can take years to write in C can often be done in a week in Icon. Since development of the language is done on Unix, new releases appear there first, but a group of dedicated followers quickly port each new release to their favorite platform. Unfortunately, the z/OS implementer is no longer given the time by his vendor employer, so the z/OS implementation, complete with ISPF services, has not been updated for some years, but still works nicely, though is not currently available.
ICP: Interconnect Controller Program. The software that runs (on) the 3172 Interconnect Controller.
ICPF: ImagePlus Capture Facility/2. LAN-based client/server extension to ImagePlus for high-volume document capture and indexing. Withdrawn September 1997.
ICPI: Individual Computer Products International. Company set up by IBM Europe in June 1992, as a fully-owned subsidiary to sell the Ambra AT clones. ICPI didn’t use the IBM name for its products, on its letterhead, or in its marketing – a strange approach, since the only worthwhile selling feature of the ho-hum range of products was that it was sold by an IBM company. To no-one’s great surprise – apart from IBM’s – ICPI went belly-up in February 1994. Ambra fared little better, and was gone worldwide by July 1994.
ICRF: See Integrated CRyptographic Feature.
ICS: IBM Cabling System. See Cabling System.
ICSF: Integrated Cryptographic Service Facility. Software used to drive the Integrated Cryptographic Feature. Part of z/OS.
ICSS: IBM Continuous Speech Series. See VTAF.
ICU1: Interactive Chart Utility. The dialog (user) interface to part of GDDM.
ICU2: International Components for Unicode. Option 39 of OS/400. A C and C++ library providing Unicode support and internationalization utilities for writing global applications in ILE programming languages.
IDAPI: Integrated Database Application Programming Interface. API developed by Borland and IBM to help coordinate communication between databases.
IDCAMS: Access Method Services. Multi-purpose batch VSAM utility program under z/OS and VSE/ESA. Most IDCAMS statements are also TSO commands, though the abbreviation rules vary slightly.
IDDU: Interactive Data Definition Utility. System/36 facility carried across to the iSeries 400.
IDE: Integrated Drive Electronics. An interface standard that has remained extremely popular for hard disk drives on workstations, despite competition, most notably from SCSI. Internal CD-ROM and CD-RW drives also use it. Technically, current technology is EIDE, but most people still call it IDE.
IDL: Interface Definition Language. A formal language designed for specifying object interfaces and parameters in a language-neutral format. Various different IDLs exist; COM, CORBA, and RPC all have their own. CORBA IDL has been accepted as an international standard by ISO.
IDLC: Integrated Data Link Control. IBM’s implementation of the ITU-T Q.922 standard or link access procedure extended. It is a full duplex high-level data link control protocol. IDLC can support point-to-point workstation connections over a full duplexWAN.
IDNX: Integrated Digital Network Exchange. The 973x family of network management workstations cum multiplexers, based on PS/2, and produced by IBM in conjunction with Network Equipment Technologies Inc. Main use is for bandwidth management of T1 lines and other wide-area backbone networks. Withdrawn December 1997.
IDP: Interchange Document Profile. Effectively the DIAheader containing details of the document (author, subject, data, addressee, etc).
IDRC: Improved Data Recording Capability. IBMspeak for the enhancements to the 3480 (July 1989) which increased capacity up to fivefold and tape subsystem performance by up to 70%. Works by compressing the data in the tape control unit before writing it to the cartridge, and decompressing it when it’s read back by the program. This technique has the advantage over traditional software compression of not using CPU cycles for the compression. However, it has the disadvantage of transferring the uncompressed data across the channel, which quite possibly uses as many CPU cycles as would software compression. IDRC is standard on the 3490 and late 3480s, and is available as an upgrade on old 3480s. Not available for Magstar.
IDS: Intrusion Detection System. Both a generic term and product name for several security products that detect, prevent and react to unauthorized network activity, especially from hackers. For example, IDS is the new name for Cisco NetRanger.
IDS1: Image Distribution System. A defunct product for linking 8815 Scanmasters via a mainframe. As obsolete as the Scanmaster itself.
IDS2: See Intelligent Decision Server.
IDTF: Interactive Display Text Facility. Obsolete software which enabled use of the 8775 display in conjunction with the obsolete DPCX/8100 and DOSF.
IDU: Interactive Database Utilities. System/38 facility. Incorporates SEU, SDA, DFU. Obsolete, though the utilities themselves (DFU, etc.) are now a part of ADTS in iSeries 400.
IE1: Microsoft Internet Explorer. Free Web browser. Widely used.
IE2: Information Exchange. Store and retrieve EDI mailbox service provided on the IBM INS network. Supports ANSI and EDIFACT EDI standards. Obsolete.
IEBCOMPR: z/OS Compare Datasets utility does a logical compare of datasets. Replaced by SuperC in ISPF/PDF.
IEBCOPY: z/OS Library Copy utility for copying members of a partitioned dataset (PDS), unloading a PDS into a sequential dataset and back again. Unloading is especially useful for copying a PDS to tape.
IEBGENER: z/OS Sequential Copy/Generate Dataset utility. Replaced by ICEGENER in DFSORT and several non-IBM products. In fact, about the slowest way to copy anything anywhere.
IEBPTPCH: z/OS Print-Punch utility for producing a hard copy of datasets and library members. Replaced by ISPF/PDF’s hard copy capabilities.
IEBUPDTE: z/OS Update Dataset utility. Can only be used for PDS members and sequential datasets with fixed length records no greater than 80 bytes in length. The ISPF/PDF Editor is on-line and much more flexible, so IEBUPDATE is rarely seen in anything written in the last 20 years.
IEC: International Electrotechnical Commission. International standards body.
I-EDI: Interactive-EDI.
IEEE: Institute for Electrical and Electronic Engineers. American professional body with substantial impact on standards for communications. IEEE’s 802 committee has set standards for LANs which include IBM’s token passing scheme and the Ethernet-like CSMA/CD system. See 802.1/2, 802.3, 802.4, 802.5, 802.3z.
IEFBR14: The z/OS Do Nothing utility. Believe it or not, today it is the most popular of all the original IBM utilities. And it is much more complex than most people will lead you to believe. More than just a one line Assembler program that branches to the return address passed it by z/OS in register (GPR) 14, it also, wait for it, clears register 15 to set a zero return code. And hear, all these years, you had been told it was so simple, just one line of code. All kidding aside, it is quite useful, most frequently to write JCLDD2 statements to preallocate or delete a file or something similar, unrelated to the running of any program. Since the basis of JCL is a job step, which requires an EXEC statement, IEFBR14 is the perfect thing to execute: a program that does nothing. It can also be useful when testing DD statements when you do not wish to run the program they will be used for. You have to wonder if the author of IEFBR14 gets a monthly royalty cheque based on frequency of use.
IEHDASDR: Obsolete z/OS dump/restore package superseded by DFSMSdss.
IEHLIST: z/OS List System Data utility for listing a VTOC or the directory of a PDS1. ISPF/PDF is more widely used for this purpose nowadays.
IEHMOVE: z/OS Move System Data utility for moving or copying logical collections of operating system data. Replaced by DFSMSdss. Can be downright dangerous in an SMS1-managed environment.
IER: Internal/Instruction Execution Rate. A measure of computer performance based on the time taken to perform a single machine operation. Not a great deal of use except for comparing two processors with identical repertoires of machine instructions.
IERS: IBM Security Services Internet Emergency Response Service. March 2001, It became the Managed Security Services group within IBM Business Continuity and Recovery Services.
IESG: Internet Engineering Steering Group. The executive committee of the IETF, which oversees the work of the individual IETF working groups.
IETF: Internet Engineering Task Force. An open community of network designers, operators, vendors, and researchers concerned with the evolution of the Internet architecture and the smooth operation of the Internet. It controls the Request for Comment (RFC) process which can lead to Internet standards.
IFL: See Integrated Facility for Linux.
I format: Information format. A format used for information transfer.
IFP: IMS FastPath1.
I frame: Information frame. A frame in I format used for numbered information transfer.
IFS1: Interactive File Sharing. Obsolete system that allowed a few VSAM files to be shared under z/VM.
IFS2: Installable File System. The part of OS/2 which manages the file management system (e.g., HPFS).
IFS3: Integrated File System. Feature on the iSeries 400, first announced in June 1995, which allows data structures other than native iSeries 400 ones (e.g., PC files) to be stored in a consistent fashion on the iSeries 400.
IGES: Initial Graphics Exchange Specification. NIST standard for transferring engineering data between CAD/CAM systems. Available for AIX, SGI IRIX, SunOS and Windows NT. Withdrawn from z/OS and z/VM August 1997.
IHF: Image Handling Facility. Utility for handling images to be incorporated into compound documents. Runs in z/VM CMS and z/OS TSO environments. Withdrawn July 1995.
IHMP: IBM Hub Management Program. For managing a small LAN of 8250 hubs. Available for AIX, PC-DOS workstations and for Windows as the Intelligent Hub Manager for Windows. The PC-DOS implementation was announced February 1994 and replaced August 1995 by Nways Manager for Windows. IHMP/6000 is the IBM AIX NetView Hub Management Program/6000. Announced May 1994 and replaced April 1995 by Intelligent Hub Manager for AIX. See Intelligent Hub Manager for information on the Windows version of IHMP, as well as the replacement for IHMP/6000.
IIA: Information Interchange Architecture. An architecture (announced mid 1990) supporting advanced functions for IBM office products. Part of SAA. It’s a functional superset of ODA incorporating SGML, MO:DCA, GOCA, IOCA and FOCA. Announced March 1990.
IIN: IBM Information Network. See IN.
IIOP: Internet Inter-ORB Protocol. A OMG standard for CORBA-based object internetworking across IP-based networks that is supported by all compliant ORBs. IIOP is the TCP/IP implementation of GIOP; ORBs using IIOP and IORs are able to interoperate. RMI can now operate on top of IIOP as well as JRMP, allowing RMI and CORBA to interoperate. IIOP is also required by EJB. IIOP is supported by z/OSCICS TS, AIX1, TPF, WebSphere Application Server and ENOVIA.
IIS1: Microsoft Internet Information Services. It runs the Web applications on a Web site. Beginning with Windows 2000 Server, IIS is no longer a separate product, but a part of the Windows Server operating systems.
IIS2: Interactive Instruction System. An obsolete IBM CBT mainframe product; replaced by CBT products running on personal computers.
IISR: Integrated Information Storage and Retrieval. z/OS and z/VM software (announced July 1991) for managing and archiving information from multiple sources. Data is system independent, may be of any type (text, image, etc), and is stored in the format in which it was created in the CDF repository. IISR supports indexing, storage, and retrieval. Withdrawn September 1993.
IKE: Internet Key Exchange. Infrastructure that permits encryption keys to be automatically and securely created, distributed, and refreshed according to the protocol requirements of IPSec. Used to provide VPN support in AIX1.
IKJEFT01: TSO/E terminal monitor program. Can be used to invoke TSO commands in batch jobs.
iKP: Internet Keyed Payment. A family of secure payment protocols that enable secure credit card payments over the Internet. The work on iKP led to the development of SET.
ILC: Initial License Charge. A charge made when a product is first licensed. IBM abandoned the practice when it realized that ILCs are a major disincentive to the acquisition of a product.
ILE: Integrated Language Environment. Programming architecture cum paradigm for the iSeries 400. Introduced in April 1993 primarily as a way of providing decent C support (the first AS/400 C compiler worked by emulating an RPG program). Subsequently, ILEs have been added for C++, RPG, COBOL, and CL/400.
ILM: IBM License Manager
ILM Management Tool: IBM License Manager Management Tool. Used on z/OS to change license certificate values, enable/disable priced optional features, discontinue products, change the serial number or model type of the machine to which a product is licensed, and increase/decrease a defined capacity (the portion of the machine on which you want to run a product).
IM: See Instant Messaging, or Intelligent Miner.
IMA: Inventory Maintenance Assistance. AS/400 utility which maintains details of the system configuration in order to facilitate the ordering and installation of new hardware and software from IBM. Obsolete.
ImagEdit: PC-DOS and early Windows (pre-3.0) program for processing images. Withdrawn March 1991.
ImagePlus: IBM Content Manager ImagePlus for z/OS (CMIP) and Content Manager ImagePlus Workstation Program (IWPM). High volume document imaging and folder management middleware, integrated with MQSeries Workflow and Content Manager OnDemand. Includes a Folder Application Facility (FAF), Object Distribution Manager (IODM) and APIs for integration with CICS, IMS, Windows and OS/2 applications. z/OS Object Access Method (OAM) manages the storage of images. It even recognizes hand printing via OCR. IWPM provides the Windows and OS/2 desktop component for both CMIP and Content Manager for iSeries 400.
Image processing: See Transaction image processing, ImagePlus, ImagEdit, ImageSystem.
ImageSystem: Transaction image processing system developed by Image Business Systems (IBS) and sold by IBM. Comprises PC RT or RS/6000 acting as a server on a TRN, and PCs as workstations. The Sybase RDBMS is a pre-requisite on the server. Obsolete.
IMAP: Internet Mail Access Protocol.
IMD: Interactive Map Definition. Obsolete DPPX product used to define screen and printer layouts.
IML: Initial Microcode (sometimes Machine) Load. The first step in starting up a mainframe, during which the firmware is automatically copied into the machine.
IMLC: Indexed Monthly License Charge. IBM software pricing based on number of MSUs. See also MLC, GMLC, FMLC.
IMLG: IBM Mail LAN Gateway/2.
Impactwriter: See 6252.
IMPL: Initial MicroProgram Load. Same as IML.
IMS/AO: See IMS Automation Option.
IMS/DB: See IMS DB.
IMS/DC: Original name for IMS TM.
IMS/ESA: Information Management System/Extended System Architecture. Renamed to simply IMS.
IMS/ETO: See ETO.
IMS/Fastpath: See FastPath1.
IMS/FF: IMS Full Function.
IMS/TM: See IMS TM.
IMS/VS: Information Management System/Virtual Storage. Renamed first to IMS/ESA, then simply IMS1.
IMS1: Information Management System. Composed of two systems: a Database Manager (IMS DB) and a Transaction Manager (IMS TM).
IMS2: Internet Management Specification. A standard for managing Internet applications which SunSoft and IBM’s Tivoli started to draw up early 1996. IMS defines a standard interface for configuring, monitoring, and controlling access to the Internet.
IMSADF II: Information Management System Application Development Facility Two. Announced November 1977, an application generator for applications that use IMS DB and IMS TM. Just because no one has written a new application with it lately does not mean that the need for IMSADF II has disappeared. Y2K focused attention on it, selling a lot of copies IBM IMS/ESA ADF Tool Pak for MVS, announced September 1996, and withdrawn September 2001. But many organizations also used Y2K as an excuse to rid themselves of IMSADF II completely.
IMSAO: See IMS Automation Option.
IMSASAP II: Information Management System Monitor Summary and Systems Analysis Program Two. Performance analysis and tuning aid for IMS DB and IMS TM. Replaced by IMS Performance Analyzer November 1997.
IMS Automation Option: z/OSNetView application, announced August 1991, which controls multiple local or remote IMS TM regions from a single point. Can be used to automate such functions as start-up, shut-down, and recovery. Replaced by AOC/MVS IMS Auto Feature.
IMS Client Server: Windows and OS/2 software which provides a client graphical user interface to IMS applications from an OS/2 or Windows workstation. Announced as an OS/2 product September 1991, with Windows support announced in October 1993 and VisualAge in July 1994. When first announced, the product was known as IMS Client Server/2, then renamed IBM IMS Client Server for Windows, despite the fact it still supported OS/2. See also IMS CS Toolkit.
IMS COMPRESS: See IMS COMPRESSION.
IMS COMPRESSION: Implementation of eserver zSeries 900 hardware data compression to support IMS DB databases. Announced June 1994 as IMS COMPRESS. Renamed August 1995 IMS COMPRESSION-Extended.
IMS Connect: A separately priced facility for IMS TM that provides access from TCP/IP connections.
IMS CS/2: See IMS Client Server.
IMS CS Toolkit: IMS Client/Server Toolkit. Set of utilities and application generators written by MultiSoft and sold by IBM. Allows GUI front-ends to be put on IMS 3270 applications. An add-on to IMS Client Server. IBM support ended February 1996.
IMS Database Manager: See IMS DB.
IMS DataPropagator: See DataPropagator.
IMS DB: Information Management System Database Manager. IBM’s venerable (introduced in 1968) large system hierarchical DBMS. In casual conversation, either IMS1 DB or IMS TM may be referred to simply as IMS without anyone complaining. Following the introduction of DB2, it was assumed, both inside and outside IBM, that IMS DB would die a slow death as DB2’s performance improved to approach that of IMS DB. But, it never happened, mainly because of the number of major IMS-based applications at large organizations worldwide. Once IBM realized this, a major effort was made to keep both IMS DB and IMS TM up to date with the latest trends, such as Web enablement, though nobody proposed making it into a relational DBMS. See also HALDB.
IMS External Subsystem Attach Facility: See ESAF.
IMS PA: See IMS Performance Analyzer.
IMSPARS: IMS Performance Analysis Reporting System. Replaced by IMS Performance Analyzer November 1997.
IMS Performance Analyzer: IMS TM and IMS DB resource and performance management, and database availability. Part of the Database Performance Management Tools which are, in turn, part of the IBM Data Management Tools.
IMS TM: Information Management System Transaction Manager. A very powerful and facility-rich TP monitor available under z/OS, mainly to support applications using the IMS DB database system, but also supporting VSAM and DB2. For a long time, it looked as if IMS/DC (IMS TM’s original name) would be relegated to a minor role, and that CICS was to become the only serious IBM offering in the TP monitor field. However, IBM has now renamed IMS/DC as IMS TM, which signaled a major effort on IBM’s part to keep it up to date with the latest trends, such as Web enablement, following the realization that DB2 was not going to put IMS DB and IMS TM out of business.
IMS Transaction Manager: See IMS TM.
IMS Workload Router: See WLR.
IN: Information Network. IBM’s worldwide VANS. Began in 1978 as a remote time-sharing service, and grew until it comprised a backbone of very high-speed trunks offering dial-up access across the world. Widely used for EDI. Part of the IBM Global Network sold to AT&T in December 1998.
Inbound: Data that is received from the network.
Independence Series: A range of IBM products that help people with disabilities. Home Page Reader is a self-voicing Web browser. ViaVoice is speech recognition software. SpeechViewer III is a speech therapy tool for people with speech, language or hearing impairments. It converts speech into visual patterns to help people learn to speak. IBM partners with other companies on these and other products in the Independence Series that cover Vision, Mobility, Speech/Hearing, Cognitive/Dyslexia and Education.
Independent LU: An SNA logical unit (LU) whose operation does not depend on an SNA host system.
Indexed Monthly License Charge: See IMLC.
Industrial computer: A more rugged version of a computer used in harsh environments. The case may be clad in waterproof rubber and the keyboard sealed to prevent liquid spills from interfering with the electrical contact that takes place whenever a key is struck.
Industrial Solutions: See CIM Advantage.
Inferno: A distributed embedded operating system developed at Lucent’s Bell Labs and now owned by Vita Nuova of York, England. In Inferno, all resources on a network are represented as files and accessed with basic file operations.
INFO: See Tivoli Information Management for z/OS.
Info/Man: IBM Information/Management. z/OS and z/VM software problem, change and configuration management software. The z/VM version was withdrawn August 1996. But the z/OS version was renamed several times before becoming Tivoli Information Management for z/OS in July 2001.
Info Center/1: See IC/1.
InfoCrafter: AIX1 software used with InfoExplorer to build information bases on the pSeries. Announced January 1992, withdrawn July 1997.
InfoExplorer: AIX1 hypertext/graphics retrieval tool for accessing on-line information databases. Used to access the CD-ROM reference documentation for the pSeries.
INFOMAN: See Info/Man.
infoMarket: An Internet information service created by IBM late 1995, providing information services to its Internet customers. Initially it provided free information services, but the intention was to develop secure technologies (e.g., the Cryptolope) which would allow vendors of high-value information services to sell their products across the Internet. Sadly, it all ended in about a year and infoMarket remains a historical footnote. See also infoSage.
Infoprint: Beginning in September 1996, all IBM printers got the name InfoPrint. It also spilled over to a few pieces of printer-related software.
Infoprint Manager: Software to manage and monitor, locally or remotely, printer workload. Runs on AIX1 or Windows.
Infoprint Server for iSeries: Software that adapts output to the iSeries 400 environment so that it can be printed. Such as transforming PostScript, PCL, PDF2, GIF, TIFF and JPEG data into iSeries formats.
Infoprint Server for z/OS: An optional, separately priced feature of z/OS. Consolidates print workloads from many servers into a central z/OS print server. Formerly known as the OS/390 Printer Server.
Information/Management: See Info/Man.
Information/MVS: z/OS system, announced May 1983, which maintains z/OS manuals (held in Library/MVS) in a machine readable form. Withdrawn December 1997 after IBM began offering all z/OS unlicensed manuals available on their Web site, initially with a Web-based BookManager GUI.
Information/System: A collection of IBM technical data wrapped in software that could help find the relevant piece for the problem at hand in a customer mainframe site. z/OS version replaced by Info/Man December 1994. The z/VM version was withdrawn August 1996. The VSE/ESA version was withdrawn October 1990.
Information Catalog: Part of DB2 Warehouse Manager. A common repository for metadata about the objects within the data warehouse that can help users find, understand and access available data through the Information Catalog Manager. Information Catalog can be populated through metadata interchange with the DB2 Warehouse Center and other tools including QMF, Lotus1-2-3, Brio, Business Objects, Cognos, Excel, Hyperion.
Information Center: Information Center. A focal point within an organization for supporting end users. It started life as an IBM marketing ploy for selling lots of mainframe hardware via the DP department to support professional users on PCs. It evolved to try and support end-users on any platforms they happen to have. But the whole concept is ancient history now.
Information Center for iSeries: Online documentation available on a CD-ROM shipped with OS/400. Provides the starting point for finding iSeries 400 technical information. Also available on the Web.
Information Management System: see IMS1
Information Technology Association of America: See ITAA.
Information Technology Industry Council: See ITI.
Information Warehouse: IBMspeak for the notion (announced September 1991) of a framework for accessing data wherever it exists within the enterprise. Part of the idea is to minimize the number of access methods users have to learn to get at their data – ultimately it should come down to SQL and not much else. Not as simple as it seems, since IBM expects the notion to cover data held in DB2 databases, VSAM files, OS/2 and DOS files, DEC databases, Sybase or Oracle under Unix, and so on. The key enabler is DRDA. Other components of the Information Warehouse include products, standards, and tools. Also known as the Data Warehouse. The spec was published in March 1993. See also DataHub.
Informix: Database and language software for the Unix environment. In the early 1990s it was sold by IBM for the pSeries.
infoSage: An IBM on-line news delivery service announced in February 1996. Provided subscribers with news stories ranging from news and business information to entertainment and sports. Information was tailored to suit individual needs with a choice in the method of delivery – via a personalized Web page on the IBM infoSage Web site, or Internet e-mail. Stopped accepting subscriptions November 27, 1996. According to then IBM Chairman of the Board Lou Gerstner, because it was competing with IBM’s own customers. See also infoMarket.
InfoWindow: Host terminals. Support a variety of hosts, including eserverzSeries 900 and iSeries 400. Although a few models of the 3153 are still available to satisfy customers who are already committed to the InfoWindow family, the InfoWindow and InfoWindow II workstation families are essentially obsolete. Other models, all withdrawn, include InfoWindow: 3471347234763477 4055 (touch screen); InfoWindow II: 3481348234833486348734883489. The obsolete InfoWindow Control Program was PC-DOS software provided an API and language interface that allowed PC-DOS applications to access the InfoWindow system. See also 315x, 3470.
Infrastructure and Systems Management Services: Part of IBM Global Services that includes four groups: Infrastructure Resource Management Services; Systems Management Consulting and Design; Performance Management, Testing and Scalability Services; and Tivoli Services.
Infrastructure Design: An IBM consulting engagement to design an infrastructure to support a specific, single Web-based application. Announced July 2001.
Infrastructure Resource Management: See IRM.
Infrastructure Resource Management Services: Part of IBM Infrastructure and Systems Management Services. Aims to provide IRM functions including: purchase, install, track and configure technologies; train and support end users; service and update hardware and software; and replace and dispose of obsolete equipment.
Initial Program Load: See IPL.
Initial Technology Release: Beta release. In IBM’s words: a release of IBM software that has been tested but has not yet met IBM product criteria for customer production environments.
iNotes: Lotus software that provides Web browser access to Domino.
INS: IBM’s EDI1VANS in the UK. Part of the IBM Global Network sold to AT&T in December 1998.
Insider: A computer security term for anyone authorized to use an organization’s computing resources.
INSPECT: z/VM and z/OS interactive testing and debugging tool for C and PL/I. Announced September 1988. Replaced PLITEST. Withdrawn June 1997.
Instant Messaging: Real-time computer-based written interaction between two people. The textual equivalent of the telephone conversation, as opposed to e-mail (which is the electronic equivalent of putting a paper letter in the mail).
Institute for Advanced Commerce: An IBM institute designed to explore the impact of emerging technologies on the future of business and commerce. The Institute began operations in January 1998 in IBM’s T J Watson Research Center. Integrated into the Institute is a business research center that conducts formal studies on the changing nature of work, industry structure, commerce, and technology.
In-storage: Resident in memory, not in a dataset1 or database.
Insure-commerce: IBM initiative to introduce secure, electronic commerce and information clearing houses across the Internet for the insurance industry. Announced November 1996 and nothing has been heard about it since. See also Energy Network Exchange, PetroConnect.
Integrated Cluster Bus link: One of five types of CF channels to connect a Coupling Facility to an LPAR.
Integrated Coupling Migration Facility: See ICMF.
Integrated Cryptographic Feature: Feature on water-cooled ES/9000s replaced by cryptographic coprocessors on the eserverzSeries 900. Hardware is a tamper-proof TCM1 (IBM’s first application-oriented co-processor) and a key entry unit, and software is ICSF. The key entry unit is used to enter DEA cryptographic keys into the TCM using a special cable (also tamper-proof). ICRF supports up to 1,000 IMS FastPath transactions per second, and a single ICRF can support up to seven PR/SM partitions. ICRF supports the DES, which means that IBM will be heavily restricted as to the people it can sell it to (DES devices are munitions and hence are subject to US government export restrictions).
Integrated Facility for Linux: Introduced on the System/390 G5, this optional eserver zSeries 900 facility adds dedicated Linux processing capability to an existing system without increasing the system’s size from a software charges point of view.
Integrated File System: See IFS3.
Integrated Netfinity Server: An Intel processor and PC memory packaged as a motherboard that fits inside an AS/400, allowing it to run Windows Server operating systems and the applications that run on them. Replaced by the Integrated xSeries Server for iSeries.
Integrated PC Server: A feature of the AS/400 that allowed it to emulate the Intel-based workstation environment, and run Windows and OS/2. Replaced by the Integrated Netfinity Server February 1999. See also FSIOP.
Integrated Reasoning Shell: IBM expert system tool for creating knowledge-based applications. See TIRS.
Integrated System Coherent: an SCE function
Integrated Systems Solutions Corp: See ISSC.
Integrated xSeries Adapter for iSeries: A direct high speed attachment of an eserverxSeries server to an iSeries 400.
Integrated xSeries Server for iSeries: A PC server inside an iSeries 400, allowing it to run Windows Server operating systems and the applications that run on them, along side standard OS/400 applications. Actually a motherboard that fits inside the iSeries 400 and comes complete with Intel processor, memory, video and LAN adapters, and USB ports.
Integrity: Measures whether something, typically data, is intact, with nothing missing; uncorrupted.
Intel: The chip company which designs and makes the chips used in the vast majority of PCs supported by Microsoft operating systems, which, ironically, is still known as the IBM standard. Between them, Intel and Microsoft own the PC standard. In the mid 1980s IBM bought a large lump of Intel (reportedly to ensure continuity of supplies of PC chips), but sold out most of its interest after a couple of years – in hindsight, not one of IBM’s better decisions. IBM established an agreement with Intel in the early 1980s which allowed IBM to clone Intel chips (but not to make more than 20% of its own requirements). Mid 1993, this cozy arrangement was beginning to look strained when IBM announced that it was developing clean room versions of the 486 and Pentium, which it would be using itself and also selling in the merchant semiconductor market in head-on competition with Intel. But, these days, Intel Inside is as important a slogan for most IBM PCs as it is for its competitors. See also Cyrix.
Intelligent Decision Server: LAN-based information analysis software designed for setting up decision-support applications at the ground-level of an enterprise. Initially only available for OS/2 but Windows added soon after. Announced October 1996. Withdrawn February 2000.
Intelligent Hub Manager: Software to manage LANs built with 8250 and 8260hubs. Intelligent Hub Manager for AIX was replaced by Nways Campus Manager ATM for AIX March 1996. Intelligent Hub Manager for Windows was announced March 1994 and replaced by Nways Manager for Windows November 1995.
Intelligent Miner: An intelligent agent-based data mining system that exploits a number of presentation and modeling techniques, including neural networks, to interactively perform pattern analysis on large amounts of data and to highlight patterns and features of interest. Intelligent Miner is used in IBM’s Personal Shopping Assistant. Announced April 1996, supporting DB2 and flat files on AIX1, z/OS and OS/400 hosts with AIX, Windows 95 and NT clients. And an Oracle and Sybase data extract import facility. In September 1999, the z/OS version was renamed IBM DB2 Intelligent Miner.
Intelligent Resource Director: Introduced as part of z/OS in October 2000. Allows WLM to direct PR/SM to enable or disable processor capacity for any LPAR within a cluster, without human intervention, based on workload.
IntelliStation: Family of high-power enterprise workstations from IBM. Support symmetric multiprocessing and are highly network oriented. Announced March 1997.
Interbold: Joint IBM/Diebold venture formed in 1990 to market ATMs worldwide. See 3624.
Interchange Services: IBM Interchange Services for e-business. The rebranding of IBM EDI Services in August 2000. Services include commerce engines, business integration services, outsourcing services, trading community services, education and consulting.
Interconnect Controller Program: See ICP.
InterConnect for Lotus Notes: IBM InterConnect for Lotus Notes. NotesVANS on the IBM Global Network. Allowed users to use Notes without having to invest in the infrastructure and personnel required to maintain a private wide area network (WAN). Introduced June 1996. Disappeared when AT&T acquired the IBM Global Network in December 1998.
Interleaf: DTP software vendor. IBM sold several Interleaf software products, including Publisher. But, by August 1993, it had all been withdrawn from marketing.
Intermix: AIX job submission software announced February 1994. Allows AIX1 and other Unix systems to submit jobs and access data on z/OS and Unix systems across a TCP/IP network. Withdrawn December 1996.
Internal Battery Feature: Provides backup power for the eserverzSeries 900.
Internal Channel link: One of five types of CF channels to connect a CF to an LPAR.
International Alliance for AD/Cycle: See AD/Cycle Alliance.
International classes: Technology developed by IBM’s Taligent subsidiary. It is designed to enable applications to adapt dates, currencies, numbers, and text to fit respective country formats automatically, so that users see the same application, unchanged, in their own languages. Available in three versions, C, C++, and Java, each of which supports 38 languages in 44 countries. Licensed by JavaSoft, Netscape, and Oracle amongst others.
International Components for Unicode: See ICU2.
International Program License Agreement: See IPLA.
International Technical Support Organization: See ITSO.
International User Group Council: A federation of IBM user groups represented by their Presidents. It currently includes Australasian SHARE/GUIDE, GUIDE SHARE EUROPE, Japan GUIDE/SHARE and SHARE Inc.
Internet: The global network of networks sponsored by the US government that provides a virtual space for millions of connected users. Mid 1994 it began to move from the academic/research world into the commercial world. Includes facilities for e-mail, database browsing and access, and file transfer. Often used synonymously with information superhighway, although more strictly it’s just an implementation of the superhighway concept. From early 1995 IBM joined in the hype, and has been Web enabling ever since. See World Wide Web.
Internet2: Son of Internet. Still just a promise despite many years of research by the Internet2 Consortium. There are more than 185 universities and research labs, including IBM’s, involved in developing a much faster and better Internet. See also NGI, TEN-34.
Internet Addiction Disorder: A genuine mental disorder characterized by long on-line hours, withdrawal and unsuccessful efforts to control Internet use. See Center for On-Line Addition
Internet Explorer: See IE1.
Internet Information Services: See IIS1.
Internet Key Exchange: See IKE.
InterNotes: Web publishing and browsing software from Lotus. The precursor to, and replaced by, Domino.
Inter-Personal Computer: Machine promised by Lou Gerstner in late 1995 which would provide a low-cost, network-oriented terminal – low-price, probably running Windows, probably floppy-diskless (to prevent users loading games and viruses), and designed purely as a network terminal for business applications. Eventually emerged as the Network Station. See also Network Computer.
InterSession: CUA-compliant VTAM session manager marketed at one time by Isogon Corporation. Works under MVS, VSE, and VM, and includes e-mail, on-line maintenance of user profiles, automated log-on/log-off, etc.
Inter System Coupling link: One of five types of CF channels to connect a CF to an LPAR.
Interwoven TeamXpress: Interwoven TeamXpress, WebSphere Edition. Manages Web content. Used together with WebSphere Application Server and WebSphere Personalization, it can build and deliver personalized Web sites. It is also integrated with Content Manager and Enterprise Information Portal.
Intranet: A network based on Internet technology, but designed for internal use within a single organization (normally either physically separate from the Internet or connected via secure firewalls). According to some sources, intranet business among large companies is growing faster than Internet applications, particularly in the US. The real benefit of intranets is that they offer the advantages of Internet software innovations (Java-style applets, Web-based hypertext links and search facilities, etc) without the security risks or the obvious drawbacks of providing unrestricted Web surfing at the desktop. See also Network Computer.
INTRDR: Internal Reader. z/OS logical device which can be used to submit batch jobs without performing an explicit JES job submission. Also used internally by operating system components.
Intrusion detection: To discover unauthorized access to computing resources.
Intrusion Detection System: See IDS.
Inventory Control Block: The first block in a RACF database.
Inventory Scout: AIX tool used to determine the correct components to ship when an MES upgrade is ordered.
INZUTILB: The utility used to unload from the DB2 table. High performance may unload ABEND0C4 with possible data loss when unloading from a view which is not supported by HPU (and therefore must be passed to DB2) and the DB2 variable is set to YES.
IOC: IBM OpenClass in AIX1.
IOCA: Image Object Content Architecture. Defines the structure and content of raster image data, including the location and setting of pixels, information for compressing images, etc. Used in ImagePlus and OS/2 Image Support. Supports ITU-T group IV compression algorithms.
IOCDS: Input/Output Configuration DataSet. The z/OS, z/VM and VSE/ESA dataset which specifies the I/O devices that can be connected to a mainframe.
IOCP: Input/Output Configuration Program. The z/OS, z/VM and VSE/ESA program which describes the I/O configuration to the channel subsystem.
IOCS: Input/Output Control System. A group of VSE/ESA routines for handling transfer of data between memory and storage devices. IOCS has two components: LIOCS (Logical Input/Output Control System) and PIOCS (Physical Input/Output Control System).
IODF: Input/Output Definition File. The I/O definition file (IODF) is a VSAM linear data set that is built and maintained by HCD.
IODM: ImagePlus Object Distribution Manager. See ODM.
IOGEN: Input/Output GENeration. The process of describing the I/O configuration to an z/OS I/O supervisor. To carry out a traditional I/O Gen you used to have to shut down z/OS, run IOCP, and then re-start the machine. Dynamic I/O reconfiguration got rid of the need for this. See also HCD.
IOP: Integrated Off-load Processor. Originally, a component of certain ES/9000s which manages data transfer autonomously of the processor.
IOR: Interoperable Object Reference. A special format for CORBA object references which allows them to be used for communication between different ORBs.
IOS1: I/O Supervisor. z/OS software responsible for execution of channel programs.
IOS2: Inter-Organizational Systems.
IOS3270: See DIOF.
IOU: IBM Internal Use Only. IOU documents are secret, but have a marked tendency to appear on the desks of favored users and industry watchers. cf. RIC.
IP1: Internet Protocol. An Internet protocol that routes data through networks. IP acts as an intermediary between the higher protocol layers and the physical network. It does not provide error recovery or flow control. See also TCP/IP.
IP2: Instruction Processor. Pretty much what used to be called the ALU (Arithmetic and Logic Unit).
ip3270: A direct alternative to tn3270(E) that is supported by Microsoft SNA Server and Novell NetWare for SAA, whereby gateway-specific TCP/IP protocol can be used for SNA access between the client and the server. One of the key advantages of this approach, as opposed to tn3270, is that it supports LU6.2-based transactions.
ip5250: A direct alternative to tn5250 that is supported by Microsoft’s SNA Server and Novell’s NetWare for SAA, whereby gateway-specific TCP/IP protocol can be used for SNA access between the client and the server. One of the key advantages of this approach, as opposed to tn5250, is that it supports LU6.2-based transactions.
IPA1: See IP Assist.
IPA2: Interprocedural analysis.
IP address: The numerical Internet Protocol (IP1) address of an Internet computer. Every computer has a unique numerical IP address.
IP Assist: Internet Protocol Assist. One of the five components of QDIO. Moves IP-related compute-intensive functions from the eserverzSeries 900 processor to the OSA-Express feature. This includes Media Access Control (MAC1) handling, the Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) function, packet filtering, building and maintaining a table of IP addresses to be used for packet routing, and IP Multicast.
I-PC: See Inter-Personal Computer.
IPC: InterProcess Communication. The process by which programs synchronize activities and communicate data between themselves.
IPCC: IBM Personal Computer Co. Company set up in September 1992 to market all IBM-branded PCs. IPCC, which at least had the brains to use the IBM name (unlike ICPI) is responsible for the design, manufacturing, and marketing of all IBM personal computer products. Scrapped in the late 1990s. PCs are now part of the Personal and Printing Systems Group. See also Ambra, ICPI, ValuePoint.
IPCS1: Interactive Problem Control System. A component of z/VM that facilitates on-line problem management, interactive problem diagnosis, on-line debugging for disk-resident CP abend dumps, problem tracking, and problem reporting. Replaced by DVF.
IPCS2: See Integrated PC Server.
IPDS: Intelligent Printer DataStream. An IBM protocol for data sent to APA page printers. Analogous to the PostScript page description language used by DTP1 products such as PageMaker. IPDS is part of SAA’s CCS1, and replaces RFTDCA. Also known as AFP/IPDS. Extended subsets of IPDS are incorporated in IBM’s Object Content Architectures (OCAs).
IPDT: Integrated Processing of Data and Text. Obsolete system (the functionality was incorporated into OfficeVision/MVS and ASF1) enabling users to integrate data and text processing on a single workstation. Designed for clerical staff working with data displays and DP applications programs. Ran on mainframe machines under z/OS and VSE/ESA, and 8100/DPPX.
IPF: Interactive Productivity Facility. Early and largely obsolete version of a z/VM ISPF type facility.
IPFAF: ImagePlus Folder Application Facility. See FAF.
IPFO: ImagePlus Intelligent Forms Facility/2. OCR and forms recognition and indexing software. Enhanced May 1996 to recognize hand printing along with the usual forms and machine-printed text. Withdrawn September 1997.
IP hijacking: See IP splicing.
IPI: Intelligent Peripherals Interface. IBM version of IPI-3 – an international standard for peripheral interfaces.
IPL: Initial Program Load. The first part of the process of loading an operating system into a machine. These days IPL is synonymous with IML to all but the ruggedly pedantic.
IPLA: International Program License Agreement. A specific IBM software contract form.
iPlanet: An alliance between Sun and Netscape, to produce e-commerce software.
iPlanet Server Suite: A March 2000 renaming of the Netscape Servers. Available on AIX. See iPlanet.
IPMS: InterPersonal Messaging System. X.400 mechanism used to convey messages from one person to another, and allowing the data to be correctly interpreted at the destination. Available on IBM EDI1 systems.
IP Multicast: The ability to send and receive IP packets simultaneously sent to multiple IP addresses. This is not referring to e-mail sent to a distribution list, but to a broadcast model for things like audio/video. Huge savings are possible by sending a single packet to all listeners, rather than the same packet repeatedly to each listener. The downside is that listeners who miss or receive corrupted packets cannot request a retransmission. Not to mention the fact that it is a real-time, rather than an on-demand, approach. Issues surrounding listeners joining and leaving during the broadcast have been resolved, however. IP Multicast is supported fairly broadly, including z/VM.
IPO: Installation Productivity Option. IBM’s first successful attempt at packaging system software to simplify installation and update. The name disappeared about the time its acronym became popular in the financial world (Initial Public Offering).
IP PrintWay: Internet Protocol PrintWay. Routes JES2 and JES3 print to TCP/IP printers. An optional, separately priced feature of z/OS that was first announced as a feature of PSF/MVS in September 1996.
IPRS: Image Processor Recognition System. See 389x.
IPSec: Internet Protocol Security. A network layer (i.e., layer 3) security that can be used to realize authentication, integrity and data privacy between two IP1 entities. Heavily used to implement VPNs. IBM is developing IPSec compliant products as part of its deal with RSA Security.
IPSO: Integrated Product and Services Offering. A combined software and services offering from IBM (announced in the UK July 1991). In the deathless prose of the IBM announcement, addresses customer concerns for a successful implementation by IBM sharing much of the risk and using its skilled resources in delivering the solution. Disappeared without a trace.
IP splicing: A hacker technique: take over an active, established Internet session.
IP spoofing: A hacker technique: attempt access by impersonating an authorized IP1 address.
IP-switching: A strategic set of methodologies endorsed by IBM, Cisco, and other networking vendors, for increasing the throughput of IP data transfers by eliminating the need to route each packet at Layer 3, and instead using pre-established connections at Layer 2 to expedite packet forwarding.
IP tunnel: A mechanism that facilitates data encapsulation across an IP1 network.
IPv6: The next generation of IP1. Also known as IPng.
IPX: Internetwork Packet Exchange. The network protocol used to connect Novell’s servers with other workstations. It uses different packet formats and terminology from IP1.
IR: Industry Remarketer. A company which acts as a VAR for IBM hardware in a specific vertical market.
IRC: InterRegion Communication. A communication from one CICS region to another.
IRD: See Intelligent Resource Director.
IRDS: Information Resource Dictionary Systems. 1988 ANSI standard for repository systems. See also PCTE.
IRLM: IMS/VS Resource Lock Manager, aka Inter Region Lock Manager. z/OS subsystem used by IMS1 and DB2 to control communications and database locking (it controls integrity locking in DB2). See also Latch.
IRM: Infrastructure Resource Management. A renaming of Facilities Management, itself a euphemism for letting someone else manage your data center. Still the most popular form of Outsourcing.
Ironmonger: IBMspeak (usually derogatory) for a hardware (iron) specialist.
IRRHFSU: A free utility from IBM that unloads and reformats HFS file security information into RACF IRRDBU00 format.
ISA: Industry Standard Architecture. The AT bus that became a de facto standard interface for PC cards. Replaced by PCI. See also EISA, PCI.
ISAM1: Information Systems Account Marketing. At one time the organizational segment of IBM selling computer systems to large accounts. The ISAM/ISM1 organization was replaced by an organization based on geographical regions.
ISAM2: Indexed Sequential Access Method. Method of file access in which a stored index contains the address of a group of records. Forever in need of reorganization. Replaced by VSAM in 1973, but survives in odd backwaters. ISAM datasets cannot reside on SMS-managed volumes in z/OS.
ISAPI: The Microsoft equivalent of NSAPI. An interface provided on Microsoft HTTP servers which allows other processes to be invoked by the browser client as an alternative to CGI. This has some performance advantages but is not supported by all HTTP servers.
ISC1: Inter-System Communication. A general form of mainframe communication and resource-sharing between host applications using the LU6 protocols. Under VTAM, ISC is a facility used with CICS and/or IMS TM for shipping transactions to another CICS or IMS TM system for execution. Uses LU6.1 under IMS and CICS and LU6.2 under CICS. ISC allows multiple copies of CICS to run simultaneously to enable multi-engine CECs to be used effectively.
ISC2: See Inter System Coupling link.
ISC-3: Inter-System Channel.
ISCF: Inter-System Control Facility. NetView application enabling control of a remote system. There was also a PC version, ISCF/PC. Both were replaced by TSCF April 1991. See also ACA/ISCF.
iSCSI: Internet SCSI. SCSI protocols emulated over an IP1 connection.
ISDN: Integrated Services Digital Network. Generic term describing the ITU-T digital circuit switching services for both voice and data. Available worldwide, but never really gained the kind of popularity everyone was predicting. And now doomed to die a slow death at the hands of DSL, cable modem and similar higher speed yet reasonably-priced technologies. Also known as Narrow-ISDN (N-ISDN) to distinguish it from Broadband ISDN.
ISE: Image Symbol Editor. GDDM editor used to produce point-image (non-scalable) symbols.
iSeries: See iSeries 400.
iSeries 400: The eserver series based on, and replacing, the AS/400. According to IBM, the i stands for intelligent integration. Based on copper and SOI2 technology, it runs any combination of ported Unix applications, AS/400, Windows, Java, Domino and soon Linux applications concurrently. Some models are Dedicated Servers for Domino (DSD).
ISF: Inter-System Facilities. z/VM package which enabled up to four VM/HPO systems to share mini-disks and spool files. In essence it was a rather crude first go at providing the ability to create clusters of processors. Announced January 1987. Withdrawn December 1997 because it was not Year 2000-ready.
ISFC: Inter-System Facility for Communications. z/VM facility providing transparent communications across multiple physical machines. Applications must use APPC/VM, CPI-C or IUCV to communicate.
ISG: IBM South Africa Group. The IBM distributor in South Africa – formerly known as ISM2.
ISL: Information Solutions Ltd. IBM UK’s outsourcing arm. See also ISSC.
ISM1: Information Systems Marketing. The organizational segment of IBM which sells computers to small to medium accounts. See ISAM1.
ISM2: Information Service Management Ltd. IBM’s South African distributor. IBM pulled out of South Africa itself in 1987, leaving the market to ISM (which was set up by ex-IBMers). Mid 1994 IBM bought a controlling stake in ISM, which became ISG a year later.
ISM3: See Tivoli Internet Services Manager.
ISM4: Information Systems Management Canada. aka ISMC. A former IBM Canada subsidiary that concentrated mostly in Outsourcing, often in joint ventures with telephone companies. Absorbed into IBM Global Services Consulting. The only exception was the Province of British Columbia joint venture that ended up as part of the local telephone company (TELUS) rather than IBM.
ISM5: Infrastructure and Systems Management. Part of IBM Global Services Consulting.
ISMA: Information System Management Architecture. A 1979 architecture developed by IBM and GUIDE which became SystemView 11 years later.
ISMC: IBM Software Manufacturing Company. Absorbed back into the Software Division.
ISMF: Interactive Storage Management Facility. Interactive ISPF-based tool for z/OS storage administrators which provides facilities to manage Data Classes, Storage Classes, Management Classes, and Storage Groups. Can also be used by regular folks much as they would Option 3.4 (Dataset List) of ISPF/PDF; ISMF is more clumsy but does provide some information and features less readily available in ISPF/PDF. Part of DFSMS.
ISO: International Standards Organization. Geneva-based body responsible for developing communications standards in conjunction with the ITU-T. Represented in the US by ANSI. ISO looks after the OSI model.
Isochronous: Generic term for running in real-time.
Isochronous Ethernet: Version of Ethernet (aka IsoEnet) sponsored by IBM and National Semiconductor for multimedia communications – voice, video, image and data – at up to 16Mbps.
IsoEnet: See Isochronous Ethernet.
ISP: Internet Service Provider.
ISPBX: ISDNPBX.
ISPF: Interactive System Productivity Facility. Menu and screen management system that has only ever been popular on z/OSTSO, but has been offered, at one time or another, on VSE/ESAICCF and z/VMCMS1. There have also been both IBM and non-IBM workstation versions. And even a (non-IBM) Unix version. Though, arguably, they mainly concentrated on providing the PDF1 component. ISPF first saw the light of day in 1974 as SPF. Provides facilities for developing and running menu-driven dialog systems on 3270 terminals and, more recently, workstations. ISPF services can be accessed using WSP/2. ISPF is an element of z/OS. See also ISPF/PDF.
ISPF/PDF: ISPF/Program Development Facility. ISPF facility providing access to application development services for end-users and programmers. Incorporates C and REXX programming support, and some support for programmable workstations. See also LMF, SCLM.
ISQL: Interactive SQL.
ISSC: Integrated Systems Solutions Corp. Company set up by IBM Corp in May 1991 to run systems integration and outsourcing contracts, which previously were run by the Systems Integration Division. Probably set up to meet the conditions of the 1956 anti-trust decree which said that IBM had to operate any bureau services at arms-length. With the Consent Decree fading into history and Lou Gerstner’s dislike of subsidiary companies, ISSC was absorbed into IBM Global Services. See also ISL.
Issuer: In the SET architecture, this is a financial institution that issues payment cards to individuals.
ISV: Independent Software Vendor. A software vendor which isn’t part of and/or doesn’t belong to a hardware manufacturer.
ITAA: Information Technology Association of America. Formerly known as ADAPSO, ITAA is the dominant US trade association for the Information Technology (IT) industry: computers, software, telecommunications products and services, Internet and online services, systems integration and professional services. Headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, in the Washington, D.C. area.
Itanium: Intel 64-bit processor that uses EPIC architecture, rather than RISC. Also runs anything a Pentium can. Announced May 1999 with first Itanium-based systems delivered in June 2001.
Item Access Facility: z/OS software providing support for high volumes of coded data objects on optical media or low cost DASD (e.g., the 3390-9). The main target application is storage of print data, e.g., for archiving. Data is indexed for on-line access and selective printing. Can also be used to send data normally directed to COM devices to the 3995 optical disk. Announced January 1991. Withdrawn September 2001.
ITI: Information Technology Industry Council. A US trade association of which IBM is a member. Formerly CBEMA.
ITR: Internal Throughput Rate. IBM measure of internal processor performance expressed in terms of the number of transactions/jobs per second of processor busy time. Used by IBM to compare the performance of different processors – not as an absolute measure of performance, cf. MIPS, IER. See also ETR1.
ITRA: Information Technology Resellers Association. The major US computer leasing trade association. Formerly CDLA.
ITRR: Internal Throughput Rate Ratio. See ITR.
ITSC: International Technical Support Center. Renamed ITSO.
ITSEC: IT Security Evaluation & Certification Scheme (U.K.).
ITSO: International Technical Support Organization. The bit of IBM which publishes those wonderful manuals, most notably Redbooks. The ITSO is part of the IBM Global Technical Support organization within IBM Global Sales and Distribution.
ITU: International Telecommunications Union. Founded in 1865 and based in Geneva, Switzerland, it became an agency of the United Nations in 1947 and has a membership of 184 countries, as well as a number of industry and government organizations. Its purpose is the coordination of worldwide communication standards, including frequency allocation and radio regulations. See also ITU-T.
ITU-T: International Telecommunication Union – Telecommunication Standardization Sector. The sub-component of the ITU that is responsible for developing recommendations for telecommunications formerly handled by the CCITT.
IUCV: Inter-User Communications Vehicle. z/VM facility enabling programs in two virtual machines to talk to one another, and allowing workloads to be distributed across physical machines transparently.
IUGC: See International User Group Council.
IVF: Image View Facility. An ancient program product which enabled images digitized by the Scanmaster to be displayed on suitably featured 3270-type screens. IVF operated in conjunction with DISOSS/PS and the Graphical Data Display Manager (GDDM). No longer marketed – replaced by IVU.
IVO: IBM Volume Offering/Orders. Part of the marketing Terms and Conditions of some software products.
Ivory letter: An IBM customer announcement letter.
IVPA: International Volume Purchase Agreement.
IVU: Image View Utility. Program Product which enabled scanned files created on the 3117-9 or 8815 scanners to be stored in DISOSS and viewed on high resolution workstations or suitably configured PCs. Replaced IVF. Obsolete.
IW: See Information Warehouse.
IWP/2: IBM SAA ImagePlus Workstation Program for OS/2. See IWPM.
IWPM: ImagePlus Workstation Program. The PC-DOS, Windows and OS/2 workstation software for ImagePlus. Allows users to capture, view, manipulate and print large volumes of documents. The last of it was withdrawn September 1997.
IWS1: Intelligent/Independent Workstation. Former IBMspeak for a networked PC or PS/2. Also known as Programmable WorkStation (PWS).
IWS2: Intelligent Workstation Support. Feature in VSE/ESA for linking PCs to a mainframe host.
IWS3: International Warranty Service. Allows IBM customers to obtain service for their products when they travel or move to a different country where IBM service is available.
IX/370: Interactive eXecutive for the 370. Obsolete IBM-enhanced Unix V implementation for mainframe machines. Ran as a guest under z/VM. Replaced by AIX/370.
IXF: Integrated eXchange Format. Data interchange format used for import/export by DB2 UDB, QMF etc. Although the same name is used in different environments, the formats are not always identical.
IXFP/SnapShot: IBM Extended Facilities Product/SnapShot for VSE/ESA. A priced optional feature of VSE Central Functions that improves use of RAMAC Virtual Array Storage. Announced September 1998.
IXS: See Integrated xSeries Server for iSeries.
J
J2EE: Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition. The Java Software Development Kit (SDK), tools, APIs, and the Java runtime (i.e., execution environment) targeted at Java developers building enterprise-class, server-side applications.
J2SE: Java 2 Platform, Standard Edition. See Java, Java 2, J2EE.
JAAS: Java Authentication and Authorization Service. Provides a security model for the Java platform, which permits access to Java-controlled resources based on the identity of the user on whose behalf the Java program is running, rather than the source of the code.
JAD: Joint Application Development/Design. Technique, developed by IBM in the 1970s, for involving users in application development projects. Involves assembling a group of users with a business/systems analyst and locking them up in a room until they all agree on what an application should look like. JAD became fashionable again in the early 1990s as part of RAD.
JANET: Joint Academic NETwork. The WAN which links UK academic and research institutions. The hub is the JANET subnetwork, a private X.25 packet-switched network that interconnects sites, and also links to the Internet.
Japan GUIDE/SHARE: An IBM user group serving Japan. See SHARE and GUIDE.
Java: An object-oriented programming environment developed by Sun towards the end of 1995. Java creates applets which can be downloaded across the Internet, and which will allow clients running, for example, the HotJava browser to interact with objects on the Web and intranet servers. Sun believed that if Java really took off, fat PCs would become a thing of the past; users will simply download software (applets) to Network Computers. Sun makes its Java technology widely available; many vendors, including IBM, have licensed JavaOS and HotJava. And Java is available on many platforms, including IBM’s.
Java 2: Umbrella term introduced by Sun in December 1998 to refer, henceforth, to all subsequent Java initiatives and products.
Java2: See Java 2. See also J2EE.
Java application server: Application server written in Java, and as such platform independent, geared to facilitate the development and deployment of Java-based applications, applets, and servlets – e.g., BEA WebLogic.
Java Authentication and Authorization Service: See JAAS.
JavaBeans: A platform-independent, software component technology for building reusable Java components called Beans. Adopted by IBM, Sun, Netscape and Oracle amongst others. The JavaBeans component model specifies how to build reusable software components, how the resulting Beans describe their properties to visual rapid application development tools and how they communicate with each other. Beans can be combined to create applications or applets.
Java Communications API: Allows AIX Java applications to access RS232 serial ports and IEEE 1284 parallel ports.
Java Cryptography Extension: See JCE.
Java Jive: Code name for prototype software from IBM and Sun aimed at giving blind people greater access to the Internet by reading aloud the information on a computer screen, along with instructions for using the computer keyboard instead of a mouse. Product name became Home Page Reader. Part of IBM’s Independence Series.
Java OS for Business: Server operating system. The IBM/Oracle initiative that, with a Java Virtual Machine at the client side, both companies dreamed would displace Windows from large organizations.
Java Platform: In essence what used to be called the JDK before Java 2. Consists of a Java Software Development Kit (SDK), tools, APIs, and a Java runtime.
JavaScript: An interpreted scripting language proprietary to Netscape, embedded in its browser – not to be confused with Java itself. Originally called LiveScript, then made more Java-like and re-named. JavaScript statements appear between <SCRIPT> and </SCRIPT> tags in HTML. The version in early releases of Netscape 2 suffered from serious security flaws. Microsoft has a similar, but not identical, scripting language called JScript.
Java Secure Sockets Extension: See JSSE.
JavaSpaces: A mechanism for dynamic communication, co-ordination, and sharing of objects between Java-based network resources. JavaSpaces is built on top of Jini and programmed in Java.
Java Virtual Machine: The facility which allows Java applets/source code to run on a computer. Supported by Web browsers, OS/400 and other platforms.
JBIG: Joint Bilevel Image Group compression. A late addition to image transmission standards, which became an international standard in 1993 (ISO/IEC 11544). The JBIG algorithm is enhanced for bitonal compression such as with text and line drawings.
JBOD: Just a Bunch Of Disks. A RAID system which doesn’t try to be too clever, and thus avoids the problem of getting into quasi-theological arguments about whether it’s RAID 0, 1, 5, or 42, how many angels you can get on its HDA, etc.
JCE: Java Cryptography Extension. AIX1 software that provides a framework and implementations for encryption, key generation and key agreement, and MAC1 algorithms. Support for encryption includes symmetric, asymmetric, block and stream ciphers. Also supports secure streams and sealed objects.
jCentral: A tool for Java developers that acts as both a search engine and a repository for Java resources. It collects, combines and organizes Java information including applets, JavaBeans, source code, white papers and FAQs. It also allows developers to query this information by resource type.
JCICS: Java CICS classes. A Java Class library that provides direct access to CICS resources. Used in object-oriented programming, replacing the CICS Foundation Classes.
JCL: Job Control Language. The language used to describe the steps of a batch job (files to be used, programs to be run, etc). A generic term, hijacked by IBM to refer to the batch control languages for its System/360 operating systems. Then, as now, z/OS and VSE/ESA JCL is a clumsy and cumbersome system that is hard to learn, full of inconsistencies, and avoided by anyone with an iota of common sense and access to an alternative. The only excuse for it comes from one of the original OS/360 developers: they ran out of time to build a JCL interpreter, so just used the Assembler macro processor, and built a language (JCL) around it.
JDBC: Java DataBase Connectivity. An API that is designed for use by Java database applications, and has the same characteristics as Open Database Connectivity (ODBC). JDBC was primarily developed by Sun Microsystems and provides a clean, simple way for Java code to access relational databases and other persistent data resources.
JDK: Java Development Kit. Software development kit from Sun consisting of a Java compiler, a debugger, standard Java classes, and a Java runtime (i.e., JVM) for Unix. Replaced, in Java 2, by Java Platform, sometimes referred to as the Java SDK.
JDO: Java Data Objects. A Sun specification for transparent persistence: the ability to provide transparent mapping and persistence for Java objects via traditional data stores.
JECL: Job Entry Control Language. The equivalent of JCL for z/OS and VSE/ESA batch processing subsystems: JES2, JES3, POWER1. No longer commonly used for JESx; JES3 Control Statements is used instead.
JES: See JESx.
JES2: Job Entry Subsystem 2. One of two batch processing subsystems available for z/OS, both developed in the 1960s, and each with a different heritage, and different control statements (JECL). JES2 was originally HASP. Each reads batch jobs in, schedules their execution and spools their output. JES2 is, by far, the most popular, but JES3 is used in a much smaller number of very large organizations. An element of z/OS.
JES3: Job Entry Subsystem 3. One of two batch processing subsystems available for z/OS, both developed in the 1960s, and each with a different heritage, and different control statements (JECL). Each reads batch jobs in, schedules their execution and spools their output. JES2 is, by far, the most popular, but JES3 is used in a much smaller number of very large organizations. JES3 usage declined markedly during the 1990s as corporations merged their data centers as part of rationalizing an acquisition of another corporation. Although there were exceptions, JES2 tended to win if each data center used a different JESx. JES3 is an optional, separately priced feature of z/OS.
JES reader: The JESx element that receives job input and records them in the job queue and spool dataset.
JESx: JES2 and JES3. Used when referring to either or both JES2/JES3, in a context where both provide similar functionality, i.e., where it does not matter which one is available.
JFS: Journalled File System. AIX file system, replaced by JFS2.
JFS2: Journalled File System 2. A new file system type in AIX 5L, replacing JFS. JFS2 can store 1 Terabyte files. It is the default file system for the 64-bit kernel.
JGS: See Japan GUIDE/SHARE.
Jikes: A free IBM stand-alone, Java source code to JVM byte code compiler for Linux and other platforms. Certified Open Source Software by OSI.
Jini: Described as a connection technology from Sun, Jini (which also does not stand for anything) is simply a way of plugging devices into a network and having them work right away, without any setups.
JISC: Japanese Industrial Standards Committee.
JIT: Just In Time. An inventory minimization approach developed in the Manufacturing sector. It focuses on both inventory from suppliers (input) and inventory from the manufacturing process (output). Suppliers must deliver goods just before they are needed. And products must be manufactured at just about the same time that they are ordered by customers.
JMAPI: Java Management Application Programming Interface. A Sun Java specification that defines a set of APIs for developing integrated system, network, and service management applications.
JMS: The Java Message Service is a Java API to message oriented middleware (MOM).
JNDI: Java Naming and Directory Interface is a standard extension to the Java platform, which provides a unified interface to multiple naming and directory services.
Jodax: A high-level Java library to IBM’s DB2 database.
JOIN: Generic term for an SQL function which enables data to be selected from two or more tables.
Journalled File System: See JFS2, JFS.
JPEG: Joint Photographic Expert Group. A standard for defining and compressing raster (bit-mapped) images. And the name of the committee, created by two international standards bodies, that developed the JPEG standard. Very popular, especially on the Web.
JPEG2000: A standard intended to replace the original JPEG image compression technique, from the same committee. JPEG2000 is based on wavelet compression algorithms which allow images to be broken down and compressed in a more flexible manner than standard JPEG. The standard allows the user to choose parts of an image to download, view, and enlarge without losing resolution. The standard also allows images to be encrypted.
JRE: Java Runtime Environment. A component of the Java Development Kit (JDK) that contains the Java Virtual Machine, and core classes that constitute the standard Java platform.
JRMP: Java Remote Method Protocol. The original protocol underlying RMI. Today, RMI can run over either JRMP or IIOP.
JRP: Joint Requirements Planning. A similar idea to JAD.
JScript: A Microsoft Internet scripting language, originally developed for Internet Explorer (IE1). The J stands for Java(-like), but JavaScript is a proprietary, though similar, competitive product from Netscape. JScript now conforms to the European standard ECMAScript. JScript and VBScript are the two Windows scripting languages that effectively replace the archaic PC-DOS batch language.
JSP: JavaServer Pages. Uses XML-like tags and scriptlets to encapsulate logic that fills out the dynamic content of HTML pages. An extension of the servlet technology, JSP is the Java analog of Microsoft’s ASP5.
JSSE: Java Secure Sockets Extension. Enables secure Internet communications and implements a Java version of SSL and TLS protocols in AIX1. JSSE includes functionality for data encryption, server authentication, message integrity and client authentication.
JTA: Java Transaction Application Programming Interface. Specifies standard Java interfaces (API) between a transaction manager and the parties involved in a distributed transaction system: the resource manager, the application server, and the transactional applications.
JTAG: Joint Test Action Group. The IEEE 1149.1 boundary-scan standard, named after the group that developed it. It solves test access problems introduced by advanced IC4 packages. Used to test the interconnection between SRAM I/Os and printed circuit board traces or other components.
JTOpen: The open source version of Toolbox for Java.
JTS: Java Transaction Service. Specifies the implementation of a Transaction Manager which supports JTA at the high level and implements the Java mapping of the OMG Object Transaction Service (OTS) specification at the low level. JTS uses the standard CORBA ORB/TS interfaces and IIOP for transaction context propagation between JTS Transaction Managers.
Jumbo DASD: Pre-release nickname for the 3390-9.
Jumbo frames: Optional enhancement to Fast/Gigabit Ethernet adapters (e.g., IBM OSA-Express adapter) to permit 9,000 byte frames, six times the standard frame size, to be transmitted to expedite data transfers.
Jupiter: An unannounced storage architecture designed to work with Summit. Eventually most of the data management products would run on Jupiter hardware, thus freeing up the Summit for more application processing. Also known as Olé. Jupiter was also used as an early code name for the original SMS1 project. Little is heard of the notion today.
JustMail: Subset of OfficeVision/400 which provides entry-level e-mail. Announced November 1993 as JustMail/400. Renamed JustMail for OS/400 and withdrawn February 2000.
JVM: See Java Virtual Machine.
K
Kaleida: Joint venture company set up by Apple and IBM in October 1991 to develop multimedia systems. It all came to a sad end in November 1995 when Kaleida was closed down, and folded back into Apple. See also ScriptX.
Karat: Architecture cum family of products for distributed systems management – first saw the light of day September 1994. Includes NetView and supports NetView APIs, so that existing NetView users can continue to use all their NetView systems under the Karat regime. IBM encouraged third party support, published the APIs, and used the CORBA object technology to make the thing fairly open. First products appeared for AIX and OS/2 in April 1995 – SystemView Series. Like SystemView, no one talks about Karat anymore, especially now that Tivoli has NetView.
Kb1: See Kilobit.
KB2: See KiloByte.
Kbit: See Kilobit.
Kbps: Kilobits per second.
KBS: See Knowledge Based Systems.
Kbyte: See Kilobyte.
KCA: Key Certification Authority.
KDB: See Kernel Debugger.
KEA: Key Exchange Algorithm.
KEE: Knowledge Engineering Environment. IBM’s z/OS version of Intellicorp’s LISP expert system (which IBM and Intellicorp co-promoted on the RT PC). IBM withdrew from the joint marketing agreement in March 1990.
Kerberos: Security system for Unix environments derived from MIT’s Project Athena. Uses a trusted server to ensure that there are no unwanted systems in the network. It is not an all-singing, all-dancing security system àla RACF with file and record-level security, etc. In z/OS, Kerberos support has been modernized and moved from Communications Server to z/OS itself.
Kermit: A protocol for file transfers once widely used in public-domain communications software packages in the PC world. Originated in PC-mainframe file transfer software from Columbia University.
Kernel: The core of an operating system that performs basic functions such as allocating hardware resources.
Kernel Debugger: A debug facility for the AIX1 kernel.
Key: Although it has several security-related meanings, not to mention other computing meanings, it can also refer to an authenticator.
Keykos: A z/VM-compatible operating system developed for internal use within McDonnell Douglas and launched into a totally indifferent market in the mid 1980s.
Key pair: A private key and its related public key.
Key ring: A named collection of digital certificates.
Kicker: An upgrade, modification, or enhancement to a moribund product to keep it going.
Killer app: An application that creates a mass market for an emerging technology. First used to describe VisiCalc and Lotus 1-2-3 in the early 1980s after it became evident that demand for the spreadsheet had been the catalyst for the sale of IBM PCs in the enterprise. Netscape was once described as the Internet’s killer app.
Kilobit: 1024 bits, or 2 to the 10th power, when referring to processor storage, real and virtual storage, and channel volume. However, when referring to disk storage capacity it is 1000 bits. Abbreviated as Kb.
Kilobyte: 1024 bytes, or 2 to the 10th power, when referring to processor storage, real and virtual storage, and channel volume. However, when referring to disk storage capacity it is 1000 bytes. Abbreviated as KB.
Kimono: To open the Kimono is a particularly tacky bit of IBMspeak meaning to reveal some secret information, usually to customers. A less offensive way of expressing the same notion was to talk about Glasnost and Perestroika – and look what they led to.
K-map: See Knowledge Map.
KMIGRATE: A free IBM software tool that migrates existing DCE2 and z/OS users to Kerberos.
Know How: Short-lived Consultancy/Services operation set up by IBM UK in mid 1991. 2,000 staff were diverted from their previous IBM duties into Know How, which sold consultancy, training, implementation, and so on. Part of IBM’s on-going attempt to change its main source of revenue from boxes to services. See also MCD.
Knowledge Based Systems: Generic term for systems (also known as KBS) incorporating the knowledge of a human expert. Used more or less synonymously with expert systems.
Knowledge Map: See Discovery Server.
KnowledgeTool: z/OS and z/VM expert system shell. Based on PL/I, it provides strong rule-processing algorithms for use by professional programmers. Withdrawn February 1996. See also ESE.
Knowledge Utility: KnU is a general purpose hypermedia system offering intelligent information retrieval and management. To quote IBM: KnU allows groups of users to weave together all forms of data, connecting knowledge into meaningful patterns which aid users in retrieving appropriate information. Replaced by KnowledgeX. See Agent, WBI.
KnowledgeX: See Knowledge Utility.
KnU: See Knowledge Utility.
KPE: Knowledge Processing Environment.
KSDS: Key Sequenced DataSet. One of type of VSAM dataset (file) in which the logical records are placed in sequence of a key which is held as part of each record (e.g., invoice number). Usually, each key is unique and is located in the same place in the record. Replaces ISAM2.
K-station: Lotus Knowledge Station. The tools to provide Web browser access to a broad range of data, including Web applications, Microsoft Office documents and host data.
KWIS: Knowledge Worker Information Systems.
L
Lakes: IBM architecture, vintage mid 1995, for videoconferencing. Provides a load of APIs for building applications combining data and videoconferencing. Used in Person to Person.
LAN: Local Area Network. A generic term for the transport mechanism for a local (e.g., site or building) network. The thing that makes current LANs special is their intimacy with the connected machines; effectively the LAN acts as an extension to the internal bus of the attached system, and allows a single system to be built from physically dispersed components.
LANACS: LAN Asynchronous Connection Server. Provides LAN access for ASCII terminals to IBM and ASCII hosts. Supports TRN, PC Network, IEEE 802.3, Ethernet, 3270 emulation, TCP/IP. Withdrawn January 1997.
LANAO/MVS: NetView software, announced December 1991, which provides some degree of automation for managing multiple distributed TRNs. Works by intercepting messages from LAN Network Manager and displaying important ones on a central operator’s console. In effect it’s a LAN version of ANO/MVS. Withdrawn June 1995.
LAN Distance: OS/2 and Windows remote access software. Enables an OS/2 or Windows workstation to dial in to resources on a remote LAN. Includes security through encryption and user ID verification. Can also be used to support portable computers as local office workstations. Replaced by OS/2 Warp Server and OS/2 Warp Connect April 1996.
LAN Distributed Platform: See LANDP.
LANDP: LAN Distributed Platform. Software that runs on Windows NT/2000/XP, OS/2 and PC-DOS, but uses a common API to provide access to a broad range of platforms, including CICS, IMS TM, DB2 and MQSeries. Evolved from the IBM Financial Branch System Services (FBSS) products.
LANE: See LAN Emulation.
LAN Emulation: Software provided with ATM2 adapters and some switches that enable ATM to be used with existing Network Operating Systems (e.g., NetWare) and applications that were developed for use with traditional LANs as opposed to ATM. Also, an ATM service of OSA-Express 155 that enables the reuse of the communications applications that were written to support Ethernet or Token Ring.
LAN File Services: IBM software used to store and share workstation-format files on z/OS and z/VM systems. Announced June 1993. The z/VM version replaced Workstation LAN File Services/VM and was withdrawn March 2000. cf. LANRES.
LANfocus/2: Family of LAN network management products announced October 1992. Based on the DME standard. Defunct.
LAN Gateway: A function in the AnyNet product family that enables workstations residing in separate LANs to communicate across SNA or IP1 WANs. The AnyNet LAN Gateway supports both IPX and NetBIOS protocols across WANs.
LanguageAccess: End-user natural language interface for DB2. Works by translating a user request into SQL, which is passed to QMF, which digs up the data, and shows the answer to the eager querier. Written in Prolog, and integrated with QMF and AS1. Runs on OS/2 and interfaces to z/OS and z/VM. Withdrawn January 1993.
Language Environment: Arguably the most valuable long term result of SAA, LE provides a common runtime environment for major programming languages, especially on z/OS and z/VM where it is no longer a separate product, but has been absorbed into the operating system itself. The common library of runtime services includes message handling, condition handling, storage management routines and time/date functions. Previously, at least on the mainframe, multi-programming language applications were very tricky, if not impossible. IBM LE for VSE has its own program number, but is a VSE/ESA Base Program. On the iSeries 400, LE also became part of the operating system as ILE.
LANHOP/6000: LAN Home Office Program. Software, announced August 1993, which allows a remote workstation user to dial in to a pSeries gateway, which will in turn communicate with the user’s workstation on a LAN, thereby preventing him or her from ever getting away from work. Supports OS/2, DOS, and AIX remote workstations, and there’s z/VM and z/OS access too. Withdrawn January 1996, though the then-IBM Global Information Network offered the equivalent through Dial Services for TCP/IP.
LAN Management Utilities: AIX and OS/2 product for system management of PC LAN and Novell environments from a NetView management AIX or OS/2 workstation. Provides central monitoring and problem resolution for systems running IPX, IP1, and NetBIOS protocols. Both versions withdrawn mid-1997.
LAN Manager1: IBM PC program for collecting problem, status, and diagnostic information from a Token Ring or PC network – a LAN equivalent of NetView. The OS/2 version was re-named LAN Network Manager September 1990.
LAN Manager2: OS/2 LAN software from Microsoft developed in conjunction with 3Com. Provides client/server support for distributed applications across a network. Facilities include file and printer sharing, security, and network administration. Originally, LAN Manager was very intimately bound into OS/2 and used all the clever bits of OS/2 (particularly the inter-process communication) to produce a high-performance, full-featured LAN operating system. However, when Microsoft reduced its involvement with OS/2, LAN Manager became a discrete set of services capable of running with any operating system. It’s not a bad workgroup solution, but not that good as an enterprise solution, where IBM’s LAN Server (which started life as LAN Manager) is a better bet. Obsolete, its functionality now being part of Windows Server operating systems.
LAN NetView: Suite of OS/2 LAN network management software announced October 1993. Provided remote support of OS/2 LAN software using the CID standards, performance management, problem determination using both CMIP1 and SNMP, asset management and inventory control, and links to the mainframe by translating OSI alerts into SNA alerts. September 1994, LAN NetView became NetView for OS/2, then Tivoli NetView in July 1997.
LAN Network Manager: AIX and OS/2 LAN management tool. It’s a September 1990 re-naming of IBM’s LAN Manager1. LAN Network Manager collects information about the physical layer of a LAN – cabling, access units, hubs, bridges, and network adapters, etc. The software can also collect SNMP information from software (LAN Network Manager Agents) in bridges to other connected LANs. Features include CUA1 interface, two-way NetView communications, LAN Station Manager support, and a database of the LAN and its workstations. LAN Network Manager Entry is a stripped down version without a local operator interface – it just relays information from a remote LAN to a central operator. The AIX1 version became part of SystemView then was replaced by Nways Campus Manager-LAN for AIX in September 1996. The OS/2 version was withdrawn September 2000.
LAN Network Manager Agent: Software in a TRN bridge which collects information about a LAN and relays it back to a LAN Network Manager station. Note that not all bridges can act as agents, although the IBM bridges can. Obsolete.
LAN Network Manager Entry: See LAN Network Manager.
LAN Requester: Component of OS/2 EE which gives a workstation access to shared network resources (e.g., a LAN Server). Can work with Ethernet, TRN and PC networks.
LANRES: LAN Resource Extension and Services. z/OS, z/VM and OS/400 software that allows a mainframe or iSeries 400 to act as a host server for NetWare servers – i.e., NetWare clients can access host-attached printers and disk volumes. It also allows NetWare LANs to be administered from a mainframe. Announced as an RPQ for z/VM in May 1991 (a program product from September 1991), as an z/OS product in September 1991, and on the iSeries 4000 late 1993. A significant product for DP managers, since it offers some prospect of DP proving to all the users of those LAN-based systems that there’s still a role for the professional data center. cf. LAN File Services. Obsolete.
LAN Server: When announced in November 1987, a network server providing LAN services for DOS, Windows, and OS/2 under OS/2. Non-dedicated – i.e., other tasks may run in the same LAN Server machine. Facilities include print and file services, centralized network administration, access to and management of shared resources, and multiple servers. It was originally based on Microsoft’s LAN Manager2 (which IBM licensed for use in OS/2 EE) with IBM bells and whistles to suit it for the enterprise environment. Version 3.0 (October 1992) was a full 32-bit implementation with a few extra functions, and in September 1994 Entry and Advanced versions were announced. Replaced by OS/2 Warp Server December 1996. Over the years, LAN Server has been announced for many other platforms. An OS/400 version. An AIX version was replaced by AIX Connections in November 1996. A z/OS version was announced in March 1995, enabling the mainframe to act as a server for OS/2 LAN Servers. And then there was LAN Server for Macintosh, which was OS/2 software which allows Macintosh users to send files to Postscript printers on an OS/2 network, and PC users to access printers on an AppleTalk network; withdrawn August 2000. LAN Server Ultimedia was OS/2 software that allowed a number of users to simultaneously access full motion video and sound from a single LAN server; announced November 1993, withdrawn December 1997.
LAN Station Manager: PC-DOS and OS/2 program which collects information about a workstation (adapter, office number, etc) and transmits it to LAN Network Manager. Uses the ISO CMIP (see CMIP1). Announced September 1990, withdrawn July 1997.
LAP-D: Protocol used within Frame Relay. It’s a subset of HDLC.
Laptop: Generic term for the first generation of portable computers that were small enough to use on your lap without cutting off the blood supply to your toes.
Large Program Support: Replaced by Very Large Program Support.
Latch: Internal DB2 mechanism for locking data. Requires less overhead than IRLM.
Latency: A measure of response time. On a disk drive, how long it takes for the first bit of requested data to rotate under the head. In a network, the minimum elapsed time for a message to be transmitted, consisting of the aggregate delay contributed by the communications links and devices along the way. For a computer, the time period between the issuing of a command and the beginning of the requested action. At McDonalds, how long it takes your hamburger to arrive after you order it.
LCAP: Loosely Coupled Array Processors. An IBM parallel processing research system in the late 1980s which linked 3090-400s and -600s into a single system.
LCD: Liquid Crystal Display. Technology used in calculators and, more recently, laptop computers. Originally monochrome only, but TFT provides a color technology used in laptops, replacing CRTs in desktop monitors and perhaps televisions in the future.
LDAP: Lightweight Directory Access Protocol. An Internet directory management standard that provides a consistent way to manage user access to network resources, such as information, applications, and systems.
LDAP Server: The LDAP component of SecureWay Security Server.
LDIF: LDAP Data Interchange Format.
LDN: Lotus Developer Network.
LDS: See Linear DataSet.
LE: See Language Environment.
Learning Services: The part of IBM that lets them lay claim to being world’s largest computer training company.
LearningSpace: Lotus Web-based e-learning management and delivery system. Part of IBM Mindspan Solutions.
Leased line: Generic term for a wide area communications line that is always available to the user – i.e., it is not shared, and it is not interruptible. Such lines are usually rented from a PTT – hence the name. See Switched line.
LEC: LAN Emulation Client. See LAN Emulation.
LED: Light-Emitting Diode.
Legacy system: An old system, running on incompatible hardware, and probably unsupportable because the code is unstructured and the guy who wrote it left to become a Buddhist priest some years ago. Legacy systems are the bane of the DP manager’s life. IBM sometimes uses the term in a slightly different way, to mean part of an open system that belongs neither to the SAA camp nor to Unix (and which is thus thoroughly undesirable). See also New World system.
Legato: See Legato NetWorker.
Legato NetWorker: AIX software marketed by IBM but dropped in February 1996 to let ADSM replace it.
LEN: Low Entry Networking. 1986 SNA development which turned into APPN.
LEN node: Low Entry Networking Node. A type 2.1 node which doesn’t have the APPN extensions to the LEN architecture. A LEN node can take part in an APPN network but only as an origin or destination node, not as a network node.
Lessee: A company or individual which uses equipment for which it makes lease payments to a lessor.
Lessor: The ultimate owner of equipment used by a lessee – e.g., a financial institution or a leasing company.
Lexmark: The Lexington, Kentucky company (an IBM alliance company) into which IBM put its keyboard, typewriter, and low-end printer business in 1990. IBM retained 10% of the equity in Lexmark, which did a lot better after it left IBM than it was doing when it was part of IBM (it doubled profits in the first two years of independence). It still supplied lots of machines and consumables to IBM, both under its own name and as an OEM supplier, until the expiry in March 1996 of a non-competition agreement. IBM then got into the business in a big way, including a paper line in stores everywhere. See also Network Printer, Pennant.
LexRes: Printer technology developed by Lexmark and used in the 4029 laser printers.
LFS: See LAN File Services.
LFS/ESA: See LAN File Services.
LI: License Information.
libpcap: Packet Capture Library. A high-level user interface to the Berkeley Packet Filter (BPF). Plus an API with the BPF for reading unprocessed network traffic and writing customized applications that monitor and/or capture the network traffic.
Library/MVS: Set of IBM MVS manuals and other information that can be accessed by the Information/MVS product. Withdrawn December 1997.
Library for REXX/370: Run-time routines for compiled REXX programs in z/OS and z/VM. See also Compiler for REXX/370.
Library Management Facilities: See LMF.
Library Readers: BookManager software included on the IBM manual CD-ROMs that allows the reading of the manuals.
LIC1: Licensed Internal Code. IBMspeak for microcode. When you buy an eserver zSeries 900 or iSeries 400, you buy a license to use the microcode supplied with the machine. If you mess about with the microcode IBM can, and sometimes does, descend on you with lawsuits (see AMI2). See also SLIC.
LIC2: Line Interface Coupler. A circuit that attaches transmission cables to a controller (from DTEs, DCE2s, or telecomms lines).
Licensed Internal Code: See LIC1.
License Manager: IBM License Manager. z/OS tool used by IBM to implement WLC. It also allows vendors to enable their products for licensed software management by customers. ILM is based on Version 2 of the X-Open Software License Manager (XSLM) standard from The Open Group, which defines a software license use management system. See also ILM Management Tool.
LIFO: Last In, First Out. A queuing technique where the most recent addition to the queue is processed first. Also known as a push-down stack. cf. FIFO.
Light Path Diagnostics: Part of X-architecture on the eserver xSeries. It shows you, with an illuminated path, where the failing component is in the server.
Lightweight Directory Access Protocol: See LDAP.
LIM EMS: Lotus/Intel/Microsoft Expanded Memory Specification. Technique for overcoming the original 640KB PC-DOS RAM limitation.
Linda: A groundbreaking mid 1980s research system developed by David Gelernter and others at Yale University.
Line adapter: In the IBM comms environment, a line adapter is a device that scans and controls the transmission lines. Line adapters are built into the 3745 controller and are also known as scanners.
Linear Dataset: A VSAM dataset type, similar to an ESDS, but which always has 4096 byte blocks, and which can be kept permanently in memory for enhanced performance. Used for Data in Virtual (DIV).
Line of Business: The things a company does to earn its living – e.g., banking, manufacturing, etc. Also used to refer to an organizational unit within a decentralized corporate structure. Within IBM, a Line of Business is a group of product divisions.
Line speed: The number of bits that can be sent over a telecommunication line in one second, expressed in bits per second (bps). Least frequently, expressed in baud.
Linkage Editor: Program which converts an object code module into an executable load module. It may also include external subprograms, and perform various operations on load modules. In z/OS, the Linkage Editor has been replaced by the Program Management Binder.
Link test: A test used in SNA to test the operation of links. Three types of test can be carried out, differing in the resources deployed, but all are based on one link station returning unchanged the data received from another link station.
Linkway: Application development language on the PC that allows you to develop applications using text, pictures, sound, video. Withdrawn October 1997.
LINPAK: A benchmark for scientific systems. Developed by the Argonne National Laboratory in the USA. Widely quoted by IBM (cf. RAMP-C). LINPAK measures the speed with which a system solves sets of linear equations.
Linux: A Unix variant that seems to run on everything from workstations, where Microsoft haters insist it will replace Windows, to mainframes, where IBM has spent bags of money making it run well. Linux runs on all four eserver families. It can be run native or in an LPAR on the zSeries 900. xSeries offers an option for preinstalled Linux distributions. The iSeries 400 supports the native Linux kernel in an OS/400 partition. And pSeries supports native PowerPC Linux distributions. There are 12 Linux Porting Centers worldwide that provide IBM technical assistance to ISVs and applications developers that are moving to Linux.
LIOCS: Logical Input/Output Control System. The IOCS component as seen by the application program doing I/O in VSE/ESA.
Lion food: IBMspeak for middle management – after a not very funny joke about a lion which hid near an IBM office and got away with eating an IBM manager every day for a year, because nobody noticed what it was doing.
Lipstick on a bulldog: A rejuvenated GUI interface (i.e., the lipstick) that hides the dated green-on-black interface of a host application and tries to disguise the vintage of the application.
LISC: Limited Instruction Set Computing. Much the same as RISC.
LISP: Development language and application environment for artificial intelligence and expert systems. Available on z/VM, z/OS, PC, and AIX. Key IBM implementation was Common LISP which used PCs connected to an z/OS mainframe to provide a full LISP environment. Long gone, except for an RT PC version of LISP discovered in the Year 2000 efforts, and promptly withdrawn December 1997. See also Golden and LUCID.
Listener: An IBM application that performs the functions of a concurrent server in the TCP/IP sockets interface for CICS.
LIST request: Builds in-storage profiles for a RACF general resource class via the RACROUTE macro with REQUEST=LIST specified.
LL2: Link Level 2.
LLA: Library Lookaside Address space. z/OS feature which uses VLF to store commonly used system data in a dataspace.
LLAPI: Low-Level Language Application Programming Interface. PC Macro Assembler interface. Allows user written programs to simulate a terminal operator. Note that the term is also used generically, and that everybody’s LLAPI is different from everybody else’s.
LLC: Logical Link Control. An IEEE standard for LANs and WANs, implemented and enhanced by IBM and other vendors, which defines how command packets (protocol data units) are created and interpreted for supporting logical link functions. Provides a common access control standard and governs the assembly of data packets between workstations, regardless of how the packets are transmitted across the LAN (i.e., it doesn’t determine how the transmission medium is shared).
LMF: Library Management Facility. ISPF/PDF dialog-only product for the administration of software components contained in program libraries. Replaced by SCLM and removed from z/OS.
LMT: see Logos Machine Translation
LMU/6000: See LAN Management Utilities.
LoadLeveler: An AIX1 workload management system for serial and parallel batch jobs. Several methods of scheduling jobs, including the availability of a specified resource. Uses PSSP Security Services within DCE2.
Load module: A program in a form that can be loaded into memory for immediate execution.
LoB: See Line of Business.
Lobe: The section of cable in a Token Ring Network that attaches a device to an access unit.
Local loop: Generic term for the connecting piece between a public network (telephone, ISDN or cable) and the customer’s premises.
Locally RACLISTed profiles: In-Storage profiles for RACF-defined resources that are not shared with other RACF nodes. See also RACLISTed profile, globally RACLISTed profiles.
Local mode: An RRSF node operating without a logical connection to any other RRSF node.
Location transparency: Generic term most widely used with reference to distributed database. In a system which has location transparency, the user cannot tell which of any connected systems he is communicating with. For example, the response time, user request, etc, would be the same for remote access as for local access.
Logging: Recording of data about specific events, creating an audit trail.
Logical Partitioning: Way of dividing up a processor’s capacity under PR/SM into LPARs (Logical PARtitions). Available on eserver zSeries 900 and iSeries 400. New with the zSeries 900 was the ability of products and programs running in an LPAR to query a unique identifier and the capacity for the LPAR, giving the LPAR the properties of a virtual server. This gives ISVs the option of licensing their software to an LPAR, and thus an additional method of implementing sub-CEC pricing.
Logical String Assist: Firmware first added to the ES/9000 (9021 and some 9121s) to improve performance of C and other high-level language applications which perform extensive string manipulation operations.
Logical Volume Manager: The set of AIX operating system commands, library subroutines and other tools used to map data between a logical view of storage space and the actual physical disks. The logical volume device driver (LVDD) is a pseudo-device driver that manages and processes all I/O.
Logos Machine Translation: Software to assist translation between languages, such as English to Italian, from Logos Corporation. Marketed by IBM.
Log retention: How long audit trail logs are kept.
Lone Star: The IBM codename for its first copper-based microprocessor, released in September 1998.
Loop adapter: A component of the 43xx processor family that enables a variety of SNA and non-SNA devices to be attached. A few subsequent but unrelated devices with the same name have been available over the years.
Lotus: A very independent part of IBM. Originally a PC software company made rich and famous by 1-2-3, which took over from where the first spreadsheet, VisiCalc, left off. IBM set up a strategic software alliance with Lotus in June 1991, which allowed IBM to market the cc:Mail electronic mail system and Lotus Notes groupware product for interactive file and data sharing across a LAN. June 1995 IBM bought out Lotus in a transaction which started as a contested takeover, and then became uncontested when IBM offered so much money (a premium of around 100% on the quoted share price), that the shareholders couldn’t resist. IBM’s aim, according to observers, was to get its hot, sticky hands on Notes and cc:Mail (which it had been distributing for four years), and the Notes customer base. Wisely, Lotus corporate culture was retained and the company flourishes inside IBM. Note: within this glossary, Lotus products and services are, like IBM’s, listed without Lotus in front of them.
Lotus Discovery Server: See Discovery Server.
Lotus Domino: See Domino.
Lotus Notes: See Notes.
Lotus Web Content Management Solution: A combination of products, business consulting and Lotus Professional Services designed to deliver a customized Web content management solution. Announced October 2001.
LOVEM: Line Of Visibility Enterprise Modeling. An IBM trademark and methodology to define and document the activities in a business process, particularly for workflow solutions. The obsolete Business Process Modeler was built on LOVEM.
Lower CASE: See CASE1.
LPA: Link Pack Area. The z/OS area used for resident programs, e.g., those programs which are most frequently used and (usually for performance reasons) should not be loaded by each application program from libraries stored on disk.
LPAR: See Logical PARtitioning.
LPDA-1: The first version of the Link Problem Determination Aid (LPDA2) command set. LPDA-1 is not compatible with LPDA-2.
LPDA1: Link Problem Determination Application. Application software within NCP that gathers information from IBM modems and other DTEs about the common carrier transmissions – noise, carrier drop-outs, etc. A version of LPDA is also available on the iSeries 400 where it supports the use of the iSeries 400 as the middle tier of a three-tier system.
LPDA-2: The second version of the Link Problem Determination Aid (LPDA2) command set. In addition to the functionality of LPDA-1; LPDA-2 also supports the following commands: DCE2 configuration, dial and set transmit speed.
LPDA2: Link Problem Determination Aid. A series of procedures that are used to test the status of and to control DCE2s, the communication line, and the remote device interface. See LPDA-1 and LPDA-2.
LPM: Logical Partitioning Mode. The mode an zSeries 900 or iSeries 400 runs in under PR/SM.
LPT: Line PrinTer. Used in the LPT: logical device name on PC-DOS and Windows operating systems for the default printer.
LRA: Local Registration Authority.
LRU: Least Recently Used. Generic (non-IBM) term referring to the selection of items from a group based on when they were last accessed. Typically used in archiving and virtual storage management. For example, when you run out of real memory, it makes sense to page out the blocks of memory that were least recently used.
LSA: Local Security Authority.
LSFM: Large Scale Function Module. A hardware sub-assembly within an ES/9000 processor. Typically contains a TCM1, and a power and cooling system – for example the vector facility.
LSI: Large Scale Integration. See also IC4, VLSI, TCM1.
LSO: Local System Operator. A facility which provides 3270 support for network management of OSI systems (implemented using OSI/CS). Provides an alternative to NetView.
LSPR: Large Systems Performance Reference. An IBM methodology for comparing the performance of IBM and compatible mainframes. The apparently deliberate leakage of the LSPR in mid 1991 caused something of a storm in a teacup (it was leaked in England). February 1993, IBM decided to publish the whole lot. It doesn’t seem to have hurt, since IBM is still using LSPR to rate their mainframes.
LSR: Local Shared Resources. A technique for improving CICS performance by the sharing of a common buffer pool for VSAM datasets.
LTERM: Logical TERMinal. IMS TM terminology.
LTLW: LAN-to-LAN Wide area network program. OS/2 software for connecting LANs. Supports NetBIOS, TCP/IP, and IPX. Also runs within the 8250. An entry level version was announced January 1993. Withdrawn August 1998.
LU: Logical Unit. The user’s port into an SNA network. LU1 is a high performance print stream, LU2 is a 3270 datastream, LU3 is a 3270 print datastream. LU6 is a Logical Unit to allow host-to-host data exchange. LU7 is the 5250 datastream. LU6.2 is the most exciting LU and gets an entry all of its very own in this glossary. See also BIND1, Independent LU.
LU6.2: Peer-to-peer datastream cum network operating system for program-to-program communication (see APPC), which allows machines to talk to one another without the involvement of the mainframe. LU6.2 also supports asynchronous (store-and-forward) networking. LU6.2 is IBM’s strategic device-independent, process-to-process protocol.
LU6.4: Once a rumored new protocol derived from LU6.2 but which incorporates co-processing and protocol conversion as integral network functions. Never happened.
LUCB: Logical Unit Control Block.
LUCID: Obsolete LISP implementation under AIX.
Luggable Huggable: Sick-making IBM soubriquet for the AS/400 Portable One.
LUM: IBM License Use Management/Manager. An IBM software tool that is sometimes required as a condition of license for certain IBM software products (e.g., ENOVIA).
Lunatic fringe: IBMspeak for customers who can always be relied upon to take the first release of new software.
LVDD: Logical Volume Device Driver. See Logical Volume Manager.
LVM: See Logical Volume Manager.
LX: Long wavelength.
M
M4K: Another name for the Common Storage Format (see CSF2).
MAAPICS: Alternate spelling, used in the UK, for MAPICS.
MAC1: Media Access Control. Generic term for the way in which workstations gain access to transmission media. Most widely used in reference to LANs, in which context IBM uses token passing, and Ethernet uses CSMA/CD.
Mac2: Apple Macintosh computer.
MAC3: Mandatory Access Control.
MAC4: Message Authentication Code algorithm.
MACH: Unix-derivative operating system developed originally by Carnegie-Mellon University. IBM was consistently rumored to be using it as a kernel able to support OS/2 and AIX1 (see PowerPC), and within Taligent’s projects.
Machine Translation: IBM’s term for software-assisted translation between languages, such as English to Italian.
Macintosh: Apple’s PC/workstation which is the only serious non-IBM office workstation. The Macintosh grew its market share on the strength of its user-friendly GUI and its strengths in DTP1. IBM and Apple have various R & D agreements (see Apple). Early 1996 IBM took out a license which enabled it to sublicense the Macintosh operating systems to firms building Macintosh clones based on the PowerPC chip.
Macro1: A preprocessor (precompiler), and the statements it processes, for Assembler. Generates Assembler instructions and machine instruction mnemonics as well as allowing assembly time conditional logic.
Macro2: The assembly language for DEC minicomputers.
Macro-level: The first, now obsolete, method of CICS application programming that used macro calls to interface between the application and CICS. Macro-level worked by allowing programmers to directly modify control blocks, which placed very tight restrictions on the development of CICS. Macro-level CICS programming has been replaced by command-level CICS, and support for macro-level was finally withdrawn with effect from CICS Version 3.2. But, for most, the real date was December 1996, when support ended for CICS/MVS (CICS Version 2.1), because it had been the only supported version of CICS where macro-level would run. Of course, there were non-IBM software products that promise(d) to allow macro-level to run forever under newer versions of CICS.
MADMAN: Message And Directory MANagement. An Internet standard.
MAESTRO: An integrated CASE1 environment developed by Softlab and sold originally by Philips. IBM sold it for the RS/6000 until June 1994.
Magneto-optical: Generic term for an optical storage technology (used in the re-writeable model of the 3995). In the 3995, a combination of heat and a magnetic field is used to create changes in the surface of the recording medium; these changes can be read optically. Re-applying the heat and opposite magnetism reverses the state of the medium.
Magneto-Resistive: See MR head.
Magstar: New-generation IBM tape drive announced in April 1995. It’s a generic SCSI device, and initially came with support for AS/400s, RS/6000s, the SP2 parallel systems, and Solaris boxes via a Fast and Wide SCSI-2 interface. Within the IBM ambit, it’s used in the 3590. Key technical features include: serpentine, longitudinal recording technique that enables data to be recorded and read-verified in both directions; 128 data tracks across the tape; second generation magneto-resistive heads which cover 32 tracks at a time and are mounted on a carrier which moves across the width of the tape guided by a track-following servo; pre-written servo track; and a user-written volume control region which contains block and file pointers to enable high-speed, pseudo direct access to blocks or files on the tape. Initially used 10GB cartridges, externally compatible with 3490 cartridges (for use in 3494 and 3495 ATLs) but cannot be read on older devices. ESCON support introduced in March 1996. A new range of Magstar models, announced Sept 1996, includes a Virtual Tape Server which provides some pioneering technology for stacking multiple tape volumes on a single cartridge.
Mail Exchange: Formerly, an IBM public e-mail service on the Information Network (see IN). X.400 support announced November 1991.
Mail LAN Gateway: OS/2 software, known as IMLG/2, which enables incompatible e-mail systems to exchange files and mail. Supports any-to-any communication among cc:Mail, OfficeVision, PROFS, and any SNADS-compliant e-mail application. Announced October 1992. Moved to the Soft-Switch division of Lotus November 1996. Lotus has since completely scrapped Soft-Switch and its products.
Mainframe: Mainframes used to be defined by their size, and they can still fill a room, cost millions, and support thousands of users. But now a mainframe can also run on a laptop and support two users. So today's mainframes are best defined by their operating systems: Unix and Linux, and IBM's z/OS, OS/390, MVS, VM, and VSE. Mainframes combine four important features: 1) Reliable single-thread performance, which is essential for reasonable operations against a database. 2) Maximum I/O connectivity, which means mainframes excel at providing for huge disk farms. 3) Maximum I/O bandwidth, so connections between drives and processors have few choke-points. 4) Reliability–mainframes often allow for “graceful degradation” and service while the system is running.
Main System: The system designated to received most of the RRSF communications on a multisystem RRSF node.
malloc: The default memory allocator subsystem in AIX1.
Mammoth-2: 8mm tape drives used in 7334.
MAN: Metropolitan Area Network. Generic term for the logical and physical evolution from LAN technology. A MAN provides a network in scale somewhere between a LAN and a WAN. Typically a MAN will cover about 50km, run at 100-200Mbps+, and mix different types of traffic – voice, data, image, etc. FDDI was a hot favorite to become the standard MAN technology, but was soon replaced by ATM. Standards for MANs are continually being developed by the IEEE and ANSI.
Managed System Services: iSeries 400 SystemView software, introduced September 1993, which allows multiple unattended iSeries 400s to be managed remotely from a mainframe (including application of PTFs, remote IPL, etc). The mainframe needs to be running software which supports SNA/MS2 (e.g., NetView DM). An alternate approach is to use an iSeries 400 to manage other iSeries 400s. See System Manager for details.
Managed user ID association: Relationship between two user IDs, where the managing ID can run RACF commands under the authority of the managed ID, but not vice versa.
Management Buyout: See MBO.
Management Central: Part of Operations Navigator which, in turn, is part of OS/400. A GUI for remotely managing iSeries 400 systems, from a Web browser, PDA with wireless modem, even from a cell phone.
Management Class: One of the SMS1 storage management classes. Management Class defines the backup/recovery and migration/recall requirements of a dataset1. In England the phrase has political significance and should be used with great caution.
ManageWare/400: AS/400 SystemView software, introduced September 1993, which administers the distribution of software from an AS/400 to PCs and PS/2s. Administrators can manipulate nodes, register and log package distribution, and manage licenses. Part of IBM’s strategy of promoting the AS/400 as a server. Withdrawn December 1997.
MAP1: Manufacturing Automation Protocol. General Motors’ standard for factory floor communications which at one time looked to be heading for industry-standard status, but is now in the doldrums. It’s an implementation of the ISO OSI seven layer model, which uses broadband, IEEE 802.4, token-bus LANs. MAP connection to z/VM was available from IBM, and MAP network management is supported in IBM’s OSI/CS product. Manufacturing Automation Protocol VM Support was replaced May 1990 by OSI/Manufacturing Messaging Services for VM, but it was withdrawn May 1992. There was also an OS/2 version which was not withdrawn until 1998 in a Y2K roundup, but support had ended years before.
MAP2: Maintenance Analysis Procedure. Documentation used by IBM service personnel for hardware maintenance. It has a step-by-step procedure for tracing a symptom to the cause of a failure.
MAP3: Migration Assist Program. Defunct IBM scheme which helps people move from an old system to a new one, typically by offering a very good trade-in deal on the old machine. MAP has been used for two main purposes: first to placate people who’ve bought a machine which has almost immediately been obsoleted, and secondly to keep up sales of an about-to-be-superseded line just prior to the introduction of the successor.
MAPI: Messaging/Mail Application Programming Interface. Messaging standard promoted by Microsoft for joining desktop computing programs to a messaging service. Supported by IBM in its IBM WorkGroup product.
MAPICS: Manufacturing, Accounting, Production and Control System. MRP system originally developed for the System/36, then made available on the System/38 and AS/400 for CIM1 applications. In a March 1993 agreement with Marcam Corporation, IBM stopped marketing MAPICS. Also spelled MAAPICS.
MAQ: Maintenance Agreement Qualification letter. A certificate of quality issued by IBM after a detailed inspection of a machine. The MAQ states that IBM agrees to continue to maintain the machine under a new owner, or at a new site. An MAQ lasts for six months and is very useful for those buying and selling second-user machines. In the late 1990s, there were some changes, resulting in two versions becoming available: a General Maintenance Agreement Qualification, and a Tailored-Maintenance Agreement Qualification.
Marcam: The company which developed the MAPICS software.
Market basket: IBM discount scheme in which IBM discounts products by offering you a credit of up to 10% of the product’s value: you can spend this credit on other IBM products selected from the current market basket. It’s not a bad deal, but you have to make sure that the products are ones that you would have bought anyway – what’s in the basket is the stuff IBM wants you to have, rather than the things you’d choose if they weren’t in the basket. The Market Basket term was dropped when the generic term Market Basket Analysis came into popular use in the mid-1990s.
Marketecture: A wonderful coinage to describe grand designs whose existence owes more to the creative intellect of marketers than to the industry of product developers. IBM is the past master at creating marketectures, outdoing even the people who write manifestos for politicians. See, for example, ASA, Common Cryptographic Architecture, CDRA, CSA3, DCA, DIA, ESA, FAA, FBA, FOCA, GOCA, GTA, IAA, IIA, IOCA, MCA, OCA1, OCA2, OIAA, OSA1, PAA, PTOCA, SAA, SMA, SNA, UIA, etc, etc, etc.
Markup language: A notation for identifying the elements of a document to enable each element to be formatted, and displayed. See HTML, XML, SGML.
Master catalog: The z/OS catalog where the search begins for a dataset. cf. User catalog.
Master Primary Dataset: The first dataset activated in the primary RACF database.
Matsushita: Very large and diversified Japanese industrial company which, among other things, has been the OEM manufacturer of IBM’s Japanese market PCs, and supplier of the optical disks in the 3995. It also made some PS/2s for IBM in Taiwan and in the USA. But, best known by its Panasonic brand name.
MAU: Multi-station Access Unit as in the defunct 8228. Ring wiring concentrator at the center of a TRN star-wired network. A passive device (a small box with 8 or 16 connectors, and relays acting as by-pass switches) which, among other things, enables a physical star network to function as a logical ring network (thereby allowing the wiring from an existing terminal network to be used for the TRN). MAUs can be connected to create bigger rings with up to 256 devices. The 8228 MAU has minimal logic supplying some capability for detouring round failed devices (it listens out for the I’m alive signal from the workstations, and automatically disconnects a dead workstation using a by-pass relay). See also 8230.
Maximum Strategy Corp: IBM partner in a program to develop HIPPI attachment of disk arrays for scientific and number-crunching applications.
Maximum Transmission Unit: See MTU.
Mb1: See Megabit.
MB2: See MegaByte.
MBA: Memory Bus Adapter.
MBCS: Multi-Byte Character Set. Coding system for characters where each character requires more than one byte to represent it. Required for languages with more than 256 characters that need to be represented. English is just the reverse with only 26 letters, 10 digits and a small set of punctuation and no accent marks. cf. SBCS, DBCS.
Mbit: See Megabit.
MBNLQ: Menu-Based Natural Language Query program. PC and PS/2 end-user tool which converts English language screen prompts into SQL for up-loading to an AS/400 or System/3x. Obsolete PRPQ2.
MBO: Management BuyOut. Existing management of a company buy it from its owners.
Mbps: Megabits per second.
MBRS: Mobile Business Recovery Services. An IBM foray into disaster recovery. Consisted of an AS/400 on the back of a truck. Obsolete.
MBS: Maximum Burst Size.
Mbyte: See Megabyte.
MC: See Management Central.
MCA: MicroChannel Architecture (MCA). The peripheral bus introduced with the first PS/2s. The MCA was a proper channel architecture incorporating lots of the features for which add-in cards were necessary on the PC. MCA did not have the immediate impact that IBM wanted, and the compatible vendors developed an alternative (EISA) in the hope of gaining control of the standard for PC add-ons. In the end, EISA and SCSI became the low and high end workstation standard, respectively, for hard disk and a few other devices. But it was PCI that replaced both MCA and ISA for all other cards in the workstation. AGP has since become the standard for video cards. And, of course, there is USB for external devices. MCA was also used, for a time, as the standard channel on the RS/6000. See also MCDA.
MCCU: Multisystem Channel Communication Unit. Same as MSCU.
MCD: Management Consultancy Division. A division of IBM set up in August 1991 to sell consultancy services in the market dominated by the likes of McKinsey & Co and Booz Allen and Hamilton (from whom MCD recruited its head). Naturally, it failed miserably given the difficulty of persuading prospects that a company which had, at the time, made such a dog’s breakfast of its own fortunes would be a good company to advise the prospect’s organization. See also Know How, Global Services.
MCDA: MicroChannel Developers’ Association. Now defunct consortium set up October 1990 by IBM and various PC manufacturers to promote IBM’s MicroChannel architecture (MCA). Aimed at reviving the moribund fortunes of the MCA standard whose failure to take off was partly attributable to the absence of a second source for MCA machines (at the time that the MCDA was set up, 94% of installed MCA-equipped machines were IBM-made). See also EISA, PCI.
McDATA: McData Corporation. IBM expanded its reseller agreement with McDATA in March 2001 to include the complete Enterprise-to-Edge family of SAN products.
MCGA: Multi-Color Graphics Array. The low-end color video monitor adapter for IBM’s early PS/2 series machines.
MCI: MCI Communications Corp (the letters MCI originally stood for Microwave Communications Inc – but it’s just MCI these days). Major US long-distance communications carrier of which IBM acquired a large chunk in 1985 in exchange for bits of SBS and three satellites. During 1988 MCI bought itself back from IBM.
MCM1: MultiChip Module. Standard hardware packaging, including the processor, for eserver zSeries 900, originally introduced in the G5 System/390.
MCM2: Multichip Ceramic Module. Technology used in some RS/6000s that had interesting implications, such as the requirement that memory be installed in pairs.
MCS console: A non-SNA device defined to z/OS, used to enter commands and receive messages, that is locally attached to a z/OS system.
MCU1: Magnetic Card Unit.
MCU2: Modular Cooling Unit. Used on the eserver zSeries 900.
MD2: Hashing algorithms developed by RSA Security to create a 128-bit hash value from a 64-bit block.
MD4: Hashing algorithms developed by RSA Security to create a 128-bit hash value from a 64-bit block.
MD5: Hashing algorithms developed by RSA Security to create a 128-bit hash value from a 64-bit block.
MDp: Message Driven processor. An IBM PRPQ2 originally from Early, Cloud & Company. See Messaging. Replaced by the MQSI Agent for CICS
MDQ: Market Driven Quality.
Measured Usage: The method of charging for software based on the monthly usage. Same as Usage pricing.
Media Access Control: See MAC1.
MediaStreamer: Specialized RS/6000 storage product, and the AIX1 software to run it, for storage and delivery of multiple video streams from a single copy on a RAID system. Announced December 1994. Withdrawn June 1998.
Megabit: 1,048,576 bits. Abbreviated as Mb.
Megabyte: Roughly one million bytes – actually 1,048,576 bytes. Abbreviated as MB.
MegaFLOPS: One million FLOPS.
Megaplex: A processor complex formed by connecting together sysplexes, possibly distributed over a number of sites.
Member: A RACF user belonging to a group.
Member Profile: A RACF profile storing the security level information for, and definition of, a member.
Member System: Any z/OS system image in an multisystem RRSF node.
Memory-based computing: The notion that all data and programs should be held in some form of immediate access semiconductor memory (main store or expanded storage). Holding data in memory obviates the need for time-consuming channel transfers and gives very substantial performance benefits. IBM benefits too because you need to buy large amounts of memory on which to base your computing. DFSMS and ESA were the key initial architectures designed to make memory-based computing possible. Note that memory-based computing has the effect of changing the large system from a read-dominated environment to a write-dominated environment – hence the emphasis in IBM’s then plans of features such as the 3990 DASD Fast Write.
Merchant server: In the SET architecture this is a Web server that offers catalog shopping.
Mercury: An architecture cum technology (announced March 1994) from Legent and IBM. Used SNMP standards to allow management of distributed applications from a central (probably mainframe) platform.
Merge: The combining of two or more sorted files into a single file. One of the two main capabilities of a sort/merge program. See also DFSORT.
Merlin: OS/2 Warp development to upgrade OS/2’s capabilities, including multimedia, games, networks, security, speech recognition, Internet capabilities, and Windows 95 compatibility.
Merva/370: Message Entry and Routing for Various Applications. A somewhat obscure bit of software used for connecting to the European S.W.I.F.T interbank telecommunications system. Available in various incarnations for the mainframe, PS/2, AS/400, and RS/6000. Announced June 1988. See www-3.ibm.com/software/solutions/finance/merva
MES: Miscellaneous Equipment Specification. An RPQ on-site upgrade.
Message Queue Manager: MQM. See MQSeries.
Messaging: Generic term for a technique (aka Transactional Messaging) for implementing distributed systems. Messages are sent to a number of different processes in a distributed system; the processes access queued messages, generate new messages, and carry on until the application is finished. In effect it’s an architecture for high-reliability store and forward systems. The technique simplifies the writing of program to program communications by hiding the underlying protocols (which also makes it open and system-independent). See also CPI-M, MQI.
Metaphor: US company (a Xerox spin-off) which developed a proprietary WIMP-type workstation linked to a file/database server accessing mainframe VSAM files and databases. Metaphor struck up an agreement with IBM mid 1988 to port the interface and database server to the PS/2 environment – which it did in the Data Interpretation System (DIS) which IBM marketed. By October 1991 IBM had bought Metaphor lock, stock, and interface, but the company continued to run under its own name and management. However, mid 1994, IBM announced that the company would close by the end of the year and that its staff would be absorbed into the IBM body corporate. See also Patriot Partners.
MFI: MainFrame Interactive. MFI workstations is IBMspeak for dumb(ish) terminals such as the 3270 and 5520 families. The term died in favor of NPTs (Non Programmable Terminals) but that too is a distant memory.
MFLOPS: MegaFLOPS. One MFLOPS is one million floating point operations per second. See FLOPS.
MFS: Message Format Service. An editing facility found in IMS1 that allows applications to deal with simple logical messages rather than device-dependent data. This has the advantage of simplifying application development. IMS TM equivalent of the CICS BMS1. Famous for having one of the all-time dreadful manuals.
MFT: Multiprogramming Fixed Tasks. Ancient forerunner of z/OS.
MgW: See ManageWare/400.
MHPG: Multiple High Performance Guest. See VM/MHPG.
MHS: Message Handling System/Service. A generic ITU-T term for message communication services of the store-and-forward variety. Under X.400, MHS enables connections to be made between fax, telex, teletex, and electronic mail services.
MIB: Management Information Base. Generic term (often used specifically in relation to the SNMP management protocol) for the database of the objects managed in a network – usually a LAN. IBM tends to use the term repository to refer to the same thing. See also CIB, EIB, Resource Object Data Manager.
Michigan Terminal System: See MTS2.
MICR: Magnetic Ink Character Recognition. A technology best known for its use to read those funny shaped numbers on checks and other bank documents. Supported by IBM on the 3828, and via a special interface on the 3835. MICR/OCR Support is an element of z/OS.
Micro CADAM: CAD software sold by IBM’s CADAM subsidiary. Available on a wide range of workstations including RS/6000 and Sun. CADAM has been merged with CATIA and the CADAM name has gradually disappeared. See CATIA.
MicroChannel: See MCA.
MicroChannel 370: Desktop mainframe models announced September 1990. Basically re-named 9371s with some extra features, mainly to support remote operation, including remote installation of firmware, improved system recovery, and more DASD. Not a lot was ever heard of them apart from the announcement.
Microcode: Although it can have very specific alternative meanings, its most common usage is as a synonym for firmware.
Micrografx: Company with which IBM set up an alliance in April 1991 after IBM fell out with Microsoft. Micrografx and IBM worked jointly on developing ways of improving Presentation Manager, and of making Windows applications run better under OS/2.
Microkernel: Now a generic term for a Unix kernel kept as small as possible by making files systems and device drivers external processes. But, it once was a core operating system under development by IBM for use on the PowerPC. It was built on top of the Mach operating system kernel, and designed in a way which allowed various personalities to be grafted on top, to create a wide range of different environments. Promised personalities included Unix, Windows, MS-DOS, OS/2, Macintosh, and Taligent. Originally known as the Workplace OS and Workplace Microkernel before it became Microkernel.
MicroMASTER: 1992 vintage processor card that fitted into the MicroChannel on a PS/2 and transmogrified it into a brand new high-powered 32-bit machine. Developed by AOX Corp in conjunction with IBM and sold by IBM. Obsolete.
Microsecond: 1/1,000,000 of a second.
Microsoft: The company which made the shrewd move of persuading IBM to use its DOS operating system for the IBM PC. Even more amazing is the fact that the fateful 1981 meeting with IBM was intended to discuss Microsoft’s BASIC, when Bill Gates got wind of the fact that the negotiations with Digital Research for CP/M were not going well. And he knew of another Seattle developer who had created an operating system by reverse engineering CP/M and was confident he could acquire the rights. The rest is history. Microsoft is now huge and influential, and has appeared on many occasions to be able to dictate IBM’s product strategies in the PC and LAN areas. Microsoft and IBM were once a happy couple, but the relationship started looking distinctly shaky mid-1990, when Microsoft started to nurture its own Windows 3.0 offspring, at the expense of their joint child, OS/2. The once happy couple are separated now: IBM has custody of OS/2 (although it had to pay royalties to Microsoft until 1998); Microsoft has DOS and Windows; and since September 1993 they no longer share information about any operating system developments. Microsoft has also taken over IBM’s role as the computer company you love to hate. And Bill Gates has actually found time for a wife and children by moving into Microsoft’s Chief Technology Officer position.
Microsoft Transaction Server: See MTS1.
MIDA: Message Interchange Distributed Application. European Computer Manufacturers’ Association (ECMA) standard for text interchange.
Middleware: Defies definition, although one slightly jaded view which emanated from the lips of an IBM executive is Any run-time code which is not yet in the operating system. For a time, like the client/server that preceded it, a majority of the world’s software was suddenly middleware. Its primary role is to provide connectivity services between platforms. There are numerous types: messaging middleware (e.g., MQSeries), database middleware (e.g., IBI EDA/SQL).
Migrate: To move from one version of a system to another. Major migrations always used to send a chill down the spine of the most battle-hardened DP manager, since the result was almost inevitably two years of total chaos before the new system works as well as the old. These days, IBM is a lot better at ensuring that migrations are a lot less painful than they used to be.
MI head: Magneto-Inductive head. Once the standard technology for tape and disk head. See also MR head.
Millennium: A highly automated distributed system developed by Microsoft’s research group.
Millennium Runtime Windowing: IBM tool used for z/OS short-term Y2K fixes. It is used to assess Y2K problems at execution time, allowing a predominantly automated fix to the load modules.
MILNET: The military network that was originally part of ARPAnet. It was partitioned from ARPANET in 1984.
MIME: Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions. An encoding format which allows e-mail messages containing a variety of media forms (audio, video, image, and text) to be sent across the Internet.
Mimix: Hot standby facility on the iSeries 400. Works by mirroring the main database or nominated files in read-only form on a second system. Bought in by IBM from Lakeview Technology, NY.
MIMX: See Mimix.
Mindspan: IBM Mindspan Solutions. Works with Lotus LearningSpace and IBM Learning Services to create a training function within an organization.
Minicomputer: IBMspeak for a machine that’s not a PC, but is small enough to hide in a departmental budget.
Mini-disk: z/VM storage unit. Each virtual machine running under VM is given space on a real disk in the form of one or more mini-disks. Each user gets their own virtual machine when they logon, so that means each user gets their own mini-disk.
MIPS: Million Instructions Per Second, (or Meaningless Indicator of Processor Speed, Many Important Selling Points, etc). A crude and not very meaningful way of expressing raw computer power. Not often used by IBM, which prefers to use ITR to express the power of a machine by comparing it with another machine in the same range. One of IBM’s rare forays into the world of MIPS gave what it claimed to be audited debit-credit figures showing that an IBM MIPS is about 3.24 times the size of a DEC MIPS. Pundits reckon that a mainframe MIPS is worth about 15 Unix MIPS. See also BIPS.
Mirroring: The technique of constantly maintaining a parallel copy of critical datasets, so that the duplicate data can be used if there is a problem with the main data. See Dual copy, Mimix, XRF.
MIS1: Management Information Systems. Systems designed to provide information to management on an ad hoc basis. Largely replaced by EIS and DSSs; see DSS1, EIS2
MIS2: Management Initiated Separation. IBMspeak for the process of being given the old heave-ho by the jolly blue giant, which gives the lie to the long-cherished belief that you can’t be fired for choosing IBM.
MIT: Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
MLC: Monthly License Charge. Superseded in most cases by the GMLC. See also FMLC, IMLC.
MLE: Millennium Language Extensions. IBM product for changing COBOL and PL/I applications to handle year 2000 dates. MLE is integrated into COBOL and PL/I compilers and automates date century windowing. It does not actually cure the problem but will provide some extra time for non-critical applications. See Y2K.
MM: MultiMode.
MMF: MultiMode Fiber.
MMR: Modified Modified Read. Proprietary IBM compression algorithm used in its image processing systems. User pressure forced IBM to edge away from MMR to the ITU-T Group 4 fax standards, but IBM keeps announcing new products that support both.
MMX: MultiMedia eXtensions (MMX). A set of instructions Intel added to its iAPX-86 chips in March 1996. The MMX additions are aimed specifically at speeding up multimedia and communications applications, and enabling multiple data elements to be processed in parallel through Single Instruction Multiple Data techniques.
MNP: Compression and error detection algorithm for modems. Invented by Microcom and implemented as a de facto standard by many manufacturers.
MNPP: Multi-protocol Network Processor Program. The software in the 6611, now called MPNP.
MNPS: MultiNode Persistent Session. An LU-LU session on the mainframe that survives a failure of VTAM, the operating system or the hardware.
MNS: Managed Network Service. A VANS/VADS provided by IBM UK before it all got sold to AT&T. See Global Network.
MO: See Magneto-Optical.
MO:DCA: Mixed Object: Document Content Architecture. IBM architecture for mixed documents (text + image + graphics etc). The replacement for the 3270 datastream for graphics-oriented terminals. Crucial to OfficeVision and ImagePlus; MO:DCA specifies the interface to OfficeVision.
MO:DCA-P: MO:DCA – Presentation.
Mobile Notes: Used with Domino Everyplace, provides access to e-mail, calendar, directories and Domino-based applications from handheld devices like PDAs and WAP phones.
Mobile Services for Domino: A server that acts as a proxy and otherwise provides secure communications from Domino to Mobile Notes. See also proxy server.
Model group: The traditional basis of IBM’s method of charging for software; processors are grouped according to their power, and the more powerful the processor, the more you pay IBM for software. It’s grotesquely unfair – a bit like paying more for your electricity if you live in a big house, even if you only use the same amount as someone living in a small house. Usage pricing has replaced model group pricing in many situations. See also User-based pricing.
Modeling: See profile modeling.
Modem: MOdulator-DEModulator. Device which modulates a digital signal into an analog form and demodulates an analog signal into a digital form (e.g., a 0 into a high tone, and a 1 into a low tone), usually for transmitting and receiving binary data over telephone lines and cable television wiring. IBM modems tend to be expensive, but well endowed with facilities for reporting their activities to IBM network management software. Known by AT&T as a dataset2.
Modular Switching Hubs: Chassis-based hubs (e.g., IBM 8260 or 8274) that accept multiple types of switching module such as Token Ring, Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, ATM2, FDDI.
MOF: The OMG’s Meta Object Facility defines a meta-metamodel which is useful for reconciling different metamodels (such as those of programming languages).
MOLAP: Multi-dimensional On-Line Analytical Processing.
MOM: Message Oriented Middleware. For example, MQSeries.
MOMA: Message Oriented Middleware Association. An acronym (shared with the altogether more interesting Museum of Modern Art in Manhattan) for the organization which promotes MQSeries.
Monthly License Charge: See MLC.
Mosaic: PC software from the National Center for Supercomputing Applications at the University of Illinois that allows users to browse Web servers on the Internet. No longer commercially available.
MOSP: Multiple Operating System Pricing. Pricing schedule introduced in June 1992 for mainframe software which marginally reduces the costs of software under PR/SM.
MOSS: Maintenance and Operator SubSystem. Subsystem which monitors the operation of the 37xx communications controller. See MOSS-E.
MOSS-E: Maintenance and Operator SubSystem Extended. A subsystem of the 3745 Communication Controller. MOSS-E operates independently of the rest of the controller. It is used to load and supervise the controller.
Motif: The interface to AIX1/Unix developed by the OSF. It’s an amalgam of the IBM/Microsoft Presentation Manager, DEC’s DECwindows, and HP’s New Wave, and was built by a joint DEC/HP team. From the user point of view, it’s the same as Presentation Manager. Consists of a Style Guide (a similar concept to the SAA CUA1), and a toolkit which implements the style guide in an X-Windows environment. Used as the basis of AIXwindows.
MOTIS: Message Oriented Text Interchange System. ISO standard for text transfer.
Motorola: Semiconductor company which, among a diverse range of products, made the 68000 family of chips used for years in the Apple Macintosh, and the odd IBM machine. October 1991 Motorola, IBM, and Apple set up a joint project to work on a new chip which eventually became the PowerPC. Today, the PowerPC runs both the eserver pSeries and the Mac.
Move Page: Mainframe machine instruction supported by z/OS beginning October 1989. Used to transfer data between expanded and central storage. Originally implemented as a new ESA instruction using the DAT facility. Move Page is used by Hiperbatch. Made available for z/VM in September 1991. A standard feature of the zSeries 900. See also Page.
MP: MultiProcessor. Mainframe configuration with two or more CPUs, each with its own I/O, but under the control of a single operating system.
MP3: See MPEG.
MPC1: See MultiPath Channel.
MPC2: AIX Multiprotocol Client.
MPEG: Motion Pictures Experts Group. International standard for digital video and audio compression for moving images. MPEG-I Audio Layer III is the familiar MP3 format used to compress audio for transmission over the Internet and in portable players that are the equivalent of the Sony Walkman.
MPF: Message Processing Facility. A facility in z/OS that controls message display and message processing, typically to suppress unnecessary system messages. A faltering step towards automated operations.
MPG: Multiple Preferred Guest. Hardware feature first introduced on the 3090E, which gave support for up to six preferred guests under VM/XA SP.
MPNP: Multi-Protocol Network Program. The software in the 6611. Updated in February 1994 with better response times, lower times for data link switching, improved support for SNA, NetBIOS, APPN network node, and Banyan Vines, and in September 1994 with DLSw traffic prioritization, and expanded connectivity. March 1996 it acquired ANR, RTP, and ARB.
MPOA: Multi-Protocol Over ATM2.
MPP1: Message Processing Program. See also IMS TM.
MPP2: Massively Parallel Processing. Although often used as a generic term for parallel processing systems, more strictly it means systems in which a number of processors, each with its own memory, are connected together. Applications are able to run across a number of processors if necessary. MPP systems require special operating systems and applications software capable of supporting the required parallelism. See also Symmetric multiprocessing.
MPSX/370: Mathematical Programming System eXtended/370. Linear programming (a mathematical not computing technique) implementation under z/VM and z/OS. Vector support is available, but no eserver zSeries 900 supports vector coprocessors or instructions. Still available, though there has not been a new release since 1990.
MPTF: Multi-Protocol Transport Feature. IBM’s common transport mechanism that allows multiple high-level communications protocols to run over a range of lower-level ones. MPTF was the first implementation of MPTN in VTAM in April 1993. aka AnyNet.
MPTN: Multi-Protocol Transport Networking. The architecture underlying the lower (Common Transport Semantic layer) levels of the Networking Blueprint. The first MPTN products (March 1993) supported TCP/IP across SNA and ran on z/OS and OS/2. MPTN was later adopted by The Open Group as a standard.
MQe: See MQSeries EveryPlace.
MQI: Message Queuing Interface. Standard within the Networking Blueprint for simplifying the transmission of transactions across a (possibly multi-vendor) network. The MQI is a high-level API which allows applications to communicate asynchronously via message queues. Enables programs in a heterogeneous network to communicate independently of the underlying communications protocols. First implemented in the CICS Message Queue Manager product in z/OS. See also Messaging, MQSeries.
MQM: Message Queue Manager. See MQSeries.
MQSeries: Messaging and Queuing Series. Set of products and standards (developed jointly by IBM and Systems Strategies Inc (now Apertus Technologies Inc)), and announced in March 1993 for the development of client/server-type TP applications based on the MQI. Provides a queuing infrastructure that sits on various systems in a client/server environment, and stores and forwards messages independently of the systems at each end of the communication. It can provide a single interface across a range of very different systems, including AIX1, z/OS, OS/2 Warp, OS/400, TPF, z/VM, VSE/ESA, 469x OS, Apple MacOS, DYNIX/ptx, Compaq NonStop Kernel, Compaq OpenVMS on VAX and Alpha, Compaq Tru64 Unix, Data General DG/UX, PC-DOS, HP-UX, HP 3000 MPE/ix, Hitachi, Java, Linux on Intel and zSeries 900, Windows 3.1/9x/2000/XP, NT1 on Intel and Alpha1, NCR (aka AT&T GIS) Unix, Pyramid DC/OSx, Siemens Nixdorf SINIX, SCO OpenServer, NUMA-Q, SCO UnixWare, SGI, Stratus VOS, Sun Solaris on Sparc and Intel, Unisys ClearPath OS 2200, Unisys A. See also MOMA.
MQSeries EveryPlace: Intended to provide the security and guaranteed delivery approach of MQSeries to mobile users and the devices/computers they use. Despite the fact that they normally connect via an insecure, fragile network. Announced April 2000.
MQSeries Financial Services Edition: See MQSFSE.
MQSeries Integrator: See MQSI.
MQSeries WorkFlow: A workflow management system, replacing FlowMark and based on MQSeries. A WebSphere Application Accelerator.
MQSFSE: MQSeries Financial Services Edition. Business processes implemented on the MQSeries platform, focusing on e-business and CRM. A WebSphere Application Accelerator.
MQSI: MQSeries Integrator. The MQSI Agent for CICS replaces MDp and attempts to minimize the migration effort. A WebSphere Foundation Extension.
MRC: Monthly Rental Charge.
MR head: Magneto-Resistive head. Type of tape/disk read head (used in the 3514, 3590, 3480/3490, 9340, and 3390-9, and several of IBM’s OEM offerings). The advantage is that it can tolerate lower signal/noise ratios, and can be made very small for reading very high-density media. See also MI head.
MRI: Machine-Readable Information. Literally, data that could be input to a computer. Really meant to signify that electronic information is available for download or on optical or magnetic media, not on paper.
MRO: Multi-Region Operation. A mechanism by which different CICS address spaces and regions in the same CEC can communicate and share resources (without using VTAM) to create a CICSplex. Also enables CICS to be subdivided into more than one address space, with the consequent easing of restrictions on the amount of virtual storage available. IBM’s strategic route for multi-CPU exploitation.
MRP: Manufacturing Resource Planning or Materials Requirements Planning. Generic term for software used to control manufacturing processes. See also CATIA, ENOVIA.
MRQ: Message ReQueuer. IMS TM utility which can be used to select messages from the IMS TM or system log, and move them to IMS TM message queues. Helps IMS TM recovery.
MRTD: Machine Readable Travel Document. A joint venture between IBM and Statistica that allows government agencies to generate, issue, inspect and manage the visa/passport process domestically, and in foreign embassies and consulates. IBM provides system and peripheral hardware and software, while Statistica provides its Statisticard system product and related training/support services. MRTD is a computerized image system that produces tamper resistant, filmless, identification documents on-site.
MRU: Most Recently Used. Generic (non-IBM) term typically used to refer to DASD caching strategies.
MS: See Microsoft.
MSAU: Another name for the MAU.
MSC1: Multiple Systems Coupling. A feature in IMS TM that allows dispersed IMS TM systems to communicate.
MSC2: Memory Storage Controller.
MSCU: Multiple-System Coupling Unit. The 3088. Also known as MCCU.
MS-DOS: Microsoft-Disk Operating System. An enormously successful disk operating system (there were well over 100M MS-DOS licenses at its peak) for microcomputer systems from which IBM’s PC-DOS was derived. Beginning with Windows 95, Windows became an operating system, rather than an operating environment that ran on DOS. But Windows 95, 98 and Me still had a lot of DOS inside them. And it was not until Windows XP that a clean break was made, and the non-DOS Windows NT/2000 took over.
MSHF: Matrix Switch Host Facility. NetView application program providing central support for the 3728 matrix switch. Replaced by MSHF2, which was withdrawn January 1996.
MSHP: Maintain System History Program. VSE/ESA program, first introduced in 1979, which tracks all products and services on a system.
MSMQ: Microsoft Message Queue (originally codenamed Falcon), Microsoft’s MOM product which is built into Windows. Microsoft MSMQ-MQSeries Bridge provides interoperability with MQSeries.
MSN1: Multisystems Networking. VTAM or TCAM facility supporting communications sessions between SNA host nodes (mainframes). New name for MSNF.
MSN2: Microsoft Network. Originally a proprietary network like AOL, but now a Web site at msn.com. Like AOL, attempting to provide organization in a world of (Internet Web site) chaos.
MSNF: Multisystem Networking Facility. Now known as MSN1.
MSO: Main Storage Occupancy.
MSS1: Mass Storage System. Hardware subsystem for storing very large amounts of archive data, typically by using some kind of jukebox mechanism to retrieve discrete data cartridges. IBM abandoned this market for a long time, preferring to encourage people to keep all their data on-line on DASD, but re-entered it with the 3495 which has since been replaced by the 3494. See 3851, ATL.
MSS2: See Multiprotocol Switched Services.
MSU: Millions of Service Units.
MS-Windows: Microsoft Windows. See Windows.
MTA: Message Transfer Agent. See X.400 MTA.
MTBF: Mean Time Between Failures. The average value of the lengths of time between consecutive failures under stated conditions of a system.
M Technology: The current name for what used to be called MUMPS.
MTO: Master Terminal Operator. Software enabling a terminal to control a subsystem, e.g., IMS/MTO, CICS/MTO. The equivalent of the operating system’s Operator’s Console.
MTS1: Microsoft Transaction Server (originally codenamed Viper) is said to combine the features of a teleprocessing monitor and an ORB, thus qualifying as an OTM. It is closely linked to COM. Beginning with Windows 2000, MTS functionality is included in COM+.
MTS2: Michigan Terminal System. A non-IBM 360/370 batch and on-line operating system once used in a few large post-secondary education institutes in North America and the U.K. As the name implies, originally developed in 1967 at the University of Michigan for the System/360 Model 67, as a stop gap until TSS became available from IBM. When TSS never really came at all, other sites eyeing the Model 67 for its unique virtual storage capability installed MTS as well. MTS was built with paging in mind, initially using drums for high speed paging, then fixed head disk. Instead of being sold, each MTS site committed a certain amount of manpower to continuing development on the operating system. A lot of MTS concepts ended up in TSO. One unique feature was a common command language for both on-line and batch. A full screen editor was added in 1973. A joy to use, but a pig to operate. Disappeared by the 1990s as universities got rid of their academic mainframes.
MTTR: Mean Time To Recovery or Repair. The average time required for corrective maintenance. See MTBF.
MTU: Maximum Transmission Unit. How big a block of data can be. Typically used when discussing Ethernet.
MULC: Measured Usage License Charge. See Usage pricing.
MULIC: Model Unique Licensed Internal Code – the firmware that controls an iSeries 400. IBM insists that the firmware must be licensed to a specific processor and frame, so that if a machine is upgraded by a third party, a new model-unique tape will have to be obtained from IBM.
Multi-Byte Character Set: See MBCS.
Multichip Ceramic Module: See MCM2.
MultiChip Module: See MCM1.
Multidrop: A communications technique in which a number of devices share a channel, but transmit on it one at a time.
Multimedia: Systems which use digital technology to mix audio, visual, and other information. July 1990, IBM formed a new Multimedia Division but it disappeared in the intervening years. See also AVC, CED, Fireworks Partners, Kaleida, M-Motion, Linkway, Person to Person, ScriptX.
Multimodal user interface: An IBM computer interface that responds to human voice and gesture. IBM’s ViaVoice speech recognition software interprets vocal commands. An embedded camera sends visual information to a machine vision system that tracks movement and gestures. Special algorithms combine and interpret the user’s actions. This effectively eliminates the need for keyboards, monitors, mouse, and wires. Announced September 1997. This is part of an arena called Natural Computing. On its Web site, IBM calls it Ease of use.
Multinode Persistent Session: See MNPS.
MultiPath Channel: IBM’s highly optimized Layer 2 channel-protocol. Permits multiple sub-channels, on different channels, to be grouped together in a fashion similar to traditional SNA Transmission Groups (TGs) to increase channel throughput and provide high-availability. Initially used to support HPR but now used with TCP/IP.
Multiple-Subsystem Scope: DB2 classes with the subsystem ID as part of the RACF resource name.
Multiplexer: A generic device (also known as a mux) that combines data from two or more devices, transmits the data as a single datastream over a high-speed communications medium, and disentangles (de-multiplexes) the data at the other end. See also Statistical multiplexer.
Multi-point: Communications configuration in which a single primary node communicates with two or more secondary nodes (which cannot communicate with one another, except through the primary). Also known as multi-drop.
Multiprise: Multiprise 2000 and 3000. The 2000 was a System/390 mid-range processor family, announced and delivered September 1996. Aimed primarily at the z/VM and VSE/ESA community, although it will also run z/OS, and available only as a packaged solution, under the Entry Server Offering label (which included various planning and maintenance services and support for the year 2000). Doesn’t support Parallel Sysplex. Replaced by the 3000 September 1999, which provided more performance for less money. The 3000 was replaced by models in the eserver zSeries 900 on October 3, 2000.
Multiprotocol Switched Services: A set of Control Point functions that were added to IBM’s Networking BroadBand Services (NBBS), in August 1995, through the auspices of the Switched Virtual Networking (SVN) initiative. The MSS services embrace the notion of distributed routing, ATM2 LAN Emulation, Broadcast Management, and VLANs. MSS Services had been available through the IBM 8210 Nways MSS Server until it was withdrawn in September 2000.
Multisystem node: See multisystem RRSF node.
Multisystem RRSF node: An RRSF node with multiple z/OS system images that share the same RACF database.
MultiView: A range of AIX products which provided access to a broad range of hosts. Renamed MultiView Mascot then withdrawn in May 1996.
MUMPS: Massachusetts General Hospital Utility MultiProgramming System (now known as M Technology). Minicomputer operating system originally written for DEC kit, and widely used within the health sector. Has been implemented under z/VM as a 20+ user system. MUMPS/VM is a full implementation of the Micronetics standard MUMPS and was written jointly by Micronetics and IBM. MUMPS/VM was intended to provide a way of luring users from their non-IBM (mostly DEC) machines to IBM hardware, where it would have been easier for IBM to complete the conversion to the mainstream IBM world. Withdrawn February 1995.
MUSIC: McGill University System Interactive Computing. Little-known z/VM software combining applications, bulletin boards, conferencing, text search, compiler interfaces, utilities, and lots more besides. IBM support ended May 1986.
MUX: See Multiplexer.
MVPG/1: MOVEPAGE Facility.
MVPG/2: Enhanced MOVEPAGE Facility.
MVS: Multiple Virtual Storage. In z/OS’s long history, MVS has the honor of being its name for the longest period: about two decades. Admittedly, it had many suffixes during those years: MVS/SP, MVS/370, MVS/XA and MVS/ESA. Many users believed that MVS stood for Man Versus System.
MVS/370: The name for MVS/SP once MVS/XA was announced.
MVS/400: Once rumored implementation of the Fort Knox concept of combining the mainframe and iSeries 400 architectures on a single box. See also MVS.
MVS/ASA: Advanced Systems Architecture. Rumored top-end mainframe operating environment. Depending on which rumors you were listening to, it: (1) became OS/390; (2) became z/OS; or (3) it never happened.
MVS/BDT: See BDT.
MVS/CNAT: MVS/Central Node Administration Tool. See CNAT1.
MVS/ESA: MVS Enterprise System Architecture. Version of MVS, first introduced as MVS/SP Version 3 in February 1988. Replaced by/renamed as OS/390 late 1995.
MVS/ESA OpenEdition: Version of MVS/ESA announced February 1993 with support for POSIX standards. Included about 1 million new lines of code which provide an API shell, utilities, and an extended user interface. Works with a hierarchical file system provided by DFSMS. The shell and utilities are based on Mortice Kerns’ InterOpen products. Independent specialists reckon it is over 80% open systems-compliant – more than most Unix systems. DCE2 support announced February 1994, and lots of application development tools in March 1995. Mid 1995 IBM started to stop referring to OpenEdition as a separate entity, as all the open features became a standard part of vanilla MVS/ESA. Under OS/390, it became Unix System Services, and has kept that name under z/OS. See also OpenEdition.
MVS/IS: MVS/Integrated System. At one time a planned compact version of z/OS for the 9370. However, producing such a beast appeared to be an insoluble problem. See also VM/IS.
MVS/MS: MVS Migration System. Automated aid for converting from VSE to z/OS originally developed by Sisro. Translates programs, converts JCL, transfers files, provides VSE services which don’t have z/OS equivalents, etc. Announced by IBM October 1986. Little used and withdrawn December 1997 to avoid checking it for Y2K compatibility.
MVS/OCCF: Multiple Virtual Storage/Operator Communication Control Facility. A facility that helps network operators to control multiple z/OS systems from a central site by intercepting messages from the z/OS supervisor. Replaced by NetView January 1996.
MVS/SP: MVS/System Product. For many years, a name for the z/OS operating system. More accurately, one of several names. MVS/SP Version 1 meant MVS/370, Version 2 meant MVS/XA and Version 3-5 meant MVS/ESA. Version numbers were often abbreviated, as in MVS/SP2 for MVS/SP Version 2.
MVS/XA: MVS/Extended Architecture. Version of z/OS, which supported 31-bit addressing. Available only on the high-end 43xx, and 308x and later ranges. Replaced by MVS/ESA, then OS/390 and now z/OS. See also AMODE, MVS/370, MVS/SP.
MVS/XB: Media name for the rumored successor to MVS/XA. Finally appeared as MVS/ESA.
MVS System Logger: Despite two name changes (OS/390 and z/OS), the MVS System Logger is still the current name for this z/OS error logging feature.
MVT: Multiprogramming with a Variable number of Tasks. A forerunner of MVS and z/OS (from a long, long time ago). Long since dead and buried.
Mwave: Family of signal processing chips.
MWC: Mirror Write Consistency. See Active MWC.
N
N40: RS/6000 notebook (model 7007) announced March 1994, withdrawn September 1995. Ran Nomadic AIX.
NALC: New Application License Charges. One of six z/OS Basic License methods.
Named Pipes: Program-to-program protocol originally developed within Microsoft’s OS/2 LAN Manager2 and has made its way into Windows Server operating systems. Acts as an alternative to NetBIOS and extends interprocess communications across the network. The Named Pipes API supports intra- and inter-machine process-to-process communications. Supported within IBM’s OS/2 too. See also Pipe.
Nanosecond: 1/1,000,000,000 of a second.
NAS: Network-Attached Storage. Typically, a disk drive subsystem attached via Ethernet to a network and using IP1 protocol to accept and process requests from multiple platforms. cf SAN.
NAT: Network Address Translation.
National Language Support: See NLS.
National Language Translation: Files to provide non-English output from IBM software such as z/VM.
Native mode: An operating system is said to be working in native mode if it is running directly on the hardware, rather than as a guest of another operating system (e.g., VM). Also used where software written for one hardware architecture is being run directly on the hardware, rather than under emulation on another hardware architecture.
NAU: Network Addressable Unit. Entities within an SNA network – SSCP, PU1, LU – that can send or receive requests and responses. An SNA network is made up of NAUs and the underlying path control network.
Navigator: Netscape Navigator. Formerly the name of Netscape’s web browser software, since renamed Netscape.
NBBS: Networking BroadBand Services. See Broadband Network Services.
NBC: See Network Buffer Cache.
NBS: National Bureau of Standards. The US standards body now known as the National Institute for Standards and Technology, or NIST.
NC: See Network Computer.
NCA: Network Configuration (sometimes Configurator) Application. NetView software, announced September 1991, which provides a menu-driven front end for collecting network configuration information for Info/Man and/or the Resource Object Data Manager. It can also display Info/Man data in a graphic form.
NCCF: Network Communications Control Facility. Mainframe resident software (a VTAM application) providing network operator control facilities in SNA (and BSC) networks. NCCF provides the environment for other products such as NPDA, NLDM, etc. Allows a degree of automation of network administration through the use of command lists. Now part of NetView where it goes under the name of Command Facility.
NCD: See Network Computing Devices.
NCO: Network Conversion Offering. A long forgotten pricing incentive for users converting a non-IBM or non-SNA network to an SNA 3720, 3725 or 3745 network. Also for users upgrading from early versions of NCP to the latest version.
NCP: Network Control Program (ACF/NCP). The operating system of communications controllers such as the 3745/6. Part of Communications Server. IBM software that provides communication controller support for single-domain, multiple-domain, and interconnected networks. Communication with the host is through VTAM via a channel interface, and communication with the terminals or another FEP is via TP lines. NCP off-loads certain line protocol and routing functions from the host CPU. See also SSP2, EP.
NCP Packet Switching Interface: See NPSI.
NCR: Originally the National Cash Register company, and later just NCR. Bought up by AT&T at the beginning of 1994, and renamed AT&T GIS (Global Information Systems). The silliness of the renaming (and of the name) took two years to sink in, and in January 1996, NCR became NCR again.
NCS: See Network Computing System.
NCSA: National Center for Supercomputing Applications, which is part of the University of Illinois. The NCSA software development team produced the Mosaic browser and the NCSA server programs.
NCSC: National Computer Security Center, part of the US National Security Agency (NSA). The NSA is a domestic version of the CIA.
NCU: Network Conversion Unit. IBMspeak for a protocol converter (e.g., the 3708).
NDIS: Network Driver Interface Specification. Protocol and MAC1-level interface standard (developed by 3Com and Microsoft) for connecting network operating systems to various LAN interfaces. Supports multiple protocol stacks concurrently. Opened up the OS/2 LAN Server to other vendors’ adapters, and is supported by IBM in OS/2 Communications Manager. NDIS has been through several revisions over the years and the current version is supported in the latest Windows operating system(s). See also ODI.
NDMP: Network Data Management Protocol. Standard for network-based backup of network-attached storage.
NDS: Novell (originally NetWare) Directory Services. Novell’s distributable directory system, based on X.500.
NET: See Network Equipment Technologies.
Net.Commerce: IBM system, announced May 1996, which is designed to enable merchants selling to consumers to create their own global market over the Internet. Based around IBM’s DB2 database, but with ODBC drivers, it allows the establishment of store fronts on the Web. The package includes SET, caching of recent pages, and tax and shipping charge calculator. Version 2.0 of Net.Commerce was split into three components, aimed at small, medium and large companies, in September 1997. Replaced by WebSphere Commerce Suite (WCS) February 2000.
Net.Commerce Consumer: An IBM browser plug-in that is triggered by a wake-up message from a merchant. Part of the Net.Commerce architecture that was replaced by WebSphere Commerce Suite (WCS) February 2000.
Net.Commerce Merchant Server: IBM server which supports consumer purchase, payment authorization, and collection from banks or credit-card issuers, and consumer-fulfillment notification. Part of the Net.Commerce architecture that was replaced by WebSphere Commerce Suite (WCS) February 2000.
Net.Commerce Payment Manager: An IBM software development environment that supports the development of SET-compliant applications. Delivered as an object framework, it implements SET payment and certificate message flows for consumer, merchant, and acquirer applications. Part of the Net.Commerce architecture that was replaced by WebSphere Commerce Suite (WCS) February 2000.
Net.Commerce Prop: Part of Version 2.0 of Net.Commerce. Designed for large companies. Announced September 1997. Net.Commerce was replaced by WebSphere Commerce Suite (WCS) February 2000.
Net.Commerce SmoothStart: Part of Version 2.0 of Net.Commerce. Designed for medium-sized companies. Announced September 1997. Net.Commerce was replaced by WebSphere Commerce Suite (WCS) February 2000.
Net.Commerce Start: Part of Version 2.0 of Net.Commerce. Designed for small companies. Announced September 1997. Net.Commerce was replaced by WebSphere Commerce Suite (WCS) February 2000.
Net.Data: IBM framework for making DB2 data available on the Internet. Includes Java, ODBC, Perl, REXX tools. Announced December 1996.
NetBEUI: NetBIOS Extended User Interface. Transport-level protocol of the TCP/IP variety originally developed by Microsoft. Supported by Microsoft LAN Manager2 and Novell NetWare.
NetBIOS: Extension of the PC BIOS which traps calls to the BIOS, and, where necessary, re-routes them to a LAN. Acts as an API between a program and a LAN adapter. Developed as the API for the PC Network program, but supported on the TRN (using a special program), and on a number of non-IBM systems.
NetCenter: NetCenter Graphic Network Monitor. Graphics workstation product which allows users to monitor SNA and non-SNA terminals and telecommunications from a PC-DOS graphics workstation. Although not required, it does interface to NetView/PC. Announced November 1989, after being acquired from telco US West. Much NetCenter functionality was merged into GMF in September 1991. Became part of the NetView base product December 1994, losing its identity completely.
NetDA: Network Design and Analysis. Network development and design tool for the design, analysis, and optimization of SNA subarea, SNA APPN, APPN HPR, and NCP frame relay networks. A z/VM version was withdrawn December 1988, but the z/OS version is still available, though the last release, Version 2.2, was first announced February 1991. Both require GDDM. See also NetDA/2 for the OS/2 version.
NetDA/2: Network Design and Analysis/2. NetDA for OS/2 workstations. Also includes a converter that takes input from NetDA in z/OS, as well as the Routing Table Generator (RTG). Announced May 1993 with the most recent version, 1.5, still available, though first announced June 1997.
NetDoor: OS/2 software distribution program (aka Network Door), vintage January 1993. Allows OS/2 users to load software from LAN servers. Sold as a tool to help with LAN software distribution and management. Allows users to replicate and synchronize application servers and define couplet domains for fault resilience and load balancing among servers. Withdrawn June 1996.
Netfinity: Currently one of three IBM lines of Intel-based servers. The other two are the eserver xSeries and NUMA-Q. But the trademarked name began life in November 1993 as NetFinity (note the capital F): OS/2 and Windows software for monitoring and managing LAN-attached PC assets. Comprised of NetFinity Services and NetFinity Manager – NetFinity Services are seven applications that reside on each PC/workstation, and NetFinity Manager comprises four applications that reside on the LAN administrator’s system, allowing initiation and control of the remote systems. Facilities include: gathering and reporting all configuration and asset information; displays of line graphs; real-time monitors for system resources; security management; and storage and retrieval of system and user data for auditing and asset management. February 1996, NetFinity was rechristened PC SystemView Manager and Services, May 1996 it became TME 10 NetFinity Manager and Services, September 1997 IBM Netfinity Manager and Client Services for Netfinity (note the lower-case f), April 2000 IBM Netfinity Director with UM Services, and currently, as of January 2001, IBM Director with UM Services.
Netfinity Director: See Netfinity.
Netiquette: Code of conduct for use on the Internet. Like most things on the Internet, nobody manages or documents it, so you just have to pick it up as you go along. One or two well-known items of netiquette: don’t sell anything too overtly (posting ads to hundreds of newsgroups is definitely frowned upon); don’t type in CAPITAL LETTERS – that’s considered shouting; and don’t say anything so controversial or so insulting that even a smiley emoticon won’t get you out of trouble.
NETPARS: NETwork Performance Analysis and Reporting System. Mainframe batch program for analyzing performance data collected by NPA or NPM. Withdrawn September 1988.
NetPC: A slimmed down version of the PC from Microsoft, aimed at the same general market as the Network Computer (NC). Announced October 1996, never sold and disappeared from general conversation within two years.
NetQuestion: Replaced by Text Search.
NetReview: IBM network consultancy service announced mid 1991. Part of IBM’s drive to diversify away from straight box-shifting. Quietly disappeared and can only be found now in IBM’s trademark list.
Netscape: Netscape Communications Corporation and their web browser software formerly known as Navigator. Formerly Mosaic Communications Corporation. Set up in April 1994 by Dr James Clark and Marc Andreessen (creator of the NCSA Mosaic program) to market their version of Mosaic, known as Netscape or Mozilla. One of the few instances in the IT industry when a start-up company successfully challenged the might of an established industry leader like Microsoft. For a time, anyway. IE1 has taken over most of the browser market share in recent years. AOL purchased Netscape (the company) in 1999.
Net Search Extender: A full-text search tool within z/OS DB2 UDB. A member of the DB2 UDB Extender family, alongside DB2 Text Extender. It searches data without locking database tables and uses in-memory database technology. See also DB2 Extenders.
NetServer: See AS/400 NetServer.
NetSP: Network Security Program. AIX1, PC-DOS, OS/2 security software (vintage November 1993) which provides distributed authentication, and key distribution. Works with RACF and does not use the DES algorithm, which allows IBM to sell it worldwide. IBM touted the NetSP Secured Network Gateway on an eserver pSeries as enabling corporate users to set up a firewall1 between the corporate systems and the cyberpirates, propeller heads, and other socially undesirable types who infest the Internet. Replaced November 1997 by IBM Global Sign-On for AIX, which went though a couple of name changes before becoming Tivoli SecureWay Global Sign-On.
NetSpool: AFP software. Announced July 1995 as a feature of PSF/MVS Version 2.2. Today, it is part of Infoprint Server for z/OS, an optional, separately priced feature of z/OS. NetSpool put VTAM application output on the JESx spool, allows multiple VTAM applications to share a single multi-function printer, allows a single VTAM application to broadcast output with the same or different output formats to multiple distributed printers, and enables VTAM applications to use AFP without program changes.
NetTAPE: Network Tape Access and Control System for AIX. Software for managing tape operations and tape access in networks of eserver pSeries workstations and servers. A companion product was the NetTAPE Tape Library Connection (TLC). Announced February 1996 and withdrawn May 1999.
NetView®: SNA network management product. Announced mid 1986. Although it started off life as a rather half-hearted bundling of various mainframe-centric network management products (including NCCF, NLDM, NPDA, VNCA, and NMPF), by mid 1995 it had turned into a fully fledged distributed network management system, with a strong focus on distributed Unix boxes as network management workstations. Replaced by Tivoli NetView and Tivoli NetView for z/OS. Version 2.3 of NetView for VM/ESA, announced May 1992, is still supported under z/VM and has not been replaced by a Tivoli product.
NetView/6000: Former name of NetView for AIX.
NetView/PC: Multi-tasking personal computer subsystem (software + adapter), which collects and sends information upstream to the host from TRN, voice networks, and/or non-SNA systems. In effect it’s a gateway to pass network management between two disparate networks (typically an SNA network and an OSI network). Withdrawn December 1997.
NetView Access Services: An z/OS and z/VM session manager enabling users to run multiple sessions and hot-key between them. The name is a bit of a misnomer because the product has precious little to do with NetView proper. Announced June 1987. Replaced by Tivoli NetView Access Services.
NetView AS: See Tivoli NetView Access Services.
NetView AutoBridge/MVS: Withdrawn June 1996 and repackaged as a feature of Info/Man.
NetView Bridge: Tool which allows users to write NetView applications for accessing and updating external databases – notably IBM’s Info/Man database. Part of Tivoli NetView for z/OS.
NetView Distribution Manager: See NetView DM.
NetView DM: NetView Distribution Manager. Software on a number of platforms which enables centralized control of data and software distribution among processors in an SNA network – change logging, problem tracking, and change scheduling. Its DLU (Download Utility) component distributes software (including new operating systems) to networked machines. Originally an MVS and MVS/XA product, but announced for OS/2 in March 1991, and RS/6000 in February 1994. Replaced the DSX product. Replaced by Tivoli NetView Distribution Manager. See also DCMF, SPMF.
NetView Extra: Set of system integration services (vintage September 1991) for installation and support of NetView. Particularly useful to people wanting to manage multi-vendor networks. Withdrawn January 1996.
NetView File Transfer Program: z/OS, z/VM and VSE/ESA high performance VTAM utility for bulk data transfer among mainframe and AS/400 systems in an SNA network. A more sophisticated version of FTP1. Capability of communicating with any system supporting OSI/FTAM was announced in October 1991. VSE/ESA and z/VM versions withdrawn December 1997. z/OS, OS/2, AIX and OS/400 versions continued after renaming to Tivoli NetView File Transfer Program.
NetView for AIX: Version of NetView (announced January 1992 under the name NetView/6000) which runs on an RS/6000 workstation. Supports TCP/IP and SNMP, has lots of interfaces to the 6611 Network Processor, and includes support for dynamic network reconfiguration, and fault and performance management. Enables an AIX1 machine to run as a generalized network management workstation using SNMP and with a Motif front end. Renamed Tivoli Netview. See also LAN Management Utilities.
NetView for OS/2: September 1994 re-naming and re-vamp of LAN NetView. Implements SNMP, and can monitor OS/2, LAN Server, LAN Requester, DOS, NetWare, and Macintosh, and provides a single view of LAN resources. Withdrawn July 1997.
NetView for OS/390: Replaced by Tivoli NetView for z/OS.
NetView for VM/ESA: Version 2.3 of NetView for VM/ESA, announced May 1992, is still supported under z/VM and has not been replaced by a Tivoli product. See NetView.
NetView for Windows: Low-end SNMP network management software announced June 1994. Provides fault, configuration, and performance management for hubs, bridges, routers, and switches. Mostly written by Network Managers Inc, not IBM. Replaced and/or renamed repeatedly: Nways Manager for Windows, Nways Workgroup Manager for Windows NT, Nways Workgroup Manager and finally Nways Manager for AIX, which was withdrawn October 2000.
NetView FTP: NetView File Transfer Program.
NetView Graphic Monitor Facility: See GMF.
NetView MultiSystem Manager: NetView z/OS software which provides centralized control of LAN resources. Announced September 1993. Withdrawn September 2000 after becoming a part of Tivoli NetView for z/OS.
NetView Network Planner/2: OS/2 network planning software. Provides GUI tools and interfaces to NetView’s Resource Object Data Manager. Announced December 1993, withdrawn September 1997.
NetView NP/2: See NetView Network Planner/2.
NetView Performance Monitor: z/OS and z/VM software (once known as Network Performance Monitor) which uses VTAM and, where appropriate NCP, to monitor the performance (data flow, response times, etc) of SNA and TRN networks. Data is transferred to the mainframe for analysis. Replaced NPA. Replaced by Tivoli NetView Performance Monitor (NPM). See also Tivoli NetView Performance Monitor for TCP/IP.
NetView Performance Monitor for TCP/IP: Replaced by Tivoli NetView Performance Monitor for TCP/IP.
NetView PM: See NetView Performance Monitor.
NetView Session Monitor: See NLDM.
NetView Voice Network Design: OS/2 software which helps users design voice networks and monitor the cost effectiveness of existing configurations. Part of VNAS. Withdrawn March 1992.
NetVista: IBM’s entire line of desktop workstations. Even Aptiva has been renamed NetVista. Intellistation and Unix-based workstations remain outside of the NetVista line.
NetWare: LAN software for PCs from Novell. NetWare is a complete server/client network operating system for LAN-connected PCs. Originally built for the PC-DOS environment where it was introduced in 1983, it now consists of a dedicated server which runs native NetWare, and software in client workstations running under Windows, PC-DOS or OS/2. NetWare was immensely successful in the PC-DOS environment where it became a de facto standard. But OS/2 was the first hint of things to come: a feeling of being redundant since the standard IBM operating software (notably LAN Server) provided much of the NetWare functionality. Novell fought back with NetWare release 4.11 (August 1996) adding essential Internet/intranet support and the well-received NetWare Directory Services. Unfortunately, in preparation for Year 2000, many large organizations were standardizing the desktop and everything behind it, which meant Microsoft everything. What Windows NT 4.0 Server didn’t get, Windows 2000 Server did, especially with its Active Directory, and then came Windows 2002 Server, etc.
Network Authentication Service: The IBM implementation of the MIT Kerberos V5 Release 1.1 in AIX.
Network Buffer Cache: An area allocated by AIX1 where applications can locally store data such as Web content to save reloading off the Internet for each reuse. See also Fast Response Cache Architecture.
Network Computer: Low-cost Web-surfer devices with no disk drives and programs written in Sun’s Java language. Initiated by Oracle, but IBM, Apple, Sun, and others have either announced or delivered similar products. The NC was positioned as the thin client, an antidote to PC-based client/server systems that have run desperately over budget. NCs, connected to large servers via an intranet, have all the management advantages of 3270 terminals and all the GUI benefits of a PC. Reports of the consequent death of the PC, however, were exaggerated and by 1998 it was the NC that was marginalized. See Network Station.
Network Computing Devices: Company to which IBM passed all of its X-Terminal business over in early 1996. Mid 1996 Network Computing won a contract with IBM to develop and build IBM’s first essay at a Network Computer.
Network Computing System: A standards-based set of tools in AIX for distributing computer processing tasks across resources in either a network or several interconnected networks. An implementation of the Network Computing Architecture.
Network controller: A concentrator and protocol converter, such as the 3710, that allows the use of non-SNA devices with an SNA host processor.
Network Door: See NetDoor.
Network dynamics: A rather nebulous concept which IBM used to talk about in relation to SNA evolution. It seems to comprise APPN, peer-to-peer networking, dynamic update of network configuration, etc. The Networking Blueprint seems to include most of what was promised by Network dynamics.
Network Equipment Technologies: US telecomms company specializing in digital network exchanges. IBM set up a deal with NET in 1987 which allowed IBM to sell NET products (including its Synchronous Optical NETwork (SONET) products) worldwide to its mainframe customers, and to use NET’s proprietary protocols. By late 1989 about 25% of NET’s income originated from IBM. See 9378/9, IDNX.
Network File System: See NFS.
Networking Blueprint: IBM’s master plan for networking announced in March 1992. The announcement formally made APPN the key protocol in SNA networks, and confirmed that future SNA networks would be able to support a wide variety of IBM, other proprietary, and open protocols. See also CTS, MPTN.
Networking Services/2: See SAA Networking Services/2.
Networking Services/DOS: PC-DOS/Windows product which enables applications on PC-DOS workstations to communicate with other platforms supporting APPC. Supports CPI-C. Announced March 1992. Replaced September 1994 by APPC Networking Services for Windows, then eNetwork Personal Communications, SecureWay Personal Communications, and, most recently, Host Access Client Package for Multiplatform.
Network Interface Takeover: An AIX option allowing the configuration of multiple network adapters, allowing one or more to be designated as a backup. Supported adapters include IBM 10/100 Mbps Ethernet PCI adapter, Gigabit Ethernet-SX PCI adapter and 10/100/1000 Base-T Ethernet PCI adapter. If any hardware failure (adapter or cable) occurs, the next alternate adapter immediately takes over. This gives the appearance of one network interface to the user and continues to keep network traffic moving with minimal delay.
Network node: An APPN node which provides a full set of APPN functions, such as routing between sessions, route selection, and directory services. IBM has published the spec of the network node as part of its attempt to turn APPN into a public standard, and by early 1993, the first non-IBM implementations were available.
Network OLE: The first networked version of OLE/COM, which appeared shortly before DCOM.
Network Operating System: A generic term for software that enables workstations on a LAN to internetwork, usually via specialized servers, in a (fairly) transparent way; e.g., to access files, printers, and other resources across a network. The first really successful LAN operating system within the PC environment was Novell’s NetWare. Today, Windows Server operating systems include a NOS.
Network Performance Monitor: Software now called NetView Performance Monitor.
Network Printer: Family of printers introduced June 1996 shortly after IBM’s non-competition agreement with Lexmark ended. The family comprised several successive models of 24, 17, and 12 pages per minute black and white printers (4324, 4317, 4312) and one series of color printers (4303). All have since been withdrawn or replaced.
Network Print Facility: See NPF.
Network Security Auditor: Software found in SecureWay Firewall that is used to scan a list of hosts and report potential security vulnerabilities for each system.
Network Server Description: An OS/400 configuration file and software to implement the configuration, including a set of commands. Used to control guest operating systems, including Linux partitions. NWSD can start and stop the guest operating system and define the operating environment, including configuration of iSeries 400 disk and removable media devices.
Network Services for DOS: PC-DOS software which provides LU6.2 on a PC. Only suitable for use as a requester/client, not a server. Obsolete.
Network Station: IBM’s first crack at the Network Computer (intranet) market. Manufactured jointly with Network Computing Devices, the machine contains a Java virtual machine, and is available for multiple servers (zSeries 900, iSeries 400, pSeries, OS/2, Unix, Windows). Users of the 8361 have personal data control, but no local data storage. Announced October 1996. See also 8361, 8362, 8363, 8364.
Network Station Browser: IBM web browser software developed for the Network Computer/Network Station (thin client) market. Announced March 1997. Replaced by IBM Navio NC Navigator which was later integrated into NetVista Thin Client Manager.
Network Station Manager: IBM software which allows users to remotely configure any number of Network Computers from a single location. Announced with the Network Station October 1996. Replaced by NetVista Thin Client Manager.
Network Storage Manager: See 3466.
Network Tape Access and Control System: See NetTAPE.
Network Trusted Computing Base: See NTCB.
Neural Network Utility: Artificial intelligence software running under OS/400, AIX1, Windows and OS/2. Can be used to identify patterns and relationships in data – e.g., to look through an iSeries 400 database to check credit worthiness or some such. Replaced by Intelligent Miner November 1997.
NewOrg: Standards body, sponsored by HP, IBM, and Sun Microsystems. Set up late 1993 (after the demise of UII) to establish standards in open systems for middleware and distributed computing. Little more than a year later, NewOrg was gone, too.
New World: IBMspeak for an application system that uses cooperative processing, client/server technology, and/or programmable workstations – i.e., just about any system that isn’t based on good old dumb terminals. See also Legacy System.
Next Generation Internet: See NGI.
NeXTStep: Graphical workstation interface at one time offered by IBM for use on AIX (where it’s also known as the AIX Graphic User Environment) and high-end PS/2 workstations. Licensed by IBM from NeXT, the workstation software company set up by Steve Jobs, the man who started Apple. However, IBM did not promote NeXTStep with any real enthusiasm or commitment, and by early 1992 publicly admitted that it had dropped the thing.
NF2: Non First Normal Form. Extension to the relational database architecture which allows for nested tables. NF2 is claimed to simplify and speed up relational processing. See AIM1.
NFS: Network File System. Set of Unix protocols (originally developed by Sun Microsystems) for file sharing across a LAN. Built on top of Ethernet and TCP/IP, and has become a de facto standard in the Unix environment. IBM has at various times marketed the Sun implementation for z/OS, z/VM, System/88, RT PC, and eserver pSeries. AIX1 incorporates NFS support. Most significantly for the mainframe user, IBM announced in September 1990 that DFSMSdfp would be using NFS to distribute data to workstations from z/OS mainframes. Today, NFS is part of AIX, Linux, z/OS Unix System Services, z/VM OpenExtension and, of course, non-IBM Unix implementations.
NFS Client: New to z/VM, NFS Client is integrated into both CMS1 and the priced, optional TCP/IP Feature of z/VM.
NGI: Next Generation Internet. US government-sponsored program that has completed its work, even though it failed to provide terabit per second networking. That failure has been passed on as a goal to the government’s Large Scale Networking (LSN) Coordinating Group. See also Internet2, TEN-34.
NGMF: NetView Graphic Performance Facility. Part of Tivoli NetView for z/OS which provides a SystemView-compliant, object-oriented, OS/2 interface to network management functions. GMF digests and displays NetView information in a graphical form. For the traditionalist for whom the user-friendly screens are too difficult, there’s built-in 3270 emulation. See also NetCenter.
NIA: Network Interface Adapter. Obsolete IBM protocol converter allowing SDLC1 products to attach through an X.25 network to an SNA host system. Replaced by QLLC.
NIAF/2: NetView Installation and Administration Facility/2. OS/2 facility for administering NetView. A function within NetView that was withdrawn beginning with Tivoli NetView for OS/390 Release 3 announced November 1999.
NIB: Node Initialization Block. A control block found in VTAM, used to indicate how communication requests on a session are to be handled by VTAM.
Nibble: Half a byte – i.e., 4 bits.
NIC1: Numerically Intensive Computing. Poshspeak for number-crunching. See Vector, Supercomputer.
NIC2: Network Interface Card. An interface card installed in a workstation or server to provide a connection to a LAN.
NIM: AIX Network Install Manager.
NIS: AIX Network Information Services Server Function.
N-ISDN: Narrow-ISDN (to distinguish it from Broadband ISDN). ISDN by any other name.
NIST: National Institute for Standards and Technology. US standards body formerly known as the National Bureau of Standards – NBS.
NIU1: Network Interface Unit.
NIU2: Non-IBM User. IBMspeak for those who have not yet learned the wisdom of buying IBM equipment, thereby denying themselves, their users, and their IBM salesman the joys of a more fulfilled way of life.
NJE: Network Job Entry. JES facility enabling multiple hosts to share job queues and system spools.
NLDM: Network Logical Data Manager (aka NetView Session Monitor). NCCF application which collects SNA session-related information and makes it available to NCCF operators. Useful in helping operators to detect network faults not explicitly picked up by other network management tools. Now part of Tivoli NetView for z/OS network management software, where it’s called Session Monitor.
NLM: NetWare Loadable Module. Software that can be loaded alongside Novell’s NetWare network operating system, to add function to a network server. Lotus Notes is available as an NLM, for example.
NLS: National Language Support. Ability of a product to be provide non-English language interaction with its users, selectable by the customer either during installation and/or on a per-user basis.
NMF: Network Management Forum. A standards body set up in 1988 to develop standards for Open Network Management (ONM). IBM is a member. Changed its name to the TeleManagement Forum in the late 1990s.
NMP: Network Management Protocol. AT&T’s protocol for the UNMA network management architecture. Conforms to OSI and specifies layers 4-7.
NMPF: Network Management Productivity Facility. Originally an IBM Program Offering. Became a component of Tivoli NetView for z/OS in 1986.
NMVT: Network Management Vector Transport. The SNA message type which carries network management data. Replaces RECFMS.
NNI: Network-to-Network Interface. The interface between switches in an ATM2 network.
NNTP: Network News Transfer Protocol. An Internet protocol for the distribution, retrieval, and posting of news articles that are stored in a central database known as a News Server.
NNU: See Neural Network Utility.
Node: See RRSF node.
Nomadic AIX: Version of AIX1 for portable computers such as the N40. Withdrawn May 1996.
Non-automatic profile: A tape volume profile that RACF only deletes when an RDELETE command is issued. The profile must have been created with an RDEFINE command or when tape dataset protection was not active.
Nonce: A randomly-generated value to protect against hackers using replay techniques.
Non-Data Sharing Mode: RACF sysplex communication without using the Coupling Facility.
Non-spinning disk: Another name for SSD1 which started coming into currency early 1995.
Non-trivial: Generic term, widely used in IBMspeak, to mean a wide variety of things, including serious (z/OS is for non-trivial applications), difficult (we have a non-trivial problem here), and even heavy (IBM once described a particularly weighty IBM catalog by saying this is a non-trivial manual).
NOS: See Network Operating System.
NOSP: Network Operations Support Program. Network control program now superseded by NCCF.
NOSS: National Office Support System. The name for IBM UK’s formerly PROFS-based internal office system.
Notes: Lotus groupware product which IBM took on (June 1991) as an alternative to, and eventually a replacement for, the much delayed OfficeVision/2 LAN Series product. An additional (possibly the primary) benefit was that by giving succor to one of Microsoft’s key rivals, IBM was able to stick the knife firmly into Microsoft. After IBM bought Lotus, Notes became IBM’s preferred groupware and e-mail system. Release 4.5 (1996) provided close integration with Windows NT and Internet. Release 5 (1999) added mobile support. See also Domino.
Notes Designer for Domino: An integrated development environment based on a distributed, document-oriented database that combines information storage with communications, collaboration, and workflow. The applications developed are portable across Sun Solaris, Windows, HP-UX, AIX1, OS/2, and Novell’s NetWare platforms. From Lotus. Replaced by Release 5 (R5) of Domino Designer.
Notes InterConnect: See InterConnect for Lotus Notes.
NotesView: Graphical management tool from Lotus for controlling and monitoring Notes networks. Withdrawn December 1998, with most functionality available through Domino’s Admin client.
Novell: The company which produces and sells NetWare. Over the years it has spent much of its resources acquiring, enhancing then getting rid of major technologies, WordPerfect and Unix being prime examples. See also USL, DR-DOS.
Novell-DOS: Re-naming of DR-DOS.
NPA: Network Performance Analyzer. Performance monitor, now superseded by NPM.
NPDA: Network Problem Determination Application. Mainframe software providing network error analysis. Collects errors reported by communications controllers, modems, lines, cluster controllers, control units, and terminals, and organizes and displays error statistics. NPDA is now part of Tivoli NetView for z/OS, where it’s called Hardware Monitor.
NPF: TCP/IP Network Print Facility. A feature of z/OS that routes VTAM, JES2, or JES3 printer output to printers in a TCP/IP network.
NPM: See Tivoli NetView Performance Monitor.
NPM/IP: See Tivoli NetView Performance Monitor for TCP/IP.
NPSI: X.25 NCP Packet Switching Interface. NCP process providing FEP/mainframe support of X.25 networks, by converting SNA flows into X.25 frames, thereby allowing non-SNA applications and devices to interact transparently with SNA hosts. Works with PCNE1, DATE, GATE and other variants. Operates in 3720 and 3745 communication controllers, and provides support for SNA and non-SNA devices in the z/OS, z/VM and VSE/ESA environments. NPSI performance has been frequently criticized by a less than enthusiastic user base.
NPT: Non-Programmable Terminal. IBMspeak for dumb(ish) terminals such as the 3270 and 5520 families. IBM also uses the terms dependent workstation, NWS, and MFI with the same meaning. There is a version of the SAA user interface (CUA1) for NPT workstations.
NQS: Network Queuing System. A Unix batch processing management system. See also NQS/MVS.
NQS/MVS: Network Queuing System/MVS. z/OS implementation of the Unix NQS system. It runs as a server on an z/OS system, and allows Unix users to submit, monitor, and control batch applications on z/OS systems. Announced June 1992. Withdrawn November 1997.
NRF: Network Routing Facility. NCP facility allowing LUs in different nodes to converse through an FEP without a host node LU being involved. Enables users to consolidate networks without soaking up host CPU cycles.
NRZI: Non-Return to Zero Inverted. A type of data encoding used between SDLC1 modems, and (sometimes) to record data on tapes and disks.
ns: See Nanosecond.
NS/2: See SAA Networking Services/2.
NS/DOS: See Network Services for DOS.
NSA: National Security Agency. A US government domestic equivalent of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
NSAPI: Netscape Server API. An interface provided on Netscape HTTP servers which allows other processes to be invoked by the browser client. A more efficient (and proprietary) alternative to CGI.
NSF: Network Supervisory Function. Network management control for X.25 networks using XI. Provides dynamic control and diagnosis of XI resources.
NSI: Non-SNA Interconnection. FEP (3720, 3745) software enabling BSC terminals to work over an SNA backbone network.
NT1: See Windows NT.
NT2: Node Type. Synonymous with Physical Unit (PU1).
NTCB: Network Trusted Computing Base. All security components within a network system.
NTFS: NT File System. The most robust file system available on Windows NT/2000/XP. cf. FAT, FAT32.
NTO: Network Terminal Option. Protocol converter between SNA and ASCII in the 37xx’s NCP.
NTP: New Technology Prototype or New Tape Product. IBM code name for a new magnetic tape system which IBM started briefing customers about in mid 1994, and which was formally announced April 1995 as the 3590 and Magstar.
NTRI: NCP Token Ring Interconnect/Interface. Feature of NCP allowing the FEP to connect to a TRN LAN. Software component of FEP Token Ring support.
NTSA: Network Technical Support Alliance. Group set up by 17 vendors (including IBM, HP, and Cisco) to develop methods of problem resolution in multivendor networks. Merged with TSANet in 1995, adopting the TSANet name.
NTune: Shorthand for NTuneMON/NTuneNCP.
NTuneMON: A software monitor for 37xx communication controllers (FEP). Acts as an NCP on-line analysis, performance and diagnostic aid, and can accumulate information from NCP regarding: virtual routes, transmission groups, SNI, Network Names Table, Token Ring resources, Ethernet subsystems, Internet Protocol (IP1), and NCP buffers and pool utilization. Beginning June 2000, NTuneMON Version 3.1 includes NTuneNCP as part of the base product.
NTuneNCP: On-line interactive tuning utility for NCP that also includes a channel I/O trace. NTuneNCP is now being shipped as an included feature of both NCP and NTuneMON.
Null modem: A connection that is the equivalent of two modems wired back-to-back. Usually using a cable where several pins are cross wired from one end to the other, most notably so that the Send pair on one end of the cable is the Receiver pair on the other.
NUMA: Non-Uniform Memory Architecture.
NUMA-Q: NUMA-Q 2000. High end Intel-based NUMA server acquired by IBM in its merger with Sequent that began July 1999. When the eserver xSeries was announced October 3, 2000, it included a NUMA system (xSeries 430) so it is reasonable to assume that all future models will be part of the xSeries line. Can run ptx, Linux and most mainframe operating systems.
NuOffice: IBM Windows NT software based on Salutation Manager. Provides local and remote access to enabled office devices such as copiers, faxes or scanners from a Domino Server or remotely. Initially launched in May 1997 in Japan only, then announced worldwide in June 1999.
NvAS: See Tivoli NetView Access Services.
NvDM: See Tivoli NetView Distribution Manager.
NVS: Non-Volatile Storage. Computer memory that retains its contents when the electricity is turned off. In general used to refer to semiconductor memory with backup batteries in case of power failures. The 3990-3 controller uses NVS as part of the Fast Write feature. There once was a time when all computer memory was NVS: it was called core memory and was made with little magnets with holes in the middle through which wire was threaded.
N-way performance ratio: Generic term for describing the performance of a Symmetric multiprocessing (SMP) system. It’s calculated as the performance of the SMP system divided by the performance of the same system with one engine running the same workload. Thus, if a 6-engine SMP system handles 500 tps and the single processor handles 100 tps, the N-way performance ratio is 5. The ratio is always less than N, because the interconnection of the engines causes an overhead which increases exponentially with the number of processors. Above ten engines, the overhead is unacceptably high.
Nways: Brand-name of IBM’s family of multiprotocol products first announced June 1994. Includes WAN switches, wiring concentrator, software to link the 8260 to the mainframe, the 2210, 2217, and 6611 routers, 8282 concentrator, 8238 and 8260 hubs, and various other things. There are interfaces for X.25, HDLC, ISDN, Frame Relay, continuous link for speech and video, and management tools for Windows environments. Most Nways hardware and software has been withdrawn over the years, but some still remains.
Nways 950: Communication controller announced July 1995, also known as the 3746-950. Effectively it’s a stand-alone 3746-900 (see 3745/6) but with a key difference – it doesn’t need NCP (which means it can’t support SNA properly). Widely slated by critics when it first emerged for being neither fish nor fowl – it pretended to be an old fashioned SNA controller, but it couldn’t run subarea SNA, and although it could be used as a bridge/router, it was priced at SNA controller levels.
Nways Campus Manager: Network management software for campus networks, whether they be across the grounds of an academic institution or a research park, or multiple head office buildings of a major corporation. Nways Campus Manager for AIX was announced September 1996 as a replacement for Nways Campus Manager LAN for AIX, Intelligent Hub Manager for AIX, Intelligent Hub Manager Entry for AIX, IBM AIX Router and Bridge Manager/6000, LAN Network Manager for AIX, and all Nways ATM features delivered with SystemView. Nways Campus Manager ATM for AIX was replaced October 1997 by IBM Nways Manager for AIX which was withdrawn October 2000. See Nways.
Nways LAN Remote Monitor: Windows, AIX1 and HP-UX management software for RMON-compliant agents over Token Ring or Ethernet LANs.
Nways Manager: Network management software. IBM Nways Manager for AIX replaced Nways Campus Manager ATM for AIX October 1997. withdrawn October 2000. Nways Manager for Windows was replaced by Nways Workgroup Manager for Windows NT, which was replaced by the IBM Nways Manager for AIX withdrawn October 2000.
NWS: Non-programmable WorkStation. At one time IBMspeak for dumb terminal. Replaced by NPT.
NWSD: See Network Server Description.
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(IBM System z, z/Architecture, IBM Z (z17, z16, z15, z14, z13)
IBM Mainframe: IBM Z as a Service (ZaaS), IBM Mainframe Fundamentals, IBM Mainframe Inventor: IBM (IBM 7010 in 1962 as a mainframe-sized IBM 1410); IBM Mainframe History.
IBM Mainframe Product and Services (z/OS, IBM Db2 for z/OS, IBM IMS, IBM CICS Transaction Server, IBM MQ for z/OS, IBM z/VM, IBM z/TPF, IBM z/VSE, IBM z/OS Connect Enterprise Edition, IBM zSecure, IBM Rational Developer for System z, IBM Application Performance Analyzer for z/OS, IBM Tivoli System Automation for z/OS, IBM OMEGAMON, IBM z/Architecture, IBM GDPS, IBM Cloud Infrastructure Center, IBM Z Development and Test Environment, IBM z14, IBM z15, IBM Parallel Sysplex, IBM Enterprise COBOL for z/OS, IBM z/Transaction Processing Facility, IBM Zowe, IBM CICS Explorer, IBM Rational Team Concert for System z, IBM High Level Assembler for z/OS, IBM COBOL for z/OS, IBM UrbanCode Deploy for z/OS, IBM Language Environment for z/OS, IBM Fault Analyzer for z/OS, IBM Application Delivery Foundation for z/OS, IBM z/OS Management Facility, IBM Advanced Communications Function for z/OS, IBM Security zSecure Suite, IBM CICS Performance Analyzer for z/OS, IBM Fault Analyzer for z/OS, IBM CICS Configuration Manager for z/OS, IBM Tivoli Advanced Allocation Management for z/OS, IBM z/OS Workload Interaction Correlator, IBM z/OS Workload Manager, IBM Information Management System, IBM Tivoli OMEGAMON XE for z/OS, IBM Data Language/I, IBM z/OS Connect EE, IBM Rational Team Concert for z/OS, IBM Developer for z/OS, IBM Tivoli NetView for z/OS, IBM CICS Transaction Gateway, IBM Compiler and Library for REXX on z/OS, IBM Fault Analyzer for z/OS, IBM CICS Deployment Assistant, IBM Tivoli Asset Discovery for z/OS, IBM Tivoli Advanced Audit for DFSMShsm, IBM Tivoli Advanced Backup and Recovery for z/OS, IBM CICS Performance Analyzer for z/OS, IBM Tivoli Asset Discovery for z/OS, IBM Tivoli Advanced Allocation Management for z/OS, IBM Tivoli Advanced Catalog Management for z/OS, IBM z/OS Management Facility, IBM WebSphere Application Server for z/OS, IBM Rational Developer for System z, IBM Tivoli Output Manager for z/OS, IBM Security Key Lifecycle Manager, IBM WebSphere Application Server for z/OS, IBM Db2 Analytics Accelerator, IBM Rational Asset Analyzer for System z, IBM Rational Business Developer for z/OS, IBM z Systems Application Assist Processor, IBM Rational Developer for Power Systems Software, IBM Rational Developer for System z, IBM Rational Developer for System i, IBM Tivoli Advanced Catalog Management for z/OS, IBM Tivoli Advanced Audit for DFSMShsm, IBM Tivoli Advanced Backup and Recovery for z/OS, IBM Tivoli Advanced Allocation Management for z/OS, IBM Tivoli NetView for z/OS, IBM Tivoli Workload Scheduler for z/OS, IBM Tivoli Workload Scheduler for Applications on z/OS, IBM Tivoli Workload Scheduler for Applications on z/OS, IBM z/OS Management Facility, IBM Advanced Communications Function for z/OS, IBM Information Management System, IBM Tivoli Output Manager for z/OS, IBM Tivoli Asset Discovery for z/OS, IBM Tivoli NetView for z/OS, IBM CICS Configuration Manager for z/OS, IBM Tivoli Output Manager for z/OS, IBM Tivoli Workload Scheduler for z/OS, IBM Data Language/I, IBM Tivoli Asset Discovery for z/OS, IBM Tivoli Advanced Allocation Management for z/OS, IBM Tivoli Advanced Audit for DFSMShsm, IBM Tivoli Advanced Backup and Recovery for z/OS, IBM CICS Performance Analyzer for z/OS, IBM CICS Transaction Gateway, IBM Tivoli Output Manager for z/OS, IBM Tivoli Workload Scheduler for z/OS, IBM Tivoli Workload Scheduler for Applications on z/OS, IBM Rational Developer for System z, IBM Rational Developer for Power Systems Software, IBM Rational Developer for System i, IBM UrbanCode Deploy for z/OS, IBM High Level Assembler for z/OS, IBM COBOL for z/OS, IBM Enterprise COBOL for z/OS, IBM Rational Developer for System z, IBM Rational Developer for Power Systems Software, IBM Rational Developer for System i, IBM Parallel Sysplex, IBM z/OS Workload Interaction Correlator, IBM z/OS Workload Manager, IBM Tivoli Workload Scheduler for z/OS, IBM Tivoli Workload Scheduler for Applications on z/OS, IBM Rational Team Concert for System z, IBM UrbanCode Deploy for z/OS)
IBM Mainframe Topics (z/OS, IBM System z, COBOL Programming Language, CICS (Customer Information Control System), DB2 Database, IMS (Information Management System), Assembler Language, JCL (Job Control Language), VSAM (Virtual Storage Access Method), MQSeries, RACF (Resource Access Control Facility), DFSORT, IMS DB, z/VM, TSO (Time Sharing Option), ISPF (Interactive System Productivity Facility), IDMS (Integrated Database Management System), REXX Programming Language, IBM z/Architecture, SMP/E (System Modification Program/Extended), WebSphere Application Server for z/OS, Mainframe Security, ROSCOE (Remotely Operated Service Call Originating Equipment), IMS DC, Mainframe Networking, GDPS (Geographically Dispersed Parallel Sysplex), IBM MQ, z/VSE, CICS Transaction Server, z/TPF (Transaction Processing Facility), IBM zEnterprise System, Hercules Emulator, PL/I Programming Language, JES2 (Job Entry Subsystem 2), TSO/ISPF, Mainframe Storage Management, IMS TM, z/OS Communications Server, Mainframe Performance Tuning, IBM z Systems, Mainframe Virtualization, COBOL, Mainframe Batch Processing, Mainframe Capacity Planning, IBM 3270, Mainframe Monitoring Tools, IBM CICS Transaction Server, Mainframe Disaster Recovery, CA-7 (Computer Associates Workload Automation SE), VTAM (Virtual Telecommunications Access Method), Mainframe High Availability, Mainframe Automation, Mainframe Data Compression, IBM z/OS Management Facility, Mainframe Encryption, Mainframe Debugging, Mainframe DevOps, Mainframe Application Development, Mainframe Job Scheduling, Mainframe Software Configuration Management, Mainframe Load Balancing, Mainframe Data Sharing, Mainframe Cryptography, Mainframe Data Management, Mainframe Security Auditing, Mainframe Capacity Optimization, Mainframe Grid Computing, Mainframe Performance Monitoring, Mainframe Application Modernization, Mainframe Disaster Recovery Planning, Mainframe Scalability, Mainframe Data Warehousing, Mainframe Data Replication, Mainframe Governance, Mainframe Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA), Mainframe Service Management, Mainframe Cloud Computing, Mainframe Web Services, Mainframe API Management, Mainframe Integration, Mainframe Interoperability, Mainframe Legacy Modernization, Mainframe Legacy Integration, Mainframe Migration, Mainframe Consolidation, Mainframe Virtual Tape Library, Mainframe Emulation, Mainframe Architecture, Mainframe Operating Systems, Mainframe Network Management, Mainframe Capacity Management, Mainframe Security Management, Mainframe Application Servers, Mainframe Middleware, Mainframe Database Management, Mainframe Transaction Processing, Mainframe Business Intelligence, Mainframe Analytics, Mainframe Machine Learning, Mainframe Artificial Intelligence, Mainframe Robotics Process Automation, Mainframe Internet of Things (IoT), Mainframe Blockchain, Mainframe Quantum Computing)
IBM Mainframe AI (IBM Mainframe MLOps-IBM Mainframe ML-IBM Mainframe DL), IBM Mainframe Compute IBM Mainframe K8S-IBM Mainframe Containers-IBM Mainframe GitOps, IBM Mainframe IaaS-IBM Mainframe Linux-IBM Mainframe UNIX), IBM Mainframe Certification, IBM Mainframe Data Science (IBM Mainframe Databases-IBM Db2-IBM [[IBM Mainframe SQL-IBM Mainframe NoSQL-IBM Mainframe Analytics-IBM Mainframe DataOps), IBM Mainframe DevOps-IBM Mainframe SRE-IBM Mainframe Automation-IBM Mainframe Terraform-IBM Mainframe Ansible-IBM Mainframe Chef-IBM Mainframe Puppet-IBM Mainframe CloudOps-IBM Mainframe Monitoring, IBM Mainframe Developer Tools (IBM Mainframe GitHub-IBM Mainframe CI/CD-IBM Mainframe Cloud IDE-IBM Mainframe VSCode-IBM Mainframe Serverless-IBM Mainframe Microservices-IBM Mainframe Service Mesh-IBM Mainframe Java-IBM Mainframe Spring-IBM Mainframe JavaScript-IBM Mainframe Python), IBM Mainframe Hybrid-IBM Mainframe Multicloud, IBM Mainframe Identity (IBM Mainframe IAM-IBM Mainframe MFA-IBM Mainframe Active Directory), IBM Mainframe Integration, IBM Mainframe IoT-IBM Mainframe Edge, IBM Mainframe Management-IBM Mainframe Admin-IBM Mainframe Cloud Shell-IBM Mainframe CLI-IBM Mainframe PowerShell-IBM MainframeOps, IBM Mainframe Governance, IBM Mainframe Media (IBM Mainframe Video), IBM Mainframe Migration, IBM Mainframe Mixed reality, IBM Mainframe Mobile (IBM Mainframe Android-IBM Mainframe iOS), IBM Mainframe Networking (IBM Mainframe Load Balancing-IBM Mainframe CDN-IBM Mainframe DNS-IBM Mainframe NAT-IBM Mainframe VPC-IBM Mainframe Virtual Private Cloud (VPC)-IBM Mainframe VPN), IBM Mainframe Security (IBM Mainframe Vault-IBM Mainframe Secrets-HashiCorp Vault IBM Mainframe, IBM Mainframe Cryptography-IBM Mainframe PKI, IBM Mainframe Pentesting-IBM Mainframe DevSecOps), IBM Mainframe Storage, IBM Mainframe Web-IBM Mainframe Node.js, IBM Mainframe Virtual Desktop, IBM Mainframe Product List. IBM Mainframe Awesome List, IBM Mainframe Docs, IBM Mainframe Glossary, IBM Mainframe Books, IBM Mainframe Courses, IBM Mainframe Topics
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