AS400

I am just curious as to what this is.....i know its some software by IBM i think but am not certain as to what the interface looks like or what it can be compared to......any info on such will be greatly appreciated!!!!:D

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Opi

i thought AS400 is a server series by IBM .
google it up and you will see many AS400 server models

Jiggsaww

nah based on this link http://www.rpgiv.org/.......it seems to be a little more than just hardware.....

petedude

Jiggsaww wrote:

I am just curious as to what this is.....i know its some software by IBM i think but am not certain as to what the interface looks like or what it can be compared to......any info on such will be greatly appreciated!!!!:D

It's a proprietary server platform from IBM. When they originally released it about 20 years ago, it was basically the last of what we used to call "minicomputers"-- that is, computers too big to be PCs or servers but not gigantic enough to be mainframes.

It started out using a proprietary CISC platform processor setup but then later migrated to a RISC platform (using the Power processors from IBM) about 7 or so years ago.

This used to be a very closed system. You had to have proprietary IBM connectivity cards/cabling, IBM token ring networking, and/or IBM text terminals to get at it. They eventually opened up. . . starting with allowing Novell to develop a gateway for NetWare networks, then later adding IPX and TCP/IP protocols to natively to its OS/400 operating systems.

The newer boxes run OS/400, AIX or Linux, I believe. They're a good platform, but IBM may never shake off their proprietary reputation. You can still find industries enamored with it though-- finance, travel, manufacturing.

I seem to recall at one point IBM offered certification on this platform, but you'd have to go dig at IBM to find it. The jobs can pay well if you know AS/400 as well as other networks (i.e. Microsoft, Novell, Unix/Linux) but are few and somewhat far between.

If you're curious, you can probably find a few of the older, smaller AS/400s cheap on eBay. I haven't looked in a while, but there are companies that offer AS/400 operations tutorial books.

Jiggsaww

ight now we gettin somewhere.......u said something that immediately caught my eye "Certification"......am tryin 2 learn that cause i may need it for a future projects and it will be beneficial to have a workin knowledge before hand......

Jiggsaww

ight i did some research and this is what i found.......

http://www-03.ibm.com/certify/certs/a4csisco52.shtml

This link above is for the certification exam on the newer upgraded version of the ISeries

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/158347014X/ref=pd_ecc_rvi_3/104-3544368-8026326?%5Fencoding=UTF8

And this one is for the cert guide.......now to PeteDude and d rest of the AS/400 people, my question to you is should i pursue this cert?.....is it something that is gonna be around for a long time?.......

darkuser

the as400 was pretty much the last of the mainframes .....

jwlazar

One of those antiquated midframe server technologies still in place so territorial network admins who refuse to adapt can keep their jobs.

Jiggsaww

k so basically it doesn't make sense gettin certed in this.....lets say it was for a job how can you prove to the employer that u can use the product they have in place

before he hires u off course