[NTLUG:Discuss] offtopic: is the AS400 considered a mainframe?

[Scott Hollomon]

The AS400 sysops think of the AS400 kind of like a main frame since you can 
use a lot of the same sort of tools on it, its always a multi-user box and 
its strength is batch processing.  Most of IBM's software for mainframes has 
versions for AS400.  Even IBM refers to subsystems for AS400's in the same 
terms as it does for main frames (for example it calls an AS400 disk array a 
DASD). But its not a main frame.

One thing is interesting.  You can't get IBM (or at least I haven't been able 
to get IBM) to make comparisons between their main frame line, AS400 and 
RS6000 machines.  But a high end AS400 can cost well over a million dollars 
and have computing capacity that rivals IBM's main frame systems (although 
they won't compare them directly).  Several years ago we migrated a large 
code base from a main frame to AS400 and saw an increase in performance.

With regard to emulation, if you mean is there a client program to access an 
AS400 from linux then you have at least two really good free options:

1)  IBM has a version of its client access program for linux.  The program is 
written in Java and is a bear to get running on some distros (like anything 
debian).  But we are running it in production on a Linux Terminal Server that 
supports 60+ work stations in our call center and it works great.  The screen 
looks exactly like the windows version so we keep from confusing the reps 
moving back and forth between windows and linux workstations.

2) On my Mepis (Debian) laptop I run tn 5250 which also works great.

On Sat April 2 2005 8:36 am, Lenrek Xunil wrote:
> Is the IBM AS400 considered a mainframe?  I have heard people at work
> refer to it as a mainframe, but I never thought about it that way.
>
> Also, is there AS400 emulation in Linux?  Does it work well?  Just
> curious.  Thanks.
>
> _______________________________________________
> https://ntlug.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss

-- 
R. Scott Hollomon
Collin Street Bakery, Inc.
scott at collinstreet.com