The IBM 7040 was a historic but short-lived model of transistor computer built in the 1960s.
It was announced by IBM in December 1961, but did not ship until April 1963. [1] : 124, 302 A later member of the IBM 700/7000 series of scientific computers, it was a scaled-down version of the IBM 7090. It was not fully compatible with the 7090. Some 7090 features, including index registers, character instructions and floating point, were extra-cost options. It also featured a different input/output architecture, based on the IBM 1414 data synchronizer, allowing more modern IBM peripherals to be used. [2] A model designed to be compatible with the 7040 with more performance was announced as the 7044 at the same time.
Peter Fagg headed the development of the 7040 under executive Bob O. Evans. [1] : 139 A number of IBM 7040 and 7044 computers were shipped, but it was eventually made obsolete by the IBM System/360 family, announced in 1964. The schedule delays caused by IBM's multiple incompatible architectures provided motivation for the unified System/360 family. [1]
The 7040 proved popular for use at universities, due to its comparatively low price. For example, one was installed in May 1965 at Columbia University. [3] One of the first in Canada was at the University of Waterloo, bought by professor J. Wesley Graham. A team of students was frustrated with the slow performance of the Fortran compiler. In the summer of 1965 they wrote the WATFOR compiler for their 7040, which became popular with many newly formed computer science departments. [4] [5]
IBM also offered the 7040 (or 7044) as an input-output processor attached to a 7090, in a configuration known as the 7090/7040 Direct Coupled System (DCS). Each computer was slightly modified to be able to interrupt the other. [6] [7]
IBM used similar numbers for a model of its eServer pSeries 690 RS/6000 architecture much later. The 7040-681, for example, was withdrawn in 2005. [8]
IBM mainframes are large computer systems produced by IBM since 1952. During the 1960s and 1970s, IBM dominated the computer market with the 7000 series and the later System/360, followed by the System/370. Current mainframe computers in IBM's line of business computers are developments of the basic design of the System/360.
The IBM System/360 (S/360) is a family of mainframe computer systems announced by IBM on April 7, 1964, and delivered between 1965 and 1978. System/360 was the first family of computers designed to cover both commercial and scientific applications and a complete range of applications from small to large. The design distinguished between architecture and implementation, allowing IBM to release a suite of compatible designs at different prices. All but the only partially compatible Model 44 and the most expensive systems use microcode to implement the instruction set, featuring 8-bit byte addressing and fixed point binary, fixed point decimal and hexadecimal floating-point calculations.
Computerized batch processing is a method of running software programs called jobs in batches automatically. While users are required to submit the jobs, no other interaction by the user is required to process the batch. Batches may automatically be run at scheduled times as well as being run contingent on the availability of computer resources.
MAD is a programming language and compiler for the IBM 704 and later the IBM 709, IBM 7090, IBM 7040, UNIVAC 1107, UNIVAC 1108, Philco 210-211, and eventually IBM System/370 mainframe computers. Developed in 1959 at the University of Michigan by Bernard Galler, Bruce Arden and Robert M. Graham, MAD is a variant of the ALGOL language. It was widely used to teach programming at colleges and universities during the 1960s and played a minor role in the development of Compatible Time-Sharing System (CTSS), Multics, and the Michigan Terminal System computer operating systems. The original version of the chatbot ELIZA was written in MAD-SLIP.
The IBM 704 is the model name of a large digital mainframe computer introduced by IBM in 1954. Designed by John Backus and Gene Amdahl, it was the first mass-produced computer with hardware for floating-point arithmetic. The IBM 704 Manual of operation states:
The type 704 Electronic Data-Processing Machine is a large-scale, high-speed electronic calculator controlled by an internally stored program of the single address type.
The IBM 7090 is a second-generation transistorized version of the earlier IBM 709 vacuum tube mainframe computer that was designed for "large-scale scientific and technological applications". The 7090 is the fourth member of the IBM 700/7000 series scientific computers. The first 7090 installation was in December 1959. In 1960, a typical system sold for $2.9 million or could be rented for $63,500 a month.
The IBM 700/7000 series is a series of large-scale (mainframe) computer systems that were made by IBM through the 1950s and early 1960s. The series includes several different, incompatible processor architectures. The 700s use vacuum-tube logic and were made obsolete by the introduction of the transistorized 7000s. The 7000s, in turn, were eventually replaced with System/360, which was announced in 1964. However the 360/65, the first 360 powerful enough to replace 7000s, did not become available until November 1965. Early problems with OS/360 and the high cost of converting software kept many 7000s in service for years afterward.
The University of Michigan Executive System, or UMES, a batch operating system developed at the University of Michigan in 1958, was widely used at many universities. Based on the General Motors Executive System for the IBM 701, UMES was revised to work on the mainframe computers in use at the University of Michigan during this time and to work better for the small student jobs that were expected to be the primary work load at the university.
WATFIV, developed at the University of Waterloo, Canada is an implementation of the Fortran computer programming language. It is the successor of WATFOR.
The Job Entry Subsystem (JES) is a component of IBM's MVS mainframe operating systems that is responsible for managing batch workloads. In modern times, there are two distinct implementations of the Job Entry System called JES2 and JES3. They are designed to provide efficient execution of batch jobs.
IBSYS is the name of a discontinued tape-based operating system that IBM supplied with its IBM 709, IBM 7090 and IBM 7094 computers, and of a significantly different, though similar operating system provided with IBM 7040 and IBM 7044 computers. IBSYS was based on FORTRAN Monitor System (FMS) and Bell Labs' "BESYS" rather than the SHARE Operating System. IBSYS directly supported several older computer language compilers and assemblers on the $EXECUTE card: 9PAC, FORTRAN and IBSFAP. Newer language processors ran under IBJOB.
In computing, channel I/O is a high-performance input/output (I/O) architecture that is implemented in various forms on a number of computer architectures, especially on mainframe computers. In the past, channels were generally implemented with custom devices, variously named channel, I/O processor, I/O controller, I/O synchronizer, or DMA controller.
The IBM Basic assembly language and successors is a series of assembly languages and assemblers made for the IBM System/360 mainframe system and its successors through the IBM Z.
The history of IBM mainframe operating systems is significant within the history of mainframe operating systems, because of IBM's long-standing position as the world's largest hardware supplier of mainframe computers. IBM mainframes run operating systems supplied by IBM and by third parties.
Input/Output Control System (IOCS) is any of several packages on early IBM entry-level and mainframe computers that provided low level access to records on peripheral equipment. IOCS provides functionality similar to 1960s packages from other vendors, e.g., File Control Processor (FCP) in RCA 3301 Realcom Operating System, GEFRC in GECOS, and to the later Record Management Services (RMS) in DEC VAX/VMS
Attached Support Processor (ASP) was an implementation of loosely coupled multiprocessing for IBM's OS/360 operating system. IBM later changed the name to Asymmetrical multiProcessor but retained the acronym ASP.
In IBM mainframe technology, a channel-to-channel adapter (CTCA) is a device that connects two input/output channels on (usually) two separate computer systems.
The IBM System/360 Model 65 is a member of the IBM System/360 family of computers. It was announced April 1965, and replaced two models, the Model 60 and Model 62, announced one year prior but never shipped. It was discontinued in March 1974.
The IBM System/360 Model 85 is a high-end member of the System/360 family of computers, with many advanced features, and was announced in January 1968 and first shipped in December 1969. IBM built only about 30 360/85 systems because of "a recession in progress".