IBM System/34

Last updated
IBM System/34
IBM logo.svg
IBM System34 (1) type 5340.jpg
IBM System/34 type 5340
Also known asS/34
ManufacturerInternational Business Machines Corporation (IBM)
Product family System/34
Release dateApril 1977;46 years ago (1977-04)
DiscontinuedFebruary 1985
Operating system System Support Program
CPU MSP and CSP
Memory48K - 256K
Dimensions1220x660x1570mm [1]
Predecessor IBM System/32
Successor IBM System/36, IBM System/38
Related IBM 5520
Website Official website IBM Archives

The IBM System/34 was an IBM midrange computer introduced in 1977. [2] It was withdrawn from marketing in February 1985. [2] It was a multi-user, multi-tasking successor to the single-user System/32. It included two processors, one based on the System/32 and the second based on the System/3. Like the System/32 and the System/3, the System/34 was primarily programmed in the RPG II language. [3]

Contents

Hardware

The 5340 System Unit contained the processing unit, the disk storage and the diskette drive. It had several access doors on both sides. Inside, were swing-out assemblies where the circuit boards and memory cards were mounted. It weighed 700 lb (320 kg) and used 220V power. [4] The IBM 5250 series of terminals were the primary interface to the System/34.

Processors

S/34s had two processors, the Control Storage Processor (CSP), and the Main Storage Processor (MSP). The MSP was the workhorse, based on System/3 architecture; it performed the instructions in the computer programs. The CSP was the governor, a different processor with different RISC-like instruction set, based on System/32 architecture; it performed system functions in the background. The CSP also executed the optional Scientific Macroinstructions, which were a set of emulated floating point operations used by the System/34 Fortran compiler and optionally in assembly code. [5] The clock speed of the CPUs inside a System/34 was fixed at 1 MHz for the MSP and 4 MHz for the CSP. Special utility programs were able to make direct calls to the CSP to perform certain functions; these are usually system programs like $CNFIG which was used to configure the computer system.

Picture of a System/34 showing the diskette magazine drive IBM System34 drives.jpg
Picture of a System/34 showing the diskette magazine drive

Memory and storage

The smallest S/34 had 48K of RAM and an 8.6 MB hard drive. The largest configured S/34 could support 256K of RAM and 256MB of disk space. S/34 hard drives contained a feature called "the extra cylinder," so that bad spots on the drive were detected and dynamically mapped out to good spots on the extra cylinder. Disk space on the System/34 was organized by blocks of 2560 bytes.

The System/34 supported memory paging, referring to as swapping. [6] The System/34 could either swap out entire programs, or individual segments of a program in order to free up memory for other programs to run.

One of the machine's most distinctive features was an off-line storage mechanism that utilized "magazines" - boxes of 8-inch floppies that the machine could load and eject in a nonsequential fashion. [7] [8] [9]

Software

IBM System/34 with 5251 terminal (on top) and 5211 printer (right, with top opened) IBM System34.IsettAcres.jpg
IBM System/34 with 5251 terminal (on top) and 5211 printer (right, with top opened)

Operating System

The System Support Program (SSP) was the only operating system of the S/34. It contained support for multiprogramming, multiple processors, 36 devices, job queues, printer queues, security, indexed file support. Fully installed, it was about 5 MB. [10] The Operational Control Language (OCL) was the control language of SSP.

Programming

The System/34's initial programming languages were limited to RPG II and Basic Assembler [11] when introduced in 1977. [12] FORTRAN was fully available six months after the 34's introduction, [7] and COBOL was available as a PRPQ. [13] BASIC was introduced later.

Successor systems

The IBM System/38 was intended to be the successor of the System/34 and the earlier System/3x systems. However, due to the delays in the development of the System/38 and the high cost of the hardware once complete, IBM developed the simpler and cheaper System/36 platform which was more widely adopted than the System/38. [14] The System/36 was an evolution of the System/34 design, but the two machines were not object-code compatible. Instead, the System/36 offered source code compatibility, allowing System/34 applications to be recompiled on a System/36 with little to no changes. Some System/34 hardware was incompatible with the System/36.

A third party product from California Software Products, Inc. named BABY/34 allowed System/34 applications to be ported to IBM PC compatible hardware running MS-DOS. [15] [16]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">IBM 1620</span> Small IBM scientific computer released in 1959

The IBM 1620 was announced by IBM on October 21, 1959, and marketed as an inexpensive scientific computer. After a total production of about two thousand machines, it was withdrawn on November 19, 1970. Modified versions of the 1620 were used as the CPU of the IBM 1710 and IBM 1720 Industrial Process Control Systems.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">IBM 650</span> Vacuum tube computer system

The IBM 650 Magnetic Drum Data-Processing Machine is an early digital computer produced by IBM in the mid-1950s. It was the first mass produced computer in the world. Almost 2,000 systems were produced, the last in 1962, and it was the first computer to make a meaningful profit. The first one was installed in late 1954 and it was the most-popular computer of the 1950s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">IBM System/36</span> IBM midrange computer (1983–2000)

The IBM System/36 was a midrange computer marketed by IBM from 1983 to 2000 - a multi-user, multi-tasking successor to the System/34.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">IBM System/38</span> IBM midrange computer (1978–1988)

The System/38 is a discontinued minicomputer and midrange computer manufactured and sold by IBM. The system was announced in 1978. The System/38 has 48-bit addressing, which was unique for the time, and a novel integrated database system. It was oriented toward a multi-user system environment. At the time, the typical system handled from a dozen to several dozen terminals. Although the System/38 failed to displace the systems it was intended to replace, its architecture served as the basis of the much more successful IBM AS/400.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">IBM 1130</span> 16-bit IBM minicomputer introduced in 1965

The IBM 1130 Computing System, introduced in 1965, was IBM's least expensive computer at that time. A binary 16-bit machine, it was marketed to price-sensitive, computing-intensive technical markets, like education and engineering, succeeding the decimal IBM 1620 in that market segment. Typical installations included a 1 megabyte disk drive that stored the operating system, compilers and object programs, with program source generated and maintained on punched cards. Fortran was the most common programming language used, but several others, including APL, were available.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">IBM System/32</span> IBM midrange computer (1975–1984)

The IBM System/32 introduced in January 1975 was a midrange computer with built-in display screen, disk drives, printer, and database report software. It was used primarily by small to midsize businesses for accounting applications. RPG II was the primary programming language for the machine.

Disk Operating System/360, also DOS/360, or simply DOS, is the discontinued first member of a sequence of operating systems for IBM System/360, System/370 and later mainframes. It was announced by IBM on the last day of 1964, and it was first delivered in June 1966. In its time, DOS/360 was the most widely used operating system in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">IBM 5110</span> Portable computer (1978)

The IBM 5110 Computing System is the successor of the IBM 5100 Portable Computer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">IBM System/3</span> IBM midrange computer (1969–1985)

The IBM System/3 was an IBM midrange computer introduced in 1969, and marketed until 1985. It was produced by IBM Rochester in Minnesota as a low-end business computer aimed at smaller organizations that still used IBM 1400 series computers or unit record equipment. The first member of what IBM refers to as their "midrange" line, it also introduced the RPG II programming language. It is the first ancestor in the product line whose current version is the IBM i series and includes the highly successful AS/400.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">IBM 1400 series</span> Mid-range business decimal computers

The IBM 1400 series are second-generation (transistor) mid-range business decimal computers that IBM marketed in the early 1960s. The computers were offered to replace tabulating machines like the IBM 407. The 1400-series machines stored information in magnetic cores as variable-length character strings separated on the left by a special bit, called a "wordmark," and on the right by a "record mark." Arithmetic was performed digit-by-digit. Input and output support included punched card, magnetic tape, and high-speed line printers. Disk storage was also available.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scientific Data Systems</span> American computer company

Scientific Data Systems (SDS), was an American computer company founded in September 1961 by Max Palevsky, Arthur Rock and Robert Beck, veterans of Packard Bell Corporation and Bendix, along with eleven other computer scientists. SDS was the first to employ silicon transistors, and was an early adopter of integrated circuits in computer design. The company concentrated on larger scientific workload focused machines and sold many machines to NASA during the Space Race. Most machines were both fast and relatively low priced. The company was sold to Xerox in 1969, but dwindling sales due to the oil crisis of 1973–74 caused Xerox to close the division in 1975 at a loss of hundreds of millions of dollars. During the Xerox years the company was officially Xerox Data Systems (XDS), whose machines were the Xerox 500 series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">IBM Displaywriter System</span> 1980 office desktop computer

The IBM 6580 Displaywriter System is a 16-bit microcomputer that was marketed and sold by IBM's Office Products Division primarily as a word processor. Announced on June 17, 1980 and effectively withdrawn from marketing on July 2, 1986, the system was sold with a 5 MHz Intel 8086, 128 KB to 448 KB of RAM, a swivel-mounted monochrome CRT monitor, a detached keyboard, a detached 8" floppy disk drive enclosure with one or two drives, and a detached daisy wheel printer, or Selectric typewriter printer. The primary operating system for the Displaywriter is IBM's internally developed word processing software titled "Textpack", but UCSD p-System, CP/M-86, and MS-DOS were also offered by IBM, Digital Research, and CompuSystems, respectively.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">IBM Advanced/36</span> Midrange computer

The Advanced/36 was an IBM midrange computer based on an adapted IBM AS/400 hardware and System/36 software. It was marketed from October 1994 to 2000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">System Support Program</span> Operating system for IBM minicomputers

System Support Program (SSP) was the operating system of the IBM System/34 and System/36 minicomputers. SSP was a command-based operating system released in 1977.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">IBM System/360 Model 30</span> IBM computer model from 1960s

The IBM System/360 Model 30 was a low-end member of the IBM System/360 family. It was announced on April 7, 1964, shipped in 1965, and withdrawn on October 7, 1977. The Model 30 was designed by IBM's General Systems Division in Endicott, New York, and manufactured in Endicott and other IBM manufacturing sites outside of U.S.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NCR Century 100</span> 1968 computer system

The NCR Century 100 was NCR's first all integrated circuit computer built in 1968. All logic gates were created by wire-wrapping NAND gates together to form flip-flops and other complex circuits. The console of the system had only 18 lights and switches and allowed entry of a boot routine, or changes to loaded programs or data in memory. A typewriter console was also available.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Apple FileWare</span> Floppy drive by Apple

FileWare floppy disk drives and diskettes were designed by Apple Computer as a higher-performance alternative to the Disk II and Disk III floppy systems used on the Apple II and Apple III personal computers. The drive is named Apple 871 in service documentation, based on its approximate formatted storage capacity in kilobytes, but is most commonly known by their codename Twiggy, after the famously thin 1960s fashion model named Twiggy.

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.

This timeline of binary prefixes lists events in the history of the evolution, development, and use of units of measure which are germane to the definition of the binary prefixes by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) in 1998, used primarily with units of information such as the bit and the byte.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">HP 64000</span> Software development system

The HP 64000 Logic Development System, introduced 17 September 1979, is a tool for developing hardware and software for products based on commercial microprocessors from a variety of manufacturers. The systems assisted software development with assemblers and compilers for Pascal and C, provided hardware for in-circuit emulation of processors and memory, had debugging tools including logic analysis hardware, and a programmable read-only memory (PROM) chip programmer. A wide variety of optional cards and software were available tailored to particular microprocessors. When introduced the HP 64000 had two distinguishing characteristics. First, unlike most microprocessor development systems of the day, such as the Intel Intellec and Motorola EXORciser, it was not dedicated to a particular manufacturer's microprocessors, and second, it was designed such that up to six workstations could be connected via the HP-IB (IEEE-488) instrumentation bus to a common hard drive and printer to form a tightly integrated network.

References

  1. ibm :: system34 :: GA21-9242-1 System 34 Installation Manual-Physical Planning Sep77. 1977-03-13.
  2. 1 2 IBM Corporation (23 January 2003). "System/34". IBM Archives. Retrieved December 4, 2012.
  3. "System 34 RPG II Reference Manual" (PDF).
  4. "3533 Spring Creek Road". The New York Times . March 1, 2019. Insulated Shop space, with 220V power.
  5. "IBM System/34 and IBM System/32 Scientific Macroinstructions Functions Reference Manual" (PDF). Bitsavers. IBM. July 1978. Retrieved 2021-12-22.
  6. "System/34 Concepts and Design Guide" (PDF). IBM. January 1982. Retrieved 2021-08-01.
  7. 1 2 System/34 Introduction (PDF). March 1978.
  8. "the diskette magazine drive can process up to 23 diskettes without manual intervention. -p.11
  9. "three slots for holding individual diskettes and two slots for holding magazines of 10 individual diskettes." -p.20
  10. "IBM System/34 System Support Program Logic Manual" (PDF).
  11. "Fortran IV One Highlight Of IBM 34 Enhancements". Computerworld . September 26, 1977. p. 23.
  12. Andrew Pollack (May 17, 1983). "I.B.M. introduces computer to replace System 34 model". The New York Times .
  13. "potentially available ... special order"
  14. Frank G. Soltis (1997). Inside the AS/400, Second Edition. Duke Press. ISBN   978-1882419661.
  15. "BABY/34™ Software enables you to run IBM System/34 RPG II programs on your PCs, XTs and ATs". Computerworld . March 18, 1985. p. 50.
  16. "Product Briefs". InfoWorld . July 21, 1986. p. 47.

Further reading

IBM midrange computers
Preceded by IBM System/34
1977–1985
Succeeded by
Preceded by