Terminology
This page attempts to catalogue the various IBM-isms used through the years and translate them to terms more synonymous with the rest of the computer industry. As this is an IBM-focused wiki relying heavily on IBM sales brochures, manuals, and service information, we use the IBM terminology where possible.
AKA AS/400 As She Is Spoke
A
air-moving device
fan
ASMI, advanced system mangaement interface
Embedded management controller found in Power Systems servers; similar to HP iLO, Dell iDRAC, or Lenovo IMM
APAR, authorized program analysis report
A software bug report
B
C
CSP, control storage processor
Can refer to:
- the main processor of the System/32 - the I/O processor of the System/34 and System/36
Analogous to the AS/400 MFIOP or a PC chipset or RAID controller
CUM
shorthand for cumulative PTF package; think Windows rollup or cumulative patches; yes, this is actually how IBM referred to these patch tapes and disks
D
DASD, direct access storage device
Hard drive
display station
An interactive terminal consisting of display, input device, and keyboard
E
EIA-232
Electronic Industries Association standard RS-232-C, commonly known as RS-232
F
file
context dependent; disk or diskette file refers to a physical hard drive or floppy disk while file refers to a database on the machine
G
H
HMC, hardware management console
a physical or virtual appliance used to manage the hardware resources of a Power Systems server; optional in POWER5 and POWER6 but required if LPARs are desired, required for all operations in POWER7 and above
I
IPL, initial program load
boot, booting
J
K
L
LAN
context dependent; refers to any standard in which the AS/400 will participate in a TCP/IP or NetWare network. i.e., "Ethernet LAN Controller," "Token-Ring LAN Attachment"
LIC, licensed internal code
can either refer to:
- any licensed application for a midrange machine - the low-level operating system that makes up OS/400; also called horizontal and vertical LIC in System/38 and CISC AS/400
LPAR, logical partition
analogous to a virtual machine
LPP, licensed purchased program
a software package purchased from IBM, i.e., OfficeVision
M
MAP, maintenance analysis manual
service manual
main storage
Random Access Memory, RAM - termed "main storage" because IBM's marketing department felt that calling it "memory" would imply that computers would just forget things like people do
main storage dump
a system crash - kernel panic, blue screen of death, etc.
main storage processor
Can refer to:
- the main processor in the System/3 - the userspace processor of the System/34 and the System/36
Shortened to just "processor" in AS/400
microcode
the underlying low-level kernel and system upon which System Support Program is based
midrange computer
What the rest of the industry called a minicomputer, a computer in between microcomputer and mainframe computer
MIM, maintenance information manual
service manual
N
nucleus
the kernel of the operating system
O
P
PASE, portable application solutions environment
the AIX-like execution environment for running POSIX-compatible programs on OS/400
planar, planar board
Motherboard
problem analysis
troubleshooting; can refer to the Problem Analysis, Repair, Parts manual or to Online Problem Analysis
PTF, program temporary fix
patches, bug fixes, updates - often derisively called "permanent temporary fix"
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
WAN
used to refer generically to any serial communications adapter or connection
workstation, work station
An interactive terminal consisting of display, input device, and keyboard
