System Concepts; As/400 Advanced Application Architecture; Technology-Independent Machine Interface - IBM AS/400e User Handbook Manual

AS/400 System Architecture: Underlying Strength of the AS/400e
Paradoxically, the characteristic of the most advanced design and technology is that you do
not notice it... you are not meant to do so. It accommodates rapidly-changing hardware and
software technologies in stride—permitting you to fully exploit the latest technologies.

System Concepts

The AS/400 system is designed and built as a total system , fully integrating all the hardware
and system software components that a business demands. As a general-purpose business
and network system, it is optimized for the required environment with these unique benefits:
• Its architecture, the AS/400 Advanced Application Architecture, is a brilliant,
technology-neutral architecture, enabling businesses to readily exploit the latest
hardware and software technologies, typically without causing disruption to existing
application software. AS/400e architecture is described in "AS/400 Advanced
Application Architecture" on page 14.
• The single purpose pervading each aspect of the AS/400e system's architecture is to
empower a business with the most advanced technology available, without
encumbering it with the complexities that such technologies inevitably contain. In other
words, the AS/400e system allows you to rapidly deploy advanced business
applications and facilitates your business growth.
• Customers typically decide on required application software first and then select an
environment in which to run it. The AS/400e system has tens of thousands of business
applications worldwide of which thousands are client/server applications. These
applications are written by IBM's thousands of Business Partners across the globe. In
addition, the AS/400e provides an excellent platform for Windows NT and Lotus
Domino applications. AS/400e has national language support for over 50 languages
and is available in 140 countries. Support across the world is provided by an
impressive network of global partners.
A concise and expanded explanation of the AS/400e system architecture is contained in a
renowned book Inside the AS/400, written by the AS/400 system's Chief Architect, Dr. Frank
G. Soltis.

AS/400 Advanced Application Architecture

Technology-Independent Machine Interface

The AS/400e system is atypical in that it is defined by software, not by hardware. In other
words, when a program presents instructions to the machine interface for execution, it
"thinks" that the interface is the AS/400e hardware. But it is not! The instructions presented to
that interface pass through a layer of microcode before they are "understood" by the
hardware itself. This comprehensive design insulates application programs and their users
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AS/400e System Handbook