In its efforts to tidy up development and marketing of LAN Manager, having handed over the Unix version to AT&T Co (CI No 1,673), it has got Hewlett-Packard Co’s agreement that it will no longer supply its HP LAN Manager for OS/2 beyond the present 1.1 release, but it will continue to sell and enhance its HPLAN Manager/X for Unix systems in competition with the upcoming AT&T version. Microsoft committed to adding TCP/IP and Arpanet support in a future version of LAN Manager, and has authorised Microsoft-trained Hewlett-Packard people to support its LAN Manager, Windows, MS-DOS, OS/2 and SQL Server worldwide.

The new AS/400 9406 Models D35, D45, D50, D60, D70 and D80

The Model D80 is IBM’s first AS/400 implementation of N-Way Multiprocessor architecture. The Model D80, and five other new models of the 9406 System Unit replace the current Models B35 through B70 and also provide increased price-performance and growth through faster processors and larger main storage and disk capacities. Each new model includes 1.28Gb of internal disk storage, and laser-driven fibre optics attach additional system input-output buses on Models D50 through to D80. A new communications controller design can double the previous aggregate controller line speed and provides the data rate needed to support the new ISDN Basic Rate adaptor. The 16/4Mbps Token-Ring Network Adaptor/A, based on a faster processor, offers up to twice the throughput of its predecessor, as well as containing more memory and supporting a maximum frame size of up to 16Kb. To provide improved restore performance, the 9406 D models support a new model of the 7208 2.3Gb external 8mm tape drive and the 3490E half inch cartridge tape drives. The 9406 Model D80 provides additional growth for 9406 users with up to 2.8 times the system performance, two times the main storage capacity, and 2.25 times the end user disk capacity of the Model B70. IBM says that the 9406 D model systems and new features offer a more efficient card package than the 9406 B model systems with particular benefit in the space requirement for communications and local area network features. The 9406 supports up to fourteen of the new 3995 Compact Optical Library Dataserver, providing capacities from 20Gb to 280Gb. The Compact Optical Library Dataserver offers more upgrade flexibilty and a lower entry price compared with the IBM 9246. Also, because the Optical Library Dataserver is directly attached to the 9406 D Model System Unit, the application performance is claimed to be significantly improved for batch store and retrieve operations.

Magnetic Tape, Cartridges and Tape Drive Enhancements

The 9406 D models, in conjunction with OS/400 Version 2 Release 1, have support for attachment of the new 3490 Magnetic Tape Subsystem Enhanced Capability Models A10, A20, B20, B40, D41, and D42, and each half inch cartridge can contain up to 400Mb of data. The Automatic Cartridge Loader extends this capacity to 2.4Gb of data per tape drive and OS/400 support of the Improved Data Recording Capability can further increase by up to three times the amount of data stored per half inch cartridge for save restore. The 7208 2.3Gb External 8mm Tape Drive Model 002 attaches to any 9406 D model to provide up to 2.3Gb of storage capacity per 8mm tape cartridge. The Hardware Data Compression function of the new Removable Media Device Attachment can further increase by up to twice the amount of data stored on an 8mm tape cartridge. In addition, the new communications controller and local area network features for the D models require only one input-output card slot and simplify the process of adding features to the system.

Field upgrades from 9406 B to D models

Field upgrades from 9406 B models to D are available, as is the migration of some communication, local area network, workstation controller features and input-output card units on the B model to the new D model only at the time of the model upgrade. The new 9406 D Model System Unit includes a rack enclosure, and when the B Model System Unit is removed from the system unit

rack, the B Model System Unit Rack is modified to a secondary rack and can continue to be used. The price of the rack modification is included in the model upgrade price. The 9346 quarter inch Cartridge Tape Unit cannot be migrated to a 9406 D model system, but the 9346 and the 9346 Magnetic Tape Attachment Features may be returned for trade-in credit on a 120Mb quarter inch Cartridge Tape Unit feature.

Standard 9406 Features

The 9406 contains the system processor, multi-function input-output processor, main storage which varies by model, 1.28Gb of internal disk, battery power unit, a communications adaptor, and a slot for an optional 120Mb quarter inch cartridge tape unit. The system processor uses VLSI logic and, with 32-bit data channel and 48-bit addressing, is claimed to have the capability to provide direct access to 281Tb of storage. It is implemented with a software and hardware architecture that can accommodate up to 64-bit addressing. The multi-function input-output processor is a standard feature of the 9406 D models and provides support for attachment of the optional 120Mb quarter inch cartridge tape unit, the internal disk storage, and up to two communications adaptors. The input-output processor also provides a hardware data compression function for the 120Mb quarter inch cartridge, a streaming tape drive compatible with the quarter inch tape subsystem on the 9402 and 9404 System Units.

N-Way Architecture

The N-Way architecture is described as a implementation of multiple parallel processors for increased system transaction throughput compared with a uniprocessor design using the same CPU. IBM claims that each processor in a multiprocessor system provides roughly the same throughput and response time as the same processor would in a uniprocessor system less an undefined amount of system resource required to manage the multiprocessor environment.

9406 Performance

All 9406 System Unit controllers and adaptors plug into the system input-output bus via card slots in the 9406 Unit, system unit expansion, or bus extension units. Running at 70% utilisation, the Model D35 comes in at 2.6 on the Ramp-C Cobol benchmark, 3.7 for the D45, 4.8 for the D50, 8.3 for the D60, 11.2 for the D70 and the D80 chalks up some 19.8.

Increased Disk Capacity for OS/400 Disk Mirroring Support

The maximum system disk capacity is increased on the 9406 D models to provide additional capacity with disk mirroring in effect. This capacity increase is achieved by increasing the number of Magnetic Storage Device Controllers on the new models. Capacity ranges from 27.4Gb to 123.4Gb.