System/3

From Free net encyclopedia

Image:System 3 punch card.jpg The IBM System/3 was a low-end business computer introduced in the early 1970s and aimed at new customers and organizations that still used IBM 1400 series computers or unit record equipment. It featured a new punch card format that was smaller and stored 96 characters. Instead of the rectangular punches in the classic IBM card, the new cards had tiny (1 mm), circular holes much like paper tape. Data was stored in six-bit binary-coded decimal code, with three rows of 32 characters each, or 8-bit EBCDIC, with the two extra holes located in the top rows. IBM System/370s with a proper card reader could also process the new cards.

For mass storage, the System/3 used a single-platter cartridge disk, roughly the size of a medium pizza. Standard configuration for storage was two fixed disks that held the operating system and other related files and user developed programs. Additionally, up to two removable disk units could be purchased. Each unit had a separate drive controller in a drawer below the desk surface.

Offline storage was available with the purchase of an external tape drive which read and wrote standard IBM tape content.

System printing for the System/3 used a bi-directional matrix printer which printed both left-to-right and right-to-left.

The System/3 came standard with a RPG II compiler.

The System/3 and successor models (System/32, System/34, System/36 and System/38, then the AS/400 and iSeries) are generally referred to as minicomputers or 'midrange systems' in contrast to IBM's more traditional large mainframes.