AS/400 9402 Models C04 and C06 replace the B10 and B20 with more power at lower price
IBM says that the new AS/400 9402 C04 and C06 machines broaden the product range of the AS/400 family by providing a new entry point at a lower price than previously available with the 9404 Model C10. The new AS/400 9402 Models C04 and C06, running under OS/400 Release 3 will be available in the US from September 28, except for 7855 modem support, which is planned for the first quarter of 1991. Main storage can be increased from 8Mb to 12Mb on the Model C04 and to 16Mb on the Model C06. Disk capacity can also be increased from 640Mb to 960Mb on Model C04, and to 1.28Gb on Model C06. A workstation controller – either ASCII or twinaxial – is available on the Model C06, and other options on both models include a 5.25 disk unit, a 9348 half inch tape attachment feature and a battery backup unit. Both models provide for the optional attachment of up to five communication lines and either a Token-Ring Network adaptor or EthernetIEEE local area network adaptor.
Base Unit
The base system unit of each model contains the system processor, input-output processor, 8Mb of main storage, two new 3.5 320Mb disk units, one 120Mb quarter inch cartridge tape unit, either a twinaxial or ASCII workstation controller and a communications adaptor. The multifunction input output processor provides support for disk storage, disk, cartridge tape, printers and displays, and one or two communication line ports. The 7855 modem is designed to work with the remote power-on capability and the second communication line port, which is optional, can be featured with either an EIA 232/V.24 adaptor or an X21. The maximum aggregate operating rate for both lines is 21.6Kbps, but both lines cannot run concurrently when one runs either X25 or the SDLC X21 Short Hold Mode protocols. The 320Mb disk units use thin film technology in a 3.5 design, and average seek time is 12.5mS, average latency is 7.0mS; they first appeared on the RS/6000. The 120Mb cartridge tape unit is a streaming quarter inch tape cartridge unit that provides alternate initial program load, save, restore and data interchange with 9402 Model Y10, Models C04, C06 and 9404 System Units with the standard 120Mb cartridge tape unit, the 9346 cartridge tape unit on the 9406, and the 120Mb High Capacity Internal Streaming Tape Drive on the System 36 5363 or AS/Entry 5363 system. Read-only support is provided for cartridges written by the System/36 5363 53Mb Cartridge Tape Unit and the 6157 in System 36 format. Instantaneous data rate of the 120Mb cartridge tape unit is approximately 90K-bytes per second. Base twinaxial support provides attachment of up to 14 5250-type workstations to two ports with a maximum of seven devices per port, and base ASCII support provides six ports. Each port can support one workstation or a display with a display attached auxilliary printer for a maximum of 12 devices or two devices per port. Either EIA 232/V.24 or EIA 422-A interfaces are supported from any of the ASCII ports at speeds up to 38,400bps, and the EIA 422-A interface allows local attachment of devices with cable lengths of up to 3,600 feet. The EIA 232 interface allows either local attachment of devices with cable lengths up to 50 feet and remote devices are supported via point-to-point asynchronous duplex modems that may be switched at speeds up to 19,200bps. Data buffering is not supported.
Communications, Storage and Costs
The 9402 has a range of communications functions, including SNA, X25, X21, Token-Ring, Ethernet/IEEE 802.3, and several multiple environments. The various protocols include ASYNC, BSC, SDLC, X25 and IEEE 802.2 LLC. The 9402 can support five communications lines and one local area network. The C04 system with 8Mb is $14,500, and the C06 is $17,500. The battery back-up is $787, the local area adaptor is $4,000, and the Token-Ring Adaptor is $3,675. The magnetic tape unit adaptor costs $2,500, 4Mb main storage is $4,500, and the 320Mb disk unit is $5,500. The 5.25 disk unit is $945, and the thr
ee-line communication controller is $2,100. Features for the C06 only include the 120Mb cartridge tape unit at $2,400, and 4Mb main storage expansion which costs $4,500. The twinaxial workstation controller is $2,310, as is the ASCII controller, and the ASCII 12 port attachment costs $1,365.
Baby 9402 – 5363-based Model Y10
AS/Entry 9402 Model Y10 is an entry system based on AS/Entry 5363 processor and technology. It operates under under Release 6 of the System 36 System Support Program and is upgradeable to to the Model C06. The 9402 Model Y10 base unit costs $11,000 and is available in the US from October 26, 1990. IBM says that the Model Y10 provides 50% more disk storage than the current As/Entry 5363 Model S10, Y10, and System 36 application software will run on the Y10, although it does not support the 5363 Optical Subsystem. The base Model Y10 includes 1Mb of main storage, 160Mb of disk capacity, and supports up to 14 twinaxial workstations. Main storage can be increased to 2Mb, 640Mb of disk capacity, and the number of workstations can be increased to 28. Up to three communicationlines may be added to support X25, async, bisync and SDLC protocols, and a 16Mbps or 4Mbps Token-Ring Network adaptor and battery power unit are also available. The system may beremotely powered on via a telephone call. The disk drive can read and write System 36 extended format 5.25 disks only, which are not interchangeable with personal computer disks. They are used for loading programs on the system unit as well as saving and restoring data. The Workstation Controller has four ports and supports up to 14 local twinaxial workstations attached directly, or either via the 5209 Link Protocol Converter or via the 5208 ASCII Link Protocol Converter. The base system unit with 1Mb storage is $11,000, additional disk capacity of 160Mb is $3,000, and the workstation expansion is $2,270. 2Mb main storage is $1,125, the processor expansion is $1,650, and A 120Mb cartridge tape unit costs $2,400. To convert from the 9402 Model Y10 to C06 is $10,500, and to go from the 160Mb disk unit to 320Mb costs $2,500.
