Distributed data processing

Distributed data processing[1] (DDP)[2] was the term that IBM used for the IBM 3790 (1975) and its successor, the IBM 8100 (1979). Datamation described the 3790 in March 1979 as "less than successful."[3][4]

Distributed data processing was used by IBM to refer to two environments:

Each pair included a Telecommunications Monitor and a Database system.[5] The layering involved a message, containing information to form a transaction, which was then processed by an application program.[6] Development tools such as program validation services were released by IBM to facilitate expansion.[7]

Use of "a number of small computers linked to a central computer"[1] permitted local[8] and central processing, each optimized at what it could best do. Terminals,[9] including those described as intelligent, typically were attached locally,[10] to a "satellite processor."[11] Central systems, sometimes multi-processors, grew to handle the load.[12] Some of this extra capacity, of necessity, is used to enhance data security.[13] Years before open systems made its presence felt, the goal of some hardware suppliers was "to replace the big, central mainframe computer with an array of smaller computers that are tied together."[14]

  1. ^ a b "Northern Telecom's Setback". The New York Times. January 21, 1981.
  2. ^ Ernest E. Keet (October 1977). "Distributed data processing: the key is software". Data Communications.
  3. ^ Woods, Larry (March 1979). "IBM's 8100: First Impressions". Datamation.
  4. ^ "(which can simulate 3790 functions through the DPCX operating system)"
  5. ^ a b Ronald G. Ross. "IBM's Distributed Processing Capabilities For Large-Scale Data Base Systems, Part 1". Computerworld.
  6. ^ a b Ronald G. Ross. "IBM's Distributed Processing Capabilities For Large-Scale Data Base Systems, Part 2". Computerworld.
  7. ^ Ronald A. Frank (July 16, 1975). "The 3790: A Glimpse Into IBM's Future Plans?". Computerworld. Vol. 9, no. 29. IDG Enterprise. p. 15. ISSN 0010-4841.
  8. ^ "I.B.M. Displays New Processor". The New York Times. June 23, 1983.
  9. ^ "Motorola to acquire computer maker". The New York Times. December 11, 1981.
  10. ^ Jay Bryan (October 21, 1979). "Mr. Fixit of Northern Telecom". The New York Times.
  11. ^ Peter J. Schuyten (February 4, 1979). To Clone a Computer. {{cite book}}: |newspaper= ignored (help)
  12. ^ "Honeywell's New Computer". The New York Times. October 15, 1982.
  13. ^ Peter J. Schuyten (September 27, 1979). "Technology". The New York Times.
  14. ^ Steven Greenhouse (May 19, 1987). "Challenge for Honeywell Bull". The New York Times.