AS400 and IBM i Glossary

IBM's original official brand spelling for the Application System/400 platform introduced in 1988. AS400 is the later slashless shorthand and search form.

The slashless form of IBM's original AS/400 brand name. Not the original official styling, but now the dominant search, typing, and colloquial shorthand for IBM i and IBM Power Systems.

Commercial Processing Workload. IBM's benchmark metric for measuring the relative processing performance of IBM i systems. Used to compare AS400/IBM i hardware generations and models.

The integrated relational database built into IBM i (AS400). DB2 for i is not a separate product ... it is part of the OS. One of the AS400 platform's defining architectural advantages.

IBM's custom NVMe drive used in FlashSystem storage arrays, performing inline compression and encryption in the drive controller itself.

The text-based character interface used to interact with AS400 and IBM i systems. Named for the green monochrome display terminals originally used. A key modernization target.

IBM's external all-flash and hybrid enterprise storage family, running Storage Virtualize software and commonly attached to IBM i and Power environments over SAN.

The current official name for the operating system that runs on IBM Power Systems. Successor to OS/400 and i5/OS. The OS lineage of the AS400 platform.

The IBM server hardware platform that runs IBM i (and AIX and Linux). The hardware successor to the AS400, iSeries, and System i platforms.

The brand name IBM used for the AS400 hardware platform from 2000 to 2006. Replaced by System i in 2006 and IBM Power Systems in 2008.

The original operating system for the AS400 platform, released in 1988. Renamed to i5/OS in 2004 and IBM i in 2008. The OS lineage that all IBM i releases trace back to.

A common spaced search and voice-typing version of IBM's Power10 product name. Not IBM's official styling, but widely used by searchers.

A common spaced search and voice-typing version of IBM's Power11 product name. Not IBM's official styling, but widely used by searchers.

A common spaced search and voice-typing version of IBM's Power9 product name. Not IBM's official styling, but widely typed by real users.

IBM's official no-space styling for the 2021 Power generation. Power 10 with a space is a common user-typed variant of the same product family.

IBM's official no-space styling for the Power generation IBM announced July 8, 2025. Brand-correct in IBM materials, while Power 11 with a space is also common in search and voice typing.

IBM's official no-space styling for the 2017 Power generation. Power 9 with a space is a common search and voice-typing variant of the same hardware family.

IBM's primary programming language for AS400 and IBM i. Report Program Generator, now evolved into a modern structured language (ILE RPG / RPGLE) still in active use.

IBM's brand name for the AS400/iSeries platform from 2006 to 2008. Part of IBM's unified Systems branding. Replaced by IBM Power Systems.