by Pritha Radhakrishnan, on May 31, 2023 12:51:31 PM
1. What is AS/400?
Ans: AS/400, also known as IBM iSeries or IBM System i, is a midrange computer system developed by IBM. It is designed for business applications and provides a reliable, secure, and scalable platform for running various workloads.
2. What is the significance of AS/400 in the business environment?
Ans: AS/400 is widely used in organizations for running critical business applications such as ERP systems, financial management, supply chain management, and customer relationship management. It offers a robust and stable environment for these applications, ensuring high availability and data integrity.
3. What are the key components of AS/400?
Ans: AS/400 consists of three main components: hardware, operating system (IBM i), and software. The hardware includes processors, memory, storage, and input/output devices. The operating system provides the foundation for running applications, managing resources, and ensuring security. The software includes various applications and tools developed for the AS/400 platform.
4. How does AS/400 handle security?
Ans: AS/400 has built-in security features that include user authentication, object-level security, role-based access control, and auditing. It provides a secure environment for storing and accessing data, protecting against unauthorized access and ensuring data privacy.
5. What programming languages are commonly used on AS/400?
Ans: The primary programming language used on AS/400 is RPG (Report Program Generator), which is specifically designed for business applications. Other programming languages supported include COBOL, CL (Control Language), Java, and SQL for database operations.
6. What is the Integrated File System (IFS) in AS/400?
Ans: The Integrated File System (IFS) is a file system in AS/400 that provides a hierarchical view of files and directories, similar to the file systems in other operating systems. It allows the AS/400 to interact with files from different platforms, including Windows, UNIX, and Linux.
7. How does AS/400 handle data storage and management?
Ans: AS/400 provides a robust relational database management system (DB2) for storing and managing data. It supports SQL for database operations and provides features like data integrity constraints, transaction management, and indexing for efficient data retrieval.
8. What is a library in AS/400?
Ans: A library in AS/400 is a container for organizing and storing objects, such as programs, files, and documents. It acts as a logical grouping of related objects and helps in managing and securing the resources.
9. How does AS/400 handle batch processing?
Ans: AS/400 has a built-in job scheduler called Job Queue that allows users to schedule and manage batch jobs. It enables automated execution of jobs at specified times and provides facilities for monitoring and controlling job execution.
10. Explain the concept of subsystems in AS/400.
Ans: Subsystems in AS/400 are logical partitions that provide an environment for running specific types of applications. Each subsystem has its own set of resources, such as memory and processing capacity, and can be configured with different priorities and parameters based on the application requirements.
11. What are the different types of AS/400 libraries?
Ans: There are several types of libraries in AS/400, including user libraries (created by users to store their objects), system libraries (containing system-related objects), product libraries (for storing objects associated with specific software products), and temporary libraries (used for temporary storage).
12. What is a physical file and a logical file in AS/400?
Ans: A physical file in AS/400 is similar to a table in a relational database. It contains the actual data stored in rows and columns. A logical file, on the other hand, is a view or subset of data from one or more physical files, allowing users to access and manipulate data based on specific criteria.
13. How do you compile and execute programs in AS/400?
Ans: Programs in AS/400 are compiled using the appropriate compiler, such as RPG, COBOL, or CL. Once compiled, the programs are stored in libraries. To execute a program, you can submit it as a batch job, interactively call it from a command line, or schedule it for automatic execution.
14. How does AS/400 handle data backup and recovery?
Ans: AS/400 provides various backup and recovery mechanisms, including full system backups, incremental backups, and point-in-time backups. It offers features like journaling to capture changes in data, save-while-active technology for continuous operations, and restore options to recover data in case of failures.
15. What is the difference between physical and logical file access paths?
Ans: Physical file access paths allow direct access to the physical file's data in the order it is stored. Logical file access paths, on the other hand, provide alternate views or sequences of data based on specific selection and sorting criteria.
16. How can you monitor system performance in AS/400?
Ans: AS/400 provides performance monitoring tools like System Monitor, Job Watcher, and Performance Explorer. These tools allow administrators to monitor system resources, identify bottlenecks, and optimize system performance.
17. What are the different types of communication protocols supported by AS/400?
Ans: AS/400 supports various communication protocols such as TCP/IP, SNA (Systems Network Architecture), APPC (Advanced Program-to-Program Communication), and FTP (File Transfer Protocol). These protocols enable communication between AS/400 and other systems or networks.
18. What is the purpose of message queues in AS/400?
Ans: Message queues in AS/400 are used for asynchronous communication between different programs or processes. They allow the exchange of information and coordination between different parts of an application or between different applications running on the system.
19. How does AS/400 handle high availability and disaster recovery?
Ans: AS/400 provides built-in features for high availability and disaster recovery, such as hardware redundancy, clustering, data replication, and backup systems. These features ensure continuous operations and minimize downtime in case of hardware failures or disasters.
20. What is the role of AS/400 in cloud computing?
Ans: AS/400 is a capable platform for hosting cloud-based applications and services. It can be integrated with cloud technologies like virtualization, scalability, and remote access to provide on-demand resources and services to users.
21. What is the Integrated Language Environment (ILE) in AS/400?
Ans: The Integrated Language Environment (ILE) is a programming framework in AS/400 that allows developers to write programs in multiple languages (RPG, COBOL, CL, etc.) and integrate them seamlessly. It provides features like shared objects, modular programming, and integrated debugging.
22. Explain the concept of commitment control in AS/400.
Ans: Commitment control in AS/400 allows multiple database operations to be treated as a single transaction. It ensures the integrity of the database by providing atomicity, consistency, isolation, and durability (ACID) properties. If any part of a transaction fails, all changes are rolled back to maintain data consistency.
23. What are user profiles in AS/400, and how are they used?
Ans: User profiles in AS/400 are used for user authentication and authorization. Each user is assigned a unique user profile that contains information such as user ID, password, and authority levels. User profiles control access to system resources and determine the actions a user can perform.
24. How can you automate tasks in AS/400?
Ans: AS/400 provides various automation tools like Job Scheduler, Control Language (CL) programs, and APIs (Application Programming Interfaces). These tools allow users to automate routine tasks, schedule jobs, and perform batch processing without manual intervention.
25. What are the advantages of using AS/400 for business applications?
Ans: Some advantages of using AS/400 for business applications include its reliability, scalability, security features, integration capabilities, and the vast ecosystem of software and tools available. It provides a stable and efficient platform for running critical business operations.
