<s>
The	O
IBM	B-Device
9370	I-Device
systems	O
are	O
"	O
baby	O
mainframe	B-Architecture
"	O
midrange	B-Device
computers	I-Device
,	O
released	O
1986	O
at	O
the	O
very	O
low	O
end	O
of	O
,	O
and	O
compatible	O
with	O
System/370	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
media	O
of	O
the	O
day	O
,	O
referring	O
to	O
the	O
VAX	B-Device
systems	O
manufactured	O
by	O
Digital	O
Equipment	O
Corporation	O
(	O
DEC	O
)	O
,	O
carried	O
IBM	O
's	O
alleged	O
"	O
VAX	B-Device
Killer	O
"	O
phrase	O
,	O
albeit	O
often	O
skeptically	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
IBM	B-Device
9370	I-Device
was	O
created	O
in	O
the	O
aftermath	O
of	O
the	O
failed	O
Fort	O
Knox	O
project	O
,	O
which	O
attempted	O
to	O
consolidate	O
all	O
of	O
IBM	O
's	O
midrange	B-Device
systems	I-Device
into	O
a	O
single	O
IBM	O
801-based	O
hardware	O
platform	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
announcement	O
described	O
the	O
IBM	B-Device
9370	I-Device
as	O
a	O
"	O
super-mini	B-Device
computer	I-Device
"	O
for	O
commercial	O
and	O
engineering/scientific	O
use	O
—	O
compact	O
,	O
rack-mounted	O
,	O
designed	O
for	O
an	O
office	O
environment	O
,	O
not	O
needing	O
a	O
data	B-Operating_System
center	I-Operating_System
to	O
be	O
used	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
At	O
the	O
time	O
of	O
announcement	O
the	O
systems	O
were	O
positioned	O
between	O
IBM	O
's	O
midrange	B-Device
systems	I-Device
(	O
IBM	B-Device
System/36	I-Device
and	O
IBM	B-Device
System/38	I-Device
)	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
IBM	B-Device
4300	I-Device
mainframe	B-Architecture
series	O
in	O
performance	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
IBM	B-Device
9370	I-Device
was	O
partially	O
a	O
replacement	O
for	O
the	O
also-not-so-successful	O
IBM	B-Device
8100	I-Device
distributed	O
processing	O
engine	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Intended	O
to	O
be	O
sold	O
in	O
large	O
amounts	O
as	O
departmental	O
machines	O
(	O
"	O
VAX	B-Device
killers	O
"	O
)	O
,	O
the	O
9370	O
initially	O
suffered	O
from	O
lack	O
of	O
software	O
and	O
the	O
failure	O
of	O
IBM	O
to	O
market	O
it	O
properly	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Nevertheless	O
,	O
the	O
systems	O
were	O
popular	O
at	O
least	O
with	O
users	O
actually	O
needing	O
System/370	B-Device
compatibility	O
while	O
not	O
wanting	O
to	O
accept	O
the	O
expense	O
of	O
a	O
larger	O
system	O
(	O
like	O
e.g.	O
</s>
<s>
smaller	O
software	O
houses	O
)	O
or	O
with	O
users	O
(	O
like	O
some	O
large	O
IBM	O
customers	O
)	O
preferring	O
hierarchically	O
structured	O
distributed	O
processing	O
solutions	O
rigidly	O
managed	O
by	O
central	O
communication	O
controllers	O
like	O
IBM	B-Device
37xx	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
relatively	O
lacklustre	O
commercial	O
success	O
of	O
the	O
9370	O
served	O
as	O
an	O
impetus	O
for	O
the	O
creation	O
of	O
the	O
much	O
more	O
successful	O
AS/400	B-Device
midrange	B-Device
systems	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
While	O
becoming	O
part	O
of	O
the	O
IBM	B-Device
Enterprise	I-Device
Systems	I-Device
Architecture	I-Device
in	O
1988	O
(	O
"	O
ES/9370	B-Device
"	O
like	O
"	O
ES/4300	O
"	O
and	O
"	O
ES/3090	O
"	O
)	O
,	O
the	O
9370s	O
were	O
n't	O
XA	O
systems	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1990	O
IBM	O
announced	O
the	O
"	O
ES/9000	B-Device
"	O
series	O
;	O
the	O
rack-mounted	O
models	O
120-170	O
with	O
31-bit	O
Enterprise	O
Systems	O
Architecture	O
(	O
ESA	O
)	O
and	O
ESCON	B-Device
were	O
the	O
suggested	O
upgrades	O
for	O
ES/9370	B-Device
users	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
original	O
9370	O
hardware	O
was	O
based	O
on	O
technology	O
created	O
for	O
the	O
Fort	O
Knox	O
project	O
-	O
reusing	O
some	O
of	O
the	O
IBM	O
801-based	O
processor	O
design	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
SPD	O
I/O	B-General_Concept
bus	O
which	O
was	O
derived	O
from	O
the	O
Series/1	B-Device
bus	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
All	O
models	O
included	O
a	O
floating-point	B-Device
accelerator	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
a	O
processor	O
console	O
to	O
install	O
,	O
operate	O
and	O
maintain	O
the	O
system	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Each	O
Workstation	O
Controller	O
could	O
interface	O
up	O
to	O
32	O
IBM	B-Operating_System
3270	I-Operating_System
terminals	O
/	O
printers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Software	O
for	O
all	O
models	O
included	O
VM/SP	B-Application
+	O
VM/IS	O
,	O
VSE/SP	O
,	O
and	O
VM/SP	B-Application
+	O
IX/370	B-Application
,	O
while	O
MVS/SP	O
was	O
only	O
available	O
for	O
larger	O
models	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1988	O
,	O
Distributed	O
Processing	O
Programming	O
Executive	O
DPPX/370	B-Operating_System
for	O
ES/9370	B-Device
was	O
made	O
available	O
to	O
customers	O
wanting	O
to	O
migrate	O
from	O
the	O
IBM	B-Device
8100	I-Device
running	O
DPPX	B-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
"	O
Micro	B-Device
Channel	I-Device
370	O
"	O
Models	O
010	O
,	O
012	O
,	O
014	O
(	O
later	O
110	O
,	O
112	O
,	O
114	O
)	O
ES/9371	O
introduced	O
in	O
1990	O
used	O
the	O
Micro	B-Device
Channel	I-Device
bus	O
and	O
a	O
386	B-General_Concept
CPU	I-General_Concept
for	O
input/output	B-General_Concept
(	O
I/O	B-General_Concept
)	O
processing	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Additionally	O
,	O
a	O
dual-processor	O
model	O
was	O
offered	O
,	O
providing	O
a	O
second	O
386	B-General_Concept
CPU	I-General_Concept
for	O
DOS	O
and	O
OS/2	O
applications	O
,	O
implementing	O
a	O
high-speed	O
link	O
between	O
the	O
processors	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
With	O
the	O
models	O
mentioned	O
,	O
APPC	B-Protocol
support	O
was	O
added	O
,	O
using	O
LU6.2	B-Protocol
based	O
on	O
SNA	B-Architecture
PU2.1	O
.	O
</s>
