<s>
RETAIN	B-Application
is	O
a	O
mainframe	O
based	O
database	B-Application
system	I-Application
,	O
accessed	O
via	O
IBM	B-Operating_System
3270	I-Operating_System
terminals	O
(	O
or	O
more	O
likely	O
,	O
emulators	O
)	O
,	O
used	O
internally	O
within	O
IBM	O
providing	O
service	O
support	O
to	O
IBM	O
field	O
personnel	O
and	O
customers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
acronym	O
RETAIN	B-Application
stands	O
for	O
Remote	B-Application
Technical	I-Application
Assistance	I-Application
Information	I-Application
Network	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Historically	O
,	O
two	O
different	O
,	O
but	O
similar	O
,	O
systems	O
were	O
called	O
RETAIN	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
terminals	O
supported	O
by	O
this	O
early	O
RETAIN	B-Application
system	O
were	O
typewriter-type	O
terminals	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
the	O
IBM	O
2740	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
RETAIN	B-Application
system	O
was	O
built	O
on	O
the	O
same	O
software	O
framework	O
as	O
that	O
of	O
FIS	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
fact	O
,	O
most	O
of	O
the	O
early	O
support	O
for	O
RETAIN	B-Application
was	O
actually	O
written	O
in	O
the	O
language	O
of	O
a	O
"	O
course	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1970	O
,	O
concurrent	O
with	O
the	O
announcement	O
of	O
System/370	O
,	O
the	O
next	O
generation	O
of	O
mainframes	O
after	O
System/360	O
,	O
a	O
new	O
system	O
was	O
announced	O
,	O
called	O
RETAIN/370	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
special	O
version	O
of	O
the	O
2915	O
display	O
,	O
originally	O
designed	O
for	O
the	O
airline	O
reservations	O
systems	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
SABRE	B-Application
,	O
was	O
used	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
older	O
RETAIN	B-Application
system	O
continued	O
to	O
be	O
used	O
for	O
several	O
years	O
afterwards	O
,	O
running	O
in	O
parallel	O
with	O
RETAIN/370	O
,	O
still	O
connected	O
to	O
branch-office	O
terminals	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
sometimes	O
called	O
the	O
"	O
RETAIN/360	O
"	O
system	O
,	O
although	O
that	O
designation	O
was	O
never	O
formalized	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
time	O
,	O
after	O
RETAIN/370	O
became	O
available	O
via	O
3270	B-Operating_System
terminals	I-Operating_System
in	O
the	O
branch	O
offices	O
,	O
the	O
old	O
RETAIN	B-Application
system	O
was	O
phased	O
out	O
,	O
and	O
RETAIN/370	O
was	O
renamed	O
to	O
simply	O
RETAIN	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
RETAIN/370	O
ran	O
special	O
applications	O
designed	O
for	O
technical	O
support	O
center	O
use	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
RETAIN/370	O
was	O
the	O
first	O
IBM	O
system	O
deployed	O
on	O
a	O
large	O
scale	O
that	O
had	O
such	O
a	O
capability	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
search	O
engine	O
component	O
of	O
RETAIN	B-Application
is	O
called	O
IRIS	O
,	O
for	O
Interpretive	O
Retrieval	O
Information	O
System	O
(	O
not	O
to	O
be	O
confused	O
with	O
other	O
non-IBM	O
software	O
systems	O
of	O
that	O
name	O
...	O
IBM	O
never	O
sold	O
this	O
search	O
engine	O
as	O
a	O
product	O
,	O
so	O
there	O
was	O
no	O
trademark	O
issue	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
mid-1970s	O
,	O
a	O
RETAIN	B-Application
was	O
expanded	O
to	O
permit	O
multiple	O
copies	O
of	O
the	O
database	O
to	O
be	O
hosted	O
on	O
geographically	O
distributed	O
systems	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
RETAIN	B-Application
's	O
custom-built	O
Data	O
Bank	O
Manager	O
,	O
which	O
served	O
as	O
the	O
foundation	O
for	O
all	O
RETAIN	B-Application
applications	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
IRIS	O
search	O
engine	O
,	O
was	O
modified	O
to	O
support	O
"	O
mirroring	O
"	O
of	O
file	O
updates	O
to	O
take	O
place	O
automatically	O
across	O
the	O
network	O
,	O
in	O
a	O
manner	O
nearly	O
invisible	O
to	O
the	O
application	O
programs	O
,	O
but	O
which	O
providing	O
a	O
high	O
level	O
of	O
data	O
integrity	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
After	O
this	O
change	O
,	O
RETAIN	B-Application
hosts	O
were	O
created	O
in	O
two	O
US	O
locations	O
,	O
two	O
in	O
Europe	O
,	O
two	O
in	O
South	O
America	O
,	O
and	O
two	O
in	O
Japan	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
At	O
the	O
time	O
System/370	O
was	O
announced	O
,	O
along	O
with	O
the	O
corresponding	O
RETAIN/370	O
system	O
,	O
IBM	O
announced	O
that	O
the	O
new	O
family	O
of	O
computers	O
would	O
be	O
equipped	O
to	O
permit	O
remote	O
diagnosis	O
of	O
hardware	O
problems	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
hardware	O
diagnostic	O
programs	O
were	O
written	O
to	O
allow	O
control	O
via	O
a	O
remote	O
connection	O
to	O
applications	O
on	O
the	O
RETAIN	B-Application
system	O
that	O
could	O
be	O
controlled	O
by	O
IBM	O
specialists	O
located	O
at	O
the	O
IBM	O
support	O
center	O
in	O
Chicago	O
,	O
managed	O
by	O
Paul	O
Rushton	O
,	O
and	O
also	O
including	O
the	O
original	O
plant	O
of	O
manufacture	O
of	O
the	O
CPU	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
connection	O
was	O
made	O
through	O
a	O
communications	O
device	O
called	O
an	O
IBM	O
2955	O
adapter	O
,	O
a	O
stripped-down	O
variant	O
of	O
the	O
2701	B-Device
communications	I-Device
controller	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
could	O
connect	O
at	O
600	O
bit/s	O
to	O
the	O
RETAIN	B-Application
system	O
to	O
run	O
diagnostics	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Through	O
a	O
special	O
application	O
,	O
an	O
MVS	O
system	O
could	O
be	O
connected	O
,	O
via	O
RETAIN	B-Application
,	O
to	O
an	O
IBM	O
support	O
center	O
,	O
and	O
memory	O
dumps	O
and	O
other	O
system	O
data	O
could	O
be	O
examined	O
remotely	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
application	O
also	O
permitted	O
download	O
of	O
software	O
fixes	O
,	O
or	O
IBM	B-Application
Program	I-Application
temporary	I-Application
fixes	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Over	O
the	O
years	O
,	O
several	O
projects	O
have	O
aimed	O
to	O
supplant	O
RETAIN	B-Application
's	O
functionality	O
,	O
but	O
it	O
has	O
shown	O
lasting	O
presence	O
despite	O
them	O
.	O
</s>
