AS400 History Timeline

System/38 establishes the integrated model

IBM's System/38 established several ideas that still shape IBM i conversations today ... object-based architecture, an integrated database mindset, and a platform designed around business workloads instead of generic operating-system assembly.

That foundation helps explain why IBM i environments still behave differently from many Windows or Linux stacks when buyers evaluate software, security, recovery, and modernization.

AS/400 becomes the business system many companies still remember by name

The AS/400 launch turned the midrange lineage into a widely recognized business platform for ERP, finance, distribution, manufacturing, warehousing, and operational reporting. Even now, many people still say AS400 when the current technical name is IBM i running on Power Systems hardware.

That naming gap matters in search behavior. Buyers often research AS400 servers, but the hardware market they are entering is usually branded IBM i on Power Systems.

iSeries and System i reframe the same business foundation

IBM rebranded the platform through the iSeries and later System i eras, but the business role stayed familiar ... stable transaction processing, deep ERP integration, and long-lived operational workloads.

These branding changes created the vocabulary mix buyers still use now: AS/400, iSeries, System i, and IBM i often point to the same operational lineage, even when the hardware and software generations differ.

IBM i becomes the current platform name

IBM i became the modern platform name, but the installed base kept carrying decades of applications, integrations, staffing habits, and hardware still in daily service forward. That continuity is one reason hardware decisions on IBM i often emphasize compatibility, warranty confidence, and operational fit over trend-driven spec upgrades.

For beginners, this is also why learning IBM i means learning both history and current practice at the same time.

The platform is still active, but the questions have shifted

Today's buyers are less likely to ask whether the platform exists and more likely to ask when to refresh hardware, whether refurbished capacity makes sense, and how much different hardware paths will really cost.

That is why current IBM i hardware content needs to connect history to decisions about lifecycle timing, pricing, storage, terminals, and infrastructure.

• Lifecycle intent matters because IBM's support calendar sets real refresh deadlines
• Refurbished intent matters because budget-constrained buyers want warrantied secondary market capacity
• Pricing intent matters because buyers are comparing new, refurbished, and upgrade paths at the same time

AS/400 to Power 11: the complete hardware lineage

Every AS/400, iSeries, System i, and Power Systems generation carries its own processor family and its own list of server models. Buyers tracing a specific machine type, checking upgrade compatibility, or confirming which processor family a model belongs to usually need that lineage in one place rather than scattered across product pages.

The tables below trace the platform from the original IMPI processor through Power 11, then list the specific server models each generation shipped.