Editing IBM System/38 (section)

{{Short description|IBM midrange computer (1978–1988)}}

{{Infobox information appliance
| name = IBM System/38
| logo = File:IBM logo.svg
| logo_size = 100px
| os = [[Control Program Facility]]
| image = File:S38 I.jpg
| caption = IBM System/38
| successor = [[IBM AS/400]]
| manufacturer = [[IBM]]
| release date = {{Start date and age|1978}}
| discontinued = 1988
| related = [[IBM System/36]]
| dimensions = 1260x1775x750mm<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://bitsavers.org/pdf/ibm/system38/GA21-9293-16_IBM_System_38_Installation_Manual_-_Physical_Planning_7th_ed_198303.pdf|title=IBM System/38 Installation Manual - Physical Planning|edition=Seventh|date=March 1983|id=GA21-9293-16|publisher=IBM}}</ref>
| predecessor = [[IBM System/34]]
}}
The '''System/38'''<ref name=S38.NYT1986>{{cite news |newspaper=[[The New York Times]]
   |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/06/17/business/ibm-strengthens-office-line.html
   |title=I.B.M. Strengthens Office Line
   |author=David E. Sanger  |date=June 17, 1986}}</ref><ref name=S38.PriceCutsNYT82>{{cite news |newspaper=[[The New York Times]]
|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/10/21/business/ibm-cuts-computer-prices.html
|title=I.B.M. Cuts Computer Prices
|author=Andrew Pollack  |date=October 21, 1982}}</ref> is a discontinued [[minicomputer]] and [[midrange computer]] manufactured and sold by
[[IBM]]. The system was announced in 1978.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www-03.ibm.com/ibm/history/history/year_1978.html | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20050117192541/http://www-03.ibm.com/ibm/history/history/year_1978.html | url-status = dead | archive-date = January 17, 2005 | title = IBM Archives: 1970s, year 1978 | date = 23 January 2003 | publisher = IBM}}</ref> The System/38 has [[48-bit computing|48-bit]] addressing, which was unique for the time, and a novel [[database#Integrated approach|integrated database]] system. It was oriented toward a [[multi-user]] system environment. At the time, the typical system handled from a dozen to several dozen [[Computer terminal|terminal]]s. Although the System/38 failed to displace the systems it was intended to replace, its architecture served as the basis of the much more successful [[IBM AS/400]].<ref name="inside-as400" /><ref name="schleicher-interview" />