FASTER (First Automated Teleprocessing Environment Reponder)
was a
transaction processor that ran on
IBM mainframe
IBM mainframes are large computer systems produced by IBM since 1952. During the 1960s and 1970s, IBM dominated the large computer market. Current mainframe computers in IBM's line of business computers are developments of the basic design of t ...
systems under
OS/MFT
OS/360, officially known as IBM System/360 Operating System, is a discontinued batch processing operating system developed by IBM for their then-new System/360 mainframe computer, announced in 1964; it was influenced by the earlier IBSYS/IBJOB ...
.
FASTER was available from
IBM and designed for rapid, low to medium volume online processing. This process was entirely interactive (screen-oriented using
2260
In contemporary history, the third millennium of the anno Domini or Common Era in the Gregorian calendar is the current millennium spanning the years 2001 to 3000 ( 21st to 30th centuries). Ongoing futures studies seek to understand what is l ...
display terminals).
The 'official' version of FASTER was
single thread only and was a forerunner of
MTCS
MTCS (Minimum Teleprocessing Communications System) was a transaction processor that ran on IBM mainframe systems under OS/VS1 and DOS/VS.
MTCS was available from IBM and designed for rapid, low to medium volume online processing. This proce ...
before it was released.
Transactions
A FASTER transaction is a set of operations which together perform a task. Usually, the majority of transactions are relatively simple tasks such as updating the balance of an account.
FASTER applications comprise transactions which were written in IBM
Basic Assembly Language
Basic Assembly Language (BAL) is the commonly used term for a low-level programming language used on IBM System/360 and successor mainframes. Originally, "Basic Assembly Language" applied only to an extremely restricted dialect designed to run unde ...
and interfaced with
2260
In contemporary history, the third millennium of the anno Domini or Common Era in the Gregorian calendar is the current millennium spanning the years 2001 to 3000 ( 21st to 30th centuries). Ongoing futures studies seek to understand what is l ...
terminals.
Each FASTER program was initiated using a transaction identifier. FASTER screens were sent as native
2260
In contemporary history, the third millennium of the anno Domini or Common Era in the Gregorian calendar is the current millennium spanning the years 2001 to 3000 ( 21st to 30th centuries). Ongoing futures studies seek to understand what is l ...
datastreams to the terminal.
History
The first release of FASTER was made available prior to the first release of
MTCS
MTCS (Minimum Teleprocessing Communications System) was a transaction processor that ran on IBM mainframe systems under OS/VS1 and DOS/VS.
MTCS was available from IBM and designed for rapid, low to medium volume online processing. This proce ...
in the mid 1960s. FASTER and was a higher level
BTAM based product that controlled
IBM 2260
The text-only monochrome IBM 2260 cathode-ray tube (CRT) video display terminal (Display Station) plus keyboard was a 1964 predecessor to the more-powerful IBM 3270 terminal line which eventually was extended to support color text and graphic ...
display terminals
See also
*
IBM 2260
The text-only monochrome IBM 2260 cathode-ray tube (CRT) video display terminal (Display Station) plus keyboard was a 1964 predecessor to the more-powerful IBM 3270 terminal line which eventually was extended to support color text and graphic ...
*
OS/MFT
OS/360, officially known as IBM System/360 Operating System, is a discontinued batch processing operating system developed by IBM for their then-new System/360 mainframe computer, announced in 1964; it was influenced by the earlier IBSYS/IBJOB ...
*
BTAM
*
MTCS
MTCS (Minimum Teleprocessing Communications System) was a transaction processor that ran on IBM mainframe systems under OS/VS1 and DOS/VS.
MTCS was available from IBM and designed for rapid, low to medium volume online processing. This proce ...
: a later teleprocessing monitor from
IBM
References
{{Reflist
Transaction processing
IBM mainframe software