Irma board

DCA Irma board for PCs (IRMA II ISA)

Irma board, originally spelled IRMA board, refers to a brand of coaxial interface cards for PCs and Macintosh computers used to enable 3270 emulator programs to connect to IBM mainframe computers.[1][2] IRMA boards were used to connect PCs and Macs to IBM 3274 terminal controllers.[3]

IRMA boards supported both Control Unit Terminal (CUT) and Distributed Function Terminal (DFT) mode, although the later required additional software–DFT mode supported multiple simultaneous mainframe sessions.[4]

IRMA boards were invented by Technical Analysis Corp. (TAC), acquired by Digital Communications Associates, Inc. (DCA) who manufactured and marketed the Irma products from 1982 on. DCA[1] of Alpharetta, Georgia, was acquired in 1994 by Attachmate of Bellevue, Washington.

A board with all the capabilities of that which would eventually be called IRMA was originally developed in-house by Amdahl Corp in 1977, but it was not actively marketed by Amdahl.[citation needed]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b DCA Planning for Upcoming Era of Interactive Communications
  2. ^ Dong, Jielin (2007). Network dictionary. Saratoga, Calif.: Javvin Technologies, Inc. p. 262. ISBN 978-1-60267-000-6. OCLC 228403413.
  3. ^ Singer, John (22 January 1985). "PC Metamorphosis: 3270 Emulation". PC Mag. 4 (2). Ziff Davis, Inc.: 170. ISSN 0888-8507 – via Google Books.
  4. ^ Stephens, Mark (16 October 1989). "Mac Irma Cards to Run 5 Simultaneous Sessions". InfoWorld. 11 (42). InfoWorld Media Group, Inc.: 29. ISSN 0199-6649 – via Google Books.
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