The P/390 is a co-processor for PC bus PC, such as the IBM PC Server product line. such as the IBM PS/2 or PC Server product lines. It adds a standalone ESA/390 processor function to a workstation running OS/2. This creates a S/390 workstation that can run ESA mainframe applications concurrently with OS/2 applications. The P/390 is the engine featured in the following products:
The presence of both "PC" and "Mainframe" operating systems in the same workstation allows the customer the freedom to choose the best platform on which to run each application. The P/390 truly provides the "best of both worlds".
The P/390 can run any ESA/390, S/370, or S/370-XA operating system
and associated applications standalone.
When installed in a fast, server-class workstation, the P/390 can
support multiple users as a small departmental ESA/390 server.
When installed in a smaller machine, the P/390 becomes the ideal
single-user ESA/390 workstation.