The Transaction Processing Facility (TPF) is a legacy mainframe operating system originally developed by IBM. TPF was designed for high-volume transaction processing applications such as banking, airline reservations and credit card processing.
TPF runs on IBM Z series mainframes and utilizes the z/Architecture. Due to its focus on performance and efficiency, TPF is sometimes referred to as a "real-time" operating system.
TPF was first released in 1969 and has undergone several major releases since then. The most recent release, TPF 4.1, was made available in 2014.
Despite its age, TPF continues to be used by many large organizations that rely on mainframe systems for mission-critical applications. This is due in part to the fact that TPF is one of the most stable and reliable operating systems available. In addition, TPF offers a high degree of security and scalability, which are both essential for large enterprises.
Examples of customers using TPF include American Express, Discover Financial Services, JPMorgan Chase and Visa Inc.
American Express uses TPF to power its high-volume transaction processing applications. This includes the processing of credit card transactions, as well as other financial transactions such as bill payments and money transfers.
The TPF system at American Express is able to process over 10,000 transactions per second. This high level of performance is crucial for American Express, as it needs to be able to handle a large volume of transactions quickly and efficiently.
In addition to its high performance, the TPF system at American Express is also very reliable. This is essential for mission-critical applications such as credit card processing, where any downtime can result in significant financial losses.
While TPF is not as widely used as some other mainframe operating systems, such as z/OS, it remains an important part of the IBM Z ecosystem.
What is the IBM z/Architecture?
The z/Architecture is a 64-bit instruction set architecture introduced by IBM in 1991. It is the successor to the 32-bit System/360 architecture and is still used in IBM's mainframe computers. The z/Architecture was originally designed for use in high-performance computing environments, such as mainframes, but has since been used in a variety of other computing applications as well.
What are IBM Z series mainframes?
IBM Z series mainframes are high-end server computers that are designed for large-scale enterprise applications. Mainframes are typically used for mission-critical applications, such as financial transaction processing or airline reservations.
Is TPF related to OS/390?
Yes, TPF is based on OS/390, which was the previous generation of IBM's mainframe operating system. However, TPF has been significantly updated and modernized over the years and is now a fully-fledged 64-bit operating system.
Sources:
https://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/en/SSB23S_1.1.0.13/gtpc1/tpfover.html
https://www-03preview.ibm.com/systems/z/os/zos/bkservices/transactionprocessing/tpf/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transaction_Processing_Facility
http://www.ibmsystemsmag.com/mainframe/trends/transaction-processing-facility/
https://www.computerweekly.com/feature/Understanding-IBMs-Transaction-Processing-Facility
https://www.infoq.com/articles/tpf-z-os-legacy-apps-mainframes/
http://public.dhe.ibm.com/partnerworld/pub/pw-magazine-pdfs/pw_novdec14_americanexpress.pdf?S_CMP=PW-Mag&S_op=dl&S_PK=9490016&S_TACT=105AGX12&S_CMP=PW-Mag&s_tact=105AGX12&s_cmp=pw-mag&s_op=dl&s_k=9490016
keywords: TPF, Operating System, IBM Z series mainframes, z/Architecture, OS/390, transaction processing.