RETAIN
| Company type | Internal database system |
|---|---|
| Industry | Information technology, Technical support |
| Founded | 1960s |
| Headquarters | Raleigh, North Carolina , United States |
Area served | IBM internal users worldwide |
| Products | Technical support database, remote diagnostics, full-text search engine (IRIS) |
RETAIN is a database system operating on mainframe technology, accessible internally within IBM through IBM 3270 terminals or their emulators, designed to assist both field staff and customers.
The term RETAIN stands for Remote Technical Assistance Information Network.
Earlier system
Historically, two distinct systems bore the name RETAIN. The initial version, developed in the mid-1960s, delivered technical information to IBM Field Engineering via concise bulletins categorized by machine or software component identifiers. Users accessed it through straightforward query commands on typewriter-like terminals such as the IBM 2740, which also supported the IBM Field Instruction System (FIS) for delivering programmed training content. Much of the early RETAIN content was structured as "courses" within this framework.
This original system mainly catered to the System/360 mainframe series but also contained technical details about previous systems.
RETAIN/370
Coinciding with the 1970 launch of the System/370, IBM rolled out RETAIN/370 to serve Technical Support Centers located regionally rather than branch offices. This iteration utilized display terminals based on the IBM 2915 model, initially developed for airline reservation platforms like SABRE. The 2915 included a keyboard and screen managed by an IBM 2948 controller capable of handling up to 31 terminals situated nearby. Due to their expense, these terminals were deployed exclusively at regional support centers.
Meanwhile, the earlier RETAIN system—sometimes referred to as "RETAIN/360"—remained operational until RETAIN/370 became accessible via 3270 terminals at branch locations. Subsequently, the original system was retired and RETAIN/370 was simply renamed RETAIN.
Search capabilities
RETAIN/370 featured dedicated applications tailored for technical support centers, notably incorporating a full-text search engine that allowed boolean queries across most textual documents. This functionality represented an early large-scale implementation within IBM and bore resemblance to contemporary Internet search engines such as Google or AltaVista, albeit limited to word and phrase combination searches without adjacency awareness. The search engine module, named IRIS (Interpretive Retrieval Information System), was developed exclusively for internal use and never marketed externally by IBM.
Distributed database
During the mid-1970s, RETAIN evolved to accommodate multiple synchronized copies of its database across geographically dispersed sites. Its proprietary Data Bank Manager alongside the IRIS search engine were adapted to support automatic "mirroring" of file updates throughout the network, ensuring robust data consistency while minimizing disruption to running applications. Hosting locations included two sites each in the United States, Europe, South America, and Japan. The majority of application development occurred at IBM’s programming center in Raleigh, North Carolina (which relocated to Boulder, Colorado in 1976), with additional contributions from North Harbour in the United Kingdom.
The system served thousands of registered users spanning over 60 countries.
Remote diagnostics
With the introduction of System/370 and RETAIN/370, IBM implemented remote hardware diagnostic capabilities. Models 145 and above of System/370 were equipped with telecommunications adapters facilitating remote troubleshooting via RETAIN. These diagnostics were remotely operated by IBM specialists based at the Chicago support center—managed by Paul Rushton—and at the original CPU manufacturing facility. This "Data Link / Hardware" service utilized an IBM 2955 adapter—a streamlined version of the 2701 communications controller—operating at 600 bits per second to execute diagnostic procedures akin to those performed onsite by field engineers. Over time, specialized software tools were created to detect hardware issues such as "machine check" interrupts.
By 1973–74, remote assistance expanded into software support. MVS systems connected through RETAIN enabled IBM support teams to remotely review memory dumps and system information and deploy software updates or IBM Program Temporary Fixes (PTFs). Although constrained by the 2955’s limited 6-bit character encoding, binary transfers of memory dumps and patches employed a protocol comparable to modern base-64 encoding.
Despite numerous efforts aimed at replacing RETAIN throughout its history, it remains a fundamental component of IBM’s support infrastructure.