What Does Systems Network Architecture (SNA) Mean?
Systems Network Architecture (SNA) is IBM’s proprietary networking 5-level design architecture developed in 1974 for mainframe computers. SNA consists of a variety of hardware and software interfaces permitting hardware and software system communication. The 5-level design has evolved into a 7-level model closely corresponding to the internationally recognized Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model, and now supports peer-to-peer networks of workstations.
Techopedia Explains Systems Network Architecture (SNA)
In the mid 1970s IBM was principally a hardware vendor attempting to increase hardware sales. To do so they induced customers toward interactive terminal-based systems and away from batch systems that executed programs without manual intervention. The strategy was to increase sales of mainframe computers and peripherals, and SNA was intended to reduce the main non-computer costs and other problems operating large networks. These problems included:
