The 104-03OS was designed based on 104OS, the standard operating system with an improved structure. It supported new hardware such as the DIPS-11/5 series, enabling it to have an expanded and improved distributed-processing function and to respond to the demand for extensions of computer resources by users.
- （1） Expansion and improvement of distributed-processing functions
- In those days, as a system configuration, distributed processing was noted for its improved cost-performance, higher reliability, and improved serviceability of operation and maintenance. In the DIPS system, distributed processing had already been developed, and the system specifically achieved distributed processing such as functionality distribution among hosts with the processor communication function, load-sharing distribution with the multi-processor system, and distribution of the communication processing to FEP. For 104-03OS, expansion of the distributed processing progressed as follows.
- （i） Back-end processor (BEP) configuration and processing in which the file processing is assigned to a dedicated processor in order to achieve efficient control of a large database
- （ii） Loose-coupled multi-processor (LCMP) configuration and processing in which multiple computers share the external storage system
- （iii） Evolution of the data communication architecture (communication protocol) based on DCNA
- （iv） Reduction of the load on the host computer by supporting intelligent peripherals such as a mass storage system (MSS)
- （2） Establishment of resource management and control for mass processing
- At that time, the use of computer systems was extended in, for example, processing automated LSI design and large-scale databases. Program sizes, processing time, and file volumes were increasing to an extremely high level for that time (e.g., program sizes over 100 MB and file sizes in the tens of gigabytes). To cope, resource management and control were redesigned for mass processing.
- （3）Support of new DIPS-11/5 series hardware
- The 104-03OS was redesigned to cope with the performance enhancement of the host computers and the expansion of the external storage capacity. As for new peripherals, it supported a growing variety of devices, such as MSS, magnetic disk devices, printers supporting Japanese kanji characters, and floppy disk I/O devices for data exchange due to an increase in usage of personal computers.