box: n. 1. A computer; esp. in the construction `foo box' where
foo is some functional qualifier, like `graphics', or the name of an
OS (thus, `Unix box', `MS-DOS box', etc.) "We preprocess the data
on Unix boxes before handing it up to the mainframe." 2. [IBM]
Without qualification but within an SNA-using site, this refers
specifically to an IBM front-end processor or FEP /F-E-P/. An FEP
is a small computer necessary to enable an IBM mainframe to
communicate beyond the limits of the dinosaur pen. Typically used
in expressions like the cry that goes up when an SNA network goes
down: "Looks like the box has fallen over." (See fall over.) See
also IBM, fear and loathing, Blue Glue.
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