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Mainframe Computer

Mainframe computers are large, powerful computers used by large organizations for critical tasks like data processing, enterprise resource planning, and large-scale transaction processing. Mainframes are characterized by high reliability, availability, and security. They have redundant engineering, extensive input/output capabilities, and virtualization to support high throughput. Mainframes are designed to run continuously for very long periods without interruption.

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64 views

Mainframe Computer

Mainframe computers are large, powerful computers used by large organizations for critical tasks like data processing, enterprise resource planning, and large-scale transaction processing. Mainframes are characterized by high reliability, availability, and security. They have redundant engineering, extensive input/output capabilities, and virtualization to support high throughput. Mainframes are designed to run continuously for very long periods without interruption.

Uploaded by

Salma Sultana
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Mainframe

computer

A mainframe computer, informally called a


mainframe or big iron,[1] is a computer
used primarily by large organizations for
critical applications like bulk data
processing for tasks such as censuses,
industry and consumer statistics,
enterprise resource planning, and large-
scale transaction processing. A mainframe
computer is large but not as large as a
supercomputer and has more processing
power than some other classes of
computers, such as minicomputers,
servers, workstations, and personal
computers. Most large-scale computer-
system architectures were established in
the 1960s, but they continue to evolve.
Mainframe computers are often used as
servers.
A single-frame IBM z15 mainframe. Larger capacity models can have up to four total frames. This model has blue accents,
as compared with the LinuxONE III model with orange highlights.

A pair of IBM mainframes. On the left is the IBM z Systems z13. On the right is the IBM LinuxONE Rockhopper.
An IBM System z9 mainframe

The term mainframe was derived from the


large cabinet, called a main frame,[2] that
housed the central processing unit and
main memory of early computers.[3][4]
Later, the term mainframe was used to
distinguish high-end commercial
computers from less powerful
machines.[5]
Design
Modern mainframe design is characterized
less by raw computational speed and
more by:

Redundant internal engineering resulting


in high reliability and security
Extensive input-output ("I/O") facilities
with the ability to offload to separate
engines
Strict backward compatibility with older
software
High hardware and computational
utilization rates through virtualization to
support massive throughput.
Hot swapping of hardware, such as
processors and memory.

The high stability and reliability of


mainframes enable these machines to run
uninterrupted for very long periods of time,
with mean time between failures (MTBF)
measured in decades.

Mainframes have high availability, one of


the primary reasons for their longevity,
since they are typically used in
applications where downtime would be
costly or catastrophic. The term reliability,
availability and serviceability (RAS) is a
defining characteristic of mainframe
computers. Proper planning and
implementation are required to realize
these features. In addition, mainframes are
more secure than other computer types:
the NIST vulnerabilities database, US-CERT,
rates traditional mainframes such as IBM
Z (previously called z Systems, System z
and zSeries), Unisys Dorado and Unisys
Libra as among the most secure with
vulnerabilities in the low single digits as
compared with thousands for Windows,
UNIX, and Linux.[6] Software upgrades
usually require setting up the operating
system or portions thereof, and are non-
disruptive only when using virtualizing
facilities such as IBM z/OS and Parallel
Sysplex, or Unisys XPCL, which support
workload sharing so that one system can
take over another's application while it is
being refreshed.

In the late 1950s, mainframes had only a


rudimentary interactive interface (the
console) and used sets of punched cards,
paper tape, or magnetic tape to transfer
data and programs. They operated in
batch mode to support back office
functions such as payroll and customer
billing, most of which were based on
repeated tape-based sorting and merging
operations followed by line printing to
preprinted continuous stationery. When
interactive user terminals were introduced,
they were used almost exclusively for
applications (e.g. airline booking) rather
than program development. However, in
1961 the first[7] academic, general-purpose
timesharing system that supported
software development,[8] CTSS, was
released at MIT on an IBM 709, later 7090
and 7094.[9] Typewriter and Teletype
devices were common control consoles
for system operators through the early
1970s, although ultimately supplanted by
keyboard/display devices.

By the early 1970s, many mainframes


acquired interactive user terminals[NB 1]
operating as timesharing computers,
supporting hundreds of users
simultaneously along with batch
processing. Users gained access through
keyboard/typewriter terminals and later
character-mode text[NB 2] terminal CRT
displays with integral keyboards, or finally
from personal computers equipped with
terminal emulation software. By the 1980s,
many mainframes supported general
purpose graphic display terminals, and
terminal emulation, but not graphical user
interfaces. This form of end-user
computing became obsolete in the 1990s
due to the advent of personal computers
provided with GUIs. After 2000, modern
mainframes partially or entirely phased out

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