mainframe
from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
mainframe \main"frame`\ n. (Computers)
1. A large digital computer serving 100-400 users and
occupying a special air-conditioned room. At any given
point in development of computer technology, the mainframe
will be faster, have large main memeory, and be more
capable than a {minicomputer}, which will in turn be
faster and more capable than a {personal computer}. The
typical personal computer in 1999 is faster than a
mainframe was in 1970.
Syn: mainframe computer.
[WordNet 1.5 +PJC]
2. The board holding the CPU and the memory forming the
central part of a computer to which the peripherals are
attached.
[WordNet 1.5]
from
Jargon File (4.4.4, 14 Aug 2003)
mainframe
n.
Term originally referring to the cabinet containing the central
processor unit or `main frame' of a room-filling {Stone Age} batch
machine. After the emergence of smaller minicomputer designs in the
early 1970s, the traditional {big iron} machines were described as
`mainframe computers' and eventually just as mainframes. The term
carries the connotation of a machine designed for batch rather than
interactive use, though possibly with an interactive timesharing
operating system retrofitted onto it; it is especially used of
machines built by IBM, Unisys, and the other great {dinosaur}s
surviving from computing's {Stone Age}.
It has been common wisdom among hackers since the late 1980s that the
mainframe architectural tradition is essentially dead (outside of the
tiny market for {number-crunching} supercomputers having been swamped
by the recent huge advances in IC technology and low-cost personal
computing. The wave of failures, takeovers, and mergers among
traditional mainframe makers in the early 1990s bore this out. The
biggest mainframer of all, IBM, was compelled to re-invent itself as a
huge systems-consulting house. (See {dinosaurs mating} and {killer
micro}).
However, in yet another instance of the {cycle of reincarnation}, the
port of Linux to the IBM S/390 architecture in 1999 -- assisted by IBM
-- produced a resurgence of interest in mainframe computing as a way
of providing huge quantities of easily maintainable, reliable virtual
Linux servers, saving IBM's mainframe division from almost certain
extinction.
from
The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (8 July 2008)
mainframe
<computer> A term originally referring to the cabinet
containing the central processor unit or "main frame" of a
room-filling {Stone Age} batch machine. After the emergence
of smaller "{minicomputer}" designs in the early 1970s, the
traditional {big iron} machines were described as "mainframe
computers" and eventually just as mainframes. The term
carries the connotation of a machine designed for batch rather
than interactive use, though possibly with an interactive
{time-sharing} operating system retrofitted onto it; it is
especially used of machines built by {IBM}, {Unisys} and the
other great {dinosaurs} surviving from computing's {Stone
Age}.
It has been common wisdom among hackers since the late 1980s
that the mainframe architectural tradition is essentially dead
(outside of the tiny market for {number crunching}
{supercomputers} (see {Cray})), having been swamped by the
recent huge advances in {integrated circuit} technology and
low-cost personal computing. As of 1993, corporate America is
just beginning to figure this out - the wave of failures,
takeovers, and mergers among traditional mainframe makers have
certainly provided sufficient omens (see {dinosaurs mating}).
Supporters claim that mainframes still house 90% of the data
major businesses rely on for mission-critical applications,
attributing this to their superior performance, reliability,
scalability, and security compared to microprocessors.
[{Jargon File}]
(1996-07-22)
grant@antiflux.org