Mainframe computer

A mainframe (English: mainframe ) is a very complex and extensive computer system that usually goes far beyond the capabilities of a personal computer and also on the typical server systems.

Typical areas of application are highly reliable processing of mass data (eg customer data from insurance companies), bulk transaction systems (such as flight booking systems, ATMs ) or mission-critical data (eg ERP systems). They occur recently again to the fore in the context of server consolidation and cloud computing.

Properties

In a mainframe coordinated, robust and highly redundant components are carefully installed. Typically, the maintenance of these machines is performed on the fly, and hardware replacement and upgrades do not result in impairment or interruption of the operation.

A mainframe is characterized above all by its reliability and high input-output performance. It can be in -line ( time-sharing ) serve a large number of users, but also perform complicated and expensive tasks in batch mode. Users gain access to a mainframe via computer terminals in online operation. Ever since personal computers (PCs ) have become established, such terminals are mostly replaced by corresponding emulation on the PC.

Scope

In contrast to supercomputers, which are developed on high computing power out, a mainframe is designed for reliability and high data throughput. The typical applications of a mainframe computer are placed in banks, insurance companies, large enterprises and the public administration. A relatively new field of application for mainframe computers, the consolidation of server farms dar. With a mainframe and a corresponding operating system it is possible to start many virtual servers. Thus, space and power savings, and administration can be simplified.

For many tasks where increased reliability necessary oversized a mainframe or is not technically suitable, also called Medium Data technology is used, for example on the basis of OS/400, VMS, UNIX, and increasingly, Linux.

History

Tube computer represented the first generation and caused primarily military in nature. Subsequent mainframe held with the invention of the transistor mid -1950s, initially mainly in research institutions catchment, such as for solving differential equations. There they usually claimed an entire room to yourself that had to be air-conditioned to counteract the heat generated by the device.

The operation time was similar to the following:

An operator applied to punched cards punched computing tasks on a device that Inlet punch cards and stored the data on magnetic tape. Another operator brought this tape to the actual mainframe, which in working on the magnetic tape and the output stored on another magnetic tape. Another operator brought the magnetic tape with the results to a printer, which transferred the data from the magnetic tape to paper.

Mid -1960s, the so-called multiprogramming ( multi-tasking ) was introduced, which could exist until about 1980. They had found that before the CPU itself a large part of the time was not used, since they had to wait for input and output operations of the tapes until they could work off their next order. Therefore, we divided the main memory into sections and was able to edit multiple bands at the same time.

At that time, most computer manufacturers had developed two mutually incompatible systems:

  • Word-oriented mainframe for the technical and scientific field
  • Character-based mainframe for commercial use

IBM combined the first manufacturer to both applications in the operating system OS/360.

For several years, manufacturers such as Sun and Hewlett -Packard are trying to be successful ( with the " Super Dome" ), with special systems on UNIX base in the market segment of mainframes.

Since 2007 Mainframes are also used in the field of online games. This focuses in particular the very high data throughput of the mainframe in the foreground - the necessary computing power for generating flow of the game, however, is provided by dedicated servers. The thus resulting combination is also known as Gameframe.

Used Operating Systems

  • Z / OS (including USS)
  • Z / VM
  • Z / VSE
  • Unicos
  • OS/360
  • OS/390
  • BS2000
  • NOS
  • NOS / BE
  • Multics
  • KRONOS
  • Linux
  • MVS
  • Scope
  • TPF
  • UNIVAC 1100/2200
  • CMS
  • GCOS

Manufacturer

  • Amdahl Corporation (1997 taken over by Fujitsu )
  • Bull / NEC for GCOS-/ACOS-basierte mainframes
  • Control Data Corporation
  • Cray
  • EMC
  • Hitachi
Enterprise-Resource-Planning Cloud-Computing IBM 704 Serverfarm Virtual Hosting Hewlett-Packard z/OS Unix System Services VSE (operating system) Transaction Processing Facility Conversational Monitor System General Comprehensive Operating System Groupe Bull EMC Corporation International Computers Limited Oracle Corporation
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