1. A mainframe (also known as "big iron") is a high-performance computer used for large-scale computing purposes that require greater availability and security than a smaller-scale machine can offer.
2. Historically, mainframes have been associated with centralized rather than distributed computing, although that distinction is blurring as smaller computers become more powerful and mainframes become more multi-purpose.
3. Today, IBM emphasizes that their mainframes can be used to serve distributed users and smaller servers in a computing network.
4. The mainframe is sometimes referred to as a "dinosaur" not only because of its size but because of reports, going back many years, that it's becoming extinct.
5. I.B.M. overhauled the insides of the mainframe, using low-cost microprocessors as the computing engine. The company invested and updated the mainframe software, so that banks, corporations and government agencies could still rely on the mainframe as the rock-solid reliable and secure computer for vital transactions and data, while allowing it to take on new chores like running Web-based programs.
6. The original mainframes were housed in room-sized metal frames, which is probably where the name derives from. In the past, a typical mainframe might have occupied 2,000 - 10,000 square feet.
7. Newer mainframes are about the same size as a large refrigerator.
8. Mainframe computers are expensive, large centralized computer facilities where a super computer is connected to a number of terminals.
9. A multi user mainframe computer has a large memory and is capable of speeds of the order of several billions of floating point operations per second. This computer is commonly used in big hospitals, air line reservations companies, and many other huge companies prefer mainframe because of its capability of retrieving data on a huge basis.This is normally to expensive and out of reach from a salary-based person who wants a computer for his home.
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