A mainframe computer is the central data repository, or a hub, in the corporation data processing center. These computers are linked to users through less powerful devices such as workstations or terminals. These computers are primarily used by the large organizations for critical applications including bulk data processing for tasks such as censuses, industry and consumer statistics, enterprise resource planning and large scale transaction processing.
Mainframe often implies a centralized form of computing opposed to the distributed form of computing. Mainframe supports two main file formats one is Variable(V) and second one is Fixed(F) format.
COMPONENTS
There are some major components of mainframe computer that plays a important and vital role to improve the understanding performance of the mainframe computer system:
- Processing unit
- Controller unit
- Storage unit
- Motherboard
- Cluster controlling system
- Input/ outputs channels
STORAGE
These computers can provide up to 12 parallel 650MHz processors, 32 GB memory, and many terabytes of disk storage. Compare to the typical PC with the single 500 MHz processor, 64 Mb of memory and 10 GB of the disk storage.
USES OF MAINFRAME COMPUTER
1- E-Business and E-Commerce
2- Banking
3- Healthcare
4-The Military
5- Academics and research
6-Retail
FEATURES
The common features of mainframe computers include:
These computers are designed for centralized data processing and, they can handle a huge workload. Most of the businesses organizations can use mainframe computers to assure the availability of their services. The mainframe computers having processing power, memory capacity, performance, computing, time sharing, serviceability, availability and clustering technology, these all features are added in the mainframe computer.
Read more: What are Supercomputers, Uses, Features, Advantages and Disadvantages
ARRIVAL
Though there was no Mainframe computer inventor who coined the term the first mainframe computer was developed in the 1930s By Howard Aiken. He proposed the idea of large scale calculator that could solve the set of non-linear equations.
CHARACTERISTICS
The mainframe computers allow to process the huge amount of data without getting any malicious attacks.
These computers are most popular due to their long life Performance, it runs smoothly up to 50 years after its popular installation.
Its Applications gets outstanding performance due to their large scaled memory management. These computers have less probability in getting any errors, and bugs during processing time. It is eligible to support the maximum input/ output devices. In the mainframe system virtual storage system can be used.
Mainframe computers are capable to manage several users and supports centralized computing system.
ADVANTAGES
- Ultra computing power Reliability
- Scale-ability Self serviceability
- Virtualization System Protection
- Flexible customization
DISADVANTAGES
- These computers are very expensive.
- In this computer system, we can use the normal operating system such as windows and android. They are more costly.
- These computers requires more space and less temperature.
- Difficult to read its instructions which are used on the command based interface.
- It consumes more resources.
