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 StoneAge.

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)