Mainframe - Revision history

Jnc: /* External links */ +Mainframes: Where Are They Now?

2025-07-02T15:21:27Z

‎External links: +Mainframes: Where Are They Now?

Jnc: +cat

2018-12-15T23:38:33Z

+cat

Jnc: Avoid redir, fix punc

2018-09-18T13:30:08Z

Avoid redir, fix punc

Jnc: A decent start

2016-12-19T17:10:06Z

A decent start

New page

A '''mainframe''' is a very large computer with high performance, often large enough to provide all the computing capability for a large organization. Early computers were all, in some sense, mainframes, because typically most organizations only had a single computer.

The first stage of the evolution of computers (up to the late 1960's) was making mainframes more powerful and capable: faster [[CPU]]s, more [[main memory]], larger [[secondary storage]] (originally tapes, later disks). Large mainframes at the end of this era would fill an entire computer room.

With the advent of minaturized circuitry (for example [[microprocessor]]s, physical
size became a disadvantage, since it put a limit on system speeds, due to speed of light delays. Mainframes continued to exist, but became physically much smaller - often physically smaller than the larger [[minicomputer]]s of a previous era.

Although legacy applications mean that mainframes continue to exist, their place is being taken by large groups of [[commodity system]]s networked together; typically [[personal computer]]s.

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		+	==External links==
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		+	* [https://www.longpelaexpertise.com.au/ezine/IA_MainframesWhere%20AreTheyNow.pdf Mainframes: Where Are They Now?]

	[[Category: Computer Basics]]		[[Category: Computer Basics]]

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 A '''mainframe''' is a very large computer with high performance, often large enough to provide all the computing capability for a large organization. Early computers were all, in some sense, mainframes, because typically most organizations only had a single computer.
-The first stage of the evolution of computers (up to the late 1960's) was making mainframes more powerful and capable: faster [[CPU]]s, more [[main memory]], larger [[secondary storage]] (originally tapes, later disks). Large mainframes at the end of this era would fill an entire computer room.
+The first stage of the evolution of computers (up to the late 1960's) was making mainframes more powerful and capable: faster [[Central Processing Unit|CPUs]], more [[main memory]], larger [[secondary storage]] (originally tapes, later disks). Large mainframes at the end of this era would fill an entire computer room.
-With the advent of minaturized circuitry (for example [[microprocessor]]s, physical
+With the advent of minaturized circuitry (for example [[microprocessor]]s), physical size became a disadvantage, since it put a limit on system speeds, due to speed of light delays. Mainframes continued to exist, but became physically much smaller - often physically smaller than the larger [[minicomputer]]s of a previous era.
 Although legacy applications mean that mainframes continue to exist, their place is being taken by large groups of [[commodity system]]s networked together; typically [[personal computer]]s.