[W/K] :: mainframe

  mainframe \main"frame`\ n. (Computers)
     1. A large digital computer serving 100-400 users and
        occupying a special air-conditioned room. At any given
        point in development of computer technology, the mainframe
        will be faster, have large main memeory, and be more
        capable than a minicomputer, which will in turn be
        faster and more capable than a personal computer. The
        typical personal computer in 1999 is faster than a
        mainframe was in 1970.
  
     Syn: mainframe computer.
          [WordNet 1.5 +PJC]
  
     2. The board holding the CPU and the memory forming the
        central part of a computer to which the peripherals are
        attached.
        [WordNet 1.5]

  mainframe
       n 1: a large digital computer serving 100-400 users and occupying
            a special air-conditioned room [syn: mainframe computer]
       2: (computer science) the part of a computer (a microprocessor
          chip) that does most of the data processing; the CPU and
          the memory form the central part of a computer to which
          the peripherals are attached [syn: central processing
          unit, CPU, C.P.U., central processor, processor]

  mainframe n. 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 timesharing
     operating system retrofitted onto it; it is especially used of machines
     built by IBM, Unisys, and the other great dinosaurs surviving from
     computing's Stone Age.
  
     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 IC technology and low-cost
     personal computing. The wave of failures, takeovers, and mergers among
     traditional mainframe makers in the early 1990s bore this out. The
     biggest mainframer of all, IBM, was compelled to re-invent itself as a
     huge systems-consulting house. (See dinosaurs mating and killer
     micro).
  
     However, in yet another instance of the cycle of reincarnation, the
     port of Linux to the IBM S/390 architecture in 1999 - assisted by IBM -
     produced a resurgence of interest in mainframe computing as a way of
     providing huge quanitities of easily maintainable, reliable virtual
     Linux servers, saving IBM's mainframe division from almost certain
     extinction.
  
  

  mainframe
       
           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 Stone
          Age.
       
          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)