Mainframe computer
Appearance
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7d/IBM_704_mainframe.gif/280px-IBM_704_mainframe.gif)
Mainframes(also called "big iron")[1]are powerfulcomputersused for largeinformation processingjobs. They are mainly used bygovernmentinstitutions and largecompaniesfor tasks such ascensus,industry and consumerstatistics,enterprise resource planning, and financial transaction processing. Mainframe computers are specially used asserverson theWorld Wide Web(WWW). They are distinct fromsupercomputers.
The term originally referred to the large cabinets that housed thecentral processing unitand mainmemoryof early computers.[2][3]Later the term was used to distinguish very big computers from less powerful ones ( "minicomputers" or "personal computers").
References
[change|change source]- ↑"IBM preps big iron fiesta".The Register.July 20, 2005.
- ↑Oxford English Dictionary,on -line edition,mainframe, n
- ↑Ebbers, Mike; O’Brien, W.; Ogden, B. (2006)."Introduction to the New Mainframe: z/OS Basics"(PDF).IBM International Technical Support Organization. Archived fromthe original(pdf)on 2017-07-02.Retrieved2007-06-01.