Construction

In the early days output came via

a paper tape.
Later by an sequential array

Seminar on Mini ,Micro &

Mainframe computers.

N.Vasudevan.
M.E (P.T )C.I.M

Construction

In the early
days output
came via a
paper tape.

Vacuum tube technology

By an array of burning
lamps and when the
vacuum tube technology
became sophisticated
enough to build a CRT
output came by means of
spots on the screen .

Minicomputer
Minicomputer - Another term rarely

used anymore, minicomputers fall in

between microcomputers (PCs) and
mainframes (enterprise servers).
Minicomputers are normally referred to
as mid-range servers now.

Microcomputer
PC - The personal computer (PC)
defines a computer designed for
general use by a single person. PCs
were first known as microcomputers
because they were a complete
computer but built on a smaller scale
than the huge systems in use by most
businesses.

Mainframe Computer
Mainframe is an industry term for a large
computer. The name comes from the way the
machine is build up: all units (processing,
communication etc.) were hung into a frame.
Thus the main computer is build into a frame,
therefore Mainframe .
In a multi-user environment a mainframe computer is
capable of supporting more users than a
minicomputer.

Chronology
Building mainframes started with the
MarkI soon to be followed by tens of
other types and manufacturers. But as
said earlier, because of the development
costs only governments and large firms
could pay for the development of such
behemoths.

Early mainframes
ENIAC 1942
MarkI 1944
BINAC 1949
Whirlwind1960
UNIVAC 1952
IBM 701 1953
IBM 360 1963

Classification of computer
Memory
RAM
ROM
Cache
Dynamic RAM
Static RAM
Flash memory
Memory Sticks
Virtual memory
Video memory
BIOS Basic input output system

RAM & ROM

Random access memory (RAM) is the best known
form of computer memory. RAM is considered
"random access" because you can access any
memory cell directly if you know the row and column
that intersect at that cell.
Read-only memory (ROM), also known as
firmware, is an integrated circuit programmed with
specific data when it is manufactured. ROM chips are
used not only in computers, but in most other
electronic items as well.

what classifies a computer as a

mainframe?
A mainframe has 1 to 16 CPU's (modern machines more)
Memory ranges from 128 Mb over 8 Gigabyte on line RAM
Its processing power ranges from 80 over 550 Mips
It has often different cabinets for
o Storage
o I/O
o RAM
Separate processes (program) for
o task management
o program management
o job management
o serialization
o catalogs
o inter address space
communication

Programming
mainframes
When the first programming languages like
Cobol, Fortran and Algol were created every
large company and institution could hire
people to do the programming of
administration or complicated scientific
calculations. The atomic bomb project in Los
Alamos was a prime example of doing
calculations using computers, without it the
project never had succeeded in time.

Mainframe computer systems have been enhanced

with new capabilities. Internet software tools, for
instance, add new capabilities. Additionally, over the
past decade the new disciplines of data warehousing
and data mining have provided another useful role
well for the mainframe.
A data warehouse is a collection of historic data;
oftentimes corporations or government agencies
archive huge amounts of data for later analysis, or
even just on the off chance that it might come in
handy some day. To handle such huge data bases
requires correspondingly muscular computers.
Data mining (sometimes called "knowledge
discovery") is a data-processing function designed to
uncover new and useful information from collections
of data such as those stored in data warehouses.

Properties of Mainframe
Computer

It manages a large number of users

Distributes the sheer workload that can be handled
by the machine over different processors and in/output
devices.
All processes are running on the host and not on
your terminal.
Output is sent to your terminal through a program
running (in background) on the host(mainframe).
Nothing else goes over the line. It is like you are
connected to a large computer by long wires. That is
also the reason why it seems that your keyboard typing
sometimes appears slower on your monitor then you
actually type .

Operating systems for

mainframes
Operating systems for mainframes
are few in number: UNIX, Linux,
VMS, Z/OS, Z/VM, VSE/ESA. The
latter three are of IBM origin and
all three: VMS, Linux and Unix also
run on IBM mainframes.
However there are some dialects
of VMS, Linux, and Unix running
on different machines.

IBM 4381 mainframe processor from

1985
A Mainframe is
associated with
centralized
computing opposite
from distributed
computing. Meaning
all computing takes
(physically) place on
the mainframe itself:
the processor
section.

Companies
To create a mainframe one needed
at least a few hundred thousand
dollars to build the first types.
Later types of the 60' and 70's
required a few million dollars and
now depending on what capacities
you need mainframes range
between two three hundred to
several tens of millions.

Companies
Ahmdal (Hitachi)
Bull
Comparex (Hitachi)
DEC (Compaq)
Fujitsu
Hitatchi
IBM
ICL (Hitachi)
NEC
Siemens
Unisys
Sun