| 单词 | mainframe | ||||||||||||
| 释义 | mainframemain·frameM0044000 (mān′frām′)mainframe(ˈmeɪnˌfreɪm)main•frame(ˈmeɪnˌfreɪm)n. main·frame(mān′frām′)
mainframemainframemainframe(computer)It has been common wisdom among hackers since the late 1980sthat the mainframe architectural tradition is essentially dead(outside of the tiny market for number crunchingsupercomputers (see Cray)), having been swamped by therecent huge advances in integrated circuit technology andlow-cost personal computing. As of 1993, corporate America isjust beginning to figure this out - the wave of failures,takeovers, and mergers among traditional mainframe makers havecertainly provided sufficient omens (see dinosaurs mating). Supporters claim that mainframes still house 90% of the datamajor businesses rely on for mission-critical applications,attributing this to their superior performance, reliability,scalability, and security compared to microprocessors. mainframeA state-of-the-art computer for mission critical tasks. Today, mainframe refers to a class of ultra-reliable servers from IBM that is designed for enterprise-class and carrier-class operations.However, in the "ancient" mid-1960s, all computers were mainframes, since the term referred to the "main" CPU cabinet. The first mainframe vendors were (alphabetically) Burroughs, Control Data, GE, Honeywell, IBM, NCR, RCA and Univac, otherwise known as "IBM and the Seven Dwarfs." After GE and RCA's computer divisions were absorbed by Honeywell and Univac respectively, the mainframers were known as "IBM and the BUNCH." IBM Is the Mainframe Vendor For decades, IBM was the dominant vendor in the mainframe business. Although many tried to compete by offering compatible machines, they no longer do (see IBM-compatible mainframe). HP, Unisys, Sun and others make machines that compete with IBM mainframes in many industries but are mostly referred to as servers. In addition, non-IBM mainframe datacenters have hundreds and thousands of servers, whereas IBM mainframe datacenters have only a few machines. There Is a DifferenceOne might wonder why mainframes cost hundreds of thousands of dollars when the raw gigahertz (GHz) rating of their CPUs may be only twice that of a PC costing 1,000 times less. Here's why: Lots of Processors, Memory and Channels Mainframes support symmetric multiprocessing (SMP) with several dozen central processors (CPU chips) in one system. They are highly scalable. CPUs can be added to a system, and systems can be added in clusters. Built with multiple ports into high-speed caches and main memory, a mainframe can address thousands of gigabytes of RAM. They connect to high-speed storage subsystems that can hold petabytes of data. Enormous Throughput A mainframe provides exceptional throughput by offloading its input/output processing to a peripheral channel, which is a computer itself. Mainframes can support hundreds of channels, and additional processors may act as I/O traffic cops that handle exceptions (channel busy, channel failure, etc.). All these subsystems handle the transaction overhead, freeing the CPU to do real "data processing" such as computing balances in customer records and subtracting amounts from inventories, the purpose of the computer in the first place. Super Reliable Mainframe operating systems are generally rock solid because a lot of circuitry is designed to detect and correct errors. Every subsystem may be continuously monitored for potential failure, in some cases even triggering a list of parts to be replaced at the next scheduled maintenance. As a result, mainframes are incredibly reliable with mean time between failure (MTBF) up to 20 years! Here to StayOnce upon a time, mainframes meant "complicated" and required the most programming and operations expertise. Today, networks of desktop clients and servers are just as complex. Large enterprises have their hands full supporting thousands of PCs along with Windows, Unix and Linux and likely some Macs as well. With trillions of dollars worth of IBM mainframe applications in place, mainframes may hang around for quite a while. Some even predict they are the wave of the future!
mainframemainframea large-scale COMPUTER with big data-storage facilities which is often accessible simultaneously from many terminals. Mainframe computers are used by large data-processing departments in businesses for sales and purchase ledger record-keeping, etc.As MICROCOMPUTERS and MINICOMPUTERS become more powerful in terms of data-processing, speed and data-storage capacity, the distinction between the three types of computer has become blurred. mainframe
Synonyms for mainframe
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mainframe - a large digital computer serving 100-400 users and occupying a special air-conditioned room
mainframe - (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"
