mainframe : Dictionary / Wörterbuch (BEOLINGUS, TU Chemnitz)

English Dictionary: mainframe	by the DICT Development Group
3 results for mainframe
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
mainframe n a large digital computer serving 100-400 users and occupying a special air-conditioned room Synonym(s): mainframe, mainframe computer (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" Synonym(s): central processing unit, CPU, C.P.U., central processor, processor, mainframe
From Jargon File (4.2.0, 31 JAN 2000) [jargon]:
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 {dinosaur}s 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}).
From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (15Feb98) [foldoc]:
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} {supercomputer}s (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)