Mainframes are Old?
Posted: Thu May 09, 2013 10:23 pm
Well, the mainframe is celebrating its 50th birthday next year. But, there have been generational differences between the mainframe that was introduced in 1964 and today’s mainframe. The automobile is more than 100 years old, but no one suggests that automobiles are an old or outdated technology.
Are the cars of today different from the cars of 1964? Absolutely. Well, today’s mainframe is faster, has more capacity, is more reliable and more energy efficient than the mainframe of the 60’s, 70’s, 80’s, or even those delivered three years ago in 2010.
The new mainframe delivered in 2010 improved single system image performance by 60 percent, while keeping within the same energy envelope when compared to previous generations. And the newest mainframe which shipped in 2012 has up to 50 percent more total system capacity, as well as availability and security enhancements.
It uses 5.5 GHz hexa-core chips – hardly old technology. It is scalable to 120 cores with 3 terabytes of memory. Clearly larger (more capacity) and faster than anything available in the 60’s, with a smaller physical footprint and better energy consumption characteristics.
IBM has a corporate directive for every generation of mainframe: each successive mainframe model must be more reliable than the previous one. Incremental and breakthrough improvements have been made over 20 generations of mainframes. Fault tolerance, self-healing capabilities, and concurrent maintainability are characteristics of the mainframe that are lacking in many other systems. The integration of mainframe hardware, firmware, and the operating system enable the highest reliability, availability, and serviceability capabilities in the industry.
Here is the entire article: http://www.share.org/p/bl/et/blogid=2&blogaid=234" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Are the cars of today different from the cars of 1964? Absolutely. Well, today’s mainframe is faster, has more capacity, is more reliable and more energy efficient than the mainframe of the 60’s, 70’s, 80’s, or even those delivered three years ago in 2010.
The new mainframe delivered in 2010 improved single system image performance by 60 percent, while keeping within the same energy envelope when compared to previous generations. And the newest mainframe which shipped in 2012 has up to 50 percent more total system capacity, as well as availability and security enhancements.
It uses 5.5 GHz hexa-core chips – hardly old technology. It is scalable to 120 cores with 3 terabytes of memory. Clearly larger (more capacity) and faster than anything available in the 60’s, with a smaller physical footprint and better energy consumption characteristics.
IBM has a corporate directive for every generation of mainframe: each successive mainframe model must be more reliable than the previous one. Incremental and breakthrough improvements have been made over 20 generations of mainframes. Fault tolerance, self-healing capabilities, and concurrent maintainability are characteristics of the mainframe that are lacking in many other systems. The integration of mainframe hardware, firmware, and the operating system enable the highest reliability, availability, and serviceability capabilities in the industry.
Here is the entire article: http://www.share.org/p/bl/et/blogid=2&blogaid=234" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
