An assignment paper on Mainframe Computers

1. Mainframe Computers
Supervisor: Sir Shahzad Ali Rana
Group Members:
Muhammad Ahtisham(2813)
Ali Akbar (2483)
A background of Mainframe Computers:
The computers of the 1990's roughly fell into three groups consisting of mainframes, networking
units, and personal computers. Mainframe computers were extremely large sized modules and
had the capabilities of processing and storing massive amounts of data in the form of numbers
and words. Mainframes were the first types of computers developed in the 1940's. Users of these
types of computers ranged from banking firms, large corporations and government agencies.
They usually were very expensive in cost but designed to last at least five to ten years. They also
required well educated and experienced manpower to be operated and maintained.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Mainframe Computing:
Advantages :
High-level computing
Increased processing power
Virtualization:
Reliability, availability, and serviceability (RAS):
Security
High-end scalability
Continuing compatibility
Long lasting performance

2. Disadvantages:
One of the prominent drawbacks of mainframes is their cost. Hardware and software for
mainframes are clearly expensive. However, compared to the cost of other routes to security, IT
management, virtualization, etc., the cost of mainframes is significantly less.
Secondly, mainframe hardware occupies more space than other computers. That large space
might be a constraint for small establishments. But that problem is not so severe as it once was.
Compared to earlier machines, today's mainframes are small.
Finally, one needs high-end skills to work with mainframe computers. You cannot operate a
mainframe environment without specific training. However, as one skilled administrator can
serve a large group of mainframe users, using mainframes significantly reduces people-costs and
thus offers a significant staffing advantage.
Advantages Offered by Mainframe Computing Over Cloud Computing:
To a typical mainframe professional, cloud computing is just an imitation of mainframe
architecture in a distributed environment. Virtualization, the main concept in cloud computing,
has been a part of mainframe computing since four decades. Except for the cost advantage, there
is no significant benefit of cloud computing compared to mainframe computing. Further, its
dependence on Internet and data storage on third-party servers makes it less reliable and less
secure. In this context, let us see how mainframe computing is more advantageous compared to
cloud computing.
High-end performance
Highly secure
Reliability
Customization
Cloud computing, on the other hand is considered less reliable compared to mainframe
computing as it relies on the Internet. If the connection goes down or if the host server goes
down, there will be server downtime, which disables the clients from accessing the data.
Basic Requirements of Mainframe Systems You Needto Know While Installing:
These points must be kept in mind whole you install the main frame computers.
What Operating systems it will support?
How much Space is available and what it would take?
What is the running Environment?
And how much Power supply is needed.

3. Features That Make Modern Mainframe Computers Stand Out:
Let us discuss the unique features offered by mainframe computers, which make them the most
reliable computing solutions
 High processing capacity
 Huge memory storage
 Can run multiple operating systems
 Centralized computing
 Application debugging
 Real-time monitoring and control
 Supports large number of users and application programs
Current Developments:
System Z9, the latest in the series, has double the processing power and capacity, memory, MIPS
and number of partitions than its predecessor. Virtualization technology enables the Z servers to
run mixed workloads. Z/OS uses multiprocessing and multiprogramming for large-scale data
management and I/O operations