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Define the word mainframe

mainframe \main"frame`\ n. (Computers)
   1. A large digital computer serving 100-400 users and
      occupying a special air-conditioned room. At any given
      point in development of computer technology, the mainframe
      will be faster, have large main memeory, and be more
      capable than a minicomputer, which will in turn be
      faster and more capable than a personal computer. The
      typical personal computer in 1999 is faster than a
      mainframe was in 1970.

   Syn: mainframe computer.
        [WordNet 1.5 +PJC]

   2. The board holding the CPU and the memory forming the
      central part of a computer to which the peripherals are
      attached.
      [WordNet 1.5]

mainframe
     n 1: a large digital computer serving 100-400 users and occupying
          a special air-conditioned room [syn: mainframe computer]
     2: (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 [syn: central processing unit, CPU, C.P.U., central processor, processor]

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 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 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).

   However, in yet another instance of the cycle of reincarnation, the
   port of Linux to the IBM S/390 architecture in 1999 - assisted by IBM -
   produced a resurgence of interest in mainframe computing as a way of
   providing huge quanitities of easily maintainable, reliable virtual
   Linux servers, saving IBM's mainframe division from almost certain
   extinction.

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
        supercomputers (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)