Mainframe Computer

Mainframe computers are large set ups and a lookalike prototype of the super computers though their functions are different from the latter. The term came up in the 1960's when computers used to be large cabinets which housed the systems. Those days are over as technology has evolved many folds after drastic developments but the term remained on to distinguish the high-end machineries are at use at various fields of the organization.

Mainframe computers are distinctly different in their functioning from the super computers. The mainframes are measured in MIPS (millions of instructions per second) while on the other hand super computers are measured in FLOPS (floating point operations per second). The recent trend has been to measure the supercomputers in TEPS, i.e. Traversed edges per second. Secondly, mainframes are set up for smooth transaction processing or in layman’s language exchange of goods and monetary commitments. They are further used in inventory control, flight reservations services or in the tertiary sector of banking.

They are large, high end systems of managing millions of applications and commands at any given point of time. In some processes, mainframes are better at working than the supercomputers.