Answered
In Computers
What is a mainframe computer?
Mainframes (often colloquially referred to as big iron )are large and "expensive" computers used mainly by governmentinstitutions and large companies for mission critical app…lications,typically bulk data processing such as censuses, industry/consumerstatistics, ERP, and financial transaction processing. The word mainframe refers mostly to the computer's metalhousing(s), not the hardware inside that housing(s); or the use thecomputer is put to. Almost all computers prior to the middle 1960swere mainframes, until monolithic silicon integratedcircuits allowed the circuitry of the computer to beminiaturized enough to allow the use of significantly smallerhousings and the introduction of minicomputers . In theearly 1970s, LSI and VLSImicroprocessors allowed further miniaturization and theuse of even smaller housings and the introduction of microcomputers . Mainframe computers are giant computers designed to process and store massive amounts of data. Mainframe computers take up whole rooms and usually have their own dedicated air conditioning systems due to the amount of heat they generate. (MORE)
