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from the There's-nothiing-new-under-the-sun? dept.
http://www.winestockwebdesign.com/Essays/Eternal_Mainframe.html
In the computer industry, the Wheel of Reincarnation is a pattern whereby specialized hardware gets spun out from the "main" system, becomes more powerful, then gets folded back into the main system. As the linked Jargon File entry points out, several generations of this effect have been observed in graphics and floating-point coprocessors.
In this essay, I note an analogous pattern taking place, not in peripherals of a computing platform, but in the most basic kinds of "computing platform." And this pattern is being driven as much by the desire for "freedom" as by any technical consideration.
"Revolution" has many definitions. From the looks of this, I'd say "going around in circles" comes closest to applying...
-Richard M. Hartman
A funny thing happened on the way to the future. The mainframe outlasted its replacements.
[Ed. Note: This story submission was my first exposure to the linked essay. Though dated from 2013, I found the essay eminently readable as well as making insightful observations of how dramatically the concepts and capabilities of mainframes have persisted for so many years. --martyb[
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 17 2019, @03:51PM (2 children)
There's also a big architectural difference.
Mainframes were (once you ditch various fripperies) optimised for moving bits without involving the central processing system at all. In IBM it took the form of channel architecture, but there were other, analogous answers from other manufacturers. Present (bad) reinventions of the mainframe don't do a good job of that. They're like the bastard offspring of old supercomputers (with worse interconnects) and mainframes (with worse general IO).
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Tuesday September 17 2019, @04:04PM
Now that YOU mention it, I realize that I should have mentioned that.
Channel architecture was a significant part of what was considered a mainframe. That being yet one more big difference between traditional legacy mainframes and modern server racks in data centers.
I almost wonder if TFA is really an attempt, in the author's own mind, to tie legacy mainframes to the sexiness of modern server farms.
To transfer files: right-click on file, pick Copy. Unplug mouse, plug mouse into other computer. Right-click, paste.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 17 2019, @04:12PM
But you missing the point of write up. It would be better centralizes processing power / timeshare and decentralized/distributed processing over AN AREA.
With that view AWS is a main frame / super computer. It is centralized and restricted access and should be the TOP co”computer” on the top 500
Yes IBM’s channels were and are great to queue the I/O, feed the processor. Just airlines of old had series 1 to handle the terminals and feed only completed requests to the centralized system Or DECs being I/Ovfor Cray 20’s. Or JavaScript to make sure CC# entered is mathematically correct. Airlines learned that smarter front saved money (about 70%) on main frames since validating at the ends is cheaper than testing everything aon mainframe. Ie processing