Editing Mainframe computer (section)

{{short description|Large and powerful computer}}
{{redirect|Mainframe}}
{{Use American English|date=February 2022}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2025}}
[[File:IBM Z15 mainframe.jpg|thumb|A single-frame IBM z15 mainframe. Larger capacity models can have up to four total frames. This model has blue accents, as compared with the LinuxONE III model with orange highlights.]]
[[File:IBM z13 and LinuxONE Rockhopper.jpg|thumb|A pair of IBM mainframes. On the left is the [[IBM z Systems]] z13. On the right is the [[IBM LinuxONE]] Rockhopper.]]
[[File:IBM System Z9 (type 2094 front).jpg|thumb|An [[IBM System z9]] mainframe]]

A '''mainframe computer''', informally called a '''mainframe''' or '''big iron''',<ref>{{cite web
 | url     = https://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/07/20/ibm_mainframe_refresh/
 | title   = IBM Preps Big Iron Fiesta
 | website = The Register
 | date    = July 20, 2005
 | first   = Ashlee | last = Vance | author-link=Ashlee Vance
 | access-date = October 2, 2020}}</ref> is a [[computer]] used primarily by large organizations for critical applications like bulk [[data processing]] for tasks such as [[census]]es, industry and consumer [[statistics]], [[enterprise resource planning]], and large-scale [[transaction processing]]. A mainframe computer is large but not as large as a [[supercomputer]] and has more processing power than some other classes of computers, such as [[minicomputer]]s, [[server (computing)|server]]s, [[workstation]]s, and [[personal computer]]s. Most large-scale computer-system architectures were established in the 1960s, but they continue to evolve. Mainframe computers are often used as servers.

The term ''mainframe'' was derived from the large cabinet, called a ''main frame'',<ref>{{cite book |title=Concise Encyclopedia of Computer Science |first=Edwin D. |last=Reilly |chapter=Mainframe |publisher=Wiley |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-470-09095-4 |pages=481–2 |chapter-url={{GBurl|5Jaa1BVverIC|p=482}} |url={{GBurl|5Jaa1BVverIC|pg=PR5}} }}</ref> that housed the [[central processing unit]] and main [[computer memory|memory]] of early computers.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia | edition = on-line | title = mainframe, n | encyclopedia = [[Oxford English Dictionary]] | url = https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/mainframe| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210807130312/https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/mainframe| url-status = dead| archive-date = August 7, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last1 = Ebbers | first1 = Mike |last2 = Kettner | first2 = John | last3 = O’Brien | first3 = Wayne | last4 = Ogden | first4 = Bill | title = Introduction to the New Mainframe: z/OS Basics | publisher = IBM | edition = 3rd | date = March 2011 | url = https://www.redbooks.ibm.com/redbooks/pdfs/sg246366.pdf | page = 11 | access-date = March 30, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |first=Ken |last=Shirriff |title=The origin and unexpected evolution of the word "mainframe" |date=February 2025 |url=http://www.righto.com/2025/02/origin-of-mainframe-term.html}}</ref> Later, the term ''mainframe'' was used to distinguish high-end commercial computers from less powerful machines.<ref>{{cite web|last=Beach |first=Thomas E. | website = Computer Concepts and Terminology |title=Types of Computers |url=http://www.unm.edu/~tbeach/terms/types.html  | date =  August 29, 2016 | publisher = University of New Mexico | location = Los Alamos |url-status=live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200803161303/http://www.unm.edu/~tbeach/terms/types.html |archive-date=August 3, 2020 | access-date=October 2, 2020 }}</ref>