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Mainframe & Supercomputers

While mainframes and supercomputers are both large, powerful machines, they are designed for different types of computing tasks. Mainframes are optimized for processing large amounts of input/output data concurrently to handle tasks like credit card transactions or payroll processing reliably. Supercomputers focus on speed and complex calculations using internal memory to push the limits of what is computationally possible through simulations and modeling. Specifically, mainframes are suited for thousands of transactions, while supercomputers conduct fast, complex calculations on large data sets.

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Aman Qureshi
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164 views

Mainframe & Supercomputers

While mainframes and supercomputers are both large, powerful machines, they are designed for different types of computing tasks. Mainframes are optimized for processing large amounts of input/output data concurrently to handle tasks like credit card transactions or payroll processing reliably. Supercomputers focus on speed and complex calculations using internal memory to push the limits of what is computationally possible through simulations and modeling. Specifically, mainframes are suited for thousands of transactions, while supercomputers conduct fast, complex calculations on large data sets.

Uploaded by

Aman Qureshi
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Both mainframes and supercomputers push the limits of what can be accomplished through computing.

They are both large and powerful machines, but they are not the same thing. Because of their
similarities (big black boxes hidden away in locked-up data centers), the terms are often used
interchangeably by those who don’t know any better. However, they refer to very different kinds of
hardware and types of computing.

The biggest distinction between mainframes and supercomputers is the type of problems they tackle.
Each of these types of large computers is specially designed and optimized to perform a particular type
of task, and to do it better than any other computer. Not only do supercomputers and mainframes do
their tasks more efficiently than other types of computers, they do things that no other computers can
do!

Supercomputers are designed to work on types of problems whose primary constraint is calculation
speed. Mainframes, on the other hand, deal with problems constrained by input/output and which
demand reliability above all else. So while supercomputers are ideal for performing complex calculations
on a large data set, mainframes are well suited for performing thousands upon thousands of concurrent
transactions.

Supercomputers conduct large amounts of very fast and complex calculations on data stored in
memory. These computers are built to purpose to run complex simulations or beating grand masters in
chess. Mainframes process the large amounts of data that come into them from external sources, such
as credit card transactions or payroll processing.

Supercomputers push the limits of computational speed, discovering what is possible for a computer to
do. They are the explorers of the computing world. Conversely, mainframes are the workers. Rather
than pushing up against the boundaries of what’s possible, they focus on reliable completion of large
tasks and processing of transactions. They are the farmers of the big computing world, doing the hard
labor that a complex industrial world needs done.

Here are some of the other differences:

Mainframes:

• Run multiple programs concurrently


• Support many concurrent users
• Support new and legacy software (backwards compatibility)
• Run many different kinds of operating systems (z/OS, Linux, etc.)
• Uninterrupted operation
• Have performance measured in Millions of Instructions per Second (MIPS).
• Perform tasks on huge amounts of external data
• Are flexible enough to run many kinds of applications and tackle broad business tasks

Supercomputers:

• Focus processing power to execute a few programs or instructions as quickly as possible


• Focused on speed and accelerated performance
• Push boundaries of what hardware and software can accomplish
• Typically run a variant of Linux as their operating system
• Are typically run at maximum capability, putting the computer’s full processing resources toward
solving a particular problem
• Are often a cluster or grid of smaller computers working together on whatever problem they are
looking to solve
• Have performance measured in Floating Point Operations per Second (FLOPS)
• Execute complicated computations using large internal memory
• Have dedicated purposes for tasks like scientific research or engineering models

These two behemoths of the computer world, mainframes and supercomputers, will continue to
dominate the heavy duty computing needs of business, science, government, and many other fields.
Their power and specialized capabilities make them well-suited for their particular tasks

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