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Mainframe computer
Large computer / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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A mainframe computer, informally called a mainframe or big iron,[1] is a computer used primarily by large organizations for critical applications like bulk data processing for tasks such as censuses, 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 minicomputers, servers, workstations, and personal computers. Most large-scale computer-system architectures were established in the 1960s, but they continue to evolve. Mainframe computers are often used as servers.
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The term mainframe was derived from the large cabinet, called a main frame,[2] that housed the central processing unit and main memory of early computers.[3][4] Later, the term mainframe was used to distinguish high-end commercial computers from less powerful machines.[5]