Facts about MainFrame

Recently I read some facts about MainFrame. For those who think that Mainframes is a field very few opportunities, Read on u will be surprised…
1. The mainframes hold approximately 70 % of the entire data stored in this planet
2. The latest ones can support over 25,000 users
3. They can support devices spread over 26 miles using fibre optics 4. The size of the basic OS is about 14 GB
5. This OS comes in about 57 magnetic tapes, But latest with 4 tapes
6. It takes ATLEAST a month to install and customize a basic mainframe OS configuration
7. It takes around 3 full days for a mainframe to get up and running
8. Basic configuration for development environment costs 8 crores (hardware + Software)
9. A full team of qualified system operators are always required to be on stand by to ensure successful operation
10. Earlier mainframes were provided with cooling pipes through which cold water was passed to cool the system - TCS have one in Chennai facility
11. Recent mainframes have variable speed fans in the cabinet to keep it cool
12. Have u ever heard of a mainframe system being hacked??? Mainframes are one of the most secure data installations ever
13. You cannot buy the mainframe OS, but u’ll have to pay a license to use it. The cost?? cool ..1.5 crores a year.
14. Finally, mainframes today r the most preferred data servers for even the most hi-fi of the organizations!
15. So far no virus has attacked Mainframes
The most amazing fact is thatMost of the people working on Mainframe had never seen the mainframe.Am not kidding, it is a fact.

What is a mainframe?

Mainframes (often colloquially referred to as big iron) are large and "expensive" computers used mainly by government institutions and large companies for mission critical applications, typically bulk data processing such as censuses, industry/consumer statistics, ERP, and financial transaction processing.

The term originated during the early 1970s with the introduction of smaller, less complex computers such as the DEC PDP-8 and PDP-11 series, which became known as minicomputers or just minis. The industry/users then coined the term "mainframe" to describe larger, earlier types (previously known simply as "computers").

Description
Modern mainframe computers have abilities not so much defined by their performance capabilities as by their high-quality internal engineering and resulting proven reliability, high-quality technical support, top-notch security, and strict backward compatibility for older software. These machines can and do run successfully for years without interruption, with repairs taking place whilst they continue to run. Mainframe vendors offer such services as off-site redundancy ? if a machine does break down, the vendor offers the option to run customers' applications on their own machines (often without users even noticing the change) whilst repairs go on.

The robustness and dependability of these systems has been one of the main reasons for the longevity of this class of computers, being used in applications where down-time would be catastrophic. The term Reliability, Availability and Serviceability, or RAS, has become a marketing term used to denote this robustness. This robustness is often the argument used against replacing mainframes with other types of computers.

Mainframes often support thousands of simultaneous users who gain access through "dumb" terminals or terminal emulation. Early mainframes either supported this timesharing mode or operated in batch mode where users had no direct access to the computing service; it solely provided back office functions. At this time mainframes were so called because of their very substantial size and requirements for specialized HVAC and electrical power. Nowadays mainframes support access via any user interface, including the Web. (An IBM mainframe was the first Web server anywhere outside Europe.) Blade servers and rack servers, rather than mainframes, are now increasingly requiring exotic cooling technologies and take up far more data center floor space.

Getting started with SOA

10 Tips for Better Results with your mainframe Integration vendor

1) Research, question,and validate architectural options:
2) Research and understand your microflow requirements:
3) Know your integration requirements upfront:
4) Get acquainted with the vendor’s support and professional services groups:
5) Be comfortable with the Integrated Development Environment (IDE):
6) See a software demonstration or use it yourself:
7) Check reference customers:
8) Beware of the reseller pitch:
9) Consider the company balance sheet:
10)Visit the company:

Different Sorts Information

DFSORT is a sort product sold by IBM.
SYNCSORT is a competing product sold by Syncsort, Inc.
CA-SORT is yet another sort product, sold by Computer Associates.

Obviously, most shops only buy one of these products.

ICEMAN is just another name (entry point) used for the sort program. It's common practice in shops for the system programmers to set up all the common names as entry points to their purchased SORT product. You will often find that PGM=SYNCSORT and PGM=DFSORT will both work in your shop, and both execute the same sort program (whichever one your shop purchased).

ICETOOL is an expansion to the basic SORT program, that allows you to use alternate (simpler) commands to do multiple sort operations in a single sort step. I think that ICETOOL doesn't do anything that you couldn't do via coding multiple DFSORT steps -- it just makes coding them a bit easier.

ICETOOL is supplied as part of the basic SORT package -- if you have DFSORT, you also have ICETOOL. Many people don't seem to realize this. And some troglydite managements don't understand this, and forbid use of ICETOOL in production, restricting programmers to only SORT steps. Such managements are fools (but, alas, not uncommon).

SYNCTOOL is Syncsort, Inc.'s version of the ICETOOL package.

All these are very similar products -- they all do basic sorting. And they use similar commands. For most basic sort operations, the same commands will work in all the products. When you get into more advanced functions, there are some differences between them -- some functions are only offered in one or the other product, and sometimes different syntax is used for the same operations.

Rexx Inventor - Mike Cowlishaw

Mike Cowlishaw, an IBM Fellow based at the IBM UK Warwick location, and also a Visiting Professor at the Department of Computer Science at the University of Warwick.(Warwick is situated in central England, midway between Coventry and Stratford-upon-Avon.)
His technical interests include:
decimal arithmetic (algorism) in hardware and software, includingthe decimal data types and arithmetic in the current IEEE 754 revision, the General Decimal Arithmetic Specification, the decNumber open source and commercial implementations of this in ANSI C, and the enhanced BigDecimal class for Java 5, as described in Java SR-13. the Rexx, Object Rexx, NetRexx, Java, PL/I, and C programming languages cognitive processes, including neural, genetic, and evolutionary algorithms and systems, especially empirical models that may give insight into thought processes vision and colour perception (hence the shading algorithms used in PMGlobe and Palm Globe) high-power Light-Emitting Diodes and designing circuits for driving them lightweight (preferably solid-state) computers (one such is the IBM Workpad, for which I wrote Palm Globe; another is the Acorn System 1 and the Emulator I wrote for that); I currently carry an IBM Thinkpad X41 Tablet PC electronic publishing, including the Oxford English Dictionary and other dictionaries, SGML, the LEXX (now called LPEX) editor, Wikipedia, the World Wide Web, and my GoServe Web server (used for my personal research tool, MemoWiki).

The aging mainframer

A continuing, lingering perception that the mainframe is dead persists in some parts of the IT industry. It seems that we constantly hear that big IT shops are getting rid of their mainframes. But rarely do we ever hear about it after the fact. No, it is usually reported right when someone thinks that it is a good idea.
Now don't get me wrong. I'm sure there are some shops that have removed their mainframe. But I'm also sure that there are many more that thought about it but couldn't do it -- as well as those who wouldn't even consider it.
A bigger problem for the mainframe than the misguided notion that it is more costly than other computing platforms is the aging of the mainframe workforce. This is a reality. If you don't believe me, go to a SHARE conference and fix your eyeballs on some of the dinosaurs attending mainframe sessions there (myself included).
Basically, the problem is that mainframe experts are getting older and slowly retiring. And who will replace them? Most young IT professionals do not choose to work on mainframe systems, instead choosing to concentrate on the latest technology bandwagons -- things like Windows and Linux, open source and so on. Put one of these newbies in front of a terminal and introduce them to the joys of JCL, ISPF and COBOL, then watch them scream out the door yelling "I want my Java!"
But that is probably an inaccurate perception. You see, mainframe no longer means ugly old green screens. Today's mainframe environment is quite different from the mainframe of yesteryear. That hulking, water-cooled beast you may remember has been replaced with chip-based, CMOS, air-cooled systems. Today's mainframes are easier to hook together using Parallel Sysplex technology. And all of the "modern" technology used on Windows and Linux platforms works on the mainframe, too. Yes, that means XML, Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol, Java and so on are all mainframe technologies, too.
Nowadays, the biggest mainframe "problems" are training and PR. Let's focus on training first. Mainframe technology is not taught by most universities these days; this really needs to change. What is needed is a comprehensive educational program delivered through major universities, as well as IT-focused institutions like DeVry and NorthFace universities. The program should be sponsored by major mainframe vendors like IBM and Computer Associates International, which could provide hardware and software, as well as a conduit for hiring graduates. Doing so would help to further promote and extend the mainframe -- a platform that benefits vendors' bottom lines.
And why would universities be interested in such a program? Employability of their graduates! As the current crop of mainframe experts retire, companies will have to replace them. I'd venture to guess that five to 10 years down the line, it will be easier for an IMS DBA, for example, to get a job offer than an Oracle DBA. The demand will be greater for the IMS talent because the supply is so low.
The publicity component is a bit more difficult. So much has been written and implied about the mainframe being dead that a lot folks believe it. But the mainframe continues to be a robust, viable component of today's IT infrastructure. Organizations continue to add more MIPS, deploy more applications and run their most important, mission-critical applications on mainframe computers. Until this aspect of the mainframe is publicized more, the existing perception is likely to linger.
Or maybe we should just give the mainframe a new name and pretend that it is a new technology with better availability, scalability and performance than the existing platforms.
Craig Mullins is president and principle consultant of Mullins Consulting Inc., in Sugar Land, Texas. He is the author of the DB2 Developer's Guide and Database Administration: The Complete Guide to Practices and Procedures, and has published several hundred articles on database technology.