Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!rutgers!sri-spam!sri-unix!hplabs!sdcrdcf!psivax!csun!polyslo!npollack From: npollack@polyslo.UUCP Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc Subject: Re: Mainframe vs Micro Message-ID: <269@polyslo.UUCP> Date: Wed, 28-Jan-87 00:37:58 EST Article-I.D.: polyslo.269 Posted: Wed Jan 28 00:37:58 1987 Date-Received: Sat, 31-Jan-87 20:35:28 EST References: <658@imsvax.UUCP> <1490@cit-vax.Caltech.Edu> <722@argus.UUCP> Reply-To: npollack@polyslo.UUCP (Neal Pollack) Organization: Cal Poly State Univ,CSC Dept,San Luis Obispo,CA 93407 Lines: 94 In article <722@argus.UUCP> ken@argus.UUCP (Kenneth Ng) writes: >In article <1490@cit-vax.Caltech.Edu>, li@tybalt.caltech.edu (James C. Li) writes: >> Would someone DEFINE what a Micro is and what a Mainframe is? Around here, we generally make the following distinction; 1. A micro-computer can be thrown fairly far, and you have to squint to look at it very long. You generally need a large truck with new batteries close by. It usually has more than a 4-bit processor. 2. A Personal Computer can be thrown a few feet, and can not run on batteries. (But has been known to run all over your accounting disk.) It has an operating system with numerous dead ends (disk full, fatal error, hung, printer off-line lock-up, etc etc etc). 3. A Mini computer may have handles, but can not be thrown at all. Two or three people might use it to warm their lunch, as a punching bag when its down, or maybe shove it across the room. It has a "real" operating system that is capable of recovery from errors. 4. A Mainframe computer has no handles, but has replaced them with crane hooks. It can not be thrown or shoved. You can climb on it, use it to heat lunch (and a large building), and can go broke feeding it electricity, freon, and cooling water (cyber). They make nice artificial reefs off of the Pacific Ocean. They are also very very fast, depending on relative number of users. They have been known to swallow operaters past midnight. > >The Cray supercomputer line has supposedly been outpaced by several computers >in recent years, especially by parallel and vector processing machines. But >one must realize that no matter how much one parrellels stuff, there will >always be stuff done in serial fashion. And that is where the Cray really >excells, with one of the fastest (is it the fastest?) scaler processors around. ****************** Seriously people, I am enjoying the ongoing discussion about micros and mainframes, but please stop trying to argue which is better. The proper computer for the job depends 100.00000% on the type of job. I have a private jet and a road grader. I need to build a new runway. which is better, the jet or the grader???? I now need to fly to Hawaii. Which is better, the tractor or the jet???? There is no one computer on planet earth that will suit all apllications and problems equally well. A Personal Computer is the most cost effective tool for word-processing by an individual, and a Cray-1 is effective for massive mathematical problems such as simulation or "predicting" the weather for next week. You shall not attempt to run Chase Manhatten Bank on a network of IBM-PC's. You Equally shall not buy a Cray-X/MP for a home computer to do word-processing. I firmly believe that all the people arguing over which box is better should go back to a university and study advanced computer architecture, systems engineering, and basic seminars on how to match a computer to your specific task, problem, goal, or job. You all seem to be saying; "People should buy this computer because it is better, and then go see if anyone wrote software so I can do my data-processing-stuff." This is the case with everyone getting so HOT to buy the new intel 80386 machines, when very few people have even begun to use the power of their 80286 machines. There is very little software available yet for 80386 machines. Are we all looking for the 1987 Hood-ornament status symbol, or are we trying to do a professional job of information and data processing? At the same time, the distinction between micro and mainframe is becomming blurred. People are connecting mainframe disk drives (i.e. very fast) to micro computers. Some are using micro-processors in parallel to outperform minicomputers, and neither can be thrown very far. At the same time, current mainframes under development make the multi-processor micro look sick for number crunching speed. And the multi-processor 68020 unix boxes make a vax 750 look sick. I believe that there are too many directions of progress for any one person to be knowledgeable about all of them. The distinction between micro,mini, and maxi frame is not important. The distinction of how well a given machine solves YOUR data processing or computing problem is ALL important. Have a nice day, and try not to abuse your terminal after reading this. Neal Pollack Chief Engineer Computer Science Department California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo, CA 93407 Please direct all hate mail to bugs@Polyslo Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc Keywords: micro mainframe flames funnies