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From: Lawrence D'Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid>
Newsgroups: comp.arch
Subject: Re: Article on new mainframe use
Date: Fri, 16 Aug 2024 00:09:08 -0000 (UTC)
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On Thu, 15 Aug 2024 17:44:42 +0000, MitchAlsup1 wrote:

> On Thu, 15 Aug 2024 0:02:11 +0000, Lawrence D'Oliveiro wrote:
> 
>> Mainframes are obsolete. The mindset of “the CPU is expensive, let’s
>> surround it with complex channel controllers to handle batch I/O”
>> stopped being relevant sometime in the 1980s, if not before.
> 
> If one defines a mainframe computer as having the ability to remove and
> replace every component without taking the computer off line--then
> mainframes are still relevant. Reliability, Availability,
> Serviceability.

Then Google’s half-million server farm built on el cheapo commodity PCs 
counts as more of a “mainframe” than anything IBM (or any other member of 
the BUNCH) ever made.

There is an item at Bitsavers dated from 1986, about how to set the 
correct time on an IBM mainframe. There is a recommendation there that, if 
you are turning daylight saving on or off, you should really reboot the 
whole machine.

So much for “without taking the computer off line” ...