This word represents an entire computing paradigm. Typically, mainframe computers are very large, are housed in a central, secure location, and offer memory and disk-storage capacities that desktop microcomputers heretofore could not match. Historically, SIUC mainframes have been set up to handle (1) noninteractive (sometimes called "batch") computing jobs through the Multiple Virtual Storage (MVS) operating system and (2) multiuser, interactive computing through networked workstations and dumb terminals. Microcomputers have shrunk in size, dropped in price, and grown in memory and disk capacity, and they now approach the lower-end mainframes in computing power. The time-sharing paradigm used by the mainframe has been replaced with the client/server paradigm.
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