Mainframe computers

A mainframe computer, also known as a “big iron” is a high performance computer used for resource-intensive tasks that require greater security and availability than smaller scale machines. They are typically used for centralised rather than distributed computing.

The heyday of mainframes was before the mini- and micro-computer revolution but they are still used.

IBM remains the main manufacturer and service provider for mainframes. Example use cases include banks who need to process large volumes of transatction and high frequency tranding; government departments, the military and internal revenue who require huge databases.