Over the years computer technology has taken many turns. When industry was just starting to use computers they were large machines that would take up considerable amounts of space. They were also so new that only a few people in a company knew how to use them and they were in charge of, among other things, the production of reports from the data these massive machines held. As time went on the power of computers and peoples awareness of how to use them began to increase. Whole rooms were still dedicated to these machines, but now more people in the company were accessing them. Today, computers are a part of almost everyone's job.
 
 

With this explosion in the use of computers on the job the computer industry has offered us a number of ways in which IT administrators can set up computer networks so that information can be shared throughout the company. Two such methodologies are known as Client/Server and Mainframe. Both have advantages, both have disadvantages. What is presented below is a brief inspection of the choice between the two.
 
 

According to ICETECH, Inc. at the following link, http://www.icetech.net/servers.htm, in recent years Client/Server technology has been the choice of IT managers over Mainframes. But this swing does not mean that mainframes will necessarily disappear entirely. Mainframes offer a number of things that Client/Server technology does not. Three points listed were the following:

1. Centralized administration and allocation of resources is much more easy
2. Mainframes are better optimized for disk storage and similar I/O
3. Mainframes provide economies of scale for some functions.

Presenting this question, 'Which is better, Client/Server or Mainframe technology?', will get you a number of different responses. But the one point that will likely come up is 'What do you want to do?' Client/Server is fantastic when it comes to the price involved in setting up a system. As we discussed in class, for under $1,000 you can build one for your home. There is also the issue of having the ability to utilize the latest in desktop technology. When the processing has been moved from one central location to the many high-speed computers on the employee's desks it becomes much more efficient and productivity increases. Client/Server technology can be very appealing for these two points alone.
 
 

So where does that leave the question of which is better? As mentioned above, it really depends on just what you want to do. Both have their good points and it takes an understanding of which one could be more fully utilized in the environment you want to set up. But will this disparity continue forever and what other as-yet undreamed of technologies await the IT managers of the future? Maybe the solution is to get the mainframe computers to act more like today's speedy desktop machines? With advances in technology it doesn't seem impossible for the development of mainframe computers to be linked to desktop computers via super fast communication lines. This hybrid arrangement would seem to gather the best of both worlds. Already companies like IBM are developing operating systems for mainframe computers that allow them to function much more similar to desktop machines. The following link will take you to the IBM site dedicated to servers. http://www.ibm.com/servers/There you can review the latest in operating system design for models such as the AS/400, a very popular machine the world over. Below is a brief overview of the new operating system with a listing of some of the main functionality that has been created.
 
 

What the AS/400 offers is the integration of hardware, middleware, software and an operating system in one affordable machine. Now with the latest operating system release, OS/400 V4R4, IBM has expanded the capabilities of this machine. In response to the changing environment of business and especially to the use of the Internet in commerce, release 4 of the latest operating system combines a number of new features. Among these features is:
 
 

So as I had written before, the choice between Client/Server and Mainframe technology is one that has to be made on a case by case basis. To be done properly it requires a complete understanding of what you want it to do for you. There are reasons to choose both and no two companies making the decision is the same. Included with this summary is a case study on an institution that chose Mainframe technology. With large amounts of data and the need to allow it to be shared by thousands of people all over the country the choice was made. What your company does is entirely up to them.

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Author: Richard Dyman