by Anura Guruge
on April 5, 2023
When I saw the announcement of a ‘Rack Mount’ mainframe by (my ex-employer) IBM, I wasn’t sure whether I wanted to laugh, cry or both.
Yes, of course, like all things computer related mainframes have been getting smaller & smaller over the last 60 years. Yes, 60-years! The S/360 (which begat the S/370 with ‘Virtual Storage’) which was the ORIGINAL IBM mainframe was introduced in 1964. I started working for IBM, on mainframes, exactly 10-years later. Then for the next 40-years mainframes were MY LIFE — how I made a living. So, I am kind of partial to mainframes — & have over the years been referred to as a ‘Big Iron guy’, the ‘big iron’ another reference to the size of mainframes.
The term ‘MAINFRAME’ means ‘main’ + ‘frame’. It referred to cabinets. Large metal cabinets. Yes, yes, yes. Racks are but tall things cabinets. I get that. I also appreciate that for the last 15 years IBM mainframes were but racks inside a fancy cabinet.
But, rack mount?
It just isn’t cricket. Doesn’t sound right. Doesn’t look right.
A rack mount mainframe lacks presence. It is not a hulking, humming, giant core of computing power.
Yes, I miss my old mainframes. Once a mainframe guy, always a mainframe guy.
