Mainframes and Cloud Computing: Similarities and Differences

Since the arrival of cloud computing, the debate has raged: is cloud computing really just the mainframe re-imagined? Or are the differences significant enough that these two technologies should be considered opposite? In this article, we’ll take a look at both the similarities and differences of mainframe and cloud computing technology, including scalability, security, and terminal emulation considerations.

What are the similarities?

Client-server model: If you look closely at both mainframes and cloud computing, you’ll see that both are implementations of the client-server model where applications are stored and run on remote servers.

With the mainframe, applications are stored and run on large server computers stored in specialised, air-conditioned rooms designed specifically for housing the mainframe. Users then connect to the mainframe with the use of client terminals or, in more recent times, terminal emulation software. With cloud computing applications may be stored on various servers, but they are still accessed through a thin client).

Click Here To Read More

Cloud Computing Cheat Sheet

The business world is full of buzzwords but none seem to be gaining more traction in recent times than “cloud computing”. But what exactly is cloud computing? There seem to be so many different definitions of what it entails that pinning down an exact definition is extremely difficult. In this article, we’ll help demystify the concept of cloud computing by looking at how it is implemented in practical situations: what types of cloud services are being offered and who is using them? We’ll also discuss how cloud computing is in many ways, an extension of the mainframe terminals of the 1970s, as well as the role that 3270 emulation and other emulators still play today.

Click Here To Read More