Host Connectivity News and Articles (11/28)
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.
These days, we take the simplicity of working with computers for granted. If you're like most people, you're reading this page from a computer running a Windows operating system, though if you fall outside of the majority, it could be the increasingly popular Mac OS X from Apple, or maybe even a PC running Linux. Whatever the case, your operating system is doing an impeccable job of making using your computer a breeze and this is largely thanks to its graphical user interface or GUI. Once upon a time, there were no GUIs -- there were only text based terminals. In this article, we'll take a look at the evolution of computer access from crude terminals to graphical user interfaces, as well as looking at the role that terminal emulation plays today.
If you're new to the topic of terminal emulation, here is some of the most common jargon used in the industry.
The funny thing about the Internet is that it has been around for a lot longer than you probably realize. Most people would tell you the Internet came into being some time during the Nineties and, indeed, that is when it first started to reach the general public and become the all-pervading force we know it as today. However, the history of the Internet dates back a lot further -- in fact, all the way back to the 1960s when mainframes were still relatively new. These days, terminal emulation software such as 3270 emulation is needed to access mainframes, and the Internet is stronger than ever.