Mainframe computers, originally used in research and by government, found their way into large corporations during the late 1950s and early 1960s. Consisting of several separate components housed in large cabinets, which are thought to have given the mainframe its name, they soon became essential in both military and corporate environments. The development of the microprocessor led to competition from smaller, cheaper computers and distributed computer networks, leaving many old mainframes consigned to history.
Univac 1100 Series
Vacuum tubes were at the heart of early models bearing the 1100 name but, the introduction of the 1107 by the Sperry Rand Corporation in 1962, saw transistors introduced to the range for the first time. In 1968, costs for installation of this mainframe and its main components spiraled to over one and a half million dollars with the central processing unit costing half a million on its own. The Sperry Rand Corporation merged with Burroughs in 1986 to form Unisys who, as of 2010, still produce mainframe computer systems.
IBM 701
1953 saw IBM launch the 701, a mainframe computer that had taken just two years to develop and was IBM's first scientific computer available on the open market. Code-named the "Defense Calculator," it was originally developed for defense firms during the Korean war. The first 701, installed at IBM's headquarters in New York, took up a quarter of the space of its predecessor and was twenty-five times faster.
Burroughs B5000
Designed in 1961, the B5000 has the accolade of being the first computer to support virtual memory, a way of providing a secure environment for applications to operate within, something that is now used by applications such as Java Virtual Machine software. Compatible with high level languages such as COBOL, Common Business Oriented Language and FORTRAN, Formula Translation, the B5000 was the first mainframe to be built for specific software requirements.
Tags: half million, mainframe computer, Rand Corporation, Sperry Rand, Sperry Rand Corporation
