Saturday, December 1, 2007

CertificationMainframe

Mainframe
A very large and expensive computer capable of supporting hundreds, or even thousands, of users simultaneously. Mainframes are more powerful than supercomputers because they support more simultaneous programs . But supercomputers can execute a single program faster than a mainframe.All mainframes have the ability to run (or "host") multiple operating systems and thereby operate not as a single computer but as a number of virtual machines. In this role, a single mainframe can replace dozens or even hundreds of smaller servers,reducing management and administrative costs while providing greatly improved scalability and reliability. The reliability is improved because of the hardware redundancy noted above, and the scalability is achieved because hardware resources can be reallocated among the virtual machines as needed out of total system.

The CPU speed of mainframes has historically been termed as MIPS (million instructions per second). MIPS have been used as an easy comparative rating of the speed and capacity of mainframes.
Mainframes vs. supercomputersBecause of the parallelism visible to the programmer, supercomputers are often quite complicated to program and require specialized, task-specific software. In contrast, mainframes hide parallelism from the programmer.Mainframes assiduously and thoroughly support older software alongside new software. Supercomputers tend not to have backward compatibility as a central design feature. Mainframes tend to run those functions that must run reliably, even for years of continuous service (for example, airline bookings or credit-card processing). Supercomputers often run tasks that can tolerate interruption (for example, global warming forecasts and academic research).

Certifications In Mainframe:
DB2 Certification:This certification credential enables information management and database professionals to prove their competency on the industry's most advanced content management technology to solve the critical business issue of managing and integrating all forms of information, including scanned images, audio, video and information from multiple sources
Source:
Website:http://www.ibm.com