What is the difference between supercomputer and mainframe?

Answer 1

A mainframe is a large computer designed for general computation purposes. A supercomputer is a mainframe optimized for scientific computations and extremely high computing speed. Usually to be considered a supercomputer, the machine must benchmark at at least 10 times as fast as the fastest standard commercial mainframe on the market at the time.

Answer 2

The distinction between supercomputers and mainframes is not a hard and fast one, but...

Supercomputers generally are used for problems which are limited by calculation speed, while

Mainframes are used for problems which are limited by input/output and reliability and for solving multiple business problems concurrently (mixed workload).

The differences and similarities are as follows:

• Both types of systems offer parallel processing, although this has not always been the case. Parallel processing (i.e.,multiple CPU's executing instructions simultaneously) was used in supercomputers (e.g., the Cray-1) for decades before this feature appeared in mainframes, primarily due to cost at that time. Supercomputers typically expose parallel processing to the programmer in complex manners, while mainframes typically use it to run multiple tasks. One result of this difference is that adding processors to a mainframe often speeds up the entire workload transparently.

• Supercomputers are optimized for complicated computations that take place largely in memory, while mainframes are optimized for comparatively simple computations involving huge amounts of external data. For example, weather forecasting is suited to supercomputers, and insurance business or payroll processing applications are more suited to mainframes.

• Supercomputers are often purpose-built for one or a very few specific institutional tasks (e.g. simulation and modeling). Mainframes typically handle a wider variety of tasks (e.g. data processing, warehousing). Consequently, most supercomputers can be one-off designs, whereas mainframes typically form part of a manufacturer's standard model lineup.

0. Supercomputers have multiple processing units. Making its speedunimaginably fast. It can even run a whole virtual world updating every giga-second.

• Mainframes tend to have numerous ancillary service processors assisting their main central processors (for cryptographic support, I/O handling, monitoring, memory handling, etc.) so that the actual "processor count" is much higher than would otherwise be obvious. Supercomputer design tends not to include as many service processors since they don't appreciably add to raw number-crunching power. This distinction is perhaps blurring over time as Moore's Law constraints encourage more specialization in server components.

• Mainframes are exceptionally adept at batch processing, such as billing, owing to their heritage, decades of increasing customer expectations for batch improvements, and throughput-centric design. Supercomputers generally perform quite poorly in batch processing.

11 A mainframe computer is similar only it is more slower and can run larger applications. Usually to huge amounts of data such as a census for every single house hold in the US. Otherwise, there is no difference.

There has been some blurring of the term "mainframe," with some PC and server vendors referring to their systems as "mainframes" or "mainframe-like." This is not widely accepted and the market generally recognizes that mainframes are genuinely and demonstrably different.

Regards

Manoj Singh Rawat