At their core, mainframes are high-performance computers with large amounts of memory and processors that process billions of simple calculations and transactions in real time. The mainframe is critical to commercial databases, transaction servers, and applications that require high resiliency, security, and agility.

What are Mainframes?

Mainframe is a system which is capable of handling and processing very large amount of data.
It is widely used in Weather forecasting, Banking, medical research and crypt analysis.
In such examples, a regular computer can not compute such large number of calculations at a time which is where mainframes come to play.
Mainframes are significantly more powerful than Desktops and PCs but are just slower than Supercomputers. That is where Mainframes stand in the classification of types of digital computers.

Where are Mainframes used?

1. E-Business And E-Commerce
As we will see, there are many uses for a mainframe computer. However, nobody takes advantage of the technology more than E-Business and E-commerce industries.
The computers have many functions, but two of the most important are keeping track of business transactions and exchanging money across the internet. Utilizing both of those aspects helps generate a much more efficient interface that aids both the company and the consumer.

2. Banking
As mentioned above, there are several large industries that take advantage of mainframe computers. However, none of them depend on the machines in the way banks do.
Banking is perhaps the best example of mainframe computer use simply because of how many transactions the industry needs to process and track every single day.
Personal banks not only have to take note of all of their customers and various accounts, but they must also track ATM withdrawals, credit card transactions, mobile pay, and online account updates.
Though such processes are manageable with a few customers, they quickly get overwhelming with thousands upon thousands. Mainframe computing succinctly cuts down on that by keeping everything organized and readily accessible.

3. Health Care
Health care is yet another sector that takes full advantage of mainframe computers. As with E-businesses, the industry uses the technology to keep track of and monitor millions upon millions of different transactions at a rapid pace.
Banking has to juggle many aspects at once, but it has nothing on what health care needs to analyze.
That is because health care companies have thousands of patients, and each one of those patients come with their own personalized information.

4. The Military
While a bit more unconventional than the above sectors, the military also uses mainframe computers for its operations. In fact, they were the first to readily adopt the technology.
That may be surprising to some, but it makes sense when you think about the use from a purely informational standpoint.
A mainframe computer is capable of processing a lot of information extremely quickly. Though that is useful when it comes to staying on top of the banking industry, it is also important for both combat and border protection.

5. Academics And Research
Mainframe computers have a lot of power, which is why they are commonly utilized by large sectors. One such large field we have not yet covered is academia.
Higher education is one of the largest industries in the United States. As a result, they need to track a lot of people, ranging from employees to professors to students.
Mainframe computers aid that process and allow information to be stored in such a way that it can be easily accessed by upper management.

6. Retail
We finish our list with another unconventional option in retail.
Mainframe computers have been used by traditional retailers for years, and now they are being adopted by online companies across the world.
There are several reasons for that shift, but the biggest is because of how easy the technology makes it to both track and monitor inventory.

IBM Z features:

Run common operating systems like Linux® – as well as specialized operating systems such as z/OS® – along with software that takes advantage of the unique hardware capabilities.

Support massive simultaneous transactions and throughput (I/O) with built-in capacity on demand and built-in shared memory for direct application communication.

Deliver the highest levels of security with built-in cryptographic cards and innovative software; the latest IBM Z® systems can execute up to 1 trillion secure web transactions per day and manage privacy by policy.

Offer resiliency through multiple layers of redundancy for every component (power supplies, cooling, backup batteries, CPUs, I/O components, cryptography modules) and testing for extreme weather condition

Mainframe developers are in high demand, with starting salaries that are higher than most other college graduates. Do check out IBM Z docs to learn more about IBM Z.