I have been in Technology for more than 25 years. I have supported systems on mainframe and midtier platforms. I am often asked which platform is better. To be open and honest, I am a mainframe person at heart. I grew up on the mainframe and am more comfortable working on mainframe systems. But as I moved into management, I had to look more openly at mid-tier systems and become more cynical about the mainframe.

Mid-tier systems have grown significantly over the years. The hardware platform has become a much more reliable and cost-effective solution.

Let’s review a couple of trends in technology:

• Linux has conquered the world. This operating system has claimed its place in many mainstream IT stores. The company I work for has openly embraced Linux. It has almost completely replaced the UNIX / AIX / SUN environments that have been implemented. One important thing to note about Linux is that it really is hardware independent. Linux can even run on the mainframe.
• Virtualization has been all the rage in technology. Virtualization has made mid-tier solutions much more cost-effective by increasing overall hardware utilization. But virtualization is not new. Virtualization has been a mainframe bastion for many years. Work Load Management (WLM) has been around on the mainframe for what seems like forever. The mainframe has excelled at balancing a variety of workloads. Adding virtualization to the mid-tier environment has enabled mid-tier systems to function much more like a mainframe.

So if Linux can run anywhere and virtualization makes the mid-tier look like a mainframe, why use a mainframe?

There are still many functions that the mainframe still excels at. The mainframe WLM still far exceeds the capabilities of mid-tier servers. Mid-tier virtualization is much better at scale out. The mainframe performs significantly better vertical scaling. High-volume transactions that use high input and output processing are more suitable for the mainframe. High-computing processes are more suitable for the medium level.

There are probably many more packaged software solutions available to the distributed world. But the reliability, availability, and scalability of the mainframe are still incredible.

In the world of mainframes, parallel sysplex will allow a group of mainframes to function as a single machine. This provides an organization with many options for how they want to implement their technology. These mainframes don’t even need to be located close to each other. Geographically Dispersed Parallel Sysplex (GDPS) would allow an organization to run multiple data centers and make them all look like one to the customer.

So which one is better? It really depends on your workload and the amount of existing work you may have on the mainframe today. If you were starting from scratch, you would probably start with servers. But if you had a big investment in the mainframe, you would look to keep the mainframe and exploit the servers where it makes the most sense. I would use the servers for the presentation and application layers. The mainframe is the best and most secure platform for data management.

Decide for yourself which one best suits your needs and budget.

Linux is probably one of the biggest improvements that have come in the future. The Linux operating system takes advantage of many of the benefits of UNIX and enhances them. Linux can run on almost any platform, including the mainframe.