14 Oct
2007
14 Oct
'07
3:28 p.m.
Yes, an S/390
would be really nice (hey, you can even go with linux if
you really wanted to) but they seem a
a tad too small for me. It also looks too modern IMO.
But Linux on a S/390 would be like Linux on a SGI (unless it was in a
single LPAR) - it's lacking something. Yes I also
know that mainframes were usually designed for databases and the likes
The 360 in System/360 stands for 360 degrees of coverage, meaning the
machines were made to do all sorts of tasks. Before the workstation
came into real power, mainframes had a significant portion of the CAD
and simulation market. but they can
still be fun to
play with and you gotta admit it's fun showing off those massive IBM hard drives and
then telling your friends
how much that massive drive can actually store (20-80 megs if more).
Here you will have troubles. The big IBM drives (DASDs) are almost all
gone. The last of the really huge disks, 3390s, are just about all out
of service. Just about everything else big, from early times, is gone,
except for a few anomalies (like the recent 3350s out of Columbus,
OH).
For big drives, the CDCs seem to have survived the best.
And oddly, old IBM tape drives - the 3420s - can still be found. There is no
way I will look into a DEC. I have absolutely no knowledge on any of their good old
systems (I have
never even seen one) and I have always loved IBM systems (yes, criticize me).
DEC systems mostly just make a lot of sense. Try one, you might like it. 