
The Incredible Shrinking Data Center
by Dave Bealer

Just three decades ago monsters ruled the data center.  No, not the
managers, although many of them had certain monstrous properties. 
This was the era of the mainframes, near the end of the Big Iron Age.
A single computer filled a good sized room, and programs ran one at a
time, which was good enough for everyone.

A decade later the giant mainframe was still king, although this
Jurassic Iron was being challenged by upstarts with the wimpy title
of "mini-computer."  Since even the name was non-threatening, the
mainframe mavens ignored the minis.  Properly written programs could
execute simultaneously, which increased throughput, while poorly
written programs would crash the system.  A small price to pay for
progress. 

Just over 10 years ago the tiny personal computer (PC) escaped the
grasp of the hobbyists and invaded the sanctity of the corporate
computing environment.  A laughable new toy, the personal computer
would obviously never be a threat.  There wasn't even a good COBOL
compiler available for the PC, so how could it ever hope to run
"serious" applications?

Once it became apparent, even to the least observant EDP types, that
people really *were* using PCs to do serious work, the real question
became how to exert complete control over their use.  End users could
never be trusted with an important decision such as how to use the
company's precious computing resources.  Only highly trained (and
paid) data processing professionals were qualified to decide these
things.

The last decade has brought some amazing size reductions in the
"foot print" of computer hardware.  Mainframes are now little larger
than the mini-computers of old.  Mini-computers themselves have been
largely squeezed out by competition from super-powered PCs and
workstations.  Portable computers are now available that place all
the power of a mighty desktop machine in the palm of your hand.

Despite these "advances," all is not lost for the professionals.
Nearly everyone wants to use data that only exists on another PC.
The logical solution is to "network" all the PCs in a department/
company together.  Local Area Networks (LANs) allow this data
sharing, but introduce many of the same complexities that made
mainframes so difficult to master.  As the needs of the flock change,
so too do the mysteries guarded by the high-tech priests of EDP.

In the old days there was a terminal on every desk connected to a
multi-million dollar mainframe.  Today the custom is to have a modest
"workstation" PC on every desk connected to a large, well equipped,
$10,000 "server" PC.  Much of the overall processing power is distri-
buted to the individual desktop.  Users remain happy as long as all
the game software they bring from home runs on their "work"station.
Even more money is saved by the fact that most network servers fit in
a closet, rather than requiring an large air-conditioned room with
raised flooring.

Many empty raised-flooring computer rooms are being converted into 
drafty office space and miniature golf courses (no joke - this author
once helped design and build such a course).  Even worse, computers
no longer need a desk to call home.  Engineers can compute critical
product specs on a laptop while wolfing down styro-burgers at their
favorite fast food joint.  Accountants can embezzle funds from the
privacy of their own cars using cellular modems.  The next generation
of Cray super computers will fit in a backpack, finally allowing
scientists this same kind of mobility.

One major benefit of all this downsizing is the reduced energy needs
of a closet-sized computer center as opposed to a city-block sized
center.  Some of these savings will be lost to the fact that every-
body, including the janitor, will soon have their own Pentium-
equipped PC.  Also a problem are misguided folks who leave the PC
turned on 24 hours a day in an effort to keep the hard disk from
wearing out.  They ignore the fact that the average new 528 MB hard
disk will be outgrown and replaced with a 16GB drive long before it
wears out.  This is called planned obsolescence through increasingly
bloated software.                                               {RAH}
--------------
Dave Bealer is a thirty-something mainframe systems programmer who
works with CICS, MVS and all manner of nasty acronyms at one of the
largest heavy metal shops on the East Coast.  He shares a waterfront
townhome in Pasadena, MD. with two cats who annoy him endlessly as he
writes and electronically publishes RAH.    FidoNet> 1:261/1129
Internet: dave.bealer@rah.clark.net

