Centralized and Distributed Information Systems: Two Architecture Approaches for the 1990s

Abstract

Today there are two major ways of providing data processing services within most businesses, including hospitals. The first approach is centralized computing and involves the acquisition of a large computer typically known as a mainframe. To this computer are attached a number of dumb terminals that do not have any processing power of their own. All of the computing is done on the large machine. The results of the processing are presented either on the terminal or in reports. All of the data necessary for the work being performed are housed on one of the many disk drives that are attached to the mainframe.