{ "model": { "rank": 6162, "code": "thing-q177234", "model_id": "vr.tr.mainframe-computer", "name": "mainframe computer", "purpose": "Enable an AI agent to recognise a mainframe computer, assess its capacity and operational condition, and determine which workload, configuration and maintenance actions are supported and authorised.", "family": "Thing Registry", "category": "Physical world and living systems", "status": "research-draft", "kind": "thing", "plane": "PHY", "domain": "PHY.OBJ", "industry": "", "version": "", "url": "/models/thing/q177234/", "tier": 2, "score": 62, "payload": { "layer": "wikidata", "aliases": [ "UNIVAC I", "Bull Gamma 3", "UNIVAC II", "Bendix G-15", "PDP-10", "UNIVAC III", "DECsystem-10", "ACOS-2", "IBM 4300", "SDS Sigma series", "ODRA 1013", "Odra 1003", "Odra 1103", "Odra 1300", "ODRA 1204", "Odra 1304", "Odra 1325", "Odra 1305", "R-34", "PRODAC IV", "IBM 700/7000 series", "M-20 series", "Electrologica X1", "Z9 109", "Minsk family of computers", "IBM Z", "UNIVAC 1100/2200 series", "UNIVAC 1108", "Electrologica X8", "IBM 7090", "PDP-6", "DECSYSTEM-20", "IBM System/360 Model 40", "IBM mainframe", "IBM ES/9000 family", "Olivetti Elea", "English Electric DEUCE", "Vesna", "ES EVM", "M-220" ], "aliasCount": 68, "merged": 68, "knownIn": 62, "facets": null, "markers": [], "lexicalClass": "", "senseRank": null, "alsoRegisteredAs": null, "source": { "dataset": "wikidata", "item": "Q177234", "url": "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q177234", "license": "CC0 1.0" } }, "research": { "vercy": "1.0-draft", "publication": { "status": "research-draft", "adjudicationStatus": "unreviewed", "publishableCanonical": false, "generatedAt": "2026-09-07T11:52:13Z", "providers": [ "Codex", "Grok" ], "missingProviders": [], "pass": 2, "cost": { "grok": { "usd": 0.00591158, "turns": 1, "seconds": 45, "error": null }, "codex": { "seconds": 81.3, "error": "Reading additional input from stdin...\nOpenAI Codex v0.153.3\n--------\nworkdir: R:\\02_PROJECTS\\02_Meta_Models_Platforms\\Ver.cy\\current\\thing-registry-backlog\nmodel: gpt-6-astra\nprovider: openai\napproval: never\nsandbox: read-only\nreasoning effort: none\nreasoning summaries: none\nsession id: 01a07bb4-f989-7a50-a05f-01626101a83b\n--------\nuser\nYou are drafting a Vercy meta-model for one registered thing. Answer as JSON only, no prose around it.\n\nThing: mainframe computer\nRegistry id: vr.tr.mainframe-computer\nPlane / domain: PHY / PHY.OBJ\nRegistry definition: (none recorded)\nNames folded into this en" } } }, "metaModel": { "id": "THING-Q177234", "registryId": "vr.tr.mainframe-computer", "name": "mainframe computer", "version": "0.1.0-research.1", "entryKind": "thing", "family": "Thing Registry", "domain": [ "PHY.OBJ" ], "status": "research-draft" }, "canonicalUrl": "https://ver.cy/models/thing/q177234/", "model": { "registry_id": "vr.tr.mainframe-computer", "name": "mainframe computer", "purpose": "Enable an AI agent to recognise a mainframe computer, assess its capacity and operational condition, and determine which workload, configuration and maintenance actions are supported and authorised.", "definition": "A mainframe computer is a class of high-capacity, highly reliable shared computing system, typically housed in a data centre, that runs many concurrent workloads for a large organisation under centralised operations, security, and availability controls.", "scope_statement": "This model owns the identity, installed configuration, execution boundaries, resource capacity, I/O capabilities, serviceability and operating constraints of one physical mainframe system, with links to its hosted software, attached infrastructure and operational authorities.", "in_scope": [ "Physical system identity, architectural lineage and installed configuration", "Processor, memory and specialised processing resources available to workloads", "Hardware-supported partitions and their resource and isolation boundaries", "Channel and I/O configuration at the mainframe boundary", "Availability mechanisms, degraded states and maintenance constraints", "Supported and authorised configuration, workload placement and service actions" ], "out_of_scope": [ "Application business logic, transaction semantics and application-owned data", "Operating-system internals and middleware configuration beyond their compatibility and resource requirements", "External storage systems, network fabrics and peripherals as independently managed assets", "Data-centre power, cooling and physical security infrastructure", "Multi-machine clusters, disaster-recovery services and enterprise continuity plans", "Commercial agreements and organisational access policies as independently governed records" ], "distinguishing_features": [ "Establish mainframe identity from the manufacturer's documented product classification and architectural lineage; cabinet size, price or age alone does not establish it.", "Distinguish the physical mainframe from a hosted partition or virtual machine by identifying the hardware service boundary and the authority controlling allocation of physical resources.", "Distinguish a physical mainframe from an emulator by establishing whether the identified machine implements the mainframe architecture directly or reproduces it through software on another host.", "Distinguish it from a supercomputer or server cluster by checking whether the referent is one documented mainframe system rather than an aggregate of independently managed compute nodes." ], "characteristics": [ { "name": "Manufacturer, machine type and serial identity", "kind": "category", "unit_or_values": "Manufacturer identifiers, product family, machine type, model and serial number", "why_it_matters": "Establishes which physical system is being assessed and which configuration and service documentation applies." }, { "name": "Execution architecture and supported software environments", "kind": "category", "unit_or_values": "Documented architecture, architecture mode and supported operating-system and firmware combinations", "why_it_matters": "Constrains which workloads can execute and which compatibility assumptions are justified." }, { "name": "Processing resource configuration", "kind": "measurement", "unit_or_values": "Processor counts by documented role, separately recording installed, enabled and allocated quantities", "why_it_matters": "Prevents installed hardware from being mistaken for capacity that a workload may actually use." }, { "name": "Usable and allocated memory", "kind": "measurement", "unit_or_values": "GiB or TiB, separating installed, usable, reserved and partition-allocated memory", "why_it_matters": "Reveals resource limits and whether proposed allocations are feasible." }, { "name": "Partition and resource-sharing topology", "kind": "relation", "unit_or_values": "Links between the physical system, partitions, processor pools and dedicated or shared resources", "why_it_matters": "Identifies isolation boundaries and the workloads potentially affected by resource changes." }, { "name": "Workload-relative processing headroom", "kind": "measurement", "unit_or_values": "Utilisation and queueing by resource class, with observation interval, workload context and metric definition", "why_it_matters": "Supports placement and capacity decisions without assuming that a single rating predicts all workload performance." }, { "name": "Configured I/O reachability", "kind": "relation", "unit_or_values": "Links from partitions through documented channel or adapter paths to reachable external endpoints", "why_it_matters": "Determines whether workloads can access required devices and which paths a change could interrupt." }, { "name": "Operational and redundancy condition", "kind": "state", "unit_or_values": "Running, starting, stopped, degraded, under maintenance or unknown; accompanied by component and redundancy evidence", "why_it_matters": "Separates current service availability from the ability to tolerate another failure." }, { "name": "Configuration and service authority", "kind": "relation", "unit_or_values": "Links to authorised management interfaces, responsible operators and applicable change permissions", "why_it_matters": "Distinguishes technically possible actions from actions the agent may perform." } ], "affordances": [ "Identify the machine and reconcile its observed configuration with authoritative hardware and service records.", "Assess whether a proposed workload fits a supported partition, processor role, memory allocation and I/O configuration.", "Prepare or perform authorised resource allocation changes within documented limits and dependency constraints.", "Trace the partition and device impact of an I/O path change or component fault.", "Determine whether a proposed maintenance action can preserve required service or needs a planned interruption.", "Collect operational evidence and escalate faults or capacity constraints to the responsible service authority." ] }, "sources": [ { "id": "ibm-what-is-mainframe", "title": "What is a Mainframe?", "url": "https://www.ibm.com/think/topics/mainframe", "what_it_supports": "Vendor definition, typical workloads, reliability/availability framing, IBM Z as the dominant contemporary family.", "url_status": "live" }, { "id": "gartner-mainframe", "title": "Mainframe Computers", "url": "https://www.gartner.com/en/information-technology/glossary/mainframe", "what_it_supports": "Industry-analyst definition emphasising large-scale transaction and batch processing.", "url_status": "blocked" }, { "id": "nist-csrc-mainframe", "title": "mainframe", "url": "", "what_it_supports": "US government glossary definition used in security and procurement contexts.", "url_status": "dead" }, { "id": "iso-2382", "title": "ISO/IEC 2382 Information technology - Vocabulary", "url": "https://www.iso.org/standard/63598.html", "what_it_supports": "Standardised IT vocabulary that historically defined mainframe as a large-capacity computer.", "url_status": "blocked" } ], "structure": { "bundles": [ { "id": "mainframe-identity-and-boundary", "name": "Mainframe identity and boundary", "description": "Establishes which physical mainframe is represented and which architectural and service boundaries apply.", "rationale": "Mainframes can be confused with their partitions, emulated environments or multi-machine installations, leading to incorrect capability and impact assessments.", "layers": [ { "id": "product-and-architecture", "name": "Product and architecture", "description": "Records the evidence supporting mainframe classification and execution compatibility.", "findings": [ { "id": "documented-mainframe-identity", "name": "Documented mainframe identity", "description": "Record product identifiers and architectural evidence without using physical size or presumed enterprise importance as classification criteria.", "questions": [ { "text": "Which manufacturer, machine type, model and serial number identify this system, and which record establishes its mainframe classification?", "kind": "provenance", "id": "documented-mainframe-identity-q01" }, { "text": "Which execution architecture and modes does this configuration support, and is execution native or emulated?", "kind": "definition", "id": "documented-mainframe-identity-q02" } ] } ] }, { "id": "physical-system-boundary", "name": "Physical system boundary", "description": "Separates the mainframe asset from partitions, attached equipment and cooperating machines.", "findings": [ { "id": "service-and-asset-boundary", "name": "Service and asset boundary", "description": "Record which frames and components constitute this system under its documented identity and maintenance boundary.", "questions": [ { "text": "Which frames and installed components belong to this machine, and which are independently identified attached assets?", "kind": "boundary", "id": "service-and-asset-boundary-q01" }, { "text": "Which apparent systems are hosted partitions or guests, and which are separate physical machines participating in a wider service?", "kind": "boundary", "id": "service-and-asset-boundary-q02" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "processing-capacity-and-eligibility", "name": "Processing capacity and eligibility", "description": "Records the processing and memory resources that workloads can actually consume.", "rationale": "Installed resources, enabled capacity, processor roles and workload eligibility may differ, so a simple processor count cannot support placement decisions.", "layers": [ { "id": "installed-and-enabled-resources", "name": "Installed and enabled resources", "description": "Distinguishes physical resource inventory from currently usable capacity.", "findings": [ { "id": "resource-availability-by-role", "name": "Resource availability by role", "description": "Record processor roles and memory quantities with their activation, reservation and allocation constraints.", "questions": [ { "text": "How many processors of each documented role are installed, enabled, reserved and allocated, and how much memory is usable?", "kind": "measurement", "id": "resource-availability-by-role-q01" }, { "text": "Which activation conditions or processor-role restrictions limit the workloads that may consume those resources?", "kind": "boundary", "id": "resource-availability-by-role-q02" } ] } ] }, { "id": "workload-relative-headroom", "name": "Workload-relative headroom", "description": "Evaluates capacity in the context of a specified workload and observation period.", "findings": [ { "id": "placement-capacity-evidence", "name": "Placement capacity evidence", "description": "Record evidence of available capacity and contention using metrics whose scope and limitations are explicit.", "questions": [ { "text": "What processor utilisation, dispatch delay, memory pressure and I/O waiting were observed for the relevant workloads and time window?", "kind": "measurement", "id": "placement-capacity-evidence-q01" }, { "text": "What evidence supports admitting or expanding the proposed workload within its required service level?", "kind": "action", "id": "placement-capacity-evidence-q02" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "partitioning-and-execution-control", "name": "Partitioning and execution control", "description": "Describes execution environments, hardware resource assignments and control over their boundaries.", "rationale": "A mainframe's physical capacity and its partition-level availability are different decision contexts, with changes potentially affecting several hosted environments.", "layers": [ { "id": "partition-topology-and-isolation", "name": "Partition topology and isolation", "description": "Identifies the supported partitioning arrangement and its shared dependencies.", "findings": [ { "id": "execution-boundaries-and-sharing", "name": "Execution boundaries and sharing", "description": "Record partitions and nested virtual environments, distinguishing dedicated resources from shared resources and control functions.", "questions": [ { "text": "Which hardware partitions and nested virtual environments exist, and how are processor, memory and I/O resources assigned to them?", "kind": "definition", "id": "execution-boundaries-and-sharing-q01" }, { "text": "Which isolation guarantees and shared dependencies are documented for this configuration?", "kind": "boundary", "id": "execution-boundaries-and-sharing-q02" } ] } ] }, { "id": "execution-compatibility-and-change", "name": "Execution compatibility and change", "description": "Connects workload requirements to supported environments and permitted allocation changes.", "findings": [ { "id": "supported-partition-actions", "name": "Supported partition actions", "description": "Record compatibility requirements and the conditions under which partition resources or execution state may change.", "questions": [ { "text": "Which authoritative compatibility records establish the supported operating-system, firmware and processor-role combinations for each target environment?", "kind": "provenance", "id": "supported-partition-actions-q01" }, { "text": "Which allocation or partition-state changes are supported and authorised, and which require workload quiescence or a restart?", "kind": "action", "id": "supported-partition-actions-q02" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "channel-and-io-access", "name": "Channel and I/O access", "description": "Records how mainframe execution environments reach external devices through configured I/O resources.", "rationale": "A workload can have sufficient compute capacity yet remain unable to operate because its device definitions, path assignments or accessible I/O resources are unsuitable.", "layers": [ { "id": "device-and-path-configuration", "name": "Device and path configuration", "description": "Maps configured I/O access from partitions to external endpoint boundaries.", "findings": [ { "id": "partition-device-reachability", "name": "Partition device reachability", "description": "Record applicable channel, adapter and device identifiers and reconcile configured access with observed availability.", "questions": [ { "text": "Through which configured channels or adapters can each relevant partition reach its required storage, network and peripheral endpoints?", "kind": "definition", "id": "partition-device-reachability-q01" }, { "text": "Which configuration records and observations establish that the required device paths are currently available?", "kind": "provenance", "id": "partition-device-reachability-q02" } ] } ] }, { "id": "io-resilience-and-reconfiguration", "name": "I/O resilience and reconfiguration", "description": "Assesses path dependencies, bottlenecks and the effects of changing device access.", "findings": [ { "id": "io-change-impact", "name": "I/O change impact", "description": "Record whether alternate paths provide effective continuity and which workloads depend on a path targeted for change.", "questions": [ { "text": "Which paths share adapters or external dependencies, and what observed load or fault evidence limits their ability to carry redirected traffic?", "kind": "measurement", "id": "io-change-impact-q01" }, { "text": "Which partitions and device accesses would be affected by disabling or reconfiguring a path, and what preparation and recovery steps are required?", "kind": "action", "id": "io-change-impact-q02" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "availability-and-service-actions", "name": "Availability and service actions", "description": "Connects machine health and redundancy evidence to supported recovery and maintenance actions.", "rationale": "Continued operation can conceal reduced fault tolerance, while maintenance permissibility depends on the actual configuration, fault state and service procedure.", "layers": [ { "id": "health-and-fault-tolerance", "name": "Health and fault tolerance", "description": "Separates current execution state from remaining resilience to component failures.", "findings": [ { "id": "degraded-operation-and-exposure", "name": "Degraded operation and exposure", "description": "Record active faults, isolated components and the redundancy remaining for affected system functions.", "questions": [ { "text": "Which service events, diagnostic results and management observations establish the current machine and component states?", "kind": "provenance", "id": "degraded-operation-and-exposure-q01" }, { "text": "Which redundancy mechanisms remain available, and which additional component failures could interrupt affected partitions?", "kind": "boundary", "id": "degraded-operation-and-exposure-q02" } ] } ] }, { "id": "maintenance-authority-and-recovery", "name": "Maintenance authority and recovery", "description": "Defines the prerequisites, authority and verification needed for machine-level interventions.", "findings": [ { "id": "permitted-service-transition", "name": "Permitted service transition", "description": "Record supported procedures for the exact configuration, including interruption scope, recovery prerequisites and completion evidence.", "questions": [ { "text": "For the proposed repair, firmware change or system restart, which documented procedure applies and which workloads require interruption or relocation?", "kind": "action", "id": "permitted-service-transition-q01" }, { "text": "Who may authorise and execute the action, and what recovery preparation and post-action checks must be satisfied?", "kind": "action", "id": "permitted-service-transition-q02" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "evidence-and-external-alignment", "name": "Evidence and external alignment", "description": "What the world already says about this thing, gathered so the model can be checked against it.", "rationale": "A model that cannot be lined up against existing standards, identifiers and practice cannot be adopted by anyone who already uses them.", "layers": [ { "id": "reported-evidence", "name": "Reported evidence", "description": "Findings from the breadth pass, kept separate from the structural claims.", "findings": [ { "id": "evidence-kinds", "name": "Kinds and varieties", "description": "Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.", "evidence": [ "IBM Z / System z family (z/OS, z/VM, Linux on Z)", "IBM z/TPF transaction systems", "Unisys ClearPath (Dorado / Libra, MCP / OS 2200)", "Fujitsu GS21 / BS2000 mainframes", "Bull / Atos GCOS mainframes", "Hitachi VOS3 / AP series mainframes", "Legacy plug-compatible mainframes (Amdahl, Hitachi, Comparex era)", "Specialised high-volume transaction mainframes (e.g. airline TPF-class)" ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-kinds-q01", "text": "Which of these kinds and varieties hold for the sense of mainframe computer this model covers, and on what evidence?", "kind": "provenance" } ] }, { "id": "evidence-identifiers", "name": "Identifiers and schemes", "description": "Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.", "evidence": [ { "scheme": "Wikidata", "value_or_pattern": "Q177825", "note": "item 'mainframe computer'" }, { "scheme": "IBM machine type", "value_or_pattern": "four-digit type + model, e.g. 3931 / 3932 (IBM z16); 9175 (IBM z17)", "note": "product identity on contemporary IBM Z" }, { "scheme": "ISO/IEC 2382", "value_or_pattern": "term 'mainframe'", "note": "IT vocabulary; not a taxonomic code" } ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-identifiers-q01", "text": "Which of these identifiers and schemes hold for the sense of mainframe computer this model covers, and on what evidence?", "kind": "provenance" } ] }, { "id": "evidence-standards-and-regulation", "name": "Standards and regulation", "description": "Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.", "evidence": [ "IBM z/Architecture Principles of Operation (SA22-7832) - IBM", "FIPS 140-3 cryptographic module validation for mainframe crypto - NIST", "PCI DSS - PCI SSC (card-processing workloads commonly hosted on mainframes)", "SOX / equivalent financial-reporting controls where mainframes hold books of record - national legislatures / regulators", "Common Criteria / national schemes for evaluated mainframe security functions - CCRA members" ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-standards-and-regulation-q01", "text": "Which of these standards and regulation hold for the sense of mainframe computer this model covers, and on what evidence?", "kind": "provenance" } ] }, { "id": "evidence-real-world-use", "name": "Real-world use", "description": "Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.", "evidence": [ "Core banking ledgers, payments clearing, and ATM authorisation at large banks", "Airline reservation and departure-control systems (TPF / z/TPF class)", "Government tax, social-security, and census back-ends", "Large-batch overnight processing (payroll, billing, settlement)", "Enterprise resource systems that still run COBOL / CICS / IMS / Db2 on z/OS", "Logical partitioning so one box hosts production, test, and Linux guests concurrently" ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-real-world-use-q01", "text": "Which of these real-world use hold for the sense of mainframe computer this model covers, and on what evidence?", "kind": "provenance" } ] }, { "id": "evidence-measurements", "name": "Typical measurements", "description": "Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.", "evidence": [ { "quantity": "Processor capacity", "typical_range": "hundreds to tens of thousands of MIPS on a single CPC; IBM publishes MSU ratings per model", "unit": "MIPS or MSU" }, { "quantity": "I/O bandwidth / channel count", "typical_range": "hundreds of FICON / OSA channels; TB/s class aggregate on current IBM Z", "unit": "GB/s or channels" }, { "quantity": "Configured memory", "typical_range": "tens of GB on older frames to 40 TB class on current IBM Z max configs", "unit": "GB or TB" }, { "quantity": "Availability / unplanned outage", "typical_range": "design target often 99.999% for the CPC; planned concurrent maintenance is the norm", "unit": "percent uptime or hours/year" }, { "quantity": "Concurrent users / transactions", "typical_range": "thousands to tens of thousands of concurrent interactive users; millions of transactions per day on large sites", "unit": "transactions/s or users" }, { "quantity": "Power draw of a populated frame", "typical_range": "roughly 5-30 kW depending on model, I/O drawers, and cooling", "unit": "kW" } ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-measurements-q01", "text": "Which of these typical measurements hold for the sense of mainframe computer this model covers, and on what evidence?", "kind": "provenance" } ] }, { "id": "evidence-failure-modes-and-hazards", "name": "Failure modes and hazards", "description": "Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.", "evidence": [ "Single-site disaster (fire, flood, power) if GDPS / equivalent multi-site is not in place", "Capacity or licensing exhaustion (MSU / software cost) causing throttling or failed batch windows", "Coupling-facility or sysplex timer issues taking down a Parallel Sysplex", "Misconfigured RACF / ACF2 / Top Secret exposing privileged access to books of record", "COBOL / assembler skills attrition and unmaintainable decades-old applications", "I/O or DASD subsystem failure cascading through shared storage", "Unauthorized use of production data in test LPARs", "Cryptographic key compromise on onboard crypto (HSM / ICSF)" ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-failure-modes-and-hazards-q01", "text": "Which of these failure modes and hazards hold for the sense of mainframe computer this model covers, and on what evidence?", "kind": "provenance" } ] }, { "id": "evidence-regional-variation", "name": "Regional variation", "description": "Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.", "evidence": [ "North America and much of Western Europe: 'mainframe' almost always means IBM Z / z/OS in commercial speech", "Japan: Hitachi and Fujitsu mainframe lines remained commercially important longer; IBM also strong", "France and some public-sector Europe: Bull / Atos GCOS heritage still named separately from IBM", "German-speaking public sector: Fujitsu BS2000/OSD historically common in government", "India / offshoring: operations and COBOL maintenance often delivered remotely against on-shore mainframes" ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-regional-variation-q01", "text": "Which of these regional variation hold for the sense of mainframe computer this model covers, and on what evidence?", "kind": "provenance" } ] }, { "id": "evidence-neighbours", "name": "Neighbouring kinds and how to tell them apart", "description": "Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.", "evidence": [ { "name": "supercomputer / HPC cluster", "difference": "optimised for floating-point scientific throughput and tightly coupled parallel jobs; a mainframe is optimised for mixed commercial I/O, RAS, and shared multi-tenant OLTP/batch" }, { "name": "midrange / IBM Power / IBM i (AS/400 lineage)", "difference": "smaller shared-system class; not IBM Z architecture, typically one organisation's ERP rather than a CPC hosting many LPARs and a sysplex" }, { "name": "commodity x86/Linux server farm or cloud VM estate", "difference": "scale-out of many small machines vs one or a few CPCs with hardware partitioning, specialised I/O, and decades-compatible instruction set" }, { "name": "minicomputer (historical)", "difference": "1960s-80s departmental machines (PDP, VAX); a mainframe was the larger, centrally operated class even in that era" }, { "name": "high-end UNIX SMP (historical Sun/IBM pSeries)", "difference": "big RISC boxes ran commercial Unix; they lacked z/Architecture, FICON I/O, and the z/OS software stack" } ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-neighbours-q01", "text": "Which of these neighbouring kinds and how to tell them apart hold for the sense of mainframe computer this model covers, and on what evidence?", "kind": "provenance" } ] } ] } ] } ] }, "openQuestions": [ "Which vendor and historical product families must this registry entry cover, and what authoritative classification resolves borderline systems?", "How should the model represent a physical system whose documented asset or service boundary spans multiple frames or tightly coupled processing units?", "Which partitioning, specialised processing, capacity activation and concurrent maintenance capabilities are common enough to model directly, and which need family-specific extensions?", "Which performance measures support useful cross-generation comparisons, and what workload-specific evidence is required to avoid misleading capacity equivalence?", "Where should detailed firmware configuration and I/O configuration artifacts be owned so this model can reference them without duplicating neighbouring software and infrastructure models?" ], "statistics": { "bundles": 6, "layers": 11, "findings": 18, "questions": 28 } }, "draft": { "generator": "vr.draft.v3", "status": "draft-generated", "researched": false, "archetype": "device, machine or tool", "method": "Written from the archetype playbook - what this kind of thing needs beyond identity and provenance - and from the structure that recurred across 6,333 models already researched by two engines. Applied to this entry by rule. No source was read for this thing and no claim here is researched. This entry carries no facets of its own, so they were inferred from its domain - a guess about a whole domain applied to one thing.", "facetsInferred": true, "nextPass": "A researcher replaces this draft with a sourced specification. Treat every sentence below as a proposal to argue with.", "purpose": "Give an agent a durable, checkable way to recognise a mainframe computer, record what state it is in, and decide what may be done with it.", "whatItIs": "Enable an AI agent to recognise a mainframe computer, assess its capacity and operational condition, and determine which workload, configuration and maintenance actions are supported and authorised.", "characteristics": { "substance": "material", "origin": "manufactured", "agency": "inert", "mobility": "varies" }, "whatYouCanDoWithIt": [ "observed and measured" ], "distinguishingFeatures": [ "Names folded into this entry, which a task may need to split apart again: UNIVAC I, Bull Gamma 3, UNIVAC II, Bendix G-15, PDP-10, UNIVAC III, DECsystem-10, ACOS-2, IBM 4300, SDS Sigma series, ODRA 1013, Odra 1003.", "68 finer distinctions are held as aliases rather than separate entries, because telling them apart needs a task that asks for it.", "Described in 62 Wikipedia languages, which is a measure of how widely the thing is known, not of how important it is." ], "openQuestionsForResearch": [ "Which of the bundles below does a real task actually need, and which are ceremony?", "What does this thing have that the facets do not capture at all?", "Which neighbouring kind is most often confused with a mainframe computer, and on what evidence are they told apart?" ], "whatItIsMadeOf": "matter you can touch", "physicalCharacter": [ "Mobility varies between examples.", "Does nothing on its own; everything it does, something else did to it.", "These come from the domain this entry sits in rather than from the entry itself, so treat them as a first guess about the whole domain applied to one thing." ], "whatCanBeDoneWithIt": [ "observe it, measure it, record its state" ], "howItIsRecognised": [ "Recognised by form, by the arrangement of its controls, and by markings - a plate, a model number, a certification mark. Form alone rarely separates two models that do very different things." ], "relatedModels": [ { "relation": "covers", "note": "Finer kinds folded into this entry because telling them apart needs a task that asks for it. Each is a model waiting to be split out when one does.", "targets": [ "UNIVAC I", "Bull Gamma 3", "UNIVAC II", "Bendix G-15", "PDP-10", "UNIVAC III", "DECsystem-10", "ACOS-2", "IBM 4300", "SDS Sigma series", "ODRA 1013", "Odra 1003" ] } ], "standing": "Described in 62 Wikipedia languages, which measures how widely it is written about rather than how important or how common it is. 68 finer distinctions are held inside this entry as names rather than as separate models.", "structure": { "bundles": [ { "id": "identity-and-classification", "name": "Identity, naming and classification", "description": "How an agent tells one mainframe computer from another, and a mainframe computer from things that resemble it.", "rationale": "Recognition comes before every other claim. Without stable identity nothing else in the model can be trusted to be about the same thing twice.", "layers": [ { "id": "naming-and-identifiers", "name": "Names and identifiers", "description": "The names this thing goes by and the identifiers that survive translation and time.", "findings": [ { "id": "preferred-name-and-aliases", "name": "Preferred name, aliases and local names", "description": "Which name to use, which names mean the same thing, and which merely sound similar.", "questions": [ { "id": "preferred-name-and-aliases-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the name of a mainframe computer, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "preferred-name-and-aliases-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the name of a mainframe computer, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "preferred-name-and-aliases-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the name of a mainframe computer is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] }, { "id": "stable-identifiers", "name": "Stable identifiers and external keys", "description": "Identifiers that keep pointing at this kind of thing across systems and languages.", "questions": [ { "id": "stable-identifiers-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes an identifier for a mainframe computer, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "stable-identifiers-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about an identifier for a mainframe computer, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "stable-identifiers-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once an identifier for a mainframe computer is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "classification-and-granularity", "name": "Classification and granularity", "description": "Where a mainframe computer sits among kinds, and how finely a task needs to cut it.", "findings": [ { "id": "kind-and-parents", "name": "Kind, parents and neighbouring kinds", "description": "The classes this thing belongs to and the ones it is next to.", "questions": [ { "id": "kind-and-parents-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the kind of a mainframe computer, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "kind-and-parents-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the kind of a mainframe computer, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "kind-and-parents-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the kind of a mainframe computer is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] }, { "id": "distinguishing-features", "name": "Distinguishing features", "description": "What separates a mainframe computer from the things most often confused with it.", "questions": [ { "id": "distinguishing-features-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes what distinguishes a mainframe computer, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "distinguishing-features-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about what distinguishes a mainframe computer, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "distinguishing-features-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once what distinguishes a mainframe computer is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "form-and-composition", "name": "Form, composition and condition", "description": "What a mainframe computer is made of, what shape and size it takes, and what state it is in.", "rationale": "A physical thing can be measured, and a model that cannot record its measurements cannot support any decision that depends on them.", "layers": [ { "id": "form-and-dimensions", "name": "Form and dimensions", "description": "Shape, size, mass and the ranges these take across examples.", "findings": [ { "id": "measurable-dimensions", "name": "Measurable dimensions and their units", "description": "The quantities worth recording and the units they are recorded in.", "questions": [ { "id": "measurable-dimensions-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the dimensions of a mainframe computer, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "measurable-dimensions-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the dimensions of a mainframe computer, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "measurable-dimensions-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the dimensions of a mainframe computer is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "material-and-composition", "name": "Material and composition", "description": "Materials, parts and how they are put together.", "findings": [ { "id": "parts-and-materials", "name": "Parts and materials", "description": "What a mainframe computer is built from and which parts are replaceable.", "questions": [ { "id": "parts-and-materials-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the composition of a mainframe computer, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "parts-and-materials-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the composition of a mainframe computer, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "parts-and-materials-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the composition of a mainframe computer is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "condition-and-integrity", "name": "Condition and integrity", "description": "Wear, damage, health and the difference between working and broken.", "findings": [ { "id": "condition-assessment", "name": "Condition, damage and health", "description": "How the condition of a mainframe computer is judged and by whom.", "questions": [ { "id": "condition-assessment-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the condition of a mainframe computer, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "condition-assessment-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the condition of a mainframe computer, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "condition-assessment-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the condition of a mainframe computer is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "place-and-movement", "name": "Place and movement", "description": "Where a mainframe computer is, how it got there and where it may go (varies).", "rationale": "A thing that can move needs its position recorded with a time, or every later claim about it is about a place it has left.", "layers": [ { "id": "location-and-placement", "name": "Location and placement", "description": "Position, containment and the reference frame the position is given in.", "findings": [ { "id": "position-and-frame", "name": "Position, container and reference frame", "description": "Where a mainframe computer is, and what that position is measured against.", "questions": [ { "id": "position-and-frame-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the location of a mainframe computer, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "position-and-frame-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the location of a mainframe computer, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "position-and-frame-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the location of a mainframe computer is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "movement-and-transfer", "name": "Movement and transfer", "description": "How a mainframe computer is carried, installed or relocated.", "findings": [ { "id": "movement-events", "name": "Movement events and constraints", "description": "What counts as a movement, what records it and what limits it.", "questions": [ { "id": "movement-events-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the movement of a mainframe computer, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "movement-events-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the movement of a mainframe computer, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "movement-events-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the movement of a mainframe computer is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "state-and-lifecycle", "name": "State and lifecycle", "description": "The states a mainframe computer passes through and the events that move it between them.", "rationale": "Most decisions about a thing depend on what state it is in now, which is a claim with a time on it, not a property.", "layers": [ { "id": "lifecycle-stages", "name": "Lifecycle stages", "description": "From coming into existence to ceasing to be one of these.", "findings": [ { "id": "stages-and-transitions", "name": "Stages and transitions", "description": "The stages worth naming and what moves a mainframe computer between them.", "questions": [ { "id": "stages-and-transitions-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the lifecycle of a mainframe computer, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "stages-and-transitions-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the lifecycle of a mainframe computer, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "stages-and-transitions-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the lifecycle of a mainframe computer is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "observations-and-status", "name": "Observations and current status", "description": "What is observed about a mainframe computer, how often and by whom.", "findings": [ { "id": "observation-record", "name": "Observation record", "description": "How an observation of a mainframe computer is recorded so that it can be superseded rather than overwritten.", "questions": [ { "id": "observation-record-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes an observation of a mainframe computer, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "observation-record-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about an observation of a mainframe computer, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "observation-record-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once an observation of a mainframe computer is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "function-and-principle", "name": "Function and operating principle", "description": "What mainframe computer is for and how it achieves it.", "rationale": "Two devices with the same name can work on different principles, and the principle is what predicts failure and constrains use.", "layers": [ { "id": "intended-function", "name": "Intended function", "description": "The job it does, and the jobs it is used for anyway.", "findings": [ { "id": "function-record", "name": "Function, principle and variants", "description": "What it does, how, and which variants do it differently.", "questions": [ { "id": "function-record-q01", "text": "What function does mainframe computer perform, on what operating principle, and which variants differ in that principle?", "kind": "definition" }, { "id": "function-record-q02", "text": "What use falls outside the intended function but happens in practice?", "kind": "boundary" } ] } ] }, { "id": "capacity-and-rating", "name": "Capacity and rating", "description": "The numbers that say what it can do and where it stops.", "findings": [ { "id": "ratings", "name": "Ratings and their conditions", "description": "Rated capacity, power, throughput and the conditions each assumes.", "questions": [ { "id": "ratings-q01", "text": "What ratings characterise mainframe computer, in what units, and under what stated conditions?", "kind": "measurement" }, { "id": "ratings-q02", "text": "What happens beyond the rating - degradation, refusal, damage - and how is that detected?", "kind": "action" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "operation-and-state", "name": "Operation, controls and state", "description": "How mainframe computer is operated and what state it is in right now.", "rationale": "An agent acting on a device needs its current state and the controls that change it, not just its specification.", "layers": [ { "id": "controls-and-modes", "name": "Controls and modes", "description": "What can be set, what that changes, and what is interlocked.", "findings": [ { "id": "control-surface", "name": "Control surface and interlocks", "description": "The settings available and the conditions that block them.", "questions": [ { "id": "control-surface-q01", "text": "What controls and modes does mainframe computer have, and what does each change?", "kind": "definition" }, { "id": "control-surface-q02", "text": "Which actions are interlocked or forbidden in which state, and what must be true before acting?", "kind": "action" } ] } ] }, { "id": "condition-and-maintenance", "name": "Condition and maintenance", "description": "Wear, service intervals, consumables and the line between working and broken.", "findings": [ { "id": "service-record", "name": "Condition, service and consumables", "description": "What is consumed, what is serviced, and how condition is judged.", "questions": [ { "id": "service-record-q01", "text": "What consumables and service does mainframe computer need, at what interval, and on whose authority?", "kind": "measurement" }, { "id": "service-record-q02", "text": "What evidence separates a unit that is working from one that is out of service?", "kind": "boundary" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "kind-model-unit", "name": "Kind, model and unit", "description": "Whether a claim about mainframe computer is about the kind, a product line, or one physical unit.", "rationale": "This is the boundary most often got wrong for made things, and getting it wrong mixes a catalogue entry with the machine in the yard.", "layers": [ { "id": "level-of-reference", "name": "Level of reference", "description": "The three levels and what belongs at each.", "findings": [ { "id": "level-rules", "name": "What belongs to kind, model and unit", "description": "Which properties are shared by all of them and which are not.", "questions": [ { "id": "level-rules-q01", "text": "Which facts about mainframe computer hold for every one of them, which for a model, and which only for one unit?", "kind": "boundary" }, { "id": "level-rules-q02", "text": "What identifies an individual unit, and what should an agent do when it has only the kind?", "kind": "action" } ] } ] }, { "id": "standards-and-conformity", "name": "Standards and conformity", "description": "The standards a working example must meet and who attests it.", "findings": [ { "id": "conformity", "name": "Standards, marks and attestation", "description": "Which standard applies, who certifies, and what the mark means.", "questions": [ { "id": "conformity-q01", "text": "Which standards govern mainframe computer, issued by whom, and what does conformity actually assert?", "kind": "provenance" }, { "id": "conformity-q02", "text": "What may an agent conclude from a certification mark, and what may it not?", "kind": "boundary" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "provenance-and-evidence", "name": "Provenance, evidence and time", "description": "Where every claim about a mainframe computer came from and when it held.", "rationale": "A claim without a source and a time cannot be superseded, only overwritten, and an agent that overwrites loses the ability to explain itself.", "layers": [ { "id": "source-and-authority", "name": "Source and authority", "description": "Who said it, on what evidence, and how strongly.", "findings": [ { "id": "claim-provenance", "name": "Claim provenance and confidence", "description": "The authority behind each claim about a mainframe computer and how confident it is.", "questions": [ { "id": "claim-provenance-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes a claim about a mainframe computer, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "claim-provenance-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about a claim about a mainframe computer, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "claim-provenance-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once a claim about a mainframe computer is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "time-and-versions", "name": "Time, versions and supersession", "description": "When a claim was true, when it was learnt, and what replaced it.", "findings": [ { "id": "validity-and-supersession", "name": "Validity period and supersession", "description": "How an old claim about a mainframe computer is retired without being erased.", "questions": [ { "id": "validity-and-supersession-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the validity of a claim about a mainframe computer, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "validity-and-supersession-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the validity of a claim about a mainframe computer, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "validity-and-supersession-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the validity of a claim about a mainframe computer is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] } ] } ] }, "statistics": { "bundles": 8, "layers": 17, "findings": 19, "questions": 51 } } } }