you might at times encounter or want to incorporate a new computer network with a legacy network. most of the time, the term legacy is widely used to define an existing mainframe or minicomputer environment.

Traditional mainframe and minicomputer operations are set up in a centralized processing environment. The features characterizing this type of environment are:


  • All processing takes place at the central computer.
  • Dumb terminals, or terminals having no processing power, provide user access to the mainframe/minicomputer.
  • Most applications are custom-built. Therefore, there are only a limited number of off-the-shelf software products available for purchase-
  • Support staff is needed for management and control.
  • Incremental growth is prohibitively expensive