Mainframe2: Run any software in a browser

wmf 12 years ago |

To be clear, this does not run software in the browser; it runs software in the cloud and displays it in the browser. Given the possibility of actually running apps in the browser I think this distinction matters.

mtdewcmu 12 years ago | |

I clicked the link to figure out how they solved the numerous technical problems of running native applications in a browser. It's a deceptive claim, and the web page is content-free, all marketing. I don't think it belongs on HN, at least not with that headline.

widerlens 12 years ago | | |

You can click on the player to run a Windows app (Blender) in your browser -- how is that content free?

mtdewcmu 12 years ago | | |

I guess I missed that. I was looking for a link to an About page or a FAQ.

samspenc 12 years ago | |

Excellent point. I doubt that non-techie users will make that distinction, but agreed that its not quite accurate.

mtdewcmu 12 years ago | | |

Techies like me will be puzzled by the incredible claim they're making without any explanation. In truth, I wouldn't have given it any credibility if it hadn't been on the front page of HN.

mikeash 12 years ago | | |

Non-techie users will definitely make the distinction of "does it work on slow internet connections, or without a connection at all?" Even if they don't know what causes the distinction.

TallGuyShort 12 years ago |

I might suggest changing the text color of the quote - it's very hard to read some of it on the bright-sunlight background.

So is this basically software run on a remote machine, but presented visually and interactively VNC-style in my browser? Looks a lot smoother than VNC, of course, just trying to get a feel for what the product is.

ExpiredLink 12 years ago | |

Bedazzled by the bright sunlight. I guess that's intentional.

lelandbatey 12 years ago | |

The background color makes it so I can only see this: http://i.imgur.com/P4i6X0N.jpg

     Run any softw....
     Brian Madden "It's one fo the m...."

jareds 12 years ago |

As a Mainframe programmer I was Disappointed when I looked at the page. I was hoping this would be a web based Mainframe emulator possibly running public domain versions of OS/360.

TallGuyShort 12 years ago | |

... then you must enjoy this classic: http://www.coboloncogs.org/INDEX.HTM

I've toyed with the idea of setting up mainframes-as-a-service. I would probably just run the various Linux distributions running inside Hercules and abstract it away as cleanly as possible. You'd never get the performance or capacity, but you'd get a cheap, easy emulation for coding and small-scale testing. It's been a while since I had time for a side-project but I'd still love to work on this.

aus_ 12 years ago | | |

This isn't actually too far fetched. IBM has a product called Rational Developer and Test Environment for System z[0] which allows you to run z/OS or any other s390 architecture in their hypervisor. Think of it as an enterprise version of Hercules that runs the latest version mainframe software. (Hercules can but licensing prevents this.) You could then essentially build a real "mainframe-as-a-service" (as you said) by deploying a Linux VM that has RDT installed and configured. Mainframe developers can spin up their VMs for on-demand dev and QA enivornments.

I know, because I am the system programmer who set this up internally at my company.

[0]: http://www-03.ibm.com/software/products/en/ratideveandtesten...

bri3d 12 years ago | | |

I don't think IBM would license RDT for use as a mainframe-as-a-service, so Hercules would be just as illegal (and probably easier to set up).

aus_ 12 years ago | | |

You're right. They would never allow you to create a business out of offering mainframe-as-a-service. But internally, offering this service to your developers in a large enterprise is feasible.

mtdewcmu 12 years ago | |

A browser-based vt100 terminal -- how cool would that be?

I wonder if you could run X11 in a browser. You'd have to get around the fact that it couldn't accept client connections, but otherwise, it seems plausible.

riskable 12 years ago | | |

You mean like Gate One (https://github.com/liftoff/GateOne)? Right now it's just an HTML5 terminal/SSH client but soon it will also do X11 (video demo):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zJ8TNcWTyo

It will basically do the same thing as Mainframe2 except it'll be open source and you'll be able to run it (the server) wherever you like. I've been working on the X11 support quite a lot over the past few weeks... Hopefully the public beta will be ready soon.

mtdewcmu 12 years ago | | |

That's cool. I can't foresee too many issues in putting an X server in the browser. Except that if you left the page, all of the clients would get killed in a fairly rough fashion. Could you run a window manager?

justincormack 12 years ago | |

instead its just the modern HTML5 teletype connected to cloud mainframe.

widerlens 12 years ago |

I'm Nikola, a founder of Mainframe2.

Lots of good questions -- you can find a good info on what we do here: http://www.brianmadden.com/blogs/brianmadden/archive/2013/12...

1. We'll support all HTML5 compliant browsers on all OSs at launch. This public demo is designed as a technology preview and we're primarily focused on user experience, not necessarily feature completeness. If you still want to try the demo, we recommend Chrome -- it's is lightweight and free.

2. It's running on AWS G2 instance with NVIDIA GRID indeed.

3. Any Windows (and soon Linux) app can be onboarded to the system in about 10 minutes, then scaled/delivered to thousands of users.

4. There are also native terminals for Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android.

5. Session time is limited to a couple of minutes (to handle the load) but you can jump back in if you want to.

For more details and early access, sign up for our beta (there's a form on our home page).

Cheers, Nikola

lcampbell 12 years ago |

> You can upload any application from Mainframe2 in 10 minutes. With Citrix or VMWare, it takes at least four months to do the same thing.[1]

Four months? I am at a loss for words.

--

[1] http://www.mainframe2.com/infographic

mtdewcmu 12 years ago | |

I guess the assumption is that if you're running the application with Citrix or VMWare, you'd have no other choice but to travel to the cloud datacenter on foot and install it manually on the server from a DVD. Fair assumption, I guess.

adrianpike 12 years ago |

That's pretty neat - I hadn't heard about NVIDIA GRID before - http://www.nvidia.com/object/nvidia-grid.html

kayoone 12 years ago |

PC-over-IP is coming and already has HTML5 clients. With dedicated decoding hardware you can even play streamed games at low latency and good framerates

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YJwekaJ6Ys

I wonder where personal computing will go. Either this where the personal pc is more or less a dumb terminal, or something like ChromeOS with a Client/Server hybrid approach.

riskable 12 years ago | |

Another example:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zJ8TNcWTyo

That's Gate One's forthcoming X11 feature. Still haven't got audio working yet...

vitovito 12 years ago | | |

I tried really hard to get audio out of a remote Xen VM without a soundcard, for quite some time, and failed.

Happy to send you my notes, see if you get farther.

kayoone 12 years ago | | |

thats looks amazing, signed up :)

widerlens 12 years ago | |

PC-over-IP is a protocol. Mainframe2 is a service. It's like comparing SVN to Dropbox. Also, apps on Mainframe2 run just fine on Chromebook today (we'll post back once public demo is ready).

Nikola (founder at Mainframe2)

kayoone 12 years ago | | |

I know, this was just meant more as a general comment on the industry. Mainframe2 looks really interesting and i see the potential, cant wait to try out more!

rpedela 12 years ago |

It sounds great (we will see if it is of course), but then there is some stuff about outsourcing on the infographic page which just confused me. What does outsourcing have to do with running my application on their servers? Are they offering an outsourcing service?

Also I got a "browser not supported" error when I played the video. I am running Ubuntu with Firefox. Honestly not a good sign...

runako 12 years ago | |

>> What does outsourcing have to do with running my application on their servers?

I'm guessing it's because the hiring company can point a contractor at a pre-configured machine with a known stack, data, etc. (kind of like using the company laptop).

erazzzor 12 years ago |

guys, but you are all missing the point here.

with mainframe2 and other companies in the space (such as, khm, Amazon with their AppStream) software vendors get to deliver big old windows applications such as Photoshop, AutoCAD etc to a number of users who either don't have big windows workstations to run them, don't want to bother downloading and installing gigabytes of software, or don't want to pay many $$$ for a perpetual license when they only need to use the software few hours a month. Now they can all transition to SaaS ..

there was another company in the space that got my attention called OTOY. They made partnerships with Mozilla and AutoDesk to deliver AutoDesk tools in the browser, their demos also look pretty cool though I'm not sure what's their commercial offer gonna be, likely not the full stack like mainframe2 ..

frio80 12 years ago |

Cool but haven't we seen this before? IMO, something really groundbreaking is numecent's cloudpaging[0] technology. Have a look.

[0] http://www.numecent.com/technology/cloudpaging.html

alasdair_ 12 years ago |

Does this mean I can play games while not on my gaming PC?

EDIT: NM, looks like it's just something like VNC.

j_s 12 years ago | |

You might have missed the current discussion of SteamOS streaming:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6901223

D9u 12 years ago |

    Your browser is not supported.
    Mainframe2 Beta supports the latest Chrome (Windows/Mac) or Safari (Mac).

It doesn't run on my Linux setup.

Too bad, if it ran on more device types, especially mobile, this would be a killer.

djolex 12 years ago |

This is such a briliant concept. U dont need supercomputer to run hardcore apps from your home computer, but you can still be as much productive as working on latest and fastest computer. Keep up the good work. Djolex

X4 12 years ago |

I tried with Firefox 25 and Google Chrome 31. Doesn't work on any of them. "I'm getting: Your browser is not supported"

vsviridov 12 years ago |

With Amazon's cloud desktop announcement, these guys will be in a tight spot...

wrongc0ntinent 12 years ago | |

It can run on AWS: http://venturebeat.com/2013/11/13/mainframe2-which-pipes-win...

_xhok 12 years ago |

Looks like the final nail in the coffin for Microsoft/Windows.

michaelmior 12 years ago |

If it's pure HTML5, why does it refuse to work on Linux?

n00b101 12 years ago |

This sounds like a good option for SaaS providers.

zupa-hu 12 years ago |

this sounds like the second coming of the webOS concept

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_operating_system