The need for utility software, including: anti-virus, back-up, data compression, disk defragmentation (including understanding the structure of hard disk storage), formatting (including low-level, partitioning and high-level), file copying, deleting files

Data storage, including: databases, files (input and output)

Characteristics of mainframe computers and supercomputers, including: longevity, reliability, availability and serviceability (RAS), security, performance metrics (MIPS and FLOPS), volume of input, output and throughput, fault tolerance, operating system, number of processors, heat maintenance