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Big Red Switch
Last modified: Thursday, February 02, 2006
BRS or Big Red Switch is a phrase used to describe an immediate
shut down
of a system using the main or emergency power switch (e.g., "Hit the BRS"). The
term originated from the emergency pull switch on an older IBMmainframe or the power
switch on an older IBM PC, which is a large red button. Today, it is considered to be
hacker slang for any computer power button or switch.
IBM Web site IBM is the world's largest information technology company. Measured by revenue, IBM is the biggest provider of IT services ($46B), hardware ($31B) and financing ($2.6B), and second in software ($15B). 2004 revenues were $96.2B. (4/05) IBM has approximately 329,000 employees in 75 countries, serving clients in 174, and speaking more than 165 languages.
