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Monday, March 13, 2017

Classification of computer based on speed and complexity

CLASSIFICATION OF COMPUTER BASED ON MODE OF PROCESSING (FORM)


CLASSIFICATION BASED ON SPEED AND COMPLEXITY

TYPES OF COMPUTER

A.    Super Computer: Super Computer is a broad term for one of the fastest currently available computer. Super computers are very expensive and are employed for specialized applications that required immense amounts of mathematical calculations (number crunching). For example, weather forecasting require a super computer. Other uses of super computer is scientific simulations, (animated) graphics, fluid dynamic calculations, nuclear energy research electronic design, and analysis of geological data (e.g. in petrochemical prospecting). Super computer is an extremely fast computer, which can perform hundreds of millions of instructions per second. The best known manufacturer of super computer is Cray Research.
B.    Mainframe Computer: Mainframe computers are large systems wit the ability to serve a large organization. It is capable of supporting many hundreds or thousands of users simultaneously. With modern systems, this kind of system can be accessed through terminals. Several terminals and personal computers can be connected. Mainframe was a term originally referring to the cabinet containing the central processor unit or “mainframe” of a room-filling Stone Age batch machine. After the emergence of smaller mini computer designs in the early 1970s, the traditional big iron machines were described as mainframe computers and eventually just as mainframes. Nowadays, a mainframe is a very large and expensive computer capable of supporting hundreds, or even thousands of users simultaneously. Te main difference between a super computer and a mainframe is t hat a super computer channels all its power into executing a few programs as fast as possible, where as a mainframe uses its power to execute many programmes concurrently. In some ways, mainframes are more powerful than super computers because they support more simultaneous programs. But super computer can execute a single program faster than a mainframe. The distinction between small mainframe and mini computers is vague, depending really on how the manufacturer wants to market its machines.
C.    Mini Computer: Mini computer is reduced in size and has  a less capacity when compared to mainframe. In the past decade, the distinction between large mini computers and small mainframes has blurred as has the distinction between small mini computers and workstations. But in general, a mini computer is a multiprocessing system capable of supporting up to 200 users simultaneously.


WORKSTATION: This is a type of computer used for engineering application (CAD/CAM) desktop publishing, software development, and other 

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