Work Stations

Some where between multi user midrange computers and personal computers are workstations. work stations are specialized , single user computers with many of the features of  a personal  computer but with the processing power of a mini computer. These powerful machines are popular among scientists, engineers, graphic artists, animations and programmers. users who need a great deal of number crunching power. Workstations typically use advanced processors and feature more RAM and storage capacity than personal computers. Work stations often have large , high - resolution monitors and accelerated graphics - handling  capabilities , making them perfect for advanced design, modeling, animation and video editing. Although workstations are often found in single - user applications, they are more and more often used as servers on personal computers networks and as web servers.

Until a few years ago, the term workstation implied certain differences in terms of chip design and operating system, making it distinct from a personal  computers. Today, the differences between minicomputers, workstations and personal computers are becoming blurred. Low end minicomputers and high end workstations are now similar in features and capabilities. the same is true for low end workstations and high end personal computers.

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Mini computers

First released in the 1960's . mini computers got their name because of their small size compared to other computers of the day. the capabilities of a minicomputer are some where between mainframes and personal computers. Like main frames , mini computers can handle much more input and output  than personal computers can. although some "minis" are designed for a single user, most are designed to handle multiple terminals. the most powerful minicomputers can serve the input and output needs of hundreds of users at a time.

Mini computers, such as the one shown in the figure above. are commonly used as servers in the network environments that handle  the data sharing needs of other computers on the network . dozens or hundreds of personal computers can be connected to a network with a minicomputers acting as a server. Like mainframes, midrange computers are used more and more as web servers, handling thousands of transactions per day. single - user mini computers are commonly applied to sophisticated design tasks, such as animation and video editing. Mini computers cost  anywhere from $18000 to $500,000 and are ideal for many organizations and compies that cannot afford or do not need a mainframe system.

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Main Frame computers

The Largest type of computer in common use is the mainframe. Main frame computers are used in large organizations like insurance companies and banks where many people need frequent access to the same data, which is usually organized into one or more huge data bases.

    Air lines use large mainframe systems for flight scheduling , reservations, ticketing and meeting a range of customer service. Federal aviation Administration and the census Bureau - use mainframes to tract information   

about large populations, individual tax records, payroll and more. Many large  grocery and retail chains interconnected their stores with a mainframe, which immediately registers every sale , oversees stock and manages inventory levels.

Mainframes are being used more and more as specialized servers on the world wide web,enabling companies to offer secure transactions with customers over the internet. If you purchase an air line ticker over the web, for example , there is a good chance your transaction is being is being handled by mainframe system. In this type of application , the mainframe system may referred to as an enterprise server or an electronic commerce server.

In a transitional mainframe environment , each user works at a computer terminal. A terminal is a monitor and a keyboard  wired to the mainframe. There are basically two types of terminal used with mainframe systems. A dumb terminal does not have its own CPU or storage devices. these components are housed in the mainframe's system unit and are shared by all users. Each dumb terminal is simply an input/output (I/O) device that functions as a window into a computer located somewhere else. An intelligent  terminal, on the other hand , has its own processor and can perform some processing operations. Intelligent terminals, however, do not usually provide any storage.

Many enterprises are now connection personal computer networks to their mainframe system. This connection gives users access to mainframe data and services and also enables them to take advantages of local storage and processing, as well as other features of the PC or network.

A mainframe system can house an enormous volume of data, containing literally billions of records. Large mainframe systems can handle the input and output requirements of several thousand terminals. the largest IBM S/390 mainframe, for example , can support 50,000 users simultaneously while executing more than 1,600,000,000 instructions per second.

Depending on their size, capabilities and the number of users they must support, mainframe systems can cover a huge price range . Mainframe systems start at around $30,000; extensive mainframes can several million dollars.

If used to be common for mainframe computers  to occupy entire rooms or even an entire floor a high rise building. Typically, they were placed inside glass offices with special air conditioning to keep them cool and on raised floors to accommodate all the wiring needed to connect the system. This setup is not unimposing file cabinet - or row of file cabinets - although it may still require a some what controlled environment.

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SuperComputers

Supercomputers are the most powerful computers made and physically they some of the largest. These systems are built to process huge amount of data and the faster supercomputers can perform more than 1 trillion calculations per second. some supercomputers - such as the Cray'T90 system -can house thousands of processors. This speed and power make supercomputers ideal for handling large and highly complex problems that require extreme calculating power.

Scientist and engineers frequently build models of complex processes, then simulate the processes on a supercomputer. These computers help analyze and forecast global weather patterns, for example, while shedding light on related issues such as pollution, global warming and the depletion of the earth's ozone layer. Nuclear scientist use supercomputers to create and analyze models of nuclear fission and fusion, predicting the actions and reactions of millions of atoms as they interact.

Supercomputers are also being used to map the human genome, or DNA structure. The Human Genome project, for example, uses supercomputing resources around the world in the hope of discovering all the human genes. scientist estimate there are from 80,000 to 100,000 human genes, made up of more than 3 billion chemical bases. If printed, th ehuman DNA sequence would fill about 200,000pages.

Supercomputers can cost tens of millions of dollars and consume enough electricity to power dozens of homes. They are often housed in protective rooms with special cooling systems, power protection, and other security features . Because of their size and cost , supercomputers are relatively used only by large corporations, universities and government agencies that can afford them. Supercomputing resources are often shared to give researchers access to these precious machines.

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The types of computer

Computers come in many different sizes and ranges of power and different types of computer systems have varying capabilities. Basically , today's computer system fall into one of the following categories.

1.Supercomputers.
2.Mainframe computers
3.Minicomputers or mid range computers
4.Workstations
5.Microcomputers or personal computers

All of these computers can be connected to form networks of computers, but each individual computer, whether or not it is on a network, falls into one of these categories - especially microcomputers can be divided into subcategories, some of which are growing  rapidly enough to become major categories in their own right.

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Operating system

When you turn on computer, it goes through several steps to prepare itself for use. the first is called  the Power on self test(POST). The computer identifies the devices attached to it, identifies the amount of memory available and does quick check to see whether the memory is functioning properly. This routine  is initiated by a part of the system software located in read-only memory(ROM), a chip that contains brief, permanent instructions for starting the computer.

Next, the computer looks for an operating system, which is usually stored in the hard disk. The operating system tells the computer how to interact with the user and how to use devices such as the disk drives, keyword, and monitor. When it finds the operations, the computer loads a portion of it into memory. Because the operating system is necessary for controlling the computers most basic functions, it continues to run until the computer is turned off.

After the computer finds and runs the operating system, it is ready to accept commands from an input device - usually the keyboard or a mouse - or from a program. At this point , the user can issue commands to the computer. A command might , for example, list the programs stored on the computers disk or make the computer run one of those programs.

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