- Microcomputer
- Minicomputer
- Mainframe
- Supercomputer
Microcomputer
•Portable PCs
•Can be moved easily from place to place
•Weight may varies
•Small PCs are popular known as laptop
•Widely used by students, scientist, reporters, etc.
Microcomputer Model
Desktop
Notebook
Laptop Subnotebook
Palmtop
Microcomputer
•Advantages
•Small size
•Low cost
•Portability
•Low Computing Power
•Commonly used for personal applications
•Disadvantages
•Low processing speed
Uses of Microcomputer
•Word Processing
•Home entertainment
•Home banking
•Printing
•Surfing the internet
•etc
Mini Computer
•Characteristics
•Bigger size than PCs
•Expensive than PCs
•Multi-User
•Difficult to use
•More computing power than PCs
•Used by medium sized business organizations, colleges, libraries and banks.
Uses of Minicomputer
•Control of Automated Teller Machine (ATMs)
•Payroll
•Hospital patients registration
•Inventory Control for supermarket
•Insurance claims processing
•Small bank accounting and customer details tracking
Minicomputer
•Advantage
•Cater to multiple users
•Lower costs than mainframes
•Disadvantage
•Large
•Bulky
Mainframe
•Known as enterprise servers
•Occupies entire rooms or floors
•Used for centralized computing
•Serve distributed users and small servers in a computing network
Main Frame
•Large, fast and expensive computer
•Cost millions of dollar
•e.g. IBM3091, ICL39, etc
•Characteristics:
•Bigger in size than minicomputers
•Very expensive
•Support a few hundred users simultaneously (Multi-Users)
•Difficult to use
•More computing power than minicomputers
•Have to be kept in a special air-conditioned room
•Used in big business organizations and government departments
Areas where mainframes are used
•Airline reservation
•Big banks with hundreds of branches located all over the world
•Big universities with thousands of enrollment
•Natural gas and oil exploration companies
•Space Vehicle control
•Weather forecasting
•Animated Cartoon
•Some mainframes are designed to be extremely fast and called super computers. It is used for space launching, monitoring and controlling.
Mainframe
•Advantage
•Supports many users and instructions
•Large memory
•Disadvantage
•Huge size
•Expensive
Super Computer
•Fastest and expensive
•Used by applications for molecular chemistry, nuclear research, weather reports, and advanced physics
•Consists of several computers that work in parallel as a single system
Super Computer
•Advantage
•Speed
•Disadvantage
•Generate a large amount of heat during operation
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