Classification of Computers

Computer Type General Properties Peripheral Devices Uses Cost Manufacturer/ System
Microcomputers It is a general purpose, simple and small type of computer. It consists of several IC chips including a microprocessor chip, memory chips and input and output interface chip. Keyboard, video display Used in homes for entertainment or personal business. They are used in school, colleges, education and for learning programming languages. Under US $ 10,000. Apple, Olivetti, Hawlett-Packard, DEC (Digital equipment corporation ), IBM, North Star, Timex
Minicomputers These are larger than microcomputers. In general it is a multi-user and time sharing system. It is mostly designed with dual processors as a master – slave architecture so that the computational speed and efficiency can easily be improved. Generally these are superior in performance and also are faster and costlier than microcomputers. Some peripheral unit that are attached with minicomputers are magnetic drum, magnetic tape, line printer and large no. of terminals either dumb or intelligent. Used in industrial control system, for scientific application in colleges and research laboratories and business application (small). Under US $ 10,000.- 20,000. midrange systems (IBM parlance), workstations (Sun Microsystems and general UNIX/Linux parlance), and servers.

Mainframe Comp. The mainframe is also known as a large computer in simple terms or especially these are data centers. It is characterized by large storage capacity, reaching up to billions of characters. Usually a mainframe computer system requires a special room designed for its installation with proper air conditioning and electrical power supply systems. Its peripheral systems include magnetic tape unit, magnetic disk unit, card punching and reading machines, keyboards printers, etc. Application of mainframe range from computational science and engineering problem to the data oriented business application with emphasis on maintaining and updating large quantities of data and information Between US $
100,000 to over a million dollar IBM, Burroughs, NCR, Control Data, DEC, and Honeywell.

*As the purchasing cost of mainframe systems are high it is frequently leased rather than bought entright.
Supercomputers Computer with the greatest operating speed and computational power. In other words, the largest and fastest computer available can be termed as supercomputer. All peripheral devices found in above three.
These are the most expensive computers because they use the latest technological advances to achieve superior performance. Weather forecasting, nuclear energy research and oil reservoir modeling. Billions of dollar. Gray research incorporated, Control data corporation (CDC) and Amdahl Corp.