Minicomputers Overview

You may have heard of the PC? What about the mainframe? Or have you heard about servers? How about minicomputers? Minicomputers? Are you talking about a small device that can fit in your hand? Some people think that this is what a minicomputer is. However, that is far from the truth. A minicomputer is really a mid-sized computer that acts as a multiprocessing system, with the ability to support from four to 200 users at the same time. Regarding size and power, a minicomputer is actually between a workstation and a mainframe. Because of changes in technology and advances in computer design, the term for minicomputer was replaced with midrange server, considering most minicomputers were designed to work as midrange servers. For the sake of this article, they will be referred to as minicomputers. Just keep in mind that the word minicomputer and midrange server are interchangeable. If you are a business or corporation and you are thinking about changing your existing computer environment, why not change to a minicomputer system. Here are some things to think about when you want to deal with minicomputers (midrange servers).

 

·        Multiprocessing: Minicomputers or midrange servers as they are now called, support more than one process. A minicomputer will allow several programs to run at the same time.

·        Operating system: Most minicomputers (midrange servers) use UNIX as the operating system because of its ability to support multiple processing. Another operating system used in minicomputers is OS/2.