Classification of Computers used in Organizations

Table of Contents

Some computers are capable of catering to the needs of multiple users at the same time
The Computers meant to be used by multiple people at a time are commonly employed by business and educational institutions such as colleges or universities and are usually present at the core of organization’s network.
Normally every person interacts with the system using his/her device liberating the other users from taking turns at the same keyboard and monitor
can handle thousands of individual userdused from a great distance.
Computers meant for organizations could perform specific tasks or maybe more general purpose capable of performing a wide array of tasks.

Classification of computers used in organizations:

The computers meant to be used in an organization may be classified follows:

A primary computer in a network
Individual computers connect in a network
Centralized computer that contains special-purpose software and apparatus.
Desktop users such as in a computer lab are permanently connected to a network server.
Users of mobile computers such as a notebook computer can rely on the network means to connect to network server.
Different types of servers to resources such as printing, file access, database management.
Often a powerful desktop computer can also be a server.
large organizations may have hundreds of servers working together at the heart of their network.

When several servers are arranged in groups they don’t even resemble a common PC.
A collection of servers is referred to as “server farms” or “clusters“
We may have “rack servers” or “blade servers“

A terminal is an I/O device that allows you to communicate with a computer that is located somewhere else.
Usually contains a keyboard as well as a display screen such as a monitor.

A Dumb Terminal does not process or store data. It is simply an input-output device as a window into a computer located somewhere else.

Contains few processing capabilities but usually doesn’t have any storage.

Used in large organisations such as insurance companies and the aviation sector where frequent access to the same data is required.
May handle thousands of users at a time.
Users may access a mainframe computer using a terminal or a standard PC.
Through extremely powerful they are not flexible as they perform a specific set of tasks.
If ever book a seat on the airline’s website you must carry out a transaction with the main computer.
Mainframes are normally housed in special rooms so that they keep out of the reach of users

Minicomputers were initially released in the 1960s and their size was comparably smaller than computers of that time hence they were named microcomputers
Often called midrange computers as their power lies somewhere in the middle of the desktop PC and mainframe.
May meet the processing needs of small organization action.
Although meant for a single user, a powerful mini-computer cater to the needs of thousands of users simultaneously.
Use may use a terminal or a standard PC to access a centralised computer.

Among all computers, supercomputers are the most powerful and are also some of the largest in terms of size.
Handle large and complex calculations.
Capable of performance trillions of calculations per second.
Some supercomputers may contain thousands of processors.
Supercomputers are common in academic and research environments. Few government agencies and very large businesses use them as well.
Supercomputers are ideal for handling large and highly complex problems that require extreme calculating power.
Their enormous processing power makes them suitable for solving complex problems that demand massive computation capacity.