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Classification of Computers

Computers can be classified into four categories based on their size, processing power, and intended use: 1) Microcomputers are the smallest and include desktops, laptops, and handheld devices. They are designed for individual use. 2) Minicomputers are larger than microcomputers but smaller than mainframes. They can support 4-200 simultaneous users in small to medium businesses. 3) Mainframes are the second largest and can process large volumes of data for large organizations. 4) Supercomputers have the highest processing speeds and are designed for scientific problems, operating many CPUs in parallel.

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58 views2 pages

Classification of Computers

Computers can be classified into four categories based on their size, processing power, and intended use: 1) Microcomputers are the smallest and include desktops, laptops, and handheld devices. They are designed for individual use. 2) Minicomputers are larger than microcomputers but smaller than mainframes. They can support 4-200 simultaneous users in small to medium businesses. 3) Mainframes are the second largest and can process large volumes of data for large organizations. 4) Supercomputers have the highest processing speeds and are designed for scientific problems, operating many CPUs in parallel.

Uploaded by

Roshell Ligue Dakay
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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CLASSIFICATION OF COMPUTERS

Computers are available in many sizes and types. They differ based on their data processing abilities.
Based on the physical size, performance and application areas we can divide computers into four major
categories via

1) MICRO COMPUTERS It is a small, low cost digital computer, which usually consists of
microprocessor, a storage unit, an input channel and an output channel all of which may be inserted
into one chip inserted into one or several PC boards. It is the smallest of the computer family and
originally designed for individual users. IBM-PC Pentium 200, Apple Macintosh are the examples of
microcomputers. They include the following

a) Desktop Computer Also known as PC is intended for standalone use by an individual. These are the
common type of computer and consists of a system unit, a display monitor, a keyboard, an internal hard
disk storage and other peripheral devices. They are not very expensive for the individual or the small
businesses.

b) Laptop: It is a portable computer that a user can carry around. It is also known as notebook computer.
It includes all the features of a PC. They are lightweight and can be used anywhere. They do not need
any external power supply as a rechargeable battery is self-contained in them. They are expensive than
a PC.

c) Hand held computer: These are portable computers that can be conveniently stored in pocket. PDA’s
are essentially small portable computers and are slightly bigger than a calculators. It uses pen or stylus
for the input. They are also called as palmtop computers. They do not have disk drive rather they use
small cards to store programs and data. They have limited memory and are less powerful than desktop.

2) MINICOMPUTERS It is a small digital computer which is able to process and store less data
than a mainframe but more than a microcomputer. It is about the size of a two drawer filing cabinet. It
meets the computing needs of several people simultaneously in a small to medium sized business
environment. It can support 4-200 simultaneous users. It serves as a centralised store house fora cluster
of workstations or as a network server. It’s used in interactive applications in industries, research
organisations.

3) MAINFRAMES it is an ultra-high performance computer made for high volume, processor


intensive computing. It consists of a high end computer processor with related peripheral devices
capable of supporting large volumes of data processing, high performance online transaction processing
and extensive data storage and retrieval. It stores more data and performs at a faster rate than a micro-
computer. These are the second largest of the computer family. It is used by large organisations for
sci3ntific purposes.

4) SUPERCOMPUTERS these are the special purpose machines which are designed to maximise
the number of floating point operations per second (FLOPS). A supercomputer has the highest
processing speed at a given time for solving scientific and engineering problems. It contains number of
CPUs that operate in parallel to make it faster. Its processing speed lies in the range 400-10000 MFLOPS.
Supercomputers are used to solve multivariate mathematical problems of existent physical processes,
plasma physics. Ex: CRAY-3, PARAM

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