Classification of computers

                  

Now variety of computers in many sizes and types are available in the market.Some computers can fit in the palm of our hand,and some can occupy too much space.Computers also differ based on their data processing abilities.Physical size,performance,and application areas.Computers can be divided into four major categories:micro,mini,mainframe, and super computers.

Micro Computers

A micro computer is a small,low cost digital computer,which usually consists of a microprocessor, a storage unit,an input channel, and an output channel,all of them may be on one chip inserted into one or several PC boards.The addition of a power supply and connecting cables,appropriate peripherals (keyboard, monitor,printer,disk drives and others). an operating system and other software programs can provide a complete micro computer system.The micro computers is usually the smallest of the computer family.Actually,these were designed for individual users,but now they have become powerful tools for many businesses with networking facility, can serve more than one user.IBM-PC Pentium Dual Core,Core to dual,Core i3,Core i5,core i7 and Apple Macintosh are some of the examples of micro computers.Micro computer include desktop,laptop and hand-held models such as PDAs(Personal Digital Assistants).

Mini Computers

In the early 1960s,Digital equipment Corporation (DEC) started shipping its PDP series computer,They are referred as mini computers.A mini computer is a small digital computer,which process and store less data than a mainframe but more than a micro computer,while doing so less rapidly than a mainframe but more than a micro computer.It is about the size of a two-drawer of filing cabinet.mainly,it is used as desktop devices that are often connected to a mainframe in order to perform the auxiliary operations.
mini computer called a mid-range computer are designed for computing needs of several people simultaneously in a small to medium-sized business environment.it is capable of supporting from 6 to about 180 simultaneous users.It serves as a centralised storehouse for a group of workstations or as a network server.Mini computers are multi-user systems so used in interactive applications in industries,research organisations,colleges, and universities.these are also used for real-time controls and engineering design work.High-performance workstations with graphics I/O capabilities.Widely used mini computers are PDP 11,IBM (8000 series), and VAX 7500.

Mainframes

A mainframe is an ultra-high performance computer made for high-volume,processor-intensive computing.It contains a high-end computer processor,with related peripheral devices,capable of supporting large volumes of data processing,high performance online transactions processing systems,and extensive data storage and retrieval.Usually,it is able to process and store more data than a mini computer and much more than a micro computer and also it is designed to perform at even more faster rate than a micro computer.Mainframes are the second largest of the computer family,the largest being super computers.Mainframes usually execute many programs simultaneously,at a high speed whereas super computers are designed for single process.
Mainframe allows its user to maintain large information storage at a centralised location and are able to access and process this data from different computers located at different locations.It is typically used by large business and for scientific purposes.Mainframe computers are IBM's ES000,VAX 8000 and CDC 6600.
Super computers
Super computers are the special purpose machines,specially designed to maximise the number of FLOPS (Floating Point Operation Per Second).Computer above one gigaflop/sec is considered super computer.A super computer has the highest processing speed at a given time for solving engineering and scientific problems.It consists a number of CPUs that operate in parallel to make it faster.Super Computers Processing speed lies in the range of 400-10000 MFLOPS. With this feature,super computers help in many applications including information retrieval computer aided design.
A super computer can process a great deal of information and make extensive calculations very quickly.It can solve complex mathematical equations in a few hours,which would have taken a scientist years,using a hand calculator.It is the fastest costliest and most powerful computer available.Super computers are used to solve multi-varient mathematical problems of existent physical processes,like aerodynamics,metrology and plasma physics.These are also needed by the military strategists to simulate defence scenaries.Scientists build complex models and simulate them in a super computer.Cinematic specialists use them to produce sophisticated movie animations.However,super computer has limited broad-spectrum use because of its high price tag and limited market.The largest commercial uses of super computers in the high advertising industry.CRAY-3,Cyber 205,and PARAM are some well known super computers. 
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