If I talk to you about minicomputers … what would you say I am referring to? Have smaller computers launched and you haven’t heard? Do you live in a world where there are computers you don’t know?
Let me tell you that the minicomputer is older than you and that I surely. So many that, in fact, nobody uses this term and who does it, or is a computer specialist or does it incorrectly to refer to a small computer.
Has it caused you curiosity? Do you really want to know what minicomputers are ? We will tell you by specifying what they are used for and , of course, what differences do they have with respect to other computer equipment .
Index:
What are minicomputers in computing? Definition
A minicomputer , although its name can mislead us, is a computer equipment of a size larger than that of our computers . This is because the term was coined when the computers were huge and, therefore, this new computer turned out to be mini by comparison.
Regarding its characteristics, the first thing we have to indicate is that we are talking about a multi-user system equipment. That is, it is a type of server capable of supporting other computers , which serve as a client in what would be a client-server model.
In turn, it is worth mentioning that of multi-user equipment, this is the smallest one (until the development of microcomputers has allowed them to also be used as servers if desired ).
They are born from the availability of use of integrated circuits , which allowed to create systems of smaller size than what had been seen so far (the 70), and the development of a better RAM memory design , which allowed us to have more quantity and variety of resources.
Of course, the operating systems with support for multitasking and with server functions must also be given credit, which, after all, are the ones that operated the machines in the way in which the user was suing.
They had a remarkable success in the 80s, when the replacement of terminals and mainframes was achieved by a system of interconnected personal computers, all of them, to the same device, the minicomputer.
What are the Mini Computers for and what are the uses?
The essence of this device is the same as that of a mainframe or a central unit , a system that allows the information management given in thousands to perform calculations and to store content . Thus, we can say that its use is the same. What changes, in addition to the size of the device and its components, is the audience it addresses.
The power of minicomputers, despite being also a server, is lower, so that will be used for tasks of a smaller size, where the computing power should not be as high or a absolutely specialized machine .
It is of general use and, at the same time, more economical and usable by a greater number of users. Works the data very well, quickly and correctly one hundred percent and supports a significant amount of equipment arranged (customers), storing information relative to these and the one that they themselves include in the system of their own volition.
What are the differences between a minicomputer and a microcomputer?
Although their names may lead us to error, the truth is that these teams are totally different in terms of their essence, or at least they were when they were launched.
On the one hand, we have the minicomputer that, as we have seen, is still a server to support multiple users that connect to it and have smaller size and capacity than a mainframe .
The microcomputer , meanwhile, is that computer that has a microprocessor . At the time of its appearance, the minicomputers did not have microprocessors , so that, in this respect, they were totally different and it is the micro prefix that makes the difference.
It must also be said, of course, that the microcomputers focused on single-user use . Now everything has changed , because we have both a minicomputer incorporates microprocessors and that a microcomputer is able to act as a user, so that the two points that differentiate them are reversed without problem, complicating to be able to differentiate concepts.
So much so that any good desktop can work as a server without any problem, being both micro and minicomputer and getting both concepts completely outdated.
In other words, currently nobody talks about mini or microcomputers , and, if we do, we relate the concepts, erroneously, with mini computers, netbooks or similar . But, now, you know what both concepts consist of and how they differ.