There are 3 type of computer in this category; they are:
1.
Mainframe Computers: These are very large computers
that require extensive space, and they are very expensive to buy and maintain.
They are general purpose in nature and have very large computing power, which
enable them to be capable of handling multiple simultaneous activities like
batch processing, Interactive processing, transaction processing, all other
under the control of an operating system that provide for scheduling and
control facilities. Their main memory is large and a lot of data and
instruction can be stored their.
Their processing speed is high and
they can only be used in large organization or institution where very large
amount of information are been processed like banks, insurance companies,
manufacturing firms, universities, etc. an example is IBM 370.
2
Mini Computers: These are smaller in size than the mainframes
but bigger than the micro computers.
They are less expensive to mainframes computers; as a result, they are
affordable to medium size organizations.
Although, most of them are general
purpose in nature, some are still been used for special or dedicated
purposes. When compared with mainframes,
their processing speed is slower, their main memory smaller and their
capability to support secondary storage system are lower but they are larger in
the same terms than micro computers. They have the ability to handle complex
calculations.
3
Micro Computers); - micro computers are the smallest
and the cheapest when compared with mainframes and mini computers. They are
otherwise known as personal computers (PC) because they are designed as single
user system. Their processing speed is the highest and
their central processing units (CPU) consist of microprocessors placed on
silicon chips. Present day micro
computers are very complex, powerful, rugged, have very large storage capacity
and some of them are very portable as we shall discuss the types of micro
computers now.
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