Systems Comparison

Microcomputers
Microcomputer are the lowest end of computer systems providing the least amount of processing power and costing the least amount of money and time to set up. Mostly used in a home environment due to their cheapness and they provide all the functions required in a home environment. The can also be used in business environments for standard desktops making them useful across a wide range of roles.

They use standard parts to construct along with operating systems such as windows, in business uses they may use more professional software.

Minicomputers
Minicomputers cost more to set up and run then microcomputers but they do provide more processing power, they may also come along with less common software and hardware. Software such as server based operating systems and network management suites. Hardware such as Raid cards for backing data up, multiple network interfaces to increase network speeds and Fibre cable connections for higher bandwidth.

Mainframes
Mainframes are very expensive systems but they are built and set up to process lots of data at a very high rate, they may be constructed with some standard parts such as processors and storage medium but they are set up in a configuration to make use of multiple processors and store vast quantities of information. They may link computers together in order to share processing loads across different machines so that the process can be processed faster allowing a company to keep up with demands. These systems also require expensive software to run with operating systems and programs that support multiple CPUs and multiple computers.

Supercomputers
This the most expensive system compared to others but they do provide the most processing power however they do not run standard software and applications as they handle data differently. Most software has to be purpose built for supercomputers as they’re capable of processing just a few processes at a very fast rate where as other systems process lots of processes at a much slower rate. Also most other systems run a single processor with the exception of mainframes and a few minicomputers that may use multiple processors, supercomputers can use thousands of processors in a single system.