SSS 1 WEEK 7 - 8: CLASSIFICATION OF COMPUTERS


CLASSIFICATION OF COMPUTER

There are three main way of classifying computer and the categories are by:

 1. Classification of computer according to their Types
• Analogue
• Digital
• Hybrid

2. Classification of computer according to their sizes

• Micro Computers
• Minicomputers Computers
• Mainframe Computers
• Super Computers

3.     Classification of computer according to their functionality
• General purpose
• Special purpose.


• Figure 1: Classification of Computers

- Classification of computer according to their Types

• Analogue Computers: An analogue computer is a form of computer that uses the continuously changeable aspects of physical phenomena such as electrical, mechanical, or hydraulic quantities to model the problem being solved.



Figure 1: Slide rule 

Examples of analogue computers include: slide rules, planimeters, differential analyzers, the wheel integrator, the harmonic synthesizer, a squaring device etc.

• Digital Computers: This is any of a class of devices capable of solving problems by processing information in discrete form. It operates on data, including magnitudes, letters, and symbols, that are expressed in binary code—i.e., using only the two digits 0 and 1. Example is a PC.

• Hybrid computers: are computers that exhibit features of analog computers and digital computers. The digital component normally serves as the controller and provides logical and numerical operations, while the analog component often serves as a solver of differential equations and other mathematically complex equations.

- Classification of computer according to their sizes
• Micro Computers: They are the smallest and the cheapest of all computers hierarchy. They are otherwise known as personal Computers (PC) because they are designed as a single user system.

Other micro computers types are:

 1. Desktops
2. Laptops
3. Palmtops

• Minicomputers Computers: They are also called mid-range servers, They support multi-user operating systems i.e. one computer can be used by more than one person, they have a higher storage capacity, they have a higher memory, more powerful processing power than microcomputers because they have more than one processor, they Can handle many input/output devices.

• Uses of Mini Computers Minicomputers are used for: (a) Scientific and engineering computations (b) Business-transaction processing (c) File handling (d) Database management Examples are: PDP-11, VAX, 7500 MAGNUM etc.

• Mainframe Computers: Are designed to handle huge volumes of data and information. This means, they have a large storage capacity, they have fast processing speeds, they have large  memory, they have more than one processor. Due to these features, they are expensive to acquire. Mainframe computers are used for E-business and E-commerce, Health care, Military use, Academic and Research and so on. Examples are: ICL39, CDC 6600, VAX 8842, IBM 3090/600, IBM4381.

• Super Computers: are physically the largest of all computers, they have more than one processor, super computers have the fastest processing power and input/output capabilities, they have the largest memory, they often have specific hardware to handle large amounts of floating point operations or vector operations. This means, they can handle complex mathematical calculations with utter accuracy. Super computers have the largest volume of storage capacity; they are the most expensive computers of all.
Supercomputers are used to handle various tasks such as:

• Testing mathematical models such as weather and climate patterns
• Market research
• Quantum physics
• Molecular modelling
• Research especially in nuclear fusion
• Huge volumes of data analysis especially portals like Google, Facebook, Twitter etc. use super computers because of their capability to handle billions of requests within micro-seconds Examples include: CRAY X-MP-14, CDC-205, ETA GF-10, FUJITSU VP-400, NEC SX-2, PARAM, PACE.

- Classification of computer according to their Functionality (Purpose)

• General purpose computers: are designed to perform a variety of tasks, solve large variety of problem. The different programs stored on it can be used to solve multiple problems, most digital computer are general purpose computers, and are used in business and commercial data processing. They are used to prepare pay-bills, manage inventories, Print-sales report and so on.

• Special purpose computers: are designed to perform only one task. They are designed to solve specific problems. The computer program for solving a specific problem or performing a specific task is built right inside the computer; most analog computers are special purpose computers. These special purpose computers are widely used in industrial robotics.

ASSIGNMENT

1. State the characteristics features of computers 
2. List some examples of Special purpose of computers and also general purpose computers.

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