Computer System Comparisons – Micro vs Mini

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Micro Vs Mobile

Although Micro Computers and Mobile Computer are very similar in the characteristic that they only ever serve one user they both have their positives and negatives which enable them to excel in different environments. For example, a video editing company would more than likely choose to supply its editors with high-end, high-performance desktop PC’s. This is because their size allows for many high-performance parts to be installed and cooled relatively cheaply as opposed to compact high-performance parts in mobile devices, which are costly due to their small form factor. The desktop PC’s do not need to be moved regularly and so forth do not need an expensive rechargeable battery which would again limit the processing power of the internal components.

On the other hand, the video editing company would probably choose to provide it’s mobile sales staff with laptops or tablet devices to allow for easy travelling and on the move working. These devices wouldn’t be as powerful as the editors however that shouldn’t be a problem when the sales staff only require minimal processing power to check emails and create/display presentations. These devices will also be powered by an internal battery to enable “on the move” working for long durations. Each of these systems is suited to its user environment and if used in the opposite it wouldn’t be efficient.

Although minicomputers and mainframe computers may appear very similar, as they both serve many other computers rather than an individual user, they are built completely differently. A minicomputer is a stand-alone server that performs tasks using its own internal components at the request of its users. These types of computers can serve many hundreds of users for a wide range of tasks and procedures that they’ve been programmed to do. This type of computer is perfect in a business environment to serve companies with 300 employees for example as they are relatively cheap opposed to mainframes, can carry out a varied range of tasks and can serve each and every employee if required. They are much smaller than mainframes and much easier to maintain.

The substantial difference with a mainframe computer is its build. A mainframe is not one individual stand-alone computer; it is many working together on usually a very specific task. These computers are all interlinked together with almost instant connections, far faster than humans would ever be able to naturally produce. They are vastly powerful machines that can serve millions of computers in fractions of a second. They run very specific custom-built software such as IBM’s z/OS. Due to this, they are perfectly suited to managing bank transactions across the world serving millions of mobile devices, ATM’s and payment machines with a very specific task. This is something a stand-alone mini computer would be incapable of doing as it lacks the processing power and connection rate required.

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