CIS2110
Categories

• Super Computers
  Super Computers
  Super Computers are the fastest computers we have today. They are used by scientists, governments, and large universities. Supercomputers are used for highly calculation-intensive tasks such as problems involving quantum mechanical physics, weather forecasting, climate research, molecular modeling (computing the structures and properties of chemical compounds, biological macromolecules, polymers, and crystals), physical simulations (such as simulation of airplanes in wind tunnels, simulation of the detonation of nuclear weapons, and research into nuclear fusion), cryptanalysis, and such like. Major universities, military agencies and scientific research laboratories are heavy users.
• Mainframe Computers
  Mainframe Computers
  Mainframe Computers were the work horses of yesteryear. IBM still makes them today and they continue to serve banks, and large corporations. They are about the size of a large refridgerator.Mainframes (often colloquially referred to as Big Iron[1]) are computers used mainly by large organizations for critical applications, typically bulk data processing such as census, industry and consumer statistics, ERP, and financial transaction processing.
• Mini Computers
  Mini Computers
  The term "mini computer" evolved in the 1960s to describe the "small" third generation computers that became possible with the use of transistor and core memory technologies. They usually took up one or a few cabinets the size of a large refrigerator or two, compared with mainframes that would usually fill a room.
• Workstation Computers
  Workstation Computer
  Workstation Computers are ubiquitous in business, government, schools, hospitals, and almost every sphere of human endeavour.A workstation is a high-end microcomputer designed for technical or scientific applications. Intended primarily to be used by one person at a time, they are commonly connected to a local area network and run multi-user operating systems. The term workstation has also been used to refer to a mainframe computer terminal or a PC connected to a network.
• Micro Computers
  Micro Computers
  A microcomputer is a computer with a microprocessor as its central processing unit. Another general characteristic of these computers is that they occupy physically small amounts of space when compared to mainframe and minicomputers. Many microcomputers (when equipped with a keyboard and screen for input and output) are also personal computers (in the generic sense).

This list of computer size categories attempts to list commonly used categories of computer by size, in descending order of size. Of course, one generation's "supercomputer" is the next generation's "mainframe", and a "PDA" doesn't have the same set of functions as a "laptop", but the list should have some recognition value. It also ranks some more obscure computer sizes. more...