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| − | ==Terminology==
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| − | '''Desk-size Computers''', as a slang of '''MiniComputers''' due to their size and usual appearance, are a type of smaller general-purpose computer with size, price, and extensibility less than a mainframe computer, but still higher than microcomputers, later commonly known as personal computers (PCs). Usage and demands of minicomputers have greatly shrunk and are being taken over by PC-based server clusters over the years, but some of them are still serving irreplaceable roles for their high reliability and extensibility.
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| − | '''Supercomputers''' are computers specifically built for high-performance mathematical/scientific calculation with a high level of performance as compared to a general-purpose computer.
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| − | '''Mainframes''' are high-performance computers with large amounts of memory and data processors that process billions of simple calculations and transactions in real-time. A mainframe computer is critical to commercial databases, transaction servers, and applications that require high resiliency, security, and agility. Like minicomputers, usage and demands have greatly shrunk and are being taken over by PC-based server clusters over the years, but some of them are still serving irreplaceable roles for their high reliability, extensibility, and less hassle for handling distributed computing in clusters.
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| − | Notice that the identification and distinction between PC-based clusters/servers, minicomputers, mainframes, and supercomputers aren't based on size, performance, or price, but system architecture, extensibility, and reliability; As integrated circuit technology evolves, a mainframe could be the size of a minicomputer (e.g. IBM System 390 Integrated Server 3006), a minicomputer could be a size of a relatively big personal computer/PC based server (e.g. IBM i5 515), while a regular laptop PC could achieve the performance of multi-million dollar mainframe in 1980s just by emulating it.
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| − | <div style="overflow-x:auto;width:100%">
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| − | {|class="wikitable" style="width:100%"
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| − | |+ Comparison
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| − | ! Category
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| − | ! Mainframe
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| − | ! Minicomputer
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| − | ! PC
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| − | ! PC-based cluster
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| − | ! Supercomputer
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| − | |-
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| − | |System Architecture
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| − | |Large scaled, sophisticated, self-contained devices interconnected with a proprietary bus
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| − | |Between PC and mainframe, some devices are self-contained and directly interconnected while others rely on the central processor and system bus
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| − | |Most to all components rely on the motherboard, central processor, power supply, and system bus
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| − | |Large amounts of self-contained PCs interconnected with Ethernet or other networking standards e.g. InfiniBand
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| − | |Large amounts of computation nodes interconnected with a proprietary bus, while each node may or may not be self-contained
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| − | |-
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| − | |Statistic Reliability
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| − | |Exceeding 99.99999% uptime per year; individual components failing won't cause performance or capacity issues
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| − | |99.999% to 99.9999% uptime per year; individual components failing may cripple performance or capacity, but won't affect current tasks (unless some critical components)
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| − | |Poorly built ones could run into trouble every few hours under a high burden; unplanned downtime of proper prebuilt servers is around a few minutes to 1 hour per month; individual components failing always break all current tasks
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| − | |Varies (usually less than 99.9999% per year) depending on SLAs and configuration; each node follows the failure model of regular PC-based servers; nodes failing may cripple performance or capacity, but won't affect current tasks
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| − | |Not a priority, some supercomputers even run periodically every day; nodes failing may cripple performance or capacity, and may break current tasks
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| − | |-
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| − | |Servicability
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| − | |Most of the components and devices including critical ones are hot swappable without prerequisites; swapping components and devices won't interrupt current tasks
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| − | |Critical components are hot swappable after a proper stopping procedure, while peripherals may be hot swappable without prerequisites; swapping components and devices may interrupt current tasks
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| − | |Some peripherals are hot swappable after a proper stopping procedure, while critical components aren't; swapping components almost always interrupts current tasks
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| − | |Nodes are hot swappable with or without a proper stopping procedure, while components of each node follow regular PCs; swapping nodes won't interrupt current tasks
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| − | |Nodes are hot swappable with or without a proper stopping procedure, while components inside nodes may not even be serviceable depending on the actual design; swapping nodes may interrupt current tasks
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| − | |-
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| − | |Redundancy
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| − | |Multiple redundancy and backup at components and devices level; device-as-a-whole level redundancy is optional and seldom used
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| − | |Redundancy at components and devices level; device-as-a-whole level redundancy is optional and sometimes used
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| − | |Data and power redundancy could be achieved by practices and external devices like RAID, ECC RAM, UPS etc., otherwise no. Device-as-a-whole level redundancy is always used if better reliability needed
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| − | |Redundancy relying on large amounts of nodes, each node itself is not redundant; Software has to be programmed in a way to handle tasking reordering and data consistency in case of node failing
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| − | |Not a priority; nodes aren't redundant and software seldom considers node failing as tasks are usually parallel to make use of peak performance
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| − | |-
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| − | |Extensibility
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| − | |Highly customizable and capable as each device is self-contained
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| − | |Highly customizable and capable but more restrictions
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| − | |Restricted; All components relying on the central processor, power supply, and system bus; direct communication between peripherals are usually not possible
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| − | |Extension of scale relies on adding nodes
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| − | |Extension of scale relies on adding nodes
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| − | |-
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| − | |Compatibility
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| − | |Highly concerned; OS is running on top of HAL/LIC so changes of system architecture won't affect OS; OS is designed to be always API/ABI stable
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| − | |Highly concerned; OS is running on top of HAL/LIC so changes of system architecture won't affect OS; OS is designed to be always API/ABI stable
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| − | |Concerned but based on system architecture (PC/AT & x86) not changing much over the years; OS are architecture and hardware dependent and aren't always designed to be API/ABI stable
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| − | |Same as PC; programs have to be reworked if not designed with distributed computing in mind
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| − | |Least concerned; programs are usually specifically built for specific supercomputer; sometimes supercomputers are even built for a specific task (e.g. Anton series)
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| − | |}
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| − | </div>
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| − |
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| − | ==List of Desk-size computers / Supercomputers / Mainframes==
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| | <div style="max-width:100%; overflow:auto;"> | | <div style="max-width:100%; overflow:auto;"> |
| | {|class="wikitable sortable" | | {|class="wikitable sortable" |
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| | | style="background: Gainsboro;"| None | | | style="background: Gainsboro;"| None |
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| − | |[https://github.com/andrastantos/cray-sim cray-sim] | + | | |
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| | |Cray Research XMS | | |Cray Research XMS |
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| | | style="background: Gainsboro;"| None | | | style="background: Gainsboro;"| None |
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| − | |[https://github.com/andrastantos/cray-sim cray-sim] | + | | |
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| | |Csiro Csirac | | |Csiro Csirac |
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| | | style="background: Gainsboro;"| None | | | style="background: Gainsboro;"| None |
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| − | |-
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| − | |Fujitsu Facom M series
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| − | |1974
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| − | | style="background: Gainsboro;"| None
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| − | |[https://www.fujitsu.com/jp/products/computing/servers/mainframe/gs21/solution/7-pxm/ OSIV/XSP Enabling Kit for PRIMEQUEST PC-Based Server]
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| | |Fujitsu Facom VP series | | |Fujitsu Facom VP series |
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| | |[https://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=980&st=1 Old Computers] [http://simh.trailing-edge.com/ SIMH] | | |[https://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=980&st=1 Old Computers] [http://simh.trailing-edge.com/ SIMH] |
| − | |-
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| − | |IBM System/36
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| − | |1983
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| − | | style="background: Gainsboro;"| None
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| − | |[https://wiki.midrange.com/index.php/System/36#Why_People_Didn.27t_Migrate Open/36 - probably lost in history]</br>[https://wiki.midrange.com/index.php/System/36#Why_People_Didn.27t_Migrate Infinite36]
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| | |IBM System370 / ESA390 | | |IBM System370 / ESA390 |
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| | | style="background: Gainsboro;"| None | | | style="background: Gainsboro;"| None |
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| − | | [https://www.ibm.com/products/z-development-test-environment IBM Z Development and Test Environment]<br/>[http://www.hercules-390.org/ Hercules] | + | | [https://www.ibm.com/products/z-development-test-environment IBM Z Development and Test Environment] [http://www.hercules-390.org/ Hercules] |
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| | |IBM AS/400 / System i | | |IBM AS/400 / System i |
| | |1988 | | |1988 |
| − | | style="background: Gainsboro;"| None
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| − | |[https://web.archive.org/web/20001203025600/http://calsw.com/calsw/baby400.html BABY AS/2000 - probably lost in history]<br/>[https://infinitecorporation.com/infinite-i Infinite i]
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| − | |-
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| − | |IBM RS/6000 / System p
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| − | |1990
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| | | style="background: Gainsboro;"| None | | | style="background: Gainsboro;"| None |
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| | |} | | |} |
| | </div> | | </div> |
| − | ==References==
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| − | <references/>
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| − | ==Also See==
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| − | * [[Android emulators|Android]] / [[iOS emulators|iOS]] - This list dose not include devices that use the iOS or Android, for those, go to their respective pages.
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| − | * [[List of computers|Laptops / Luggables / Subnotebooks / Workstations / Desktops]] - Some of these classes of computers have been a standard since the late 60s.
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| − | * [[Miscellaneous Computers]]
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| − | ----
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| − | {{NEL}}
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| | [[Category:Computers|*]] | | [[Category:Computers|*]] |
| − | [[Category:Various Emulation]] | + | [[Category:Emulated By MAME|*]] |
