Personal Computers vs. Mainframes
...connected to other machines (unless you allow remote access). PCs help you to be more organized and cut through the workday clutter, streamlining what you do. It is versatile and not restricted by its design, just by its limitations. Its functions established by the applications bought and loaded onto the machine. The hardware is divided into four main subsystems: input, processing output and storage devices. PCs usually use only one operating system (OS), the most common being Microsoft Windows and function as clients in a network environment. They have one or two hard drives with 256 to 512 MB of RAM and 40 Gigabytes of disk space. Due to the affordable cost and smaller size, they are easily accessible and found in about 80% of homes today. Whether it be a desktop or a laptop, PCs are portable, one could easily lift and carry it around. The cost of a PC is between 1-2 thousand dollars. Maintenance can be completed with little or no training. Most people can take one apart and install components such as additional memory, modems or even sound cards without any outside technical assistance. Mainframes Mainframes were the first general-purpose computer to be developed and were large, powerful, expensive and very heavy. The cost of a mainframe is several hundred thousand dollars. Usually taller than the average man, they are installed in temperature-controlled rooms with limited access from authorized personnel and at times have taken up space in an entire floor of office buildings. With the advancement of technology, they have become smaller and less costly than when first developed, and some are now even portable. They can host thousands of end-users all at once via the use of dummy terminals, and can handle very complex problems or large volume jobs. Mainframes exist only as Servers, typically running some form of UNIX/Linux, yet house several ...