Here are three examples of how minicomputers are used. The first is a special-purpose application, the second is for general business, and the third is an OEM.
Special-Purpose Minis. Special –purpose minis can be used in places mainframes would find inhospitable. One such use is a top Mount Kilauea in Hawaii. The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory uses two minis to collect and analyze volcanic and seismic data. In this location, 4,000 feet above sea level, hundreds of tiny earthquakes occur daily as a result of volcanic activity. The minis collect data from dozens of sensors throughout the active areas of the island at the rate of 100 samples per second. The minis then analyze the data showing the effects of ground movement, temperature changes, electromagnetic variations, gravitational fields, and the chemistry of volcanic gases and lava. Telecommunication links allow the resident geologists to share the data they collect with other geological research stations all over the world. Net-working with other minis allows this research site to play a vital part in understanding and predicting geologic events in the Pacific.
Minis in Business. Minis are often used as small-business computers. They are widely used by companies whose data storage and processing needs are smaller, and in large banks or government agencies where specific tasks can be handled by one perhaps a few minis. In these situations, the minicomputer works much like a mainframe, although the volume of usage is lower. Company sales, inventory, and financial records are stored on disks. Terminals give people access to the data, and specially designed software allows executives to translate data into reports, charts, and graphs.
An OEM Mini. People with Great Lifestyles, a fictitious national newspaper, uses a minicomputer. It is kept in a temperature-controlled room, like a mainframe, but you don’t see the large cabinets. Instead, the entire mini is in a single cabinet. Against the wall are several disk drives, but much of the other equipment is associated with the newspaper’s publishing system.
This is an OEM mini. The company that developed the publishing system software installs the minicomputer, along with any of their own special hardware for publishing. There are about 70 terminals, used mostly by reporters for writing their stories. They send the finished story electronically to the editor, who works at a page makeup terminal. It shows columns of text just as they will appear on the newspaper page.
The mini also keeps other business data. For example, the entire subscriber list, including the dates their subscriptions expire, is stored in a database. The mini automatically sends them a renewal notice and stops their subscription when it is up. People with Great Lifestyles often sells portions of its subscriber database, in the form of lists of names and addresses, to companies that want to send advertising literature to potential customers. In addition, the sales representatives can learn how often their clients buy ads and which ones get the most replies on reader response cards.
The mini has become a valuable, versatile computing resource over the years. It has also taken on several other guises: as a supermicro or workstation, as a mini-mainframe for larger business applications, and as an extremely powerful superminicomputer used in science research. Even though the trend is toward smaller computers, minis in various forms will be around for a long time. So will mainframes, which we shall learn about next.
KNOWLEDGE CHECK.
1.Name two ways the minicomputer is different from the mainframe.
2.What do we call a minicomputer that is fitted with special devices to
perform a specific task?
3.Who is considered the creator of the minicomputer?
4.What acronym is used to describe the most successful minicomputer family?
5.Describe several ways in which the minicomputer is versatile.
