DEFINING COMPUTERS “A device that computes, especially a programmable electronic machine that performs high- speed mathematical or logical operations or that assembles, stores, correlates, or otherwise processes information.” “A computer is a device that accepts information (in the form of digitalized data) and manipulates it for some result based on a program or sequence of instructions on how the data is to be processed.” “A computer is a machine that manipulates data according to a set of instructions.” “A device used for computing, specially, an electronic machine which, by means of stored instructions and information, performs rapid, often complex calculations or compiles, correlates, and selects data.” “A data processor that can perform substantial computation, including numerous arithmetic and logic operations, without intervention by a human operator during the run.” “A computer is an electronic device that accepts data and instructions, processes the data according to the set of instructions, and produces the desired information.” “A computer is a device capable of solving problems by accepting data, performing described operations on the data and supplying the results of these operations.” Also refer - ANUBHA JAIN, DEEPSHIKHA BHARGAVA & DIVYA ARORA- RBD Publications Chapter No. 1 Page No. 1.1 & 1.2 A SIMPLE MODEL OF COMPUTER (FUNDAMENTALS) In this you have to explain various components of a computer system. Some are as under- 1) Monitor 2) Speakers 3) Keyboard 4) Mouse 5) Printer 6) Scanner 7) Cabinet (Consist of various components like – mother board , ram , hard disk etc.) As Shown in picture below- Also refer - ANUBHA JAIN, DEEPSHIKHA BHARGAVA & DIVYA ARORA- RBD Publications Chapter No. 2 & 3 Page No. 2.1 – 2.10 , 3.18 – 3.20 CLASSIFICATION OF COMPUTERS TECHNICAL COMMERCIAL 1) Hybrid Super Computer 2) Analog Main Frame Computer 3) Digital Mini Computer Micro Computer SUPERCOMPUTER A supercomputer is a computer that is at the frontline of current processing capacity, particularly speed of calculation. Supercomputers introduced in the 1960s were designed primarily by Seymour Cray at Control Data Corporation (CDC), and led the market into the 1970s until Cray left to form his own company, Cray Research. He then took over the supercomputer market with his new designs, holding the top spot in supercomputing for five years (1985–1990). In the 1980s a large number of smaller competitors entered the market, in parallel to the creation of the minicomputer market a decade earlier, but many of these disappeared in the mid-1990s "supercomputer market crash". 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), A particular class of problems, known as Grand Challenge problems, are problems whose full solution requires semi-infinite computing resources. Relevant here is the distinction between capability computing and capacity computing, as defined by Graham et al. Capability computing is typically thought of as using the maximum computing power to solve a large problem in the shortest amount of time. Often a capability system is able to solve a problem of a size or complexity that no other computer can. Capacity computing in contrast is typically thought of as using efficient cost-effective computing power to solve somewhat large problems or many small problems or to prepare for a run on a capability system. Supercomputer Companies / Manufacturer Supercomputer companies in operation These companies make supercomputer hardware and/or software, either as their sole activity, or as one of several activities. • Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. • AVA Direct • C-DAC • Cray Inc. • Dell • Dawning • Fujitsu • Groupe Bull • Hitachi • HP • IBM • Intel Corporation • Lenovo • Linux Labs International • Mellanox Technologies • Microsoft • nCUBE • NEC Corporation • NVIDIA Corporation • SGI • Sun Microsystems • Supercomputing Systems • Galactic Computing • Supermicro Computer SMCI • T-Platforms Defunct supercomputer companies These companies have either folded, or no longer operate in the supercomputer market. • Control Data Corporation (CDC) • Convex Computer • Kendall Square Research • MasPar Computer Corporation • Meiko Scientific • Quadrics • Sequent Computer Systems • SiCortex • Supercomputer Systems, Inc. , Eau Claire, Wisconsin, S. Chen • Supercomputer Systems, Inc. , San Diego, California • Thinking Machines Rank Site Computer Roadrunner - BladeCenter QS22/LS21 Cluster, PowerXCell 8i 3.2 DOE/NNSA/LANL 1 Ghz / Opteron DC 1.8 GHz, Voltaire Infiniband United States IBM Oak Ridge National Laboratory Jaguar - Cray XT5 QC 2.3 GHz 2 United States Cray Inc. Forschungszentrum Juelich (FZJ) JUGENE - Blue Gene/P Solution 3 Germany IBM NASA/Ames Research Center/NAS Pleiades - SGI Altix ICE 8200EX, Xeon QC 3.0/2.66 GHz 4 United States SGI DOE/NNSA/LLNL BlueGene/L - eServer Blue Gene Solution 5 United States IBM National Institute for Computational Kraken XT5 - Cray XT5 QC 2.3 GHz 6 Sciences/University of Tennessee Cray Inc. United States Argonne National Laboratory Blue Gene/P Solution 7 United States IBM Rank Site Computer Texas Advanced Computing Center/Univ. Ranger - SunBlade x6420, Opteron QC 2.3 Ghz, Infiniband 8 of Texas Sun Microsystems United States DOE/NNSA/LLNL Dawn - Blue Gene/P Solution 9 United States IBM JUROPA - Sun Constellation, NovaScale R422-E2, Intel Xeon Forschungszentrum Juelich (FZJ) X5570, 2.93 GHz, Sun M9/Mellanox QDR Infiniband/Partec 10 Germany Parastation Bull SA Mainframe computer An IBM 704 mainframe Mainframes (often colloquially referred to as Big Iron) are computers used mainly by large organizations for critical applications, typically bulk data processing such as census, industry and consumer statistics, enterprise resource planning, and financial transaction processing. The term probably had originated from the early mainframes, as they were housed in enormous, room-sized metal boxes or frames after the term was used to distinguish high-end commercial machines from less powerful units. Today in practice, the term usually refers to computers compatible with the IBM System/360 line, first introduced in 1965. (IBM System z10 is the latest incarnation.) Otherwise, large systems that are not based on the System/360 but are used for similar tasks are usually referred to as servers or even supercomputers. However, "server", "supercomputer" and "mainframe" are not synonymous. Many defining characteristics of "mainframe" were established in the 1960s, but those characteristics continue to expand and evolve to the present day. Modern mainframe computers have abilities not so much defined by their single task computational speed (usually defined as MIPS — Millions of Instructions Per Second) as by their redundant internal engineering and resulting high reliability and security, extensive input- output facilities, strict backward compatibility with older software, and high utilization rates to support massive throughput. These machines often run for years without interruption, with repairs and hardware upgrades taking place during normal operation. Nearly all mainframes have the ability to run (or host) multiple operating systems, and thereby operate not as a single computer but as a number of virtual machines. In this role, a single mainframe can replace dozens or even hundreds of smaller servers. While mainframes pioneered this capability, virtualization is now available on most families of computer systems, though not to the same degree or level of sophistication. IBM mainframes dominate the mainframe market at well over 90% market share. Unisys manufactures ClearPath mainframes, based on earlier Sperry and Burroughs product lines. In 2002, Hitachi co-developed the zSeries z800 with IBM to share expenses, but subsequently the two companies have not collaborated on new Hitachi models. Hewlett-Packard sells its unique NonStop systems, which it acquired with Tandem Computers and which some analysts classify as mainframes. Groupe Bull's DPS, Fujitsu (formerly Siemens) BS2000, and Fujitsu-ICL VME mainframes are still available in Europe. Fujitsu, Hitachi, and NEC (the "JCMs") still maintain nominal mainframe hardware businesses in their home Japanese market, although they have been slow to introduce new hardware models in recent years. The amount of vendor investment in mainframe development varies with market share. Unisys, HP, Groupe Bull, Fujitsu, Hitachi, and NEC now rely primarily on commodity Intel CPUs rather than custom processors in order to reduce their development expenses, and they have also cut back their mainframe software development. (However, Unisys still maintains its own unique CMOS processor design development for certain high-end ClearPath models but contracts chip manufacturing to IBM.) In stark contrast, IBM continues to pursue a different business strategy of mainframe investment and growth. IBM has its own large research and development organization designing new, homegrown CPUs, including mainframe processors such as 2008's 4.4 GHz quad-core z10 mainframe microprocessor. IBM is rapidly expanding its software business, including its mainframe software portfolio, to seek additional revenue and profits. IDC and