The Mini Computer

The Mini computer....

This is a term that is seldom used these days but on scale it positions itself between Mainframe and Microcomputers in both power and size.
It is was a computer purchased by businesses and was capable of running full multi-user operations providing the workstations multi-tasking operations from unit that would take the space of a cabinet in opposition to a Mainframe that would take up a whole room.
The term came about in the 1960’s when the 1st successful mini-computers surfaced the PDP-8, PDP-11 & VAX lineup's were some of the main contenders along with the 2100 series from Hewlett Packard.
Over the years there had been a large difference in between the micro and mini as the mini was capable of 16 bit and even 32 bit operations 32 bit minis were nicknamed as super-minis and were a far cry from any micro at the time.
As the transistor technology decreased in price the difference between micro and mini technology decreased and along with that came the decline of the mini being recognized as the choice for mid and small end businesses and Thus came along the term which is more common today the Server.
Originally server software would be located on a mainframe or mini but these have largely been replaced by computers built using a more powerful version of the microprocessor technology than is used in micros and the name server stuck and has been adopted by the hardware that the server software is currently running on.
Today they serve basically the same function as the mini and provide multitasking and sharing of data throughout network situations in business.
I bm currently supply the I-Series of mid range servers and presently they have move up to 64 bit processing for a relative price which makes it more attractive.