Minicomputer refers to a high-performance computer that operates similarly to PCs (personal computers) and servers, but has completely different performance and uses. It was developed by DCE (Digital Equipment Corporation) in the 1970s. A high-performance computing product first developed by the company.
Minicomputers have a unique architecture that distinguishes PCs and servers, as well as each manufacturer's own patented technology. Some also use minicomputer-specific processors, such as Sun from the United States, Fujitsu from Japan, etc. The company's minicomputer is based on the SPARC processor architecture, while the US HP company's is based on the PA-RISC architecture; the Compaq company is based on the Alpha architecture. In addition, the I/O buses are also different, Fujitsu is PCI, Sun is SBUS, and so on. This means that the plug-in cards on each company's minicomputer machines, such as network cards, display cards, SCSI cards, etc., may also be dedicated. In addition, the operating system used by minicomputers is generally based on Unix. Sun and Fujitsu use Sun Solaris, HP uses HP-Unix, and IBM uses AIX. Therefore, a minicomputer is a closed and dedicated computer system. Users of minicomputers generally value the security and reliability of the Unix operating system and the high-speed computing capabilities of dedicated servers.
Currently, the main manufacturers of minicomputers include IBM, HP, Inspur, Sugon, etc. Typical IBM machines include RS/6000, AS/400, etc. Their main feature is that the annual downtime is only a few hours, so they are also collectively called the z series (zero). AS/400 is mainly used in banking and manufacturing, and is also used in Domino. The main technology is TIMI (Technology Independent Machine Interface), single-level storage. With TIMI technology, hardware and software can be independent of each other. RS/6000 is relatively common and is used for scientific computing and transaction processing.