Computing Environments

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Computing Environments

Definition:
Computing environment is a collection of computers/machines, software and networks that support the processing and exchange of electronic information.

Different types of computing environments
There are four types of computing environments. They are:
  1. Personal computing environment
  2. Time-Sharing environment
  3. Client -Server environment
  4. Distributed environment

Personal Computing Environment:
  • A personal computer(PC) is a general purpose computer. The size and capabilities of a personal computer makes it useful for end-users.
  • In a personal computer, all the hardware components are tied together, so that it can be used as per our need.


Time Sharing Environment
  • Employees in large companies often work in a time sharing environment. In this environment, many users are connected to one or more computers.
  • These are minicomputers or central mainframes.
  • The terminals used are not programmable, but now we see more microcomputers that are used to simulate the environments terminals.
  • In the time sharing environment, the output devices and auxiliary storage are shared by all the users.
  • In time sharing environment, each computer must be operated by the central computer.
  • In this type of environment, computing is operated by central computer. This central computer has many duties which keeps the computer busy.


Client Server Environment
  • Client/Server is a distribute computing model, in which the client requests services from the server.
  • Client/Server usually run on separate computers connected by a network.
  • A client is a process or an application that sends messages to a server through the network.
  • These messages ask the server to perform a specific task, like finding a customer record in a database.
  • Severs usually run on powerful computers, workstations or mainframes
  • The administration of the installed equipment is more expensive than maintaining a centralized system

Distributed Computing Environment
  • A distributed computing environment allows smooth integration of computing functions between different internet server's clients and provides the connection to different servers around the world.
  • Distributed Computing is used by distributed systems to solve computational problems
  • In Distributed Computing, each problem is divided into several tasks, which are solved by one or  more computers.



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