What Are Workstation Computers Anyways?

Also spelled as "work-stations" or "work stations"; it is certainly not easy to define what the term ‘workstations’ stands for. Workstations are interconnected microcomputers which are designed for specific purposes – be it business or scientific. Work stations are also known as multi user operating systems. Workstation computers can also be defined as a system which has more memory than desktop computers, large graphics display and possesses a leading-edge processor. Work stations computers are primarily used in real-time simulations and other scientific fields of research. In simple words a computer generally used at an office or a lab is known as a workstation. It can also be stated that if a computer can be called a work station if it is connected to a local area network.

Workstations offer higher performance than personal computers and they are better at handling multiple tasks simultaneously. The CPU and the graphical functions of workstation computers are especially of higher performance. Because workstations are all interconnected, they are great at visualisation and working at large amounts of complex data. Workstations are having high-resolution displays which help display data in a much better manner. Presently, workstations market it dominated by bigger players like – Dell, Sun Microsystems etc.

The first work station auto workstation computer was Xerox’ Palo Alto Research Station and it was made in March 1973. Although, some consider IBM 1620 to be the world’s first scientific computer which can be designated as a workstation; IBM 1620 was launched in 1959. The requirements of CAD/CAM systems were also a reason for the initial development of workstation computers. These early microcomputers were designed as the parts of a bigger system (network). An advantage of these microcomputers was that they could support a number of users instead of being reserved exclusively for only one person. The concept was pioneered when the Massachusetts Institute of Technology launched its Lisp Machines in the 1970s. Network workstations came into being in the 1980s. The workstations in those times used to be considerably expensive than regular PCs. This was because they used very expensive components. The gap between the costs of regular PC and workstation is still not small as workstation still cost significantly more than a regular PC.

The first thing that differs a workstation from a regular computer is the software used in it. Workstations usually have faster processors, larger hard drives and more RAM. Because workstations are used at organisations, they occasionally lack functions like saving data etc. While workstations use the same operating system as a normal PC, the operating system used by the workstations are often modified to perform more specific functions more efficiently.

The one thing that is common about all workstations is that they are always connected to a network. Each workstation on the network is called a node. Workstations computers are connected to a central network and they workstations are differentiated from each other via their domain names; often require an individual operator to put in the domain name. In short, workstations lie somewhere between a microcomputer and a personal computer.