Superminicomputer

Not to be confused with Minisupercomputer.

For other uses, see Supermini (disambiguation).

A superminicomputer, colloquially supermini, is a high-end minicomputer.^[1] The term is used to distinguish the emerging 32-bit architecture midrange computers introduced in the mid to late 1970s from the classical 16-bit systems that preceded them.^[2][3] The development of these computers was driven by the need of applications to address larger memory.^[1] The term midicomputer had been used earlier to refer to these systems.^[4][5] Virtual memory was often an additional criteria that was considered for inclusion in this class of system.^[6] The computational speed of these machines was significantly greater than the 16-bit minicomputers and approached the performance of small mainframe computers.^[7] The name has at times been described as a "frivolous" term created by "marketeers" that lacks a specific definition. Describing a class of system has historically been seen as problematic: "In the computer kingdom, taxonomic classification of equipment is more of a black art than a science."^[8] There is some disagreement about which systems should be included in this class. The origin of the name is uncertain.^[1]

A superminicomputer (Interdata 7/32) preserved in a museum

As technology improved rapidly the distinction between minicomputer and superminicomputer performance blurred.^[9] Companies that sold mainframe computers began to offer machines in the same price and performance range as superminicomputers.^[10] By the mid-1980s microprocessors with the hardware architecture of superminicomputers were used to produce scientific and engineering workstations.^[11] The minicomputer industry then declined through the early 1990s.^[12] The term is now considered obsolete^[13] but still remains of interest for students/researchers of computer history.

Notable companies

Notable manufacturers of superminicomputers in 1980 included: Digital Equipment Corporation, Perkin-Elmer, and Prime Computer.^[14][15] Other makers of systems included SEL/Gould and Data General.^[16] Four years later there were about a dozen companies producing a significant number of superminicomputers.^[17] (see table below)

DEC VAX-11/780 superminicomputer^[18]

Companies and percentage of the superminicomputer market in 1985^[17]

Company	Percent
International Business Machines (IBM)	41.9
Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC)	27.6
Data General	6.0
Prime Computer	5.6
Perkin-Elmer, formerly Interdata	3.4
Wang Laboratories	3.4
Gould, formerly SEL	2.6
Hewlett-Packard	2.2
Honeywell	2.2
Harris Computer Systems	1.7
(other)	3.4

Perkin-Elmer spun off their Data Systems Group in 1985 to form Concurrent Computer Corporation which continued making these systems. Nixdorf Computer, Norsk Data, and Toshiba also produced systems.^[10]

Significant superminicomputers

• Interdata 7/32, 1974^[3]
• Digital Equipment Corporation VAX-11/780, 1978^[19][A]
• Prime Computer 750, 1979^[20]
• Data General Eclipse MV/8000, 1980^[21][B]
• IBM 4361, 1983^[24]
• AT&T 3B20D, 1984^[25]
• IBM 9370, 1987^[12]

1. The VAX-11/780 was the standard by which the performance of other supermincomputers and small mainframes were compared.^[7][18]
2. The design engineering of the Data General Eclipse MV/8000 was chronicled in The Soul of a New Machine by Tracy Kidder, a 1981 Pulitzer Prize winning book.^[22][23]

External links

• The dictionary definition of superminicomputer at Wiktionary