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{{about |the type of computer|workstations in music production|music workstation|furniture|cubicle|and|computer desk}} |
{{about |the type of computer|workstations in music production|music workstation|furniture|cubicle|and|computer desk}} |
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{{short description|High-end computer designed for technical or scientific applications}} |
{{short description|High-end computer designed for technical or scientific applications}} |
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{{AFI}} |
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{{More citations needed |date=July 2010}} |
{{More citations needed |date=July 2010}} |
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[[File:Sun SparcStation 10 with CRT.jpg|250px|thumb|[[Sun Microsystems|Sun]] [[SPARCstation|SPARCstation 10]] with [[CRT monitor]], from the early 1990s]] |
[[File:Sun SparcStation 10 with CRT.jpg|250px|thumb|[[Sun Microsystems|Sun]] [[SPARCstation|SPARCstation 10]] with [[CRT monitor]], from the early 1990s]] |
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A '''workstation''' is a special computer designed for technical or [[computational science|scientific]] applications.<ref>{{ |
A '''workstation''' is a special computer designed for technical or [[computational science|scientific]] applications.<ref name=":0">{{Citation |title=workstation {{!}} Definition & Facts {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/technology/workstation |work=www.britannica.com |language=en |access-date=2021-12-05}}</ref> Intended primarily to be used by a single user,<ref name=":0" /> they are commonly connected to a [[local area network]] and run [[multi-user]] [[operating system]]s. The term ''workstation'' has also been used loosely to refer to everything from a [[mainframe computer]] terminal to a [[Personal computer|PC]] connected to a [[Computer network|network]], but the most common form refers to the class of hardware offered by several current and defunct companies such as [[Sun Microsystems]],<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Bechtolsheim|first=Andreas|last2=Baskett|first2=Forest|date=1980|title=High-performance raster graphics for microcomputer systems|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/800250.807466|journal=Proceedings of the 7th annual conference on Computer graphics and interactive techniques - SIGGRAPH '80|location=New York, New York, USA|publisher=ACM Press|doi=10.1145/800250.807466}}</ref> [[Silicon Graphics]], [[Apollo Computer]],<ref>{{Cite journal|date=May 2018|title=US and India sign neutrino pact|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/2058-7058/31/5/23|journal=Physics World|volume=31|issue=5|pages=13–13|doi=10.1088/2058-7058/31/5/23|issn=0953-8585}}</ref> [[Digital Equipment Corporation|DEC]], [[Hewlett-Packard|HP]], [[NeXT]] and [[IBM]] which opened the door for the [[3D computer graphics|3D graphics animation]] revolution of the late 1990s. |
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Workstations offer higher performance than mainstream [[personal computer]]s, especially with respect to [[Central processing unit|CPU]] and [[Graphics processing unit|graphics]], memory capacity, and multitasking capability. Workstations are optimized for the [[Visualization (graphics)|visualization]] and manipulation of different types of complex data such as 3D mechanical design, engineering simulations (e.g., [[computational fluid dynamics]]), animation and rendering of images, and mathematical plots. Typically, the [[Form factor (design)|form factor]] is that of a [[desktop computer]], consists of a high resolution display, a [[computer keyboard|keyboard]] and a [[Mouse (computer)|mouse]] at a minimum, but also offers multiple displays, [[graphics tablet]]s, [[Computer mouse|3D mice]] (devices for manipulating 3D objects and navigating scenes), etc. Workstations were the first segment of the [https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210623005540/en/Global-Personal-Computers-Market-Report-2021-to-2030---COVID-19-Impact-and-Recovery---ResearchAndMarkets.com computer market] to present advanced accessories and [[videoconferencing|collaboration tools]]. |
Workstations offer higher performance than mainstream [[personal computer]]s, especially with respect to [[Central processing unit|CPU]] and [[Graphics processing unit|graphics]], memory capacity, and multitasking capability. Workstations are optimized for the [[Visualization (graphics)|visualization]] and manipulation of different types of complex data such as 3D mechanical design, engineering simulations (e.g., [[computational fluid dynamics]]), animation, and rendering of images, and mathematical plots. Typically, the [[Form factor (design)|form factor]] is that of a [[desktop computer]], consists of a high resolution display, a [[computer keyboard|keyboard]] and a [[Mouse (computer)|mouse]] at a minimum, but also offers multiple displays, [[graphics tablet]]s, [[Computer mouse|3D mice]] (devices for manipulating 3D objects and navigating scenes), etc. Workstations were the first segment of the [https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210623005540/en/Global-Personal-Computers-Market-Report-2021-to-2030---COVID-19-Impact-and-Recovery---ResearchAndMarkets.com computer market] to present advanced accessories and [[videoconferencing|collaboration tools]]. |
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The increasing capabilities of mainstream PCs in the late 1990s have blurred the lines between PCs and technical/scientific workstations.<ref>{{ |
The increasing capabilities of mainstream PCs in the late 1990s have blurred the lines between PCs and technical/scientific workstations.<ref>{{Citation |title=Workstation Computer |url=https://www.oidairweb.online/2021/06/workstation-computer.html |work=OIDair WEB |language=en |access-date=2021-12-05}}</ref> Typical workstations previously employed proprietary hardware which made them distinct from PCs; for instance IBM used [[RISC]]-based CPUs for its workstations and Intel x86 CPUs for its business/consumer PCs during the 1990s and 2000s. However, by the early 2000s this difference largely disappeared, as workstations now use highly [[Commoditization|commoditized]] hardware dominated by large PC vendors, such as [[Dell]], [[Hewlett-Packard]] (later [[HP Inc.]] and [[Hewlett Packard Enterprise]]) and [[Fujitsu]], selling [[Microsoft Windows]] or [[Linux]] systems running on [[x86-64]] processors. |
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==History== |
==History== |
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Workstations tended to be very expensive, typically several times the cost of a standard PC and sometimes costing as much as a new [[automobile|car]]. However, minicomputers sometimes cost as much as a house. The high expense usually came from using costlier components that ran faster than those found at the local computer store, as well as the inclusion of features not found in PCs of the time, such as high-speed networking and sophisticated graphics. Workstation manufacturers also tend to take a "balanced" approach to system design, making certain to avoid bottlenecks so that data can flow unimpeded between the many different subsystems within a computer. Additionally, workstations, given their more specialized nature, tend to have higher [[profit margin]]s than [[commodity]]-driven PCs. |
Workstations tended to be very expensive, typically several times the cost of a standard PC and sometimes costing as much as a new [[automobile|car]]. However, minicomputers sometimes cost as much as a house. The high expense usually came from using costlier components that ran faster than those found at the local computer store, as well as the inclusion of features not found in PCs of the time, such as high-speed networking and sophisticated graphics. Workstation manufacturers also tend to take a "balanced" approach to system design, making certain to avoid bottlenecks so that data can flow unimpeded between the many different subsystems within a computer. Additionally, workstations, given their more specialized nature, tend to have higher [[profit margin]]s than [[commodity]]-driven PCs. |
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The systems that come out of workstation companies often feature [[SCSI]] or [[Fibre Channel]] disk storage systems, high-end [[3D accelerator]]s, single or multiple [[64-bit]] [[central processing unit|processors]], large amounts of [[Random-access memory|RAM]], and well-designed cooling. Additionally, the companies that make the products tend to have comprehensive repair/replacement plans. As the distinction between workstation and PC fades, however, workstation manufacturers have increasingly employed "off the shelf" PC components and graphics solutions rather than proprietary hardware or software. Some "low-cost" workstations are still expensive by PC standards |
The systems that come out of workstation companies often feature [[SCSI]] or [[Fibre Channel]] disk storage systems, high-end [[3D accelerator]]s, single or multiple [[64-bit]] [[central processing unit|processors]], large amounts of [[Random-access memory|RAM]], and well-designed cooling. Additionally, the companies that make the products tend to have comprehensive repair/replacement plans. As the distinction between workstation and PC fades, however, workstation manufacturers have increasingly employed "off the shelf" PC components and graphics solutions rather than proprietary hardware or software. Some "low-cost" workstations are still expensive by PC standards but offer binary compatibility with higher-end workstations and servers made by the same vendor. This allows software development to take place on low-cost (relative to the server) desktop machines. |
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===Graphics workstations=== |
===Graphics workstations=== |
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===Thin clients and X terminals=== |
===Thin clients and X terminals=== |
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There have been several attempts to produce a [[network computer|workstation-like machine]] specifically for the lowest possible price point as opposed to performance. One approach is to remove local storage and reduce the machine to the processor, keyboard, mouse and screen. In some cases, these ''[[diskless node]]s'' would still run a traditional operating system and perform computations locally, with storage on a remote [[Server (computing)|server]]. These approaches are intended not just to reduce the initial system purchase cost, but lower the [[total cost of ownership]] by reducing the amount of administration required per user. |
There have been several attempts to produce a [[network computer|workstation-like machine]] specifically for the lowest possible price point as opposed to performance. One approach is to remove local storage and reduce the machine to the processor, keyboard, mouse, and screen. In some cases, these ''[[diskless node]]s'' would still run a traditional operating system and perform computations locally, with storage on a remote [[Server (computing)|server]]. These approaches are intended not just to reduce the initial system purchase cost, but lower the [[total cost of ownership]] by reducing the amount of administration required per user. |
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This approach was actually first attempted as a replacement for PCs in office productivity applications, with the [[3Station]] by [[3Com]] as an early example; in the 1990s, [[X terminal]]s filled a similar role for technical computing. Sun has also introduced "[[thin client]]s", most notably its [[Sun Ray]] product line. However, traditional workstations and PCs continue to drop in price, which tends to undercut the market for products of this type. |
This approach was actually first attempted as a replacement for PCs in office productivity applications, with the [[3Station]] by [[3Com]] as an early example; in the 1990s, [[X terminal]]s filled a similar role for technical computing. Sun has also introduced "[[thin client]]s", most notably its [[Sun Ray]] product line. However, traditional workstations and PCs continue to drop in price, which tends to undercut the market for products of this type. |
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===3M computer=== |
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{{Main|3M computer}} |
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[[File:NeXTstation Turbo Color 2.jpeg|thumb|A [[NeXTstation]] graphics workstation from 1990]] |
[[File:NeXTstation Turbo Color 2.jpeg|thumb|A [[NeXTstation]] graphics workstation from 1990]] |
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[[File:sony news.jpg|thumb|[[Sony NEWS]] workstation: 2x [[68030]] @ 25 MHz, 1280x1024 256-color display]] |
[[File:sony news.jpg|thumb|[[Sony NEWS]] workstation: 2x [[68030]] @ 25 MHz, 1280x1024 256-color display]] |
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[[File:Six HP workstations.jpg|right|thumb|Six workstations: four HP Z620, one HP Z820, one HP Z420.]] |
[[File:Six HP workstations.jpg|right|thumb|Six workstations: four HP Z620, one HP Z820, one HP Z420.]] |
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In the early 1980s, a high-end workstation had to meet the three Ms. The so-called " |
In the early 1980s, a high-end workstation had to meet the three Ms. The so-called "3M computer" had a Megabyte of memory, a Megapixel display (roughly 1000×1000), and a "[[megaflop|MegaFLOPS]]" compute performance (at least one million floating-point operations per second).<ref>Andries van Dam; David H. Laidlaw; Rosemary Michelle Simpson (2002-08-04). "Experiments in Immersive Virtual Reality for Scientific Visualization". Computers & Graphics. 26 (4): 535–555. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.4.9249. doi:10.1016/S0097-8493(02)00113-9. In the early 1980s Raj Reddy and his colleagues at CMU coined the term '3M Machine'.</ref>{{Efn | RFC 782 defined the workstation environment more generally as ''hardware and software dedicated to serve a single user'', and that it provide for the use of additional shared resources.}} As limited as this seems today, it was at least an order of magnitude beyond the capacity of the personal computer of the time; the original 1981 [[IBM Personal Computer]] had 16 KB memory, a text-only display, and floating-point performance around 1 kiloFLOPS (30 kiloFLOPS with the optional 8087 math coprocessor). Other desirable features not found in desktop computers at that time included networking, graphics acceleration, and high-speed internal and peripheral data buses. |
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Another goal was to bring the price for such a system down under a " |
Another goal was to bring the price for such a system down under a "Megapenny", that is, less than $10,000;<ref>{{Citation |title=megapenny |date=2020-09-21 |url=https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=megapenny&oldid=60446027 |work=Wiktionary |language=en |access-date=2021-12-05}}</ref> this was not achieved until the late 1980s, although many workstations, particularly mid-range or high-end still cost anywhere from $15,000 to $100,000 and over throughout the early to mid-1990s. |
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===Trends leading to decline=== |
===Trends leading to decline=== |
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The more widespread adoption of these technologies into mainstream PCs was a direct factor in the decline of the workstation as a separate market segment: |
The more widespread adoption of these technologies into mainstream PCs was a direct factor in the decline of the workstation as a separate market segment: |
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⚫ | * Extremely reliable components: together with multiple CPUs with greater cache and error-correcting memory, this may remain the distinguishing feature of a workstation today. Although most technologies implemented in modern workstations are also available at a lower cost for the consumer market, finding good components and making sure they work compatibly with each other is a great challenge in workstation building. Because workstations are designed for high-end tasks such as weather forecasting, video rendering, and game design, it is taken for granted that these systems must be running under full-load, non-stop for several hours or even days without issue. Any off-the-shelf components can be used to build a workstation, but the reliability of such components under such rigorous conditions is uncertain. For this reason, almost no workstations are built by the customer themselves but rather purchased from a vendor such as [[Hewlett-Packard]] / [[HP Inc.]], [[Fujitsu]], [[IBM]] / [[Lenovo]], [[Sun Microsystems]], [[Silicon Graphics|SGI]], [[Apple Inc.|Apple]], or [[Dell]]. |
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⚫ | * High-performance [[Central processing unit|CPUs]]: while [[Reduced instruction set computing|RISC]] in its early days (early 1980s) offered roughly an order-of-magnitude performance improvement over [[Complex instruction set computer|CISC]] processors of comparable cost, one particular family of CISC processors, [[Intel]]'s [[x86]], always had the edge in market share and the [[economies of scale]] that this implied. By the mid-1990s, some x86 CPUs had achieved performance on |
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* Hardware support for [[floating-point]] operations: optional on the original IBM PC; remained on a separate chip for Intel systems until the [[80486DX]] processor. Even then, x86 floating-point performance continued to lag behind other processors due to limitations in its architecture. Today even low-price PCs now have performance in the gigaFLOPS range. |
* Hardware support for [[floating-point]] operations: optional on the original IBM PC; remained on a separate chip for Intel systems until the [[80486DX]] processor. Even then, x86 floating-point performance continued to lag behind other processors due to limitations in its architecture. Today even low-price PCs now have performance in the gigaFLOPS range. |
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⚫ | * High-performance [[3D computer graphics|3D graphics]] hardware for computer-aided design (CAD) and [[computer-generated imagery]] (CGI) animation: though this is increasingly popular in the PC market around the mid-to-late 1990s mostly driven by computer gaming. For [[Nvidia]], the integration of the transform and lighting hardware into the GPU itself set the [[GeForce 256]] apart from older 3D accelerators that relied on the CPU to perform these calculations (also known as software transform and lighting). This reduction of 3D graphics solution complexity brought the cost of such hardware to a new low and made it accessible to cheap consumers [[graphics card]]s instead of being limited to the previous expensive, professionally-oriented niche designed for computer-aided design (CAD). NV10's T&L engine also allowed Nvidia to enter the CAD market for the first time, with the Quadro line that uses the same silicon chips as the GeForce cards but has different driver support and certifications tailored to the unique requirements of CAD applications. However, users could soft-mod the GeForce such that it could perform many of the tasks intended for the much more expensive Quadro. |
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⚫ | * High-performance [[Central processing unit|CPUs]]: while [[Reduced instruction set computing|RISC]] in its early days (the early 1980s) offered roughly an order-of-magnitude performance improvement over [[Complex instruction set computer|CISC]] processors of comparable cost, one particular family of CISC processors, [[Intel]]'s [[x86]], always had the edge in market share and the [[economies of scale]] that this implied. By the mid-1990s, some x86 CPUs had achieved performance on parity with RISC in some areas, such as integer performance (albeit at the cost of greater chip complexity), relegating the latter to even more high-end markets for the most part. |
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⚫ | * High-performance/high-capacity data storage: early workstations tended to use proprietary disk interfaces until the emergence of the SCSI standard in the mid-1980s. Although SCSI interfaces soon became available for PCs, they were comparatively expensive and tended to be limited by the speed of the PC's [[Industry Standard Architecture|ISA]] peripheral bus (although SCSI did become standard on the [[Apple Macintosh]]). SCSI is an advanced controller interface that is particularly good where the disk has to cope with multiple requests at once. This makes it suited for use in servers, but its benefits to desktop PCs which mostly run single-user operating systems are less clear. These days, with desktop systems acquiring more multi-user capabilities, the new disk interface of choice is [[Serial ATA]], which has a throughput comparable to SCSI but at a lower cost. |
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⚫ | * High-speed [[computer network|networking]] (10 Mbit/s or better): 10 Mbit/s network interfaces were commonly available for PCs by the early 1990s, although by that time workstations were pursuing even higher networking speeds, moving to 100 Mbit/s, 1 Gbit/s, and 10 Gbit/s. However, economies of scale and the demand for high-speed networking in even non-technical areas have dramatically decreased the time it takes for newer networking technologies to reach commodity price points. |
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* Large memory configurations: PCs (i.e. IBM-compatibles) were originally limited to a 640 KB memory capacity (not counting [[Bank switching|bank-switched]] "expanded memory") until the 1982 introduction of the [[80286]] processor; early workstations provided access to several megabytes of memory. Even after PCs broke the 640 KB limit with the 80286, special programming techniques were required to address significant amounts of memory until the 80386, as opposed to other 32-bit processors such as [[SPARC]] which provided straightforward access to nearly their entire 4 GB memory address range. 64-bit workstations and servers supporting an address range far beyond 4 GB have been available since the early 1990s, a technology just beginning to appear in the PC desktop and server market in the mid-2000s. |
* Large memory configurations: PCs (i.e. IBM-compatibles) were originally limited to a 640 KB memory capacity (not counting [[Bank switching|bank-switched]] "expanded memory") until the 1982 introduction of the [[80286]] processor; early workstations provided access to several megabytes of memory. Even after PCs broke the 640 KB limit with the 80286, special programming techniques were required to address significant amounts of memory until the 80386, as opposed to other 32-bit processors such as [[SPARC]] which provided straightforward access to nearly their entire 4 GB memory address range. 64-bit workstations and servers supporting an address range far beyond 4 GB have been available since the early 1990s, a technology just beginning to appear in the PC desktop and server market in the mid-2000s. |
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* [[Operating system]]: early workstations ran the [[Unix]] operating system (OS), a [[Unix-like]] variant, or an unrelated equivalent OS such as [[OpenVMS|VMS]]. The PC CPUs of the time had limitations in memory capacity and [[protected mode|memory access protection]], making them unsuitable to run OSes of this sophistication, but this, too, began to change in the late 1980s as PCs with the [[32-bit]] [[80386]] with integrated paged [[Memory management unit|MMUs]] became widely affordable. |
* [[Operating system]]: early workstations ran the [[Unix]] operating system (OS), a [[Unix-like]] variant, or an unrelated equivalent OS such as [[OpenVMS|VMS]]. The PC CPUs of the time had limitations in memory capacity and [[protected mode|memory access protection]], making them unsuitable to run OSes of this sophistication, but this, too, began to change in the late 1980s as PCs with the [[32-bit]] [[80386]] with integrated paged [[Memory management unit|MMUs]] became widely affordable. |
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⚫ | * Tight integration between the OS and the hardware: Workstation vendors both design the hardware and maintain the Unix operating system variant that runs on it. This allows for much more rigorous testing than is possible with an operating system such as Windows. Windows requires that third-party hardware vendors write compliant hardware drivers that are stable and reliable. Also, minor variations in hardware quality such as timing or build quality can affect the reliability of the overall machine. Workstation vendors are able to ensure both the quality of the hardware, and the stability of the operating system drivers by validating these things in-house, and this leads to a generally much more reliable and stable machine. |
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⚫ | * High-speed [[computer network|networking]] (10 Mbit/s or better): 10 Mbit/s network interfaces were commonly available for PCs by the early 1990s, although by that time workstations were pursuing even higher networking speeds, moving to 100 Mbit/s, 1 Gbit/s, and 10 Gbit/s. However, economies of scale and the demand for high-speed networking in even non-technical areas |
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⚫ | * High-performance [[3D computer graphics|3D graphics]] hardware for computer-aided design (CAD) and [[computer-generated imagery]] (CGI) animation: though this increasingly popular in the PC market around the mid-to-late 1990s mostly driven by computer gaming. For [[Nvidia]], the integration of the transform and lighting hardware into the GPU itself set the [[GeForce 256]] apart from older 3D accelerators that relied on the CPU to perform these calculations (also known as software transform and lighting). This reduction of 3D graphics solution complexity brought the cost of such hardware to a new low and made it accessible to cheap |
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⚫ | * High-performance/high-capacity data storage: early workstations tended to use proprietary disk interfaces until the emergence of the SCSI standard in the mid-1980s. Although SCSI interfaces soon became available for PCs, they were comparatively expensive and tended to be limited by the speed of the PC's [[Industry Standard Architecture|ISA]] peripheral bus (although SCSI did become standard on the [[Apple Macintosh]]). SCSI is an advanced controller interface |
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⚫ | * Extremely reliable components: together with multiple CPUs with greater cache and error-correcting memory, this may remain the distinguishing feature of a workstation today. Although most technologies implemented in modern workstations are also available at lower cost for the consumer market, finding good components and making sure they work compatibly with each other is a great challenge in workstation building. Because workstations are designed for high-end tasks such as weather forecasting, video rendering, and game design, it is taken for granted that these systems must be running under full-load, non-stop for several hours or even days without issue. Any off-the-shelf components can be used to build a workstation, but the reliability of such components under such rigorous conditions is uncertain. For this reason, almost no workstations are built by the customer themselves but rather purchased from a vendor such as [[Hewlett-Packard]] / [[HP Inc.]], [[Fujitsu]], [[IBM]] / [[Lenovo]], [[Sun Microsystems]], [[Silicon Graphics|SGI]], [[Apple Inc.|Apple]], or [[Dell]]. |
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⚫ | * Tight integration between the OS and the hardware: Workstation vendors both design the hardware and maintain the Unix operating system variant that runs on it. This allows for much more rigorous testing than is possible with an operating system such as Windows. Windows requires that third-party hardware vendors write compliant hardware drivers that are stable and reliable. Also, minor |
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===Place in the market=== |
===Place in the market=== |
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[[File:Sun Ultra 20 Workstation (2005).jpeg|thumb|[[Sun Ultra series|Sun Ultra 20]] with [[AMD]] [[Opteron]] processor and [[Solaris (operating system)|Solaris 10]]]] |
[[File:Sun Ultra 20 Workstation (2005).jpeg|thumb|[[Sun Ultra series|Sun Ultra 20]] with [[AMD]] [[Opteron]] processor and [[Solaris (operating system)|Solaris 10]]]] |
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Since the turn of the millennium, the definition of "workstation" has blurred to some extent. Many of the components used in lower-end "workstations" are now the same as those used in the consumer market, and the price differential between the lower-end workstation and consumer PCs can be narrower than it once was (and in certain cases in the high-end consumer market, such as the "enthusiast" game market, it can be difficult to tell what qualifies as a "[[Desktop computer|desktop PC]]" and a "workstation"). In another instance, the [[Nvidia]] [[GeForce 256]] graphics card spawned the [[Nvidia Quadro|Quadro]], which had the same GPU but different driver support and certifications tailored to the unique requirements of CAD applications and retailed for a much higher price, so many took to using the GeForce as a "poor-man's" workstation card since the hardware was largely as capable plus it could be soft-modded to unlock features nominally exclusive to the Quadro.<ref>{{ |
Since the turn of the millennium, the definition of "workstation" has blurred to some extent. Many of the components used in lower-end "workstations" are now the same as those used in the consumer market, and the price differential between the lower-end workstation and consumer PCs can be narrower than it once was (and in certain cases in the high-end consumer market, such as the "enthusiast" game market, it can be difficult to tell what qualifies as a "[[Desktop computer|desktop PC]]" and a "workstation"). In another instance, the [[Nvidia]] [[GeForce 256]] graphics card spawned the [[Nvidia Quadro|Quadro]], which had the same GPU but different driver support and certifications tailored to the unique requirements of CAD applications and retailed for a much higher price, so many took to using the GeForce as a "poor-man's" workstation card since the hardware was largely as capable plus it could be soft-modded to unlock features nominally exclusive to the Quadro.<ref>{{Citation |title=Workstation Products |url=http://www.nvidia.com/page/workstation.html |publisher=Nvidia |access-date=2007-10-02}}</ref> |
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Workstations have typically been the drivers of advancements in CPU technology. Although both the consumer desktop and the workstation benefit from CPUs designed around the multicore concept (essentially, multiple processors on a [[die (integrated circuit)|die]], the application of which IBM's [[POWER4]] was a pioneer), modern workstations typically use multiple multicore CPUs, error-correcting memory and much larger on-die caches than those found on "consumer-level" CPUs. Such power and reliability are not normally required on a general desktop computer. IBM's POWER-based processor boards and the workstation-level Intel-based Xeon processor boards, for example, have multiple CPUs, more on-die cache and ECC memory, which are features more suited to demanding content-creation, engineering and scientific work than to general desktop computing. |
Workstations have typically been the drivers of advancements in CPU technology. Although both the consumer desktop and the workstation benefit from CPUs designed around the multicore concept (essentially, multiple processors on a [[die (integrated circuit)|die]], the application of which IBM's [[POWER4]] was a pioneer), modern workstations typically use multiple multicore CPUs, error-correcting memory and much larger on-die caches than those found on "consumer-level" CPUs. Such power and reliability are not normally required on a general desktop computer. IBM's POWER-based processor boards and the workstation-level Intel-based Xeon processor boards, for example, have multiple CPUs, more on-die cache and ECC memory, which are features more suited to demanding content-creation, engineering, and scientific work than to general desktop computing. |
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Some workstations are designed for use with only one specific application such as [[AutoCAD]], [[Avid Technology|Avid]] [https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/XpressStuCom--avid-xpress-studio-complete#:~:text=The%20Avid%20Xpress%20Studio%20system,video%20and%20audio%20production%20hardware. Xpress Studio HD], [[3D Studio Max]] |
Some workstations are designed for use with only one specific application such as, for example, [[AutoCAD]], [[Avid Technology|Avid]] [https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/XpressStuCom--avid-xpress-studio-complete#:~:text=The%20Avid%20Xpress%20Studio%20system,video%20and%20audio%20production%20hardware. Xpress Studio HD], or [[3D Studio Max]]. To ensure compatibility with the software, purchasers usually ask for a certificate from the software vendor. The certification process makes the workstation's price jump several notches but for professional purposes, reliability may be more important than the initial purchase cost. |
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==Current workstation market== |
==Current workstation market== |
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===Decline of RISC-based workstations=== |
===Decline of RISC-based workstations=== |
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By January 2009, all [[RISC]]-based workstation product lines had been discontinued: |
By January 2009, all [[RISC]]-based workstation product lines had been discontinued: |
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⚫ | * Hewlett-Packard withdrew its last [[HP 9000]] PA-RISC-based desktop products from the market in January 2008.<ref>{{Citation |title=c8000 Workstation |date=July 2007 |url=http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/Document.jsp?objectID=c01123759&lang=en&cc=us&taskId=101&prodSeriesId=408101&prodTypeId=12454 |contribution=Discontinuance Notice |publisher=HP}}.</ref> |
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* SGI ended general availability of its MIPS-based [[SGI Fuel]] and [[SGI Tezro]] workstations in December 2006.<ref>{{Citation | publisher = Silicon Graphics | url = http://www.sgi.com/services/support/irix_mips.html | title = End of General Availability for MIPS® IRIX® Products |date=December 2006}}</ref> |
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⚫ | * IBM retired the [[IBM IntelliStation#IntelliStation POWER|IntelliStation POWER]] on January 2, 2009.<ref>{{Citation |title=IntelliStation POWER 185 and 285 |url=http://www-01.ibm.com/common/ssi/rep_ca/0/897/ENUS908-170/ENUS908-170.PDF |contribution=Hardware Withdrawal Announcement |publisher=IBM}}.</ref> |
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⚫ | * Hewlett-Packard withdrew its last [[HP 9000]] PA-RISC-based desktop products from the market in January 2008.<ref>{{Citation | |
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* |
* SGI ended general availability of its MIPS-based [[SGI Fuel]] and [[SGI Tezro]] workstations in December 2006.<ref>{{Citation |title=End of General Availability for MIPS® IRIX® Products |date=December 2006 |url=http://www.sgi.com/services/support/irix_mips.html |publisher=Silicon Graphics}}</ref> |
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* Sun Microsystems announced end-of-life for its last [[Sun Ultra]] SPARC workstations in October 2008.<ref>{{Citation |title=A remarketed EOL Sun Ultra 45 workstation |url=http://www.solarsystems.com/products/sun/workstations/multi_processor/ultra_45_workstation |publisher=Solar systems}}.</ref> |
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⚫ | * IBM retired the [[IBM IntelliStation#IntelliStation POWER|IntelliStation POWER]] on January 2, 2009.<ref>{{Citation | |
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Early 2018 saw the reintroduction of commercially available [[RISC]]-based workstations in the form of a series of [[IBM]] [[POWER9]]-based systems by Raptor Computing Systems.<ref>{{Citation | |
Early 2018 saw the reintroduction of commercially available [[RISC]]-based workstations in the form of a series of [[IBM]] [[POWER9]]-based systems by Raptor Computing Systems.<ref>{{Citation |title=Raptor Launching Talos II Lite POWER9 Computer System At A Lower Cost |url=https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Raptor-Talos-2-Lite |publisher=Phoronix}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |title=Raptor Announces "Blackbird" Micro-ATX, Low-Cost POWER9 Motherboard |url=https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Raptor-Blackbird-Announced |publisher=Phoronix}}</ref> |
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===Change to x86-64 workstations=== |
===Change to x86-64 workstations=== |
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===Workstation definition=== |
===Workstation definition=== |
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A significant segment of the desktop market are computers expected to perform as workstations, but using PC operating systems and components. Component manufacturers will often segment their product line, and market premium components |
A significant segment of the desktop market are computers expected to perform as workstations, but using PC operating systems and components. Component manufacturers will often segment their product line, and market premium components that are functionally similar to the cheaper "consumer" models but feature a higher level of robustness or performance. |
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A workstation-class PC may have some of the following features: |
A workstation-class PC may have some of the following features: |
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* Larger number of memory sockets which use [[Registered memory|registered (buffered) modules]] |
* Larger number of memory sockets which use [[Registered memory|registered (buffered) modules]] |
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* Multiple displays |
* Multiple displays |
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* Reliable high-performance graphics card |
* Reliable high-performance graphics card |
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==See also== |
==See also== |
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==References== |
==References== |
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{{Reflist}} |
{{Reflist|30em}} |
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==External links== |
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* {{Commons category-inline|Workstations}} |
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{{Computer sizes}} |
{{Computer sizes}} |