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Aworkstation is a special computer designed for technical orscientific applications.[2] Intended primarily to be used by a single user,[2] they are commonly connected to alocal area network and runmulti-useroperating systems. The termworkstation has been used loosely to refer to everything from amainframe computer terminal to aPC connected to anetwork, but the most common form refers to the class of hardware offered by several current and defunct companies such asSun Microsystems,[3]Silicon Graphics,Apollo Computer,[4]DEC,HP,NeXT, andIBM which powered the3D computer graphics revolution of the late 1990s.[5]
Workstations formerly offered higher performance than mainstreampersonal computers, especially inCPU,graphics, memory, and multitasking. Workstations are optimized for thevisualization and manipulation of different types of complex data such as 3D mechanical design, engineering simulations likecomputational fluid dynamics,animation,video editing,image editing,medical imaging, image rendering,computational science, generating mathematical plots, andsoftware development. Typically, theform factor is that of adesktop computer, which consists of a high-resolution display, akeyboard, and amouse at a minimum, but also offers multiple displays,graphics tablets, and3D mice for manipulating objects and navigating scenes. Workstations were the first segment of the computer market[6] to present advanced accessories, and collaboration tools likevideoconferencing.[5]
The increasing capabilities of mainstream PCs since the late 1990s have reduced distinction between the PCs and workstations.[7] Typical 1980s workstations have expensive proprietary hardware and operating systems to categorically distinguish from standardized PCs. From the 1990s and 2000s,IBM'sRS/6000 andIntelliStation haveRISC-basedPOWER CPUs runningAIX, versus its corporateIBM PC Series and consumerAptiva PCs that have Intel x86 CPUs and usually runningMicrosoft Windows. However, by the early 2000s, this difference largely disappeared, since workstations use highlycommoditized hardware dominated by large PC vendors, such asDell,HP Inc., andFujitsu, sellingx86-64 systems runningWindows orLinux.
Workstations are older than the firstpersonal computer (PC).[8] The first computer that might qualify as a workstation is theIBM 1620, a small scientific computer designed to be used interactively by a single person sitting at the console.[9] It was introduced in 1959.[10] One peculiar feature of the machine is that it lacks any arithmetic circuitry.[11] To perform addition, it requires a memory-resident table of decimal addition rules.[12] This reduced the cost of logic circuitry, enabling IBM to make it inexpensive. The machine iscodenamed CADET and was initially rented for $1000 per month.
In 1965, theIBM 1130 scientific computer became the successor to 1620. Both of these systems runFortran and other languages.[13] They are built into roughly desk-sized cabinets, with console typewriters. They have optional add-on disk drives, printers, and both paper-tape and punched-card I/O.
Early workstations were generally dedicatedminicomputers, a multiuser system reserved for one user.[8] For example, thePDP-8 fromDigital Equipment Corporation, is regarded as the first commercial minicomputer.[14]
Workstations have historically been more advanced than contemporary PCs, with more powerful CPU architectures, earlier networking, more advanced graphics, more memory, and multitasking with sophisticated operating systems like Unix. Because of their minicomputer heritage, from the start workstations have run professional and expensive software such as CAD and graphics design, as opposed to PCs' games and text editors.[8] TheLisp machines developed atMIT in the early 1970s pioneered some workstation principles, as high-performance, networked, single-user systems intended for heavily interactive use. Lisp Machines were commercialized beginning 1980 by companies likeSymbolics,Lisp Machines,Texas Instruments (theTI Explorer), andXerox (theInterlisp-D workstations). The first computer designed for a single user, with high-resolution graphics (and so a workstation in the modern sense), is theAlto developed atXerox PARC in 1973.[15] Other early workstations include theTerak 8510/a (1977),[16]Three Rivers PERQ (1979), and the laterXerox Star (1981).
In the early 1980s, with the advent of32-bitmicroprocessors such as theMotorola 68000, several new competitors appeared, includingApollo Computer andSun Microsystems,[17] with workstations based on 68000 andUnix.[18][19] Meanwhile,DARPA'sVLSI Project created several spinoff graphics products, such as theSilicon Graphics3130. Target markets were differentiated, with Sun and Apollo considered to be network workstations and SGI as graphics workstations.RISC CPUs increased in the mid-1980s, typical of workstation vendors.[20] Competition between RISC vendors lowered CPU prices to as little as $10 per MIPS, much less expensive than theIntel 80386;[21] after large price cuts in 1987 and 1988, a personal workstation suitable for 2D CAD costing$5,000 (equivalent to $13,000 in 2024) to$25,000 (equivalent to $63,000 in 2024) was available from multiple vendors. Mid-range models capable of 3D graphics cost from$35,000 (equivalent to $89,000 in 2024) to$60,000 (equivalent to $152,000 in 2024), while high-end models overlapping with minicomputers cost from$80,000 (equivalent to $203,000 in 2024) to$100,000 (equivalent to $254,000 in 2024) or more.[22]
By then a$12,000 (equivalent to $30,000 in 2024) "personal workstation" might be a high-end PC likeMacintosh II orIBM PS/2 Model 80, low-end workstation, or a hybrid device like theNeXT Computer, all with similar, overlapping specifications.[8] One differentiator between PC and workstation was that the latter was much more likely to have agraphics accelerator with support for a graphics standard likePHIGS orX Window, while the former usually depended onsoftware rendering or proprietary accelerators. Thecomputer animation industry's needs typically caused improvements in graphical technology, with CAD using the same improvements later.[22]BYTE predicted in 1989 "Soon, the only way we'll be able to tell the difference between traditional workstations and PCs will be by the operating system they run", with the former running Unix and the latter runningOS/2,classic Mac OS, and/or Unix. Many workstations by then had some method to run increasingly popular and powerful PC software such asLotus 1-2-3 orMicrosoft Word.[8] The magazine demonstrated that year that an individual could build a workstation with commodity components with specifications comparable to commercially available low-end workstations.[23]
Workstations often featuredSCSI orFibre Channel disk storage systems, high-end3D accelerators, single or multiple64-bitprocessors,[24] large amounts ofRAM, 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.
Workstations diversified to the lowest possible price point as opposed to performance, called thethin client ornetwork computer. Dependent upon a network and server, this reduces the machine to having no hard drive, and only the CPU, keyboard, mouse, and screen. Somediskless nodes still run a traditional operating system and perform computations locally, with storage on a remoteserver.[25] These are intended to reduce the initial system purchase cost, and thetotal cost of ownership, by reducing the amount of administration required per user.[26]
This approach was first attempted as a replacement for PCs in office productivity applications, with the3Station by3Com. In the 1990s,X terminals filled a similar role for technical computing. Sun'sthin clients include theSun Ray product line.[27] However, traditional workstations and PCs continued to drop in price and complexity as remote management tools for IT staff became available, undercutting this market.
A high-end workstation of the early 1980s with the three Ms, or a "3M computer" (coined by Raj Reddy and his colleagues at CMU), has one megabyte of RAM, a megapixel display (roughly 1000×1000 pixels), and one "MegaFLOPS" compute performance (at least one million floating-point operations per second).[28] RFC 782 defines the workstation environment more generally as "hardware and software dedicated to serve a single user", and that it provisions additional shared resources. This is at least one order of magnitude beyond the capacity of the personal computer of the time. The original 1981IBM Personal Computer has 16 KB memory, a text-only display, and floating-point performance around1 kFLOPS (30 kFLOPS with the optional 8087 math coprocessor. Other features beyond the typical personal computer include networking, graphics acceleration, and high-speed internal and peripheral data buses.
Another goal was to bring the price below one "megapenny", that is, less than$10,000 (equivalent to $29,000 in 2024), which was achieved in the late 1980s. Throughout the early to mid-1990s, many workstations cost from$15,000 to$100,000 (equivalent to $206,000 in 2024) or more.
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:[29]
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Since the late 1990s, the workstation and consumer markets have further merged. Many low-end workstation components are now the same as the consumer market, and the price differential narrowed. For example, mostMacintosh Quadra computers were originally intended for scientific or design work, all with theMotorola 68040 CPU, backward compatible with68000 Macintoshes. The consumerMacintosh IIcx andMacintosh IIci models can be upgraded to theQuadra 700. "In an era when many professionals preferred Silicon Graphics workstations, the Quadra 700 was an intriguing option at a fraction of the cost" as resource-intensive software such asInfini-D brought "studio-quality 3D rendering and animations to the home desktop". The Quadra 700 can runA/UX 3.0, making it aUnix workstation.[31] Another example is theNvidiaGeForce 256 consumer graphics card, which spawned theQuadro workstation card, which has the same GPU but different driver support and certifications for CAD applications and a much higher price.
Workstations have typically driven advancements in CPU technology. All computers benefit from multi-processor and multicore designs (essentially, multiple processors on adie). The multicore design was pioneered by IBM'sPOWER4; it and Intel Xeon have multiple CPUs, more on-die cache, and ECC memory.
Some workstations are designed or certified for use with only one specific application such asAutoCAD,Avid Xpress Studio HD, or3D Studio Max. The certification process increases workstation prices.
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Modern workstations are typicallydesktop computers withAMD orNVIDIA GPUs to dohigh-performance computing on software programs such asvideo editing,3D modeling,computer-aided design, andrendering.[32]
By January 2009, allRISC-based workstation product lines had been discontinued:
In early 2018, RISC workstations were reintroduced in a series ofIBMPOWER9-based systems by Raptor Computing Systems.[37][38] In October of 2024 System 76 introduces The Thelio Astra an Arm workstation aim for autonomous car industry.[39]
Most of the current workstation market uses x86-64 microprocessors. Operating systems includeWindows,FreeBSD,Linux distributions,macOS, andSolaris.[40] Some vendors also market commodity mono-socket systems as workstations.
These are three types of workstations:
A high-end desktop market segment includes workstations, with PC operating systems and components. Component product lines may be segmented, with premium components that are functionally similar to the consumer models but with higher robustness or performance.[42]
A workstation-class PC may have some of the following features:
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