Criteria for selecting and interconnecting micro, mini, midi and maxi computers

Four commonly accepted computer classes today are: micro, mini, midi and maxi. The dominant parameter which gives rise to this categorization is price, which varies from a ten dollar microprocessor chip to a ten million dollar maxi. This paper attempts to identify other parameters associated with each class in order to provide a mechanism for determining optimization of computer use. Trends towards increased parallelism at both ends of the spectrum are discussed. Finally, a method is described for interconnecting all classes of computers and peripherals at a site to form an installation network.