Commodity computing: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 18:00, 13 December 2006

Revision as of 08:38, 28 December 2006

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'''Commodity computing''' is computing done on commodity computers as opposed to supermicrocomputers or boutique computers. Commodity computers are [[computer system]]s manufactured by multiple vendors, incorporated components based on [[open standard]]s. Such systems are said to be based on [[commodity]] components since the standardization process promotes lower costs and less differentiation among vendor's products.

== The History of Commodity Computing ==

InThe the beginning,first computers were large, expensive, complex and proprietary. The move towards commodity computing began when [[Digital Equipment Corporation|DEC]] introduced the [[PDP-8]] in 1965. This was a computer that was relatively small and inexpensive enough that a department could purchase one without convening a meeting of the board of directors. The entire [[minicomputer]] industry sprang up to supply the demand for 'small' computers like the PDP-8. Unfortunately, each of the many different brands of minicomputers had to stand on their own because there was no software and very little hardware compatibility between them.

When the first general purpose [[microprocessor]] was introduced in 1974 it immediately began chipping away at the low end of the computer market, replacing [[embedded system|embedded minicomputers]] in many industrial devices.

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The old processor architectures began to fall, first minis, then [[supermini]]s, and finally [[Mainframe computer|mainframes]]. By the mid 1990s, every computer made was based on a microprocessor, and most were microcomputers compatible with IBM PC. Although there was a time when every traditional computer manufacturer had its own proprietary micro-based designs there are only a few manufacturers of non-commodity computer systems today. However, super microcomputers (large-scale computer systems based on one or more microprocessors, like those of the IBM p, i, and z series) still own the high-end of the market.

== Commodity Computing in the Present Day ==

As the power of microprocessors continues to increase, there are fewer and fewer business computing needs that cannot be met with off-the shelf commodity computers. It is likely that the low end of the supermicrocomputer genre will continue to be pushed upward by increasingly powerful commodity microcomputers. There will be fewer non-commodity systems sold each year, resulting in fewer and fewer dollars available for non-commodity R&D, resulting in a continually narrowing performance gap between commodity microcomputers and proprietary supermicros.

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When 10 gigabit Ethernet becomes standard equipment in commodity microcomputer servers, multi-processor [[Computer cluster|cluster]] or [[Grid computing|grid]] systems based on off-the-shelf commodity microcomputers and Ethernet switches will take over more and more computing tasks that can currently be performed only by high- end models of proprietary supermicros like the IBM p-series, further eroding the viability of the supermicro industry.

== Characteristics of Commodity PCsComputers ==

A large part of the current commodity computing marketplace is based on [[IBM PC compatible]]s.

This typically means systems that are capable of running [[Microsoft Windows]], [[Linux]], or [[PC-DOS]]/[[MS-DOS]], without requiring special drivers.

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* Built in interfaces for [[Serial ATA|SATA]] drives.

== Other commodity systems ==

Standards such as [[SCSI]], [[FireWire]], and [[Fibre Channel]] help commodotize computer systems more powerful than typical PCs. Standards such as [[Advanced Telecommunications Computing Architecture|ATCA]] and [[Carrier Grade Linux]] are helping to commoditize [[telecommunication]]s systems. [[Blade server]]s, [[server farm]]s, and [[computer cluster]]s are also [[computer architecture]]s that exploit commodity [[Computer hardware|hardware]].