Choosing the Right Computer
On this page:
Overview
Many computing tasks can be conveniently divided by the demands they make on computing resources: i.e., what share of processing time they require, how much active memory they will consume, or the amount of disk space required for output. The UNIX Computing Resources service supports several classes of shared systems, some of which are better-suited to particular tasks than others. In addition, some tasks may require special support not available in all systems (for example, 64-bit processing support).
In order to distribute demand effectively and provide the best possible performance to all users, we ask that users limit their choice of computers according to the suggestions below.
Light Computing
Light Computing consists of very low intensity tasks, including checking e-mail and reading newsgroups.
General Computing
The General Computing category includes most coursework, general programming, and other common computing tasks (e.g., web browsing).
Intensive Computing
This category includes long-running and/or compute- or memory-intensive tasks; e.g., mathematical and statistical analysis, physical simulation, parallel programming.
64-bit Computing
Some users may require special support for 64-bit programming or processing, or access to the very large address spaces that 64-bit architectures allow.
Note on Licensed Software Support
Some licensed software may be available only for a particular operating system or platform; please see the list of Installed Software for specific information. The UNIX Computing Environments page has comprehensive descriptions of each class of shared systems, including platform and architecture details.
