What are Workstation Computers?

Workstation Computers are somewhat loosely defined of a phrase. A workstation can be a computer connected to a network of other computers. However, workstation more properly defines a computer that is setup in an office or scientific facility. These workstation computers have more higher end components used to perform the everyday tasks specialized in that facility. For example, in the office, you may have a high end workstation used to do AutoCAD and civil engineering. Low end computers may not have the performance to keep up at a realistic pace than one that has better performance. In a workstation computer setup you may see multiple monitors connected together to increase the screen area that one has to work with.

Quadro Review

Workstation Screen Room

Workstations have higher end performance and offer greater productivity to those that use them. The CPU and memory capacity are significantly higher than standard everyday computers. They can easily multi task or handle multiple tasks simultaneously. The larger screen room available on most workstation computers' setups allows for multiple tasks to be done at the same time. In one monitor you may be doing some sort of design, while in another monitor you are doing research to supplement that design. This is a much more productive manner than switching tasks via the taskbar or equivalent.

XEON Processors for Workstations

It is not uncommon to find 8gb or more of RAM in a workstation computer. Especially for editing video, and all the other tasks that workstation computers endure, these are memory demanding tasks. On a basic laptop you may find an Intel Centrino processor, where as workstation computers will give you high performance Intel Xeon Processors which you probably would normally find only in servers. Find any high performance personal computer or even gaming computer, and there’s no way you’ll find an Intel Xeon Processor, workstation computers are just that good!

Davinci Workstation

Workstation Concept

NASA Workstation Setup

One very familiar workstation setup is that of the NASA control center. All the computers are networked together in rows and all facing towards the same way to a large projector screen monitor. They are all working together on the same common task for the commonwealth of NASA. These workstation computers have faster processors and better performance overall. They have the ability to carry out multiple tasks simultaneously. You’ll find better performance in these workstation computers than you would with a standard personal computer. They can handle graphics, and other performance demanding tasks with ease.

Old Office Workstation

Workstations for CAD

In the workplace, workstation computers were needed for CAD (computer aided design), medical imaging such as CAT scans and MRIs, and other scientific visualization. DNA was modeled using workstation computers. Traditionally workstation computers commonly used UNIX, but now Windows is picking up on the market. For videographers, workstation computers would work great for those editing video. Video editing requires serious processing power and solid high capacity memory.