Minis and mainframes: More powerful versions of existing systems emerge, as reduced hardware costs encourage parallel-architecture development

Each year users become more aware of the high costs of inefficiency and delays in running computer systems that are outpaced by pyramiding workloads — and of the even higher costs when a system goes down. With the growth of computational requirements, the inevitable trend in 1982 in all classes of machines was toward increased speed and throughput. There was strong emphasis on the upward compatibility of machine families as manufacturers attempted to retain prized customer bases while luring new customers who would remain loyal through upgrading to ever more powerful systems. Support for distributed systems, in the form of back-end storage and data-base facilities, became even stronger.