Software Testing Methodologies Dichotomies

Computing Environments

Definition:

Computing environment is a collection of computers/machines, software and networks that support the processing and exchange of electronic information.

Different types of computing environments

There are four types of computing environments. They are:

1. Personal computing environment
2. Time-Sharing environment
3. Client -Server environment
4. Distributed environment

Personal Computing Environment:

• A personal computer(PC) is a general purpose computer. The size and capabilities of a personal computer makes it useful for end-users.
• In a personal computer, all the hardware components are tied together, so that it can be used as per our need.

Time Sharing Environment

• Employees in large companies often work in a time sharing environment. In this environment, many users are connected to one or more computers.
• These are minicomputers or central mainframes.
• The terminals used are not programmable, but now we see more microcomputers that are used to simulate the environments terminals.
• In the time sharing environment, the output devices and auxiliary storage are shared by all the users.
• In time sharing environment, each computer must be operated by the central computer.
• In this type of environment, computing is operated by central computer. This central computer has many duties which keeps the computer busy.

Client Server Environment

• Client/Server is a distribute computing model, in which the client requests services from the server.
• Client/Server usually run on separate computers connected by a network.
• A client is a process or an application that sends messages to a server through the network.
• These messages ask the server to perform a specific task, like finding a customer record in a database.
• Severs usually run on powerful computers, workstations or mainframes
• The administration of the installed equipment is more expensive than maintaining a centralized system

Distributed Computing Environment

• A distributed computing environment allows smooth integration of computing functions between different internet server's clients and provides the connection to different servers around the world.
• Distributed Computing is used by distributed systems to solve computational problems
• In Distributed Computing, each problem is divided into several tasks, which are solved by one or  more computers.