A More Sophisticated Model

Abstract

To add a small degree of sophistication in a hierarchy of work station designs, we might consider a central computer around which are clustered subsystems or “nodes,” as well as terminals and peripheral devices. Figure 4 illustrates the concept, comparing the simplest system already described with a slightly more complex and sophisticated model. The point, however, is that the complexity and sophistication are not the product of the number of terminals and/or peripheral devices, but are, rather, in the basic design of the system and in its capabilities. In the case of the design of Figure 4, two of the primary work stations-#2 and #4-are themselves central or host computers for subsystems, for example, and presumably the other two work stations could also be amplified and made into subsystems by adding peripherals and subordinate work stations to them. We have, in fact, now two operating levels in the system, with the primary work stations-in this case, those whose numbers do not have letter suffixes-having access to the central computer directly and subsystem work stations (#2A and #4A, in this example) and their peripheral devices having access only through the host computers in their own subsystems.

Sophistication and complexity are not virtues in and of themselves. Quite the contrary, the simplest system is almost invariably the most efficient one.