Midrange computer

Midrange computers, or midrange systems, are a class of computer systems which fall in between mainframe computers and microcomputers. Midrange computers, or midrange systems, are a class of computer systems which fall in between mainframe computers and microcomputers. The class called minicomputers emerged in the 1960s and machines were generally known at the time as minicomputers – especially models from Digital Equipment Corporation (PDP line), Data General, Hewlett-Packard (HP3000 line and successors), and Sun Microsystems (SPARC Enterprise). These were widely used in science and research as well as for business. IBM favored the term 'midrange computer' for their comparable, but more business-oriented, systems.