Workstation is a set of computer equipment designed for use by one person at a time. There are several types of workstations.
The most common workstations are personal computers (small computers used by one person) linked with other computers to form a client-server network. A powerful central computer, called the server, distributes information through communications cables to a number of workstations, called clients. These workstations may have all of the hardware (computer equipment) necessary to function independently of the network. Or they may lack storage devices and depend on the server to store their data and software (computer instructions).
Another type of workstation is more powerful than most personal computers (PC’s). These workstations are dedicated to specific tasks too difficult for general-purpose PC’s. For example, expensive graphical workstations play an important part in developing special effects for motion pictures. In computer-aided design (CAD), engineers use workstations to design products.
