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APPENDIX A

Hardware and
Software Basics

The McGraw-Hill Companies, All Rights Reserved

Overview
HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE BASICS
Hardware Basics
Computer Categories
Software Basics

INTRODUCTION
Information technology (IT) - Any
computer-based tool that people use to work
with information and support the information
and information-processing needs of an
organization
Hardware - Consists of the physical devices
associated with a computer system
Software - The set of instructions that the
hardware executes to carry out specific tasks

HARDWARE BASICS
Computer - An electronic device operating
under the control of instructions stored in its own
memory that can accept, manipulate, and store
data
Hardware components include:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Central processing unit (CPU)


Primary storage
Secondary storage
Input device
Output device
Communication device

HARDWARE BASICS

HARDWARE BASICS

HARDWARE BASICS

HARDWARE BASICS

Central Processing Unit


Central processing unit (CPU) (or microprocessor) The actual hardware that interprets and executes the
program (software) instructions and coordinates how all
the other hardware devices work together
Control unit - Interprets software instructions and literally
tells the other hardware devices what to do, based on the
software instructions
Arithmetic-logic unit (ALU) - Performs all arithmetic
operations (for example, addition and subtraction) and all
logic operations (such as sorting and comparing numbers)

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Central Processing Unit


The number of CPU cycles per second
determines the speed of a CPU
Megahertz (MHz) - The number of millions of
CPU cycles per second
Gigahertz (GHz) - The number of billions of
CPU cycles per second

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Central Processing Unit


CPU speed factors
Clock speed
Word length
Bus width
Chip line width

Binary digit (bit) - The smallest unit of information


that a computer can process
Byte - A group of eight bits representing one
natural language character

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Advances in CPU Design


Complex instruction set computer (CISC) chip Type of CPU that can recognize as many as 100 or
more instructions, enough to carry out most
computations directly
Reduced instruction set computer (RISC) chip Limit the number of instructions the CPU can
execute to increase processing speed
Virtualization - A protected memory space created
by the CPU allowing the computer to create virtual
machines

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Primary Storage
Primary storage - The computers main
memory, which consists of the random
access memory (RAM), cache memory, and
the read-only memory (ROM) that is directly
accessible to the CPU

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Random Access Memory


(RAM)
Random access memory (RAM) - The
computers primary working memory, in
which program instructions and data are
stored so that they can be accessed directly
by the CPU via the processors high-speed
external data bus
Volatility
Cache memory

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Random Access Memory


(RAM)

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Read-Only Memory (ROM)


Read-only memory (ROM) - The portion
of a computers primary storage that does
not lose its contents when one switches
off the power
Flash memory
Memory card
Memory stick

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Secondary Storage
Secondary storage - Consists of equipment
designed to store large volumes of data for
long-term storage
Megabyte (MB or M or Meg) - Roughly 1 million
bytes
Gigabyte (GB) - Roughly 1 billion bytes
Terabyte (TB) - Roughly 1 trillion bytes

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Secondary Storage

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Magnetic Medium
Magnetic medium - A secondary storage medium that
uses magnetic techniques to store and retrieve data on
disks or tapes coated with magnetically sensitive materials
Magnetic tape - An older secondary storage medium that
uses a strip of thin plastic coated with a magnetically
sensitive recording medium
Hard drive - A secondary storage medium that uses
several rigid disks coated with a magnetically sensitive
material and housed together with the recording heads in a
hermetically sealed mechanism

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Optical Medium
Optical medium types include:

Compact disk-read-only memory (CD-ROM)


Compact disk-read-write (CD-RW) drive
Digital video disk (DVD)
DVD-ROM drive
Digital video disk-read/write (DVD-RW)

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Input Devices
Input device - Equipment used to capture
information and commands

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Input Devices

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Output Devices

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Output Devices

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Communication Devices
Communication device - Equipment
used to send information and receive it
from one location to another

Dial-up access
Cable
Digital subscriber line
Wireless
Satellite

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COMPUTER CATEGORIES
For the past 20 years, federally funded
supercomputing research has given birth
to some of the computer industrys most
significant technology breakthroughs
including:
Clustering
Parallel processing
Mosaic browser

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COMPUTER CATEGORIES
Computer categories include:

Personal digital assistant (PDA)


Laptop
Tablet
Desktop
Workstation
Minicomputer
Mainframe computer
Supercomputer

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SOFTWARE BASICS
System software - Controls how the various
technology tools work together along with the
application software
Operating system software
Utility software
Application software

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Utility Software
Types of utility software

Crash-proof
Disk image
Disk optimization
Encrypt data
File and data recovery
Preventative security
Spyware
Uninstaller

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Application Software
Types of application software

Bowser
Communication
Data management
Desktop publishing
Email
Groupware
Presentation graphics
Programming
Spreadsheet
Word processing

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