Topic 3

Computer Hardware

McGraw-Hill/Irwin

Copyright 2011 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Outline
To explain the concept of computer system (input, process, output). To explain and distinguish different types of memory. To identify types of main memory and its characteristics. To identify different types of data. To identify the category of computer
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Early Computing
1880s
Punched cards turned sensors On or Off

1946
ENIAC First Digital computer - programmable Used vacuum tubes Would fill room 39 ft by 39 ft

Late 1950s
Transistors replaced vacuum tubes Smaller, faster, cooler

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Waves of Computing
First Generation - Prior to 1950
Vacuum tubes

Second Generation - Late 1950s

Transistors & integrated circuits Jack Kilby 200,000 to 250,000 calculations per second

Third Generation - Mid-1960s

Integrated circuitry and miniaturization

Fourth Generation - 1971

Further miniaturization Multiprogramming and virtual storage

Fifth Generation - 1980s

Millions of calculations per second
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Age of Microcomputers
1975
MITS introduced ALTAIR 8800.

1977
Commodore and Radio Shack

1979
Apple computer, fastest selling Steve Jobs & Steve Wozniak

1982
IBM introduced the PC Changed the market
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Categories of Computer Systems

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Recommended PC Features

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Corporate PC Criteria
Solid performance, reasonable price Operating system ready Connectivity
Network interface cards Wireless capabilities

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Information Appliances
Hand-held microcomputer devices Known as personal digital assistants (PDAs)
Web-enabled Touch screens, handwriting recognition, keypads Access email or the Web Exchange data with desktop PCs or servers Latest entrant is the BlackBerry

PDAs include
Video-game consoles Cellular and PCS phones Telephone-based home email appliances

iPhone 4

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Midrange Systems
High-end network servers
Large-scale processing of business applications

Not as powerful as mainframes

Less expensive to buy, operate, and maintain

Often used to manage

Large Internet websites Corporate intranets and extranets Integrated, enterprise-wide applications

Used as front-end servers

Assist mainframes with telecommunications and networks
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Mainframe Computer Systems

Large, fast, powerful computer systems
Large primary storage capacity High transaction processing Handles complex computations

Widely used as superservers for

Large client/server networks High-volume Internet websites Becoming popular computing platform for Electronic commerce applications Data mining and warehousing

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Supercomputer Systems
Extremely powerful systems
Scientific, engineering, and business applications Massive numeric computations

Markets include
Government research agencies Large universities Major corporations

Uses parallel processing

Billions to trillions of operations per second (gigaflops and teraflops) Costs $5 to $50 million
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Computer System Concept

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Computer Processing Speeds

Commonly called clock speed Early computers
Milliseconds (thousandths of a second) Microseconds (millionths of a second)

Current computers
Nanoseconds (billionth of a second) Picoseconds (trillionth of a second)

Program instruction processing speeds

Megahertz Gigahertz (millions of cycles per second) (billions of cycles per second)

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Moores Law

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Peripherals Advice

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Input Technologies
Keyboard Graphical User Interface (GUI)

Electronic Mouse
Trackball Pointing stick Touchpad Touch screen

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Pen-Based Computing
Used in Tablet PCs and PDAs
Pressure-sensitive layer, similar to touch screen, under liquid crystal display screen Software digitizes handwriting, hand printing, and hand drawing

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Speech Recognition Software Digitize, analyze, and classify speech and sound patterns
Compares to sound patterns in its vocabulary Passes recognized words to the application software

Speaker-independent voice recognition systems

Recognizes words from never heard voice Voice-messaging computers

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Optical Scanning
Converts text or graphics to digital Document management library system Scanners Optical Character Recognition (OCR)
Reads characters and codes Optical scanning wands

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Other Input Technologies

Magnetic Stripe on credit cards Smart Cards

Digital Cameras
Magnetic Ink Character Recognition (MICR)

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Output Technologies
Video Displays
Cathode-ray tube (CRT) Liquid crystal displays (LCDs) Plasma displays

Printed Output
Dot matrix Character printers Inkjet printers spray ink Laser printers Electrostatic process Similar to a photocopying machine
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Storage Tradeoffs

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Representing Characters in Bytes

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Using Binary Code to Calculate

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Storage Capacity Measurement

Kilobyte (KB): one thousand bytes Megabyte (MB): one million bytes Gigabyte (GB): one billion bytes Terabyte (TB): one trillion bytes Petabyte (PB): one quadrillion bytes

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Direct and Sequential Access

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Types of Semiconductor Memory

Random Access Memory (RAM)
Most widely used primary storage medium

Volatile memory
Read/write memory

Read-Only Memory (ROM)

Permanent storage Can be read, but not overwritten Frequently used programs burnt into chips during manufacturing process Called firmware

Flash Drive

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Flash Drives
Jump drive, travel drive, etc.
Small chips thousands of transistors

Stores data virtually unlimited periods without power

Easily transported and highly durable

Storage capacity of up to 20 GB
New 1 TB

Plugs into any USB port

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Direct Access Magnetic Disk

Used for secondary storage
Fast access and high capacity Reasonable cost

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RAID Storage
Redundant Arrays of Independent Disks
Arrays of hard disk drives

Virtually unlimited online storage

6 to more than 100 small hard disk drives in a single unit

Data are accessed in parallel over multiple paths from many disks
Redundant storage of data on several disks provides fault-tolerant capacity Storage area networks can interconnect many RAID units
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Magnetic Tape
Secondary storage
Tape reels, cassettes, and cartridges

Used in robotic, automated drive assemblies

Archival and backup storage Lower-cost storage solution

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Optical Disks

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Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)

One of the newest and fastest growing storage technologies
System for tagging and identifying moving objects
Merchandise, postal packages, casino chips, pets

Tag 1 inch square Chips half the size of a grain of sand

Passive chips derive power from reader signal Active chips are self-powered

Privacy Issues

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Predictions for the Future

Biological memories Health remedies Longer life spans Virtual activities Memory recall

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Summary
To explain the concept of computer system (input, process, output). To explain and distinguish different types of memory. To identify types of main memory and its characteristics. To identify different types of data. To identify the category of computer
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