Computer Hardware and Software

1. Computer Hardware and Software MIS XLM.A Jack G. Zheng June 15th 2005

2. Overview • Computer Categories by Size • Two major categories of information technology • Software • Hardware

3. Computer Categories by Size (1) • PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) • Microcomputer (personal computer) • Notebook/laptop/tablet • Desktop/workstation • Minicomputer • Mid-ranged computer that can support departmental use

4. Computer Categories by Size (2) • Mainframe • Large scale computer for organizational use • Historically used in centralized computing • Supercomputer • The fastest, most powerful computer, usually used for scientific research • Earth Simulator1 • Used for climate simulation • 5120 processors and 2GB RAM per processor 1 Source: http://www.top500.org

5. Software

6. Software Types • Application software • Performs specific information processing tasks • System software • Manages and supports operations of computer systems and networks (including hardware and application software)

7. Application Software (1) • Personal (productivity) software • Office suites • Word processor, spreadsheet, presentation, desktop publishing, web authoring • Communications • Messenger, email • Graphic and media processing • Education software • Entertainment software • …

8. Application Software (2) • Organizational level software/system: software used for businesses at the organizational level • Vertical market software • Unique to a particular industry or organization • Examples: MARTA scheduling software; student management software; pilot training software • Horizontal market software • General to several or all industries • Examples: accounting, payroll, billing, human resources • This type of software is very likely to be purchased off-the-shelf

9. System Software • Operating systems software (OS) • Utility software • [Other categories] • System/server management • Development software

10. Operating System Software • Operating systems (OS) • A basic platform to control computer • Work with hardware, especially processors • Support application software • Examples • Windows 95, NT, 98, Me, 2000, XP, 2003, CE • Mac OS • Unix, Solaris, Linux • NOS (network operating system): Novell • Multitasking and [multiprocessing]

11. Utility Software • Utility software • Adds additional functionality to the OS • More and more of them are becoming part of OS now • Some types • Anti-virus: Norton, McAfee • Uninstaller • Disk optimization software • Crash-proof software • System monitoring, CD/DVD Writing, disk simulation, …

12. Exercise • Are the following products software? What types are they? • Adobe Acrobat Reader • WinZIP • “SimCity 2000” • Redhat • Sassar • WebCT • Digital photos, MP3 songs

13. Hardware

14. Hardware Categories • Input • Output • Processing • Storage • Connecting and interface • Networking and communication

15. Common Input Devices • Keyboard • Point devices • mouse, trackball, pointing stick, touchpad, optical pen • Touch screen • Game controller • Scanner • image scanner, bar code reader optical mark recognition (OMR) • Multimedia • microphone, camcorder, cameral, webcam

16. Common Output Devices • Monitor • CRT (cathode ray tube), LCD (liquid crystal display), Plasma • Some important specifications • Viewable image (screen) size • Resolution • Dot pitch • Printer • Inkjet, Laser, [Dot matrix], multi-functional • DPI (Dot Per Inch)

17. Processing • CPU (central processing unit) • Central command processing device • Major manufacturers (for PC) • Intel: Pentium 2, 3, 4, Celeron • AMD: Anthlon • Speed: number of cycles per second • Megahertz (Pentium 3), Gigahertz (Pentium 4) • Moore’s law • How it works (figure A.19 on page 60) • You can visit Intel museum (in Santa Clara or online)

18. Data/Storage Units • Data units by size • Bit (0 or 1) • Byte (character): 8 bits • Kilobyte (KB): 1024 bytes • Megabyte (MB): 1024 KB • Gigabyte (GB): 1024 MB • Terabyte (TB): 1024 GB • ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange) • 27(128) characters • [UNICODE] • New standard for character representation with 231 possibilities

19. Primary Storage (Memory) • Memory • Made of silicon • Electronically stores data • Very fast, relatively expensive and smaller storage size • Type • RAM: random access memory • Temporary storage • “640k should be enough for anybody” – Bill Gates, 1981 • Today: 512MB recommended • [ROM]: read only memory • Flash ROM

20. Secondary Storage Devices • Secondary storage • Slower, less expensive, permanent storage, bigger storage size • Common devices (see figure A.14 on page 56) • Magnetic: hard drive/disk, floppy, ZIP • Optical: CD/DVD serials • Flash memory: • Flash memory (jump drive) • Cards: CompactFlash, SmartMedia, xd-Picture Card …

21. Connection Devices • Common interfaces/ports (see figure A.21 on page 63): • Traditional • Serial port • Parallel port: for printer • PS/2: keyboard and mouse • Fast connection • USB (universal serial bus) • USB 2.0 (480Mbps) • IEEE 1394 (firewire): 400Mbps • Wireless • Infrared • Bluetooth (30 feet) • WiFi for wireless computer network (300 feet) • [Motherboard/mainboard] • Hot swap and PnP (Plug and Play)

22. Networking and Telecommunication • Router • Modem • Mo-dulation: digital to analog • Dem-odulation: analog to digital • Types • Phone modem: up to 56Kbps • DSL modem: 128K to 8M • Cable modem: 512K to 20M • Satellite modem: 6M up • Other networking devices • See more in XLM.E

23. Summary

24. Good Resources • How computer works • http://computer.howstuffworks.com • Intel museum • http://www.intel.com/intel/intelis/museum/ • Computer DIY • http://compreviews.about.com/od/tutorials/ • IEEE history of computing • http://www.computer.org/history/