Hardware Components

COMPUTER SYSTEM - an integrated set of hardware and software designed to process data and produce
a meaningful result.

COMPUTER HARDWARE - organized according to these basic functions. The system unit focuses on
processing, whereas a variety of peripheral devices facilitate input, output, storage, and communication.

Types of Computer Systems - Computers are often identified by their size and power. Common
categories of computer systems include supercomputers, mainframes, and microcomputers.

Types of Computer Systems

 SUPERCOMPUTERS - The most advanced, powerful, and expensive computers of the day. They
are characterized as having the fastest processing speeds and performing the most complex
calculations. They are widely used in scientific research, artificial intelligence, defense systems,
and industrial design.
 MAIN FRAME COMPUTER - An advanced multiuser machine typically used to manage the
databases, financial transactions, and communications of large organizations such as banks,
hospitals, retail stores, insurance companies, and government offices.
 PERSONAL COMPUTER - System that uses a microprocessor to provide computing to a single
user. Have many different names and configurations including microcomputer, laptop, desktop,
and tablet

Computer Platforms

•A combination of hardware and operating system

•It have fundamental difference based on the hardware component, such as processor, and other
operating systems that they use.

Microcomputer Platform

•Two common microcomputer platform:

•Makintosh (Apple)

•Windows (Microsoft

Mobile Computing Platform

•Result of the continuing miniaturization of computer

•It’s a device include lighter personal computer, and tablets computers, as well as smartphones
networked through Wi-Fi or 3G/4G technologies.
Computer Hardware

System Unit

•contains electronic components used to process and temporarily store data and instructions.

•it includes the CPU, Primary Memory, and the System Board.

System Unit Central Processing Unit (CPU)

•The most important component of any electronic computer. It is a complex integration of millions of
transistors that execute program instruction and manipulates data.

•Three essential sets of Transistors | Control Unit | Arithmetic Logic Unit | Registers | Central
Processing Unit (CPU)

Control Unit

•Directs the flow of data and instructions within the processor and electronic memory Arithmetic Logic
Unit

•Contains programmed transistors that performs mathematical and logical calculations on the data
Registers

•These are special transistors that store data and instruction as they are being manipulated by the
control unit and ALU

Machine Cycle

•it has four steps that a processor carries out:

-fetch

-decode

-execute

-store

Various performance features of the CPU determine the efficiency of this basic machine: Clock speed,
Word size, Bus width, and techniques such as, RISC processing, Pipelining, Multiprocessing, and
Multicore technology

Clock Speed

•an internal system clock synchronizes the machine cycle, cpu executes another instruction on each
clock tick. Clock speed is the rate at which the cpu carries out its basic instruction.

•To measure the speed of executing instruction, we use hertz. One hertz is one cycle per second.
Microcomputer clock speed is measured in megahertz (MHz. Millions of cycles/second, or gigahertz
(GHz. billions of cycles/second).
Word Size

•Refers to the group of bits that a processor can manipulate as a unit in one machine cycle.

•One important factor that contribute to CPU power is the amount of data or instruction that are moved
through processor in one machine cycle

Bus Width

•System Bus - an electronic pathway between the CPU, Memory and other system components

•Data Bus - set of pathways that carries the actual data between memory and the CPU

•Address Bus - an electronic pathway that carries information about the memory locations of data

Pipelining

•it increases CPU efficiency by reading an instruction, starting processing, and reading another
instruction before finishing the previous one.

RISC Processing (Reduce Instruction Set Computer)

•eliminate complex embedded microcode instructions and replace them with a simpler set of
instructions for executing the most common commands used by the processor Reduce Instruction Set
Computer

Multiprocessing

•a combination of multiple processors on the systems board that execute instruction simultaneously.

Multicore Technology

•it combines two or more processor cores and cache memory on a single integrated circuit

•dual-core, quad-core, hexa-core, and octa-core

Primary Memory

•an electronic storage that directly addressed by the CPU

RAM (Random Access Memory)

•consist of addressable storage areas for data and instructions in electronic format

•Volatile storage

•provides the fast, electronic access to data and instructions required for processing by the CPU.

ROM (Read Only Memory)

•a special form of non-volatile electronic storage that contains frequently used instructions for the CPU
Cache

•A high-speed electronic storage optimizes microprocessor speed by storing frequently used data and
instruction close to the processor

System Board

•is the main circuit board, or the electrical foundation of the computer. System Board

•Expansion slots to add memory and hardware devices

•Video card to control the display monitor

•Power supply

•I/O interface ports to capture and send data to peripheral devices

Peripheral Devices

Back to Agenda Page Peripheral devices are the hardware components that input, output, and
permanently store data and applications for computer processing.

Secondary Storage

is persistent storage for noncritical data that doesn't need to be accessed as frequently as data in
primary storage or that doesn't have the same performance or availability requirements.

Three Categories of Secondary

Magnetic Storage Device - devices record and/or read digital content in magnetic form. Early
microcomputers used floppy disks for magnetic storage.

Hard drives - are composed of rigid platters mounted on a spindle in an enclosed drive container. The
container regulates air pressure and filters the air that enters the drive to protect it from dust and other
contaminants. A drive motor rotates disks at speeds of 7200 revolutions per minute (rpm) or more.

External Hard Drives - supplement the fixed hard drive capacity while providing data portability and
security.

Solid State Storage Devices - is a type of computer storage media that stores data electronically and has
no moving parts. Solid state storage is made from silicon microchips.

U S B pen drive - can store important files and data backups, carry favorite settings or applications, run
diagnostics to trouble shoot computer problems or launch an OS from a bootable USB.

S D cards - You can load file s, like photos and videos, on the S D card. You can install apps on the SD
card. You can't transfer the SD card between devices. The SD card can be used in addition to your
device's storage.

Optical Storage - uses laser technology to read and write data on specially coated reflective discs. The
origins of optical storage can be traced to the early 1980s.
Blu-ray disk - is an optical disc format like CD and DVD. Blu-ray discs can hold more information than
other optical media, because of the blue lasers that the disc drives use. A single Blu-ray disc can hold up
to 25GB of data.

INPUT DEVICES - An input device is a piece of equipment used to provide data and control signals to an
information processing system.

Example of input devices

KEY BOARD is a piece of hard ware that allows you to input data into a c o m p u t e r.

Mouse – a small device that a computer user pushed a cross a desk surface in order to point to a place
on a display screen and to select one or more action to take from that position.

Digitizer – a device that transforms analog data into digital data

Microphone – is a device that sounds waves into electrical signals and supports computer-based audio
communication.

Touchpad – is an input device external or built into a laptop used to control the pointer on a display
screen

Digital camera – digital device since it captures and photographs and records videos digitally before
saving them on a memory card.

OUTPUT DEVICES - allows data to be transmitted by the computer in a human-friendly form.

Example of output devices

Monitor – is an output device similar to a TV screen that displays information, documents or images
generated by the computing device.

Printer – render electronic data from a computer into printed material

Speaker – is an external audio output device that connects to a computer generate a sound output.

Headphones, earphones, earbuds – similar to speakers these devices provide audio output that’s
audible only to a single listener

NETWORKS - a network is a collection of computers connected through a communication link to share

LAN – a LAN is a series of computers connected within an organization many homes now have a LAN to
share printers and access to the internet.

WAN – the WAN connects computers over a wide geographic region using the communication lines of
an outside service provider such as a telephone or cable company.

INTERNET – the internet is a special form of WAN. It is a network of networks that uses transmission
control protocol and internet protocol(TCP/IP) to send data from one computing device to another.