COMPUTER HARDWARE

Introduction
As we have seen earlier, the two main components that make up a computer are
hardware and software. The hardware requires computer instructions in the form of
software in order for them to accomplish the necessary tasks.

Types of computer components

A computer is made of two main components namely hardware and software.

Hardware refers to the physical or tangible components that make up a computer

system. They are classified into four categories namely input devices, central
processing unit (CPU). output devices and storage devices.

Software refers to a set of instructions that direct a computer on what to do. They are
mainly classified into two categories; namely system software and application
software.

Computer hardware
hardware elements that make up the computer starting with the system unit, input and
output devices, the storage devices, the CPU and finally communication devices. Later
in the section, we illustrate how to setup a computer by connecting various devices to
the system unit.

Input devices
Input devices convert user input which is in human readable form to machine language
that a computer can process. These devices can be classified according to the method
that they use to enter data, namely:
keying devices, pointing devices, scanning devices and other technologies used to
capture data.
Keying devices
Typing is the most common way to input data. A keying device converts
typed numbers, letters and special characters into machine readable form
before processing takes place. The following are types of keying devices:

• Traditional keyboards
The traditional keyboard is the most common type of keying device. It is a full-sized
rigid keyboard.

• A flexible keyboard is a more portable keyboard that can be folded and packed
into a bag.

• Ergonomic keyboard
An ergonomic keyboard is specially designed to provide comfort and alleviate wrist
strain.

• Keypad
This is a miniature keyboard used on portable devices such as PDAs, Laptop
and Mobile phone.

• Braille keyboard
This keyboard designed for use by the blind. It consists of keys identified by
raised dots.
Pointing devices
Pointing devices are used for controlling a pointer cursor on the screen. Apart from the
mouse, other pointing devices include; the trackball, joystick and light pen.

• Mouse
A mouse is a pointing device that enables the user to execute commands. It is
used to control an arrow displayed on the screen. To execute a command, the
user moves the mouse which consequently pointer on the screen. Once the
pointer is on the icon (a small pictorial representation of a command), click one
of the two mouse buttons. There are different types of mice available in the
market, namely:

 The standard or traditional mouse: has a ball underneath, two buttons

and an optional scroll button located between the left and right buttons.

 Optical mouse
An optical mouse does not have any moving parts. It works by using a tiny
digital camera to take 1,500 pictures every second, of the surface on which it is
resting. Interpreting the pictures indicates the direction of the mouse movement
hence the pointer's position on the screen.

 Cordless mouse
Cordless or wireless mouse, is a battery powered mouse that uses radio or
infrared waves instead of being physically connected to the system unit.

 Trackball
A trackball, works just like a mouse, only that its ball is located at the top.
Instead of moving the device on a flat surface, the user rotates the ball using a
finger. Some computer keyboards come with an integrated trackball, hence no
need for a mouse.

Joystick
A joystick is an input device that looks like lever and it is used to control a
pointer on the screen. It is purposely used for playing computer games. The
user controls game actions by varying the pressure,
speed and direction of the joystick. Command buttons and triggers are
used to issue commands or actions in the software being controlled by
the joystick user.

 Light pen and stylus

A light pen operates by detecting the command or item being illuminated
by it. A stylus on the other hand, is used on devices such as, PDAs, that
recognise commands or hand written data.

Scanning devices
Scanning means capturing data from an object and converting it into digital
format. Scanning devices can be classified according to technology used
to capture data. These are optical scanners and magnetic scanners.

 Optical scanners
Optical scanners capture data using optical or light technology. A light beam
passes over an object and the image is analysed by a specialized software.
Some examples of optical scanners include:

- Optical mark recognition scanners

Optical Mark Recognition (OMR) scanners detects marks made on a piece of
paper using ink or a soft pencil, by passing an infrared beam over them.
OMRS are used to mark multiple choice questions, analysing responses to
structured questionnaires and selecting correct number combinations from
lottery tickets.

- Optical bar recognition

The Optical Barcode Recognition (OBR), are used to capture data coded as
lines of varying thickness
known as barcodes or Universal Product Code (UPC)). Barcodes hold
manufacturer's details and the product code but not price details because prices
vary from one place to another.

(a) barcode reader (b) Bar codes

- Optical character recognition

An Optical Character Recognition (OCR) scanner is used to read typewritten,
computer-printed, or handwritten characters and transforms the images into a
soft copy that can be manipulated using a word processor. Today, a more
advanced OCR scanner called flat-bed.

- Magnetic scanners
Magnetic scanners are used to capture data written using magnetic ink or coded
onto a magnetic strip. Common examples of magnetic scanners are Magnetic
Ink Character Recognition (MICR) and card readers.

- Magnetic ink character recognition

Magnetic Ink Character Recognition (MICR) scanners are used to read
characters written using magnetic ink. An example of a MICR is the cheque
reader used in banks.
- Digitizers
A digitizer, also known as graphic tablet allows a user to draw an image using a
stylus. The image drawn does not appear on the tablet but on the computer
screen. The digitizer is used for tracing highly detailed engineering and
architectural drawings and designs.

Other input technologies

- Digital cameras
Digital cameras, capture images the same way other cameras do, only that the
image is stored in digital form. Pictures are mostly stored on a memory card
instead of a film. The stored images can then be edited, printed or uploaded to
the internet.

- Touch screen
Touch screen technology lets the user to touch the screen using a finger or a
stylus in order to write or select an item. The screen consists of infrared light
crisscrossing behind it. When the user touches a location on the screen, the
finger interrupts the infrared light and the output is displayed the screen. A
touch screen is mostly used in retail stores, airports, on smartphones and
PDAs.

- Microphone
A microphone is used to enter data in form of voice into the computer. This
method is mostly suitable for the physically challenged users. However, voice
input has limitations in that it does not fully support speech related aspects such
as accents, inflections and tones. However, the system can be "trained" to
overcome some of these problems.

- Interactive whiteboard
 An interactive whiteboard also known as a smartboard is a large interactive
display that connects to a computer. The computer display is projected onto the
board's surface, where users control the computer and write using a pen or a
finger. The board is typically mounted to a wall or on a floor stand Smartboards
are used in places such as classrooms, corporate boardrooms, seminars and
broadcasting studios.

Output devices
Output devices are peripheral devices that a computer uses to give out information
produced after the processing operations. These devices can be classified into two
categories namely soft copy and the hard copy output devices.

- Soft copy output devices heard; such as soft copy refers to

intangible output that can be seen screen display and sound. Examples of soft
copy output devices include visual display units, sound output devices, data
projectors and light emitting diodes (LEDs).

- Visual display unit

Visual Display Unit also known as a monitor or the screen, is used to display
information in the form of text, pictures and video. It is called a monitor because it
enables the user to monitor or see what is going on in the computer. There are three
common types of monitors namely Cathode Ray Tube (CRT), Liquid Crystal Display
(LCD) and Gas Plasma Display (GPD) monitors. LCDs and gas plasma displays are
generally referred to as flat-panel displays.
 - Cathode ray tube monitors
A Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) monitor consists of a long glass tube with an electron gun
on one end and a screen on the other. The electron gun shoots electrons to illuminate
the screen and is coated with tiny phosphorus dots. The dots consist of three primary
display colours; red, green and blue to make a pixel.

- Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) monitors

A Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) monitor is made of special liquid crystals. Unlike CRTS,
LCDs are less bulky, consume less power and have little strain effect on eyes. Due to
this reason, LCDs are gradually replacing the CRT monitors on desktops computers.

- LCD display
There are two technologies used to make LCDs, Passive matrix and Active matrix. In
Passive matrix, LCDs create images by scanning the entire screen. This type of LCDs
requires little power but have poor clarity. On the other hand, active-matrix displays are
made using thin film transistor technology, hence the name TFTs. These displays
consume more energy than passive matrix but offer better clarity.

- Gas plasma displays

Gas plasma displays resemble LCDs only that they make use or gas instead of liquid
crystals. They contain millions of pixels that are illuminated by charged neon gas.
Unlike LCDs, Images displayed on gas plasma do not suffer from angle distortion.

Currently, the technology is mainly used to produce high-definition TVs (HDIVs), and
wall display Screens.
Monitor display terminologies

As you work with any of the three monitors discussed, you are likely to Come across
the following terms:

Pixel: stands for picture elements. Pixels are tiny dots which are used to form the
images displayed on the screen. In a colour monitor, a pixel has the three primary
colours namely red, green and blue.

Colour depth: refers to the number of colours which can be displayed by a pixel. It is
measured in bits.

Resolution: This is the number of pixels per inch on the screen, usually given in dots
per inch (dpi) or bis. The higher the resolution, the more the number of pixels per
square inch, hence the clearer the images.

Refresh rate: Since CRTs cannot hold an image for a long time, image in the video
RAM is used to refresh the one on the screen as long as necessary. if a screen has a
low refresh rate, images tend to flicker hence causing eyestrain.

Display size: is measured in inches as the diagonal length of the screen measured
from top right to bottom left.

- Video graphic adapters

For a monitor to display information, it must be connected through a Video port to a

video adapter plugged or integrated on the motherboard. A video adapter determines
the resolution and clarity of the monitor.
Examples of video adapters include:

Colour Graphics Adapter (CGA): is the oldest type of adapter that displays text and
images up to 16 colours.

Enhanced Graphics Adapter (EGA): was an improvement of CGA but also displays in
16 colours.

Video Graphics Array (VGA): displays text, graphics and video using 256 colours.

Super Video Graphics Array (SVGA): displays text and graphics using more than l6
million colours, has a minimum resolution of 800x 600 pixels.

Extended Graphics Array (XGA): has a resolution of up to 1024 x 768 pixels. lt is

popular with 17- and 19-inch monitors.

Super Extended Graphics Array (SXGA): has a resolution of 1280 x 1024 pixels and is
popular with 19- and 21-inch monitors.

Ultra-Extended Graphics Array (UXGA): is the latest and highest standard.

Sound output devices

Sound output devices produce sounds such as beeps, audio or digital. Some
computers come with inbuilt speakers, hence eliminating the need to connect external
ones. An external speaker should be connected to a sound card through the jacks on
the system unit or on a multimedia monitor.

- Data projector

This is used to display output from a computer onto the plain white screen like a wall or
while board. It is a creative way of presenting computer output to the audience. This
technology.
 - Light emitting diodes

Light-emitting diodes (LED) are indicators that electric current is passed through them.
A good example is the red or green light displayed by the system unit to help the user
know whether it is on or off. Mostly, LEDS are used to give warnings the same way a
motorist would use Signals to indicate when he or she is Overtaking or taking a turn.

Hard copy output devices

Hard copy refers to tangible output that can be felt such as a paper

Examples of hard copy output devices include printers and plotters.

- Printers

Printers are primarily used to produce information on a piece of paper. The quality of a
hard copy depends on the printer's printing mechanist Printers are classified according
to different printing mechanisms. two categories are impact and non-impact printers.

• Impact printers
Impact printers print using striking mechanism. This means strike the paper in order to
form an imprint on it. Two examples of technologies are dot matrix and daisywheel
printers.

 Dot matrix printers

A dot matrix printer has a set of pins on the printer’s head which strikes on an ink
ribbon placed over the paper.
Dot matrix printer

 Daisy wheel printers

A daisy wheel printer has a removable flower-like wheel consisting of spokes with
embossed characters. When printing, the wheel is rotated to align the required
character and then the character is hit with a hammer.

Although impact printers are cheaper to run and print for long periods without breaking,
they produce low quality printouts.

• Non-impact printers
Non-impact printers are faster and quieter than the impact printers. They print using
ink, thermal or laser mechanisms. The four types of non-impact printers are inkjet,
thermal, laser and photo printers.

Inkjet printers

Inkjet printers print by spraying tiny ink droplets onto a paper to create an image. A
colour inkjet printer may have black and tricolour cartridge that contains cyan, magenta
and yellow (CMY) Compartments. The cartridge has nozzles that do the actual
spraying of ink on the paper. Although inkjet printers are cheaper to purchase and
produce better

quality printouts, they are more expensive to run due to the high cost of replacing the
cartridges.

- Thermal printers

Thermal printers use thermal technology to heat ink which is normally in wax or resin
form to melting point before fusing it onto the paper. Thermal printers are mostly used
in point-of-sale terminals to print receipts and bar codes. Although thermal printers
produce high quality printouts, they are more expensive to purchase and run.

- Laser printers

Laser printers operate by shining a laser beam to create an image on a rotating drum.
As the beam hits the drum, it ionises some regions which attract ink toner particles.
The toner is then fused onto a piece of paper through heating.

Laser printers print very fast compared to the other two. They are cheaper to run and
produce high quality print Outputs. However, they are expensive to purchase.

- Photo printer

Photo printers are special purpose printers designed to print photos.

Factors to consider when purchasing a printer

The choice of purchasing a printer depends on a number of factors which include:

1. Print quality: Dot matrix printers are good for bulk printing of draft documents;
laser is good for printing official documents while thermal printers are good for
checkout counter receipts.

2. Initial cost: Though the prices of printers have come down, laser and thermal
printers are still expensive compared to inkjet printers.

3. Running cost: The cost of maintaining an inkjet printer is higher than that of
maintaining laser printers.

4. Speed: The speed of a printer is measured in terms of the number of pages it

can print per minute.

5. Colour printing: Most printers support black and colour printing. However, colour
printers especially lasers are relatively more expensive.

- Plotters
A plotter is a large type of hard cop output device. Plotters are mostly used for printing
geographical, architectural and engineering drawings such as maps, advertisement
posters to be placed on billboards.

Secondary storage devices

Secondary storage, also referred to as auxiliary storage, are devices that provide
alternative long-term storage for programs, data and information. They are regarded as
secondary because unlike primary storage, they are not directly accessible by the
CPU. Secondary storage devices can be classified according to:

(a) Portability as removable and fixed.

(b) Technology used to store and retrieve data as magnetic, optical, magneto-optical
and solid state.

- Removable storage

Removable storage media are those that are not housed inside the computer. Data is
read and written into the media using a device known as a drive. Examples of
removable storage include magnetic tapes, floppy disks, optical disks and solid-state
devices.

- Magnetic tapes

A magnetic tape is made using a thin ribbon of mylar, coated with a thin layer of
magnetic material composed of iron oxide. The tape resembles the music cassette
used in home tape recorders. The tape may be housed inside a plastic cartridge
written using a tape drive, Examples of magnetic tapes include: reel to reel tapes,
cassette tapes and cartridge tapes.

Disadvantages of using magnetic tapes

1. Magnetic tapes are slow because of the linear storage of data records on the
tape. This means that you have to access the proceedings records before you
get what is required.
2. There is a space between successive data records called Inter-Record Gap
(1RG), which results in wastage of storage space.

Floppy disks

A floppy disk or simply a diskette is made up of a small flexible round disk coated with
magnetisable iron oxide.
This disk is covered with a plastic protective case. However, it is important to note that
diskettes are becoming unpopular due to the entry into the market of affordable mass
storage media such as flash disks and memory cards.

Reading/writing to a floppy diskette

Reading from a diskette means converting magnetic spots of data from the diskette
into signals for retrieval. Writing to a floppy means converting signals into magnetic
spots and storing them onto the available space on the diskette.

To read or write contents into a floppy disk, a computer must have a floppy drive.
Floppy disks come in different sizes with different storage capacities. Initial floppy disks
such as 5.25 inch were large in size but with lower storage capacity than the present
diskettes. For instance, a 3.5-inch diskette can hold as much as 2.88MB.

- The structure of a floppy disk platter

If the protective plastic casing of a floppy disk is removed, a circular flexible disk,
coated with magnetic material will be revealed. The surface of the disk is divided into
tiny invisible concentric circles called tracks that store data. The tracks are further
divided into units called sectors

- Zip disks
A zip disk is a high-capacity magnetic diskette that resembles a Hoppy disk. However,
compared to a 3.5 floppy disk, a zip disk has a higher storage capacity and is
physically thicker. A zip disk can hold as much as 250 MB of data. Zip disks mostly
come with separate portable external zip drives.
 - Jaz disks

Jaz disks resemble zip disks in every sense only that they can hold as much as 2 GB.
Data is read or written using internal or external Jaz drives.

- High-capacity floppy

Simply known as HiFD disks are high-capacity diskettes that can store up to 200 MB of
data. HiFD drive can also read the magnetic 1.44 MB diskette.

- Laser Servo 120 Super Disks

Laser Servo 120 Super Disk technology (LS-120), is a diskette that resembles the
3.5inch diskette but uses optical technology. It has a greater storage capacity and
speed of data retrieval (it can store up to 240 MB).

The LS-120 drive can read and write both the 3.5-inch loppy disk and the 120 MB
super disk.

Care of magnetic storage media

To avoid accidental loss of data or information held on magnetic media,

the following rules must be observed:

. 1. Do not expose a magnetic media to strong magnetic fields. This would

disorient the magnetic dipoles causing erasure of recorded data

2. Do not expose a magnetic media to excessive heat. Heat energy leads to loss of
magnetic strength in materials, hence magnetically recorded data can easily get
lost.
3. Do not drop magnetic media on the ground because the impact weakens
magnetism.

4. Do not bend or fold magnetic media or put heavy weights on them to avoid breaking
or damaging it.

5. Do not touch the magnetic surfaces.

6. Do not remove a media from the drive when it 1S Still being accessed by the
computer because this may result to data loss.

Optical storage media

Optical storage media are so called because data is written and read from them using

a laser beam. A laser beam is a very strong concentrated light. there are two reasons

why optical storage media are used.

1. They store very large volumes of data.

2. Data stored in them is more stable and more permanent than the magnetic media.

- Compact disks (CD)

Compact disks hold large quantities of data and information. One disk can hold as
much as 700 MB. They are mostly used to store data and information that requires a
lot of space such as video clips, software, sounds etc. Currently, compact disks are
available in three forms namely:

Compact disk-read only memory (CD-ROM): Compact disk read only memory
(CDROM) as the name suggests contains data that can only be read but cannot be
written on. To record data, the recording surface is made into pits and lands (bumps).
when a laser beam falls on the land, this is interpreted as 1, otherwise a zero is
recorded.
Compact disk-recordable (CD-R): Compact disk recordable (CD-R) is coated with
special dye which changes colour to represent data when burned using a laser beam.
Once data IS burned on a CD-R, it becomes read only.

NB: CD-ROMs and CD-Rs are referred to as Write Once Read Many

(WORM). Data is only recorded once but can be read as many times as possible.

Compact disk-rewritable (CD-RW): Unlike the CD-Rs, these types of compact disks
allow the user to record, erase and rewrite new information just as one would with
floppy disks.

- Digital versatile disks

Digital Versatile Disk (DVDs), also known as digital video disks resemble compact
disks in every aspect. The only difference is that they have a higher storage capacity of
up to 17 GB, which is equivalent to approximately twenty-five 700 MB CDs. They are
suitable for recording motion pictures such as videos because they offer better sound
and picture quality than the CDs.

- Optical cards

An optical card resembles a MICR card but data is read and written optically on a
stripe. These types of cards are mostly used in banking and other business
organisations to record customer details.

- Optical tape

This is similar to a magnetic tape only that data is stored on it by using optical
technology.
 - Solid state storage media

Solid state storage is a non-volatile storage that employs integrated circuits rather than
mechanical, magnetic or optical technology. They are referred to as solid state
because they do not have movable parts.
Some examples of solid-state devices are memory sticks and flash disks

- Hard disk

Traditionally, the hard disk is mounted inside the computer. For this reason, we refer to
it as a fixed disk. However, this is not absolutely the case because some hard disks
are removable. Ihe hard disk IS also known as a hard drive and it is made up of
metallic disk platters together with a read/write head, housed in a protective metal
case.

The read/write head floats just above the surface of the rapidly rotating disk to read or
write data.

Most computer hard disks are connected to the motherboard Via a channel called a
controller: Some of these controllers are Integrated

Drive Electronic (IDE), Enhanced IDE (EIDE) or AT attachment (ATA).

Structure of the disk platters

A hard disk drive consists of one or more metallic platters, stacked on top of each other
but not touching one another. The stack of platters is attached to a rotating pole called
a spindle. It has more than one platter, they are stacked on top of each other to form a
cylinder.
The central processing unit (CPU)

This known as the processor, the important part of the computer. It is the brain of the
computer because all processing activities are carried out inside the processor

Control unit. CPU is housed inside the system unit. It mounted on a circuit board
known as the motherboard or the system board.

The CPU consists of three functional elements namely the control unit, Arithmetic and
Logic Unit (ALU) and main memory.

Control Unit

Control unit coordinates all processing activities in the CPU as well as input, storage
and output operations. It determines which operation or instruction is to be executed
next. To coordinate these activities, the control unit uses a system clock. The system
clock sends electric signals as its means of communication, just like what traffic signals
or a traffic officer does in a roundabout or junction to direct motorists and other road
users. The number of pulses per second determines the speed of a microprocessor.
The faster the clock pulses, the faster the CPU, hence the faster the computer can
process data.

Arithmetic and logic unit (ALU)

The arithmetic and logic unit are a unit of central processing unit where all arithmetic
and logical operations are carried out. The basic arithmetic operations are addition,
Subtraction, multiplication and division. Logic operations are based on the computer
capacity to compare two or more values. For example, it may compare whether a
piece of data is greater than or less than or equal to or not equal to.
In order for the ALU to be able to process data, it has special temporary storage
locations called registers, which hold the data just before processing. They also hold
the results after processing.

The arithmetic and logic unit, the control unit and the main memory use electrical

pathways or links referred to as buses. There are three types of buses namely:

Control bus. This is the pathway for all timing and controlling functions sent by

the control unit to other parts of the system.

Address bus. This 1s the pathway used to locate the storage position in memory where
the next instruction data to be processed is held.
Data bus. This is the pathway where the actual data transfer takes place.

Main memory

Main memory also Known as primary Storage is a type of storage that is directly
accessible by the processor. Computer memory can be classified into;

- Read Only Memory is used to store programmed instructions and data

permanently or semi-permanently. Data and instructions stored in ROM are those

which remain unchanged for long periods of time like POST instructions, special
purpose computers and computerised fuel pumps instructions.

Depending on permanence of the instructions or data written on it, there are four types
of ROM namely: Mask Read Only Memory (MROM): Once the content is written on it
by

the manufacturer, it cannot be changed. Programmable Read Only Memory (PROM):

This allows the user to alter it only once after the content is written on it.
Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory (EPROM): This has a transparent quartz
window through which its contents, can be erased by exposing it to ultra violet (UV)
light, and then reprogrammed for another use. Electrically Erasable Programmable
Read Only Memory (EEPROM): This type of ROM can be erased and reprogrammed
using electricity. An example of EEPROM is the memory that stores the basic
input/output system (BIOS).

Characteristics of read only memory (ROM) are:

I. One can only read its content but cannot write on it unless it is a special type of
ROM.

2. It is non-volatile; that is, its content is not lost when the computer is Switched off.
3. it Stores permanent or semi-permanent instructions, from the manufacturer, called
firmware. It can store semi-permanent Instructions because some variations of ROM
chips can be programmed according to the user's specification.

Random Access Memory (RAM)

Random access memory also known as working storage is used to hold instructions
and data needed by the currently running applications. The information in RAM is
continually read, changed, and removed, it is referred to as random access because its
content can be read directly regardless of the sequence in which it was stored. As
opposed to ROM, the content in RAM is held temporarily and is lost once the computer
is turned off. Therefore, before switching off the computer, it is important that one
stores (saves) his/her work in a device that offers relatively permanent storage facility.

Characteristics of random-access memory (RAM) are:

1. Data can be read (retrieved) and written (stored) in it.

2. RAM is a temporary (volatile) storage because its content disappears when the
computer is switched off.

3. Its Content is user defined i.e., the user dictates what is to be contained in the RAM.

Types of RAM.

Static RAM

Static RAM (SRAM) is a fast type of memory mostly located inside a microprocessor.
For this reason, SRAM IS used on special purpose memories such as cache memory.
Cache memory is used to enhance the processing speed by holding data and
instructions that are instantly required by the processor.

Dynamic RAM
Dynamic RAM (DRAM) IS a relatively Slower type of RAM compared to SRAM. The
term dynamic refers to the tendency for the stored charge to leak away, even with
constant power supply. For this reason, DRAM requires periodic recharging (refresh)
to maintain its data storage.

Rambus RAM

This is the latest and fastest RAM in terms of response time. Special purpose
memories

Some minute types of memories are included inside a microprocessor or input/output

devices, in order to enhance performance. these memories

Include cache memory, buffers and registers.

Cache memory (pronounced as cash) ss a fast type of RAM. There three types of
cache memory namely

Level I also known as primary cache is located inside the microprocessor

Level 2 also known as external cache may be inside the microprocessor or mounted
on the motherboard;

Level 3 is the latest type of cache that works with L2 cache to optimize system
performance.

Buffers

Buffers are special memories that are found in input output devices Input data is held
in the input butter while processed output is held in output buffer. For example,
computer printers have buffers where they can store massive documents sent by the
CPU for printing hence freeing the CPU so that it can perform other urgent tasks as the
printer continues to print in the background.

Registers

As opposed to buffers, registers hold one piece of data at a time and are inside

the CPU. Examples of registers are:

Accumulator. This temporarily holds the results of the last processing step of the

ALU. Instruction registers. This temporarily holds an instruction just before itis

interpreted into a form that the CPU can understand.

Address register. This temporarily holds the next piece of data waiting to

be processed.

Storage register: This temporarily holds a piece of data that is on its way to and from
the CPU and the main memory.
Communication devices

These are devices that enable communication between two or more computers. In this
section, we will briefly discuss three of such devices namely, the Network Interface
Card (NIC), modems and Hubs.

Network interface Card (NIC)

A network interface card is plugged into an empty expansion slot on the motherboard.
It has ports through which cables from other computers and devices can be plugged.
Data moves from the computer, through the NIC and the cables to other devices.
Today, most computer motherboards come ready with onboard network interface
cards.

Modems
A modem is a device that converts a computer Signal from digital form to analog form
and vice versa for purposes of transmission over analog media like telecommunication
wires. A modem can be external or built on the motherboard. Improvements in
technology have resulted in modems that are smaller in size but very powerful.

Hubs

A hub is a device that connects computers on a network. it relays information from one
computer to another on the same network.

Some Components of the system unit

Parallel interface

Parallel cables transmit information simultaneously using a set of man. using such
cables is that they transmit data taster over a short distance A parallel cable connects
to a parallel interface port commonly refers to as Line Printer (LPT). Parallel cables are
used to connect printers’ optical scanners and some removable storage drives such as
zip drive

Serial interface

Serial ports also known as COM or RS232 ports, support transmission of data one bit
at a time, hence it 1S Slower than the parallel port. Although they are slower, they are
more reliable than the parallel ports because they can support data transmission to
devices connected 15 metres away. Serial cables are generally used to connect
devices such as the mouse and some printers.

Universal serial bus (USB) interface

Universal serial bus is a new standard serial interface that 1s Set replace the
conventional parallel and serial cables and ports. Currently, most peripheral devices
from printers to mobile phones are coming With USB as the default interface. Although
it transmits only 1-bit at a time, it provides very high-speed and quality data
transmission over distances of approximately 5 metres. There are two types of USBs
namely low speed USB (1.1) and a relatively faster high-speed USB (2.0). A USB port
can be used to connect as many as 12/ peripheral devices to a computer daisy
chained to a single port known as the root hub.

Small computer system interface (SCSI)

Small computer systems interface port and interface cables transmit data in parallel but
are faster than the parallel cables. Another advantage of the SCSI port is that one
SCSI port allows us to connect multiple devices.

Personal system 2 (PS/2) interface

Originally, most computers used the -pin DIN to connect a keyboard to the system unit
but the smaller 6-pin mini-DIN also known as PS/2 interface has replaced this
technology. Currently, most desktop computers come with two PS/2 ports, one for the
mouse and the other for the keyboard.

Video graphics array (VGA) interface

A Video Graphics Array (VGA) interface is used to connect a monitor or a data

projector. It is shaped like a letter D with 1> pins

Audio interface

Audio interface jacks are used to connect speakers and microphone. By convention,
the sound output jack is colour coded in green while that of sound input is in pink.

Firewire interface

Firewire or IEEE 1394 has the same features as the USB but transmits data faster than
USB. It is mostly used for streaming video from a digital Video camera.

Switching the Computer On and Off

Now that you have learnt what a computer is and how to safely use it, its now time to
start working with it. Before you start, the computer instructor or laboratory technician
should assist in making sure that the keyboard, monitor and mouse are properly
connected to the system unit.
Cold booting a computer

Once you turn on the computer, it automatically goes through a process of self-test and
preparation for use. 1This process is called cold booting or bootup.

Once you turn on the computer, you may hear the sound of the cooler fan running.
After a few seconds, lines of text start scrolling up on the Screen. This process is
referred to as Power-On-Self Test (POST). POST checks on the existing drives, basic
input and output devices such as the keyboard, monitor and the mouse. If a problem is
encountered, the process is halted and an error message is displayed on the screen.

POST is accomplished by a special firmware program called the Basic Input/Output

System (BIOS) which is held in a ROM chip mounted on the motherboard.

After POST, the computer reads some instructions Such as the current time and date
from a special memory known as the Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor
(CMOS). CMOS is powered by a dry cell that mostly resembles that of a digital watch.
If the cell is depleted, the computer requires the user to enter the current date and
time.
Lastly, a special type of computer program used to manage computers; called an
Operating System is loaded to the computer memory.