INFORMATION SUPPORT AND

SERVICES

2.01 UNDERSTAND HOW COMPUTERS AND HIGH TECH COMMUNICATION DEVICES WORK.

WHAT WILL WE LEARN?

This lesson will teach you about different types of computing devices and the associated hardware (physical equipment).

COMPONENTS OF THE COMPUTER

1. CPU/Processor

2. Memory (RAM)

3. Storage

4. Input / Output Devices

DESKTOP COMPUTING

Desktop computers

are single-user systems designed with microprocessor technology where an entire CPU is contained on a single chip.

Designed to fit on or under a desk.

Can either contain a built-in monitor (AIO- all in one) or a separate display that plugs into the computer.

MOBILE COMPUTING

Mobile computing devices Long-lasting batteries to allow them to be portable Notebook computers

Portable, light-weight computers comparable to a desktop in capability

Tablet PCs Similar to pad/pencil Write on screen with stylus (pen) Handwriting recognition software Runs the same software as a desktop computer Example: Surface Pro, a tablet running Windows 8

Tablet Computer Very similar to a tablet PC except that it runs special software

different from a desktop computer. Examples: iPad, Android tablet, Surface RT or any Windows RT tablet.

MOBILE COMPUTING

Mobile computing devices Handheld computers

PDAs (Personal Data Assistant) Palm-sized Contains applications for storing contact information,

schedules, lists and games. Uses stylus for input Almost completely replaced by smart phones.

Smart phones Cellular phones that behave very similar to tablet computers

and often can run the same software. Have cameras, video, mp3 players, and other computer like

features. Can use a stylus or finger for input Examples: iPhone, Samsung Galaxy S4, Nokia Lumia 920

MOBILE COMPUTING

Mobile computing devicesWearable computer

Designed to be wornIn clothingWristband

MP3 players, hands-free cell phonesMonitor health problems

Example: Google Glass, Apple’s rumored iWatch

THE SERVER COMPUTER

A server is used to manage or provide services for other computers.

Examples:File Server (provide storage access to multiple users)Web Server (host a website)Print ServerDomain Controller (a special server which runs a

network- used in businesses).Media Server a special type of file server most

common in a home which hosts files that can be played on multiple displays are devices through the home

The conceptual model of an information handling system such as a computer.

IPO+S MODEL

INPUT PROCESSING OUTPUT

STORAGE

THE PERSONAL COMPUTER

Base Unit (can be a tower, minitower, or desktop)Contains many storage devices such as a DVD or

Blu-ray drive, and a hard disk drive.Contains the motherboard which contains:

CPU (Central Processing Unit)Processes data and controls the flow of data between

the computer’s other units.ALU (Arithmetic Logic Unit)

Performs logic and arithmetic operationsMakes comparisonsSo fast that the time need to carry out a single addition

is measured in nanoseconds (billionths of a second)

COMPONENTS OF THE MOTHERBOARD

CPU socket

RAM slots

PCI and PCI-E expansion slots (PCI slots at the bottom)

SATA ports

Chipset

Connections to the external world (USB, Display, Headphones, etc.)

Power Supply Connection

CPU/PROCESSOR

A computer ’s processor is the “brain” of the computer. All calculations and operations function because of the CPU.

Speed is measured in (Hertz) Hz, usually gigahertz (GHz) today. In computers Hertz means master clock cycles per second. Usually more Hertz means more operations per second. For example, if a CPU can complete an operation in one clock cycle, and the CPU is operating at 2GHz, the CPU is performing 2 billion operations per second.

Current CPUs range from 1.8 to 5GHz. CPUs generate heat. A higher the operating frequency means more

heat.Quad Core CPU in the LGA (Land Grid Array) 775 package

MPU / CPU

Current MPUs have multiple CPUs in a single package; there are MPUs with dual (2), tri (3), quad (4), oct (8), or more cores.

MPUs now have up to 8 “brains”. They can for the first time perform more than one operation at the same time!

Before dual core CPUs, CPUs could only perform one operation at any given second. The operation could change very rapidly, but it always only actually performing one operation. This is no longer the case with dual/tri/quad core CPUs.

DATA FLOW THROUGH THE CPU

Input Memory Output

CPU

The “Brain” of the Computer

MORE CPU

CPUs operate using three phases which repeat over and over during the entire time the system is powered on.

Three Phases:FetchDecodeExecute

FETCH PHASE

• When a program is opened, most of the code is copied into RAM (usually from the hard drive).

• Once the program is loaded, the processor requests the first line of code from cache or RAM.

• The code block is then passed to the CPU.

• Fetch looks in four places for data: L1 cache, L2 cache, L3 cache and finally RAM (in this order).

DECODE PHASE

• The control unit interprets the instruction and moves data to the appropriate registers.

EXECUTE PHASE

The Arithmetic/Logic Unit, Floating Point Unit (FPU), or GPU performs the operation.

The process returns to the Fetch phase for the next lines of code.

CACHE MEMORY

Cache (pronounced cash) is high speed memory. L(Level) 1 cache is within the CPU itself. This cache is very high speed and stores instructions executed over and over.

Example: If you are playing a card game, the L1 cache might store the instruction to flip over a new card.

L2 cache is a slower and larger version of L1 cache.

L3 cache is now included on most current CPUs and further speeds up operation.

CACHE MEMORY

Level 2 cache is at the top of each die. You are looking at the physical internals of a quad core CPU (2 dual cores glued together. L1 cache is located at the bottom middle. This is an actual image of a CPU. Intel Q6600 to be exact. (Older quad core CPU from 2008)

L2 cache

L1 cache

CPU / MPU

Modern CPUs contains the following:ALU (The Arithmetic Logic Unit; aka the binary math

wizard)L1 cacheL2 cacheMemory Controller (Interface to the “memory sticks”,

or RAM, that you can add to your computer.

Some also include:L3 cacheGraphics Controller

RANDOM ACCESS MEMORY (RAM)

Without RAM your computer will not operate. It will just beep loudly for the next 216 years or until you turn it off.

RAM is plugged into the motherboard into the long slots with tabs on the end.

Current PCs have between 1GB and 8GB (or more) of RAM installed.

RAM is a temporary data storage area. The CPU uses it for fast access to data. The most common item found in a computer’s RAM is the operating system. The CPU moves the OS data from disk to RAM during boot.

A stick of RAM

RAM

RAM holds data for all applications that are currently running on your computer, but only while the power is on.

Your computer has RAM because it is up to 1000 times faster than your hard drive where the data is stored.

RAM is relatively inexpensive and energy efficient, especially when compared to Cache Memory.

Most RAM has a “short-term memory” problem. It has to be constantly reminded what it is supposed to remember. This type of RAM is called Dynamic RAM (DRAM).

EXAMPLE OF RAM

Current computers use DDR3 RAM.

Notebooks/Laptops use SO-DIMMs which is a type DDR3 RAM but smaller.

DDR= Double Data Rate which means the computer reads data from the RAM at least two times per cycle.

RAM SPEED

RAM speed is an important factor in overall computer performance. Fast memory can improve performance if the computer is designed to take advantage of the increased speed.

CHIPSET

A chip on the motherboard provided by the CPU manufacturer (who may or may not have designed the motherboard) which allows the various components on the motherboard to interact with each other.

Chipset manufacturers:IntelAMD

PCI-E SLOTS

PCI-E slots are a place to install expansion cards or boards into the computer.

Original expansion slots were called ISA slots which were replaced by PCI slots many years ago. PCI-E slots have mostly replaced PCI slots. A few motherboards will still contain PCI slots for specialized uses. Current chipsets do not support PCI.

Examples: video cards, NIC (Network Interface Cards), RAID, SCSI, or Fiber channel cards (to plug in high speed hard drives).

SATA PORTS

SATA (Serial ATA) are ports which are used to plug in hard disk drives or optical drives.

Replaced PATA (parallel ATA) ports on consumer computers. SATA is much faster than PATA with a vastly superior connector cable.

Can be hot-swappable (do not need to power down the machine to plug or unplug a drive).

BYTES

The unit used to measure memory and storage on a computer is a byte. Bytes can be broken down into bits (binary digit). A bit is a single 0 or 1 in binary. 1 byte is a character like an A.

Some languages (mainly Asian) require 2 bytes to display one character.

Remember your metric prefixes from math or science? They apply to computers too!

BYTES

Kilo - Thousand (1000 bytes)Mega - Million (1000 KB, 1,000,000 bytes)Giga - Billion (1000 MB, 1,000,000 KB)Tera - Trillion (1000 GB, 1,000,000 MB)Peta - QuadrillionExa - Quintillion

Add byte to the prefix. Kilobyte, Megabyte etc. All can be abbreviated using the first letter of the prefix and B. (KB, MB, GB).

WRONG NUMBERS?

The numbers you just saw are all in fact wrong - at least when it comes to a computer.

Why is this?

WRONG NUMBERS?

The numbers you just saw are all in fact wrong - at least when it comes to a computer.

Why is this? Remember binary from the last lesson?

The numbers are approximations of the actual values which are powers of two.

1 MB is actually 1,024KB. 1024 is the closest a power of 2 can come to 1000.

ENCODING SYSTEMS

Two main systems used:

ASCII- binary based encoding system up to 127 characters or symbols, up to 254 with ASCII extension

Unicode- hexadecimal based encoding system can contain over 100,000 characters- enough to contain characters and symbols for almost all current used language Has almost completely

replaced ASCII, especially on the Internet.

STORAGE

Data can be permanently stored on various devices.Examples:

Hard Drive Optical disc (CD/DVD/Blu-ray) Flash Drive (USB drive/jump drive) MP3 player Smart Phone

Unlike RAM - data is not lost when power is turned off to these devices.

Most permanent storage options have slower response times than RAM. Data cannot be delivered as quickly from permanent storage.

HARD DRIVE

Works much like a record player and a cassette tape combined. Has platters and an arm (called read/write head) that comes very close (but never touches) the platter and records data using magnetic impulses.

Current magnetic hard drives can store as much as 3 Terabytes of data. That is 1 million songs in mp3 format or 3000 movies!

Hard drive with cover off showing a platter and the read/write arm.

OPTICAL DRIVES

Optical drives use reflective media like CDs, DVDs, or Blu-ray discs to store data. The data is read using a laser.

The laser burns “pits” into the disc to store data. CDs hold around 700MB of data, DVDs hold up to 17 GB of data. Blu-ray disks hold up to 128GB of data.

MORE OPTICAL

Optical disks can be different types-

AudioVideoDataPictureThe only difference is what

format the data is stored in. All drives read the discs the same way.

FLASH DRIVES

Flash drives are USB drives are sold in capacities up to 1 Terabyte or more. Very large capacity Flash drives will be available soon.

Flash drives use a special type of memory called flash memory based on EEPROM or Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory)

Flash drives are small, and can store data for up to ten years on average.

Flash drives have a limited number of available write cycles.

MORE FLASH

Unlike other storage- flash drives can be dropped and not lose data.

Many personal electronic devices (MP3, iPod, Smart Phone, Tablets) also use the same flash memory as a flash drive to store files.

Flash drive opened up showing the memory chips

A STORAGE DEVICE MARRIAGE

Electro-mechanical hard drives are reliable, but relatively slow.

Flash memory is faster, and more reliable.Hard-drives are being replaced by Solid

State Drives – a storage device that comes in the same form factor as a hard drive but uses no moving parts. They use memory chips to store large amounts of data that can be delivered to the CPU faster than an electro-mechanical hard drive.

• Keyboard

• Mouse

• Stylus

• Touchscreen

• Microphone

• Scanner

INPUT DEVICES

• Monitor or Display

• Printers

• Speakers

• Touchscreen

OUTPUT DEVICES

• Basic Input Output System

• Usually part of the ROM chip

• Contains all of the code to control the startup processes of the computer

• Often checks all of the components on the system when a computer is turned on

BIOS

TALKING POINTS

Know more about what is inside your computer? What did you learn?

What do you think are the differences between hardware in a desktop PC and a laptop?

How do tablets store permanent data?

WRAP UP

In this lesson we learned about computer hardware and how hardware devices work together.

Next, we will look at troubleshooting computer hardware and software.