Configuration

A computer system consists of two parts: the software and the hardware.

The software is the information in the form of data and program instructions. The hardware components are the electronic and mechanical parts of the system.

In the computer system there are 3 main hardware sections: the CPU the main memory the peripherals

CPU What is the main function of the CPU? executes program instructions co-ordinates the activities of all the other units.

Main memory What is the function of the main memory? holds the instructions and data which are being processed by the CPU. The internal memory has 2 sections: RAM (Random Access Memory) ROM (Read Only Memory).

Peripherals What are peripherals? are the physical units attached to the computer. They include: input devices output devices storage devices

Input devices What do input devices enable us to do? to present information to the computer. The most common input devices are: the mouse the keyboard

Output devices What do output devices allow us to do? to extract the results from the computer; for example, we can see the output: on the monitor in printed form.

Storage devices What do storage devices provide? a permanent storage of both data and programs. They include e.g.: floppy disks hard disks

What do you use ports for? We can plug into ports a wide range of peripherals - modems, fax machines, optical drives and scanners.