Sem 1v2 Chapter 1: The Basics of Computing

There are three reasons why it is important to be able to recognize and name the major components of a PC. First, computers are important network-building devices. Second, many networking devices are themselves special- purpose computers, with many of the same parts as "normal" PCs. Finally, in order for you to view the online curriculum, your own computer must be in good working order.

Small, Discrete Components transistor integrated circuit resistor capacitor connectors (many kinds) light emitting diode (LED) solder Personal Computer Subsystems printed circuit board (pcb) CD-ROM drive CPU floppy disk drive hard disk drive microprocessor motherboard bus RAM ROM system unit expansion slot power supply Back Plane Components back plane network card video card sound card parallel port serial port mouse port monitor connector power cord

Boot instructions - stored in ROM, until they are sent out software applications (e.g. floppy disk, hard disk, CD-ROM drive, NIC card) - after they have been loaded, are stored, temporarily, in RAM RAM and ROM - constantly talk to the CPU via the bus Application information - stored in RAM as long as the application is being used. Saved information - flows from RAM to some form of storage device Exported information - flows from RAM and the CPU, via the bus and expansion slots, to the serial port, parallel port (usually for printers), video card, sound card, or network card Following are some of the important information flows

A network interface card (NIC) is a printed circuit board that provides network communication capabilities to and from a personal computer. Also called a LAN adapter it plugs into a motherboard and provides a port for network connection. This card can be designed as an Ethernet card, a token-ring card, or an Fiber Distributed Data Interface (FDDI) card. A network card communicates with the network through a serial connection, and with the computer through a parallel connection. Each requires an IRQ, an I/O address, and an upper memory address for DOS and for Windows 95/98

knowledge of how the network card is usually configured, including EPROM, jumpers, and plug-and-play software use of network card diagnostics, including the loopback test and vendor- supplied diagnostics ability to resolve hardware resource conflicts, including IRQ, DMA, and I/O Base Address In order to perform the installation of a NIC card you should have the following resources:

The expansion slots of laptops because of their size necessarily become PCMCIA slots, where NICs, modems, hard drives and other useful devices – usually the size of a thick credit card - can be installed/inserted in various places along the perimeter.

After you have set up the PC hardware you must configure its software. You must complete the following tasks in order to be able to view the curriculum: 1.select the NIC 2.set the correct IP address 3.adjust the display (if necessary) 4.install and set up the browser 5.perform a few other tasks (if necessary)

This introduces the importance of IP Addressing and subnet masking. There is no need to explain them in detail -- something along the lines of "every computer needs an address to participate in the Internet". Some labs will have statically configured IP addresses, in which case the students can actually view their IP address; others will have DHCP and will need to run winipconfig to view their dynamically assigned address.

A web browser acts on behalf of a user by contacting a web server, requesting information, receiving information, and then displaying the results on a screen. A browser is software that interprets hypertext markup language (HTML) which is the language used to code web page content. HTML can display graphics, play sound, movies, and other multimedia files. Hyperlinks - computer program commands that point to other places inside a PC, or on a network - connect to other web pages and to files that can be downloaded.

Troubleshooting is an essential concept on the CompTIA standards and will be woven through all four semesters of curriculum.

The purpose of this target indicator is to have students realize that networking grew out of particular communications needs, but that as it grew standards were required

LANs make it possible for businesses that use computer technology to share, efficiently, such items as files and printers, and to make possible communications such as . They tie together data, communications, computing, and file servers.

Some common WAN technologies are: modems ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network) DSL ( Digital SubscriberLoop ) frame relay ATM ( Asynchronous Transfer Mode )T-Carrier Series ( in U.S.:T1, T3, etc.) SONET ( Synchronous Optical Network)

Information - text, pictures, movies, audio, video, anything - can be represented by binary codes (i.e. binary digits, bits, 1s and 0s). Advances in microelectronics, computer design, software, and networking now make it possible to codify almost any information, then transmit it from any place to any place, at approximately the speed of light You will spend much time during the CCNA program studying how this is possible.

The fundamental unit of bandwidth -- a unit of information (lets say the bit) per unit of time (lets say a second) is the bit per second, a rate, a flow.

No matter how you send your messages, no matter which physical medium you use, bandwidth is limited. This is due both to the laws of physics and to current technological advances.

internetworking devices type of data being transferred topology number of users user's computer server computer power and weather-induced outages and many other reasons. Throughput usually refers to actual, measured, bandwidth, at a specific time of day, using specific internet routes, while downloading a specific file. Some of the factors that determine throughput and bandwidth include the following:

An important part of networking involves making decisions about which medium to use. This often leads to questions regarding the bandwidths that the user's applications require. The graphic summarizes a simple formula that will help you with such decisions

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