Introduction to information technology Dr.Fatimah Ali Al-Rowibah

Objectives of information Technology Definitions Type of Computers How Computers Work Main components of Computers Network and types of network

Definitions: Information technology (IT) The Information Technology Association of America (ITAA),defined IT, as "the study, design, development, implementation, support or management of computer- based information systems, particularly software applications and computer hardware." It deals with the use of electronic computers and computer software to convert, store, protect, process, transmit and retrieve information, securely.

Definitions: UNESCO defines IT, ìs Scientific technology and engineering disciplines and the management techniques used in information handling and processing their application, computers and their interaction with men and machines and associated social, economic and cultural matters. In simple daily life we can define IT : is the application of computers and telecommunications equipment to store, retrieve, transmit and manipulate data. IT IS : Set of tools, processes, and methodologies (such as coding/programming, data communications, data conversion, storage and retrieval, systems analysis and design, systems control) and associated equipment employed to collect, process, and present information.

Terminology : Computer literacy involves knowledge of the Internet and the World Wide Web and the ability to take advantage of their resources and to critically judge the information. A computer is an electronic device that accepts data (raw facts) as input, processes or alters them in some way and produces useful information as output. A computer manipulates data by following step-by-step instructions called a program System : A set of integrated entities that operates as a whole to accomplish a prescribed task.

Definitions: What is a network? Two or more computers connected together using communications equipment. The computers can be geographically located anywhere. online which means using a computer to access information from another computer through the use of a network. The Internet Applications Social Media E-business EHR E-government E-learning

Type of Computers:.1-Supercomputers.2-Mainframes.3-Workstations.4-Microcomputers 5-Embedded Computers.

Supercomputers Extremely Fast computer Up to 350 million dollars Consists of thousands of processors and can carry out several trillion calculations per second. Used for scientific and engineering problems

Mainframe Up to 5 million dollars Used by corporate and large organizations such as banks, airlines, insurance companies, colleges. Processes billions of instructions per second. Used for transaction processing Very high stabile and reliable

Workstations Usually used for complex scientific, mathematical, and engineering calculations and for computer-aided design Example: designing airplanes, special effects in movies

Microcomputer Personal Computer (PC) Desktop PC Laptop / Notebook Mac Apple Mac SmartPhones

Embedded Computers Small Specialized Exist in: Home Appliances Cars ATM

Clients and Servers Server: A central computer that holds collections of data & running programs to serve the request of clients Clients: PCs, workstations, & other devices typically connect to a server thru a network Server + Clients linked together to form a client-server architecture.

How Computers Work A computer accepts data (raw facts) as input, processes or alters them in some way and produces useful information as output. Data. is raw. It simply exists and has no significance beyond its existence (in and of itself). It can exist in any form, usable or not. It does not have meaning of itself. In computer parlance, a spreadsheet generally starts out by holding data. ( text, voice, video,image,…it can be Structure data or unstructured (data information is data that has been given meaning by way of relational connection. This "meaning" can be useful, but does not have to be. In computer parlance, a relational database makes information from the data stored within it. knowledge is the appropriate collection of information, such that it's intent is to be useful. Knowledge is a deterministic process

Basic operations that a computer can perform

Main components of Computers :1-Hardware The hardware components of a computer system are the electronic and mechanical parts. 2-Software: The software components of a computer system are the data and the computer programs. :A-System software is computer software designed to operate and control the computer hardware and to provide a platform for running application software. B-Application Software: is computer software that causes a computer to perform useful tasks beyond the running of the computer itself.

Examples: System software:  Microsoft Windows  Linux  Mac OS Unix Application software: Microsoft Office Adobe Acrobat Adobe Photoshop

Input devices:

Output devices:

Processing Computer Processing unit. Computer box has: The processor chip (CPU – Central Processing Unit) Memory chips (RAM – Random Access Memory) Motherboard with power supply Video card Etc. …. Storage devices

Assignment #1 Cloud Computing

Assignment #1 What is Cloud Computing?

Computer Network: A computer network consists of a collection of computers, printers and other equipment that is connected together so that they can communicate with each other. LAN, MAN, and WAN: Local Area Network (LAN) is Network in small geographical Area (Room, Building or a Campus) Metropolitan Area Network (MAN) is Network in a City Wide Area Network (WAN) is Network spread geographically (Country or across Globe).

Components of Network A minimum of at least 2 computers A network interface card (NIC) on each computer Cables that connect the computers to each other A Switch used to connect various network devices together, like computers, to allow communication between those devices. Network operating system. Network Interface Card (NIC) is also known as a network card. It connects the computer to the network cabling Each computer on a network must have a network card. Most modern network cards are 10/100/1000 NICs and can operate at either 10Mbps, 100Mbps, or 1Gbps

Wireless Networks Refers to two or more computers communicating without the use of cabling to connect the devices together The computers use wireless radio signals to send information from one to the other. Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN)Consists of two major components: Wireless Access Point (wAP) Wireless Network Card (wNIC)

What is virtualization? Virtualization allows one computer to do the job of multiple computers. Virtual environments let one computer host multiple operating systems at the same time

How it works?