1. APPENDIX A Hardware and Software Basics

2. Overview HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE BASICS Hardware Basics
Computer Categories
Software Basics

3. INTRODUCTION
Information technology (IT) - Any computer-based tool that people use to work with information and support the information and information-processing needs of an organization
Hardware - Consists of the physical devices associated with a computer system
Software - The set of instructions that the hardware executes to carry out specific tasks

4. HARDWARE BASICS
Computer - An electronic device operating under the control of instructions stored in its own memory that can accept, manipulate, and store data
Hardware components include:
Central processing unit (CPU)
Primary storage
Secondary storage
Input device
Output device
Communication device

5. HARDWARE BASICS

6. HARDWARE BASICS

7. HARDWARE BASICS

8. HARDWARE BASICS

9. Central Processing Unit
Central processing unit (CPU) (or microprocessor) - The actual hardware that interprets and executes the program (software) instructions and coordinates how all the other hardware devices work together
Control unit - Interprets software instructions and literally tells the other hardware devices what to do, based on the software instructions
Arithmetic-logic unit (ALU) - Performs all arithmetic operations (for example, addition and subtraction) and all logic operations (such as sorting and comparing numbers)

10. Central Processing Unit
The number of CPU cycles per second determines the speed of a CPU
Megahertz (MHz) - The number of millions of CPU cycles per second
Gigahertz (GHz) - The number of billions of CPU cycles per second

11. Central Processing Unit
CPU speed factors
Clock speed
Word length
Bus width
Binary digit (bit) - The smallest unit of information that a computer can process
Byte - A group of eight bits representing one natural language character

12. Advances in CPU Design
Complex instruction set computer (CISC) chip - Type of CPU that can recognize as many as 100 or more instructions, enough to carry out most computations directly
Reduced instruction set computer (RISC) chip - Limit the number of instructions the CPU can execute to increase processing speed
Virtualization - A protected memory space created by the CPU allowing the computer to create virtual machines

13. Primary Storage
Primary storage - The computer’s main memory, which consists of the random access memory (RAM), cache memory, and the read-only memory (ROM) that is directly accessible to the CPU

14. Random Access Memory (RAM)
Random access memory (RAM) - The computer’s primary working memory, in which program instructions and data are stored so that they can be accessed directly by the CPU via the processor’s high-speed external data bus
Volatility
Cache memory

15. Random Access Memory (RAM)

16. Read-Only Memory (ROM)
Read-only memory (ROM) - The portion of a computer’s primary storage that does not lose its contents when one switches off the power
Flash memory
Memory card
Memory stick

17. Secondary Storage
Secondary storage - Consists of equipment designed to store large volumes of data for long-term storage
Megabyte (MB or M or Meg) - Roughly 1 million bytes
Gigabyte (GB) - Roughly 1 billion bytes
Terabyte (TB) - Roughly 1 trillion bytes

18. Secondary Storage

19. Magnetic Medium
Magnetic medium - A secondary storage medium that uses magnetic techniques to store and retrieve data on disks or tapes coated with magnetically sensitive materials
Magnetic tape - An older secondary storage medium that uses a strip of thin plastic coated with a magnetically sensitive recording medium
Hard drive - A secondary storage medium that uses several rigid disks coated with a magnetically sensitive material and housed together with the recording heads in a hermetically sealed mechanism

20. Optical Medium Optical medium types include:
Compact disk-read-only memory (CD-ROM)
Compact disk-read-write (CD-RW) drive
Digital video disk (DVD)
Digital video disk-read/write (DVD-RW)

21. Input Devices
Input device - Equipment used to capture information and commands

22. Input Devices

23. Output Devices

24. Output Devices

25. Communication Devices
Communication device - Equipment used to send information and receive it from one location to another
Dial-up access
Cable
Digital subscriber line
Wireless
Satellite

26. COMPUTER CATEGORIES
For the past 20 years, federally funded supercomputing research has given birth to some of the computer industry’s most significant technology breakthroughs including:
Clustering
Parallel processing
Mosaic browser

27. COMPUTER CATEGORIES Computer categories include:
Personal digital assistant (PDA)
Laptop
Tablet
Desktop
Workstation
Minicomputer
Mainframe computer
Supercomputer

28. SOFTWARE BASICS
System software - Controls how the various technology tools work together along with the application software
Operating system software
Utility software
Application software

29. Utility Software Types of utility software Crash-proof Disk image
Disk optimization
Encrypt data
File and data recovery
Text protect
Preventative security
Spyware
Uninstaller

30. Application Software Types of application software Browser
Communication
Data management
Desktop publishing
Groupware
Presentation graphics
Programming
Spreadsheet
Word processing