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Name: Okoro Kolette Elo-Oghene Department: Medicine and Surgery Level: 100L GST 115 Assignment CATEGORIES OF COMPUTER HARDWARE Computer hardware is the physical parts of the computer system. There are the parts that can be touched, seen and broken. The computer hardware is categorised into six major components. This includes: Central Processing Unit(CPU) Main Memory Secondary Storage Input Devices Output Devices Network Hardware CENTRAL PROCESSING UNIT (CPU) The CPU is the most essential part of the computer system. It is referred to as the brain of the computer system. The CPU connects all other hardware component and takes decision for the computer. All other computer hardware is attached to the CPU so as to carry out their function. The CPU does all the reasoning, decision making, and arithmetic operations. The CPU is divided into two major parts, namely; The Arithmetic and Logical Unit (ALU) and The Control Unit (CU). The Arithmetic and Logical Unit is responsible for the arithmetic operation and decision makings. Operations like addition, subtraction, division and multiplication. It also performs logical operations because of its ability to reason and make decision. The Control Unit interprets the instruction from the main memory. It appoints tasks to the ALU and the peripheral devices. It instructs the ALU and give directives to the other computer hardware. In other words, the control unit controls all the activities of the computer system. THE MAIN MEMORY This is a storage media on the motherboard. It stores data and instructions to be carried out by the CPU. It is also called the Primary storage. It is the storage space in computer where data is to be processed and instructions required for processing are stored. The main memory is the storage media that the CPU interacts with most times since it closer to the CPU. The main memory is classified into three types, namely; Random Access Memory(RAM) Read Only Memory (ROM) Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor Memory (CMOS) RAM is a volatile type of memory. It holds the data and instruction the computer is working on temporarily. In a situation of power supply, all data would be lost. When data and information are still stored on the RAM, it can be edited. The RAM is the storage media that computer users interact with the most. ROM is a non-volatile type of memory. Power supply does not affect the data stored on the ROM. Contents in the ROM can only be read, they cannot be edited. They are basically used to store instructions of the activities of the computer system. The Electrical Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory (EEPROM) allows the instructions stored on it to be updated or edited but with use of higher than normal electrical voltage. CMOS is the combination of some of the properties of the ROM and RAM. It is a hybrid of both memories. It is non-volatile and the content can be edited and updated. The CMOS cannot store programs. It is used to store configuration information of the computer system. SECONDARY STORAGE The secondary storage is used to store processed data since data is lost on the RAM after power supply is lost and the ROM is not user friendly. In this wise, information are stored in the secondary storage. There are three types of secondary storage, namely; Magnetic Media Optical Media, and Semi-Conducting Media. Magnetic Media: floppy disk, hard disk and magnetic tapes are basic types of the magnetic media. The floppy disk portable and has a very small size of about 1.44MB. It is not durable and slow in operation. They are old examples of storage media. The hard disk is a huge type of memory and also determines how powerful a computer system is. It rotates at a high speed. The magnetic tape is a magnetically coated strip of plastic on which data are stored. It is very cheap to afford and also stores large amount of data. Optical Media: they hold content in digital form that are written and read by a laser. The optical media is classified into CD and DVD variations. The Compact Disk (CD) uses laser and technology to store data of about 640MB. The CD is divided into three. The CD-ROM can only be read and not over written or edited. The CD-Recordable is durable if well-kept but data can only be written in it once. The CDRewritable can be rewritten over and over again as the name implies. The Digital Versatile Disk (DVD) is more advanced than the compact disk and has higher capacity. The storage space is much more than the CD. It also has three divisions. The DVD ROM is similar to the CDROM but of more capacity. It is mostly used by the film making companies. The DVD-Recordable is also similar to the CD-Rewritable but very much volume of data. It cannot be overwritten. The DVD-Rewritable can be overwritten for as many times as possible. They are of various standards. Magneto-Optical Disk (MOD) combines both the magnetic and optical methods to store data. It is more reliable than the DVD and has similar storage amount as the DVD. It can also be rewritten as many times as possible. Semi-Conducting Media: they are often referred to as “Flash memories”. They make use of semi-conductor clips to store data. They are mostly found in portable devises such as digital cameras, mobile phones, MP3. They are very reliable and durable. Examples include; Secure Digital Card (SD card), smart media card (SM card). INPUT DEVICES These are the devises that enables the computer user to enter data and commands into the computer system. They are peripheral computer hardware equipment used to provide data and control signals to an information processing system such as computer or information appliance. It can be said to be any machine that feeds data into the computer. It allows the user to interact with the computer and control the computer. Example of the input devices includes; Mouse, keyboard, joystick, trackball, image scanner, digital camera, Optical Mark Recognition (OMR) reader, microphone, Automated Teller Machine (ATM), light pen, barcode reader, biometrics scanner and so on. OUTPUT DEVICES These are devices that present digital information in the form that human can understand. It is any piece of computer hardware equipment used to communicate the results of data processing carried out by an information processing system (computer) which converts the electronically generated information into human readable form. An output device could be referred to as any peripheral device that receives data from the computer, usually for display, projection or physical reproduction. It converts a computer’s output to a form that can be seen, heard or used as an input for another device, process or system. Examples includes; printers, monitors, speakers, projectors, headphones, robots, fax machines, cathode ray tubes and many more. CONNECTIVITY HARDWARE These are the peripherals that connect a computer to different kind of networks. It enables the computer to be physically connected to the network. There are various types of connectivity hardware, the ones that are used to replicate network signal, enables computer to connect and transmit data over phones and many more. Some of them are explained below; Repeaters: this is a network device that is used to replicate a signal as it weakens when travelling across a network. Router: this is an intelligent device used to connect two or more individual networks. When it receives a signal, it looks up the address and passes it to the appropriate network. Bridges: this is used to connect to different Local Area Networks or two segments of the same LAN by forwarding traffic between segments. Hubs: this is a central point of connection between media segment enabling network extension to accommodate more personal computers. Other examples include; Modem, brouters, gateways, multiplexer, channel service unit and many more.