1.1 Using IT to meet business needs Flashcards
Name 4 components of a desktop computer system
Monitor
Main Case
Keyboard
Mouse
What is a Monitor?
Computer monitors are output devices used to display the tasks being worked on by the user.
Give 4 examples of a portable computer system
Laptop
Netbook
Tablet
Smartphone
What is a Netbook?
A netbook computer is smaller than a laptop and often has a lower specification. They are often smaller and lighter than laptops.
Give a use of a netbook in business
Netbooks can be used for accessing email, instant messaging, live web chat, browsing the internet and most office tasks.
What is a Laptop?
A laptop is a portable version of a desktop computer.
Give a use of a laptop computer in business
Laptops allow the user to carry out most office tasks while away from the office. A wireless connection allows the user to access email, instant messaging, live web chat, browsing the internet and viewing photographs.
What is a Tablet?
Tablet computers are portable devices that usually have no pointing device or physical keyboard. A touchscreen allows the user to move a pointer or use an on-screen keyboard to carry out tasks.
Give a use of a tablet in business
Tablet computers can be used to access email, instant messaging, live web chat, and also for browsing the internet and viewing photographs.
What is a Smartphone?
A smartphone combines a voice telephone, a personal digital assistant, a web browser, a calendar and diary, a digital camera, a GPS system, a media player, and the ability to run ‘apps’ to carry out tasks.
Give an example of an Input Device:
Keyboards and keypads
Mouse
Microphone
Touchpad
Remote control
Scanner
Bar code reader
Magnetic strip reader
Chip & pin reader
Touchscreen
Sensors
Cameras
What is a keyboard, and what is it used for in business?
Keyboards are used to input characters while typing or entering commands.
Keyboards are used in offices for typing letters, memos and emails.
A keyboard would also be used to enter data into a database or spreadsheet.
Commands to instruct the computer to carry out a task are also entered via a keyboard.
What is a mouse, and what is it used for in business?
A mouse is an input device and is used to move the onscreen pointing device to wherever the user wants on the screen. Mouse buttons are used to select options or to choose from a menu.
In an office, a mouse would be used to choose from a menu and select the choice with a click.
A mouse can be connected with a wire, or wirelessly by e.g. Bluetooth®.
What is a scanner, and what is it used for in business?
Scanners are used to digitise documents or other printed materials for use in a computer. Printed documents can be scanned and converted by optical character reading into documents that can be edited in a word processor. Images can be scanned for use in e.g. newsletters or posters.
A leisure centre might use a scanner to capture an identity document of a new member for their records.
What is a bar code reader, and what is it used for in business?
Bar code readers may be used to capture a bar code on items for sale in a shop, so that the details of the item can be looked up in a database. Matrix code readers (including smartphones) can be used to read the data from matrix codes.
What is a magnetic strip reader, and what is it used for in business?
Magnetic strip readers are used to read the data from the strips on membership cards and bank cards.
They are also found on chip & pin reading devices in case the bank card has no chip, or where the chip cannot be read because it is damaged.
What is a chip and pin reader, and what is it used for in business?
They are used to read the data from the chip in bank cards.
There is also a keypad for entering the numbers in a PIN code.
What is a camera, and what is its use in business?
A camera has light sensors that convert light into electrical signals that can be digitised by computers and stored as images.
A leisure centre might use a digital camera to capture images of members for inclusion on membership cards. Cameras are also used in video conferencing and security systems.
What is a sensor, and what is its use in business?
Sensors convert physical parameters such as light or temperature into electrical signals that can be digitised by a computer.
Sensors can be used to measure the temperature of a swimming pool in a leisure centre or of a food chiller cabinet or freezer in a supermarket.
Sensors can also detect the presence of people at a door, or be used to trigger security alarms.
Give an example of an Output Device:
Monitor
Touchscreen
Printer
Speakers, headphones and head sets
Data or digital projectors
Plotter
What is a touchscreen?
Touchscreens are both input and output devices. Found in smartphones and tablet computers, as well as whiteboards, touchscreens are used
to input characters and commands allowing the user to carry out tasks without needing access to a full-sized keyboard.
What is a printer, and what is its use in business?
Printers produce hard copy of documents, images and other output from a computer system. They are used for printing documents such as letters, memos and leaflets.
What are speakers, and what is their use in business?
These produce sounds allowing users to hear audio files, music, movie soundtracks, and the voices of others in e.g. video conferences. Speakers are found in earphones and headsets.
What is a data projector, and what is its use in business?
Data (digital) projectors project and enlarge a computer display for viewing by an audience of several people.
They are used to show presentations to e.g. staff and members of a leisure centre.
What is a plotter, and what is its use in business?
Sometimes very large prints with high accuracy are required.
Plotters are used in e.g. architects’ or engineering offices to produce hard copies of designs and drawings of building works.
Give an example of a Storage Device:
Hard disk
Solid state drive
Optical drive
Flash memory devices
Cloud storage
What is a magentic hard drive, and what is it used for?
Internal hard disks are used to store the data, files, operating systems and applications when the computer is switched off. External hard drives are often connected via USB and used to increase the storage capacity or for storing backups.
What is a solid state drive, and what is it used for?
Solid state drives offer faster access to data and files than magnetic hard drives, more resistance to knocks and shocks than hard drives, and use less power. However, they currently have a smaller storage capacity and are more expensive than magnetic hard disks. Because they are more resistant to damage when being moved, and use little power, solid state drives are used in tablet computers and some netbooks and laptops.
What is a flash memory drive, and what is it used for?
These devices use flash memory which requires very little power, and they retain the data after the power is switched off. Flash memory is used in solid state disks, USB memory sticks and flash memory cards such as those used in digital cameras.
What is a flash memory card, and what is it used for?
These are used to store images in digital cameras etc.
They are available in different capacities.
What is a USB, and what is it used for?
These use flash memory to store data and files. They are easily moved between computers, as most computing devices have a USB connection, which makes them useful for transferring data and files from one computer to another.
What is cloud storage, and what is it used for?
Cloud storage is remote storage that can be accessed via the internet.
It has a very large capacity and can be accessed by portable devices that have an internet connection.
Cloud storage allows businesses to provide remote access to their files and data to their employees.
Give an example of an Optical Storage Device:
CD, DVD and Blu-ray disks.
What is a DVD?
A DVD drive is used to read DVDs such as DVD-ROMs, DVD-Rs and DVD-RWs. Usually, a DVD re-writer is fitted so data can be written to DVD-RS and RWs. They will also read CDs.
A DVD drive is a storage device.
Give an example of a Connectivity Device:
Network card
Wireless NIC
Wireless access point (WAP)
Router
Switch
Modem
What is an NIC?
A network card (NIC) is needed to connect a desktop computer to a network.
What is a Wireless NIC?
Wireless network cards can be fitted to desktop computers, or be connected via USB.
These NICs connect using radio waves, so no wires are needed.
Laptops, and other portable computer devices such as smartphones, usually have a wireless NIC already built in to them.
What is a Router?
Routers direct network traffic to the correct computer or device.
Routers are used to connect different networks together and to the internet
What is a Switch?
A switch is used to allow many computing devices to connect to a network. Large networks may have a number of switches in use.
What is a Modem?
Modems are used to convert digital signals to and from analogue connections so that ordinary telephone lines can be used to connect to the internet. ‘Dial-up’ connections are still used in some areas of the country.
Sometimes, the term ‘modem’ is used to describe the ‘router’ that is supplied by a service provider for home connections that use ADSL connections. These may also, or may not, be wireless routers.
What is a WAP?
Wireless access points allow devices to connect to a wireless network.
WAPs use radio waves to make a Wi-Fi connection.
Name 2 ways of securing a network from outside users:
Using a Firewall, and setting unique UserID’s and passwords
What is a Firewall?
A firewall can be hardware-based or software-based. Both are designed to create a barrier between a private (e.g. company or home) network and a public network (e.g. the internet).
Firewalls check the incoming and outgoing network traffic against a set of rules to decide whether or not the traffic is allowed to pass. If it is, it will be allowed through the firewall; if it is not allowed, the traffic will be discarded.
Describe the procedure for a firewall when it checks incoming traffic:
Describe the procedure for a firewall when it checks outgoing traffic:
What is a UserID and Password used for?
A User ID is to identify the user to the system so that the correct access rights and files/folders can be made available to the user.
A password is for security so that only the correct user is allowed access.
What is a Peripheral?
Peripherals are devices such as printers and scanners that are attached to a computer system but are not actually part of it.
How can peripherals be connected to a computer?
Using wired connections using USB or firewire, or wireless connections can be used.
What is USB, and what does it do?
USB (universal serial bus) is a standard way of connecting devices to each another. It allows fast transmission of data and is suitable for transferring data and files such as photographs from digital cameras to computers. USB has replaced older types of connection such as ‘parallel’ or ‘serial’ connections that were once used for connecting printers and scanners.
Name the three sizes of USB connector:
- Standard (Type A/B)
- Mini USB
- Micro USB
What is FireWire?
Firewire is a very fast data transmission link similar to USB. It is used for transferring digital video, often from digital video cameras to computers systems.
However, firewire equipment can be expensive, so most devices now use USB connections instead.
Name 3 wireless connection types, and one advantage of using wireless connection:
Wireless connections allow devices to be moved about while still connected.
As there are no wires to be put in place, wireless connections are also used in buildings where the use of wires would not be suitable e.g. stately homes, or shops which often change their layouts and move the tills around.
Wireless technologies used to connect devices include:
Wi-Fi Bluetooth® Infrared
What is WiFi?
Wi-Fi is the name used to refer to a wireless network that connects devices together or to the internet.
What is a Wireless Hotspots, and why are they unsafe?
Wi-Fi ‘hotspots’ are public access points to wireless networks, often in cafes or libraries, that allow users to connect wirelessly to the internet. Wi-Fi has a range of about 20m indoors from the access point.
Using public Wi-Fi ‘hotspots’ can mean that data is not safe. The connection may not be secure and others may be able to capture your data as it is transmitted.
What is Bluetooth?
Bluetooth® uses wireless technology to connect devices such as a keyboard and mouse to a computer. It is also uses to transfer data between hands-free headsets used in cars for mobile telephones.
Devices using Bluetooth® have to be ‘paired’ using the same passcode, which helps keeps data safe when it is being transferred.
What is needed by a device to allow it to connect to a Wireless Network?
To connect to a wireless network, devices must have a wireless network card. The card is usually built into smartphones, tablet computers, laptops and other portable devices.
What is an advantage of a high bandwidth?
Large amounts of data can be transferred easily.
What is Infrared?
Infrared connections are often used for the remote control of e.g. TV and DVD players.
Infrared connections can also be used to transfer data between e.g. a phone and a laptop.
The devices need to be close to each other, making the transfer of data quite safe and not interfering with other devices.
What types of waves do Wireless Networks use?
Wireless networks use radio waves, which removes the expense and inconvenience of cables or wires.
What is Bandwidth?
The number of devices and the speed of transfer of data is determined by the bandwidth of the connection. High bandwidth allows for many devices to be connected at once, and the transfer of live video streams. Low bandwidth will mean that live video works poorly, or not at all, and downloads will be slow.
What does a device need in order to connect to a wireless network?
To connect to a wireless network, all devices must use the same SSID and the same type of security, and know the passwords or codes.
What is an SSID?
Wireless networks each have a unique name, so that all connected devices can identify it. This is the SSID, or service set identifier, and must be used by all devices on the network so they can communicate with each other.
The SSID can be hidden, so that unauthorised users cannot even see that a network exists without first knowing its name.
What is Encryption?
Encryption is the scrambling of data to make it unreadable to anyone but those with the correct key. An encryption key is used to scramble and de-scramble data.
Wireless networks use encryption to transfer data between devices.
What is an encryption key?
Wireless networks are less secure than wired networks, so data is usually encrypted for transmission over the network.
Data is encrypted using an encryption key , often called the password or passcode, and every device on the network must use the same key and type of encryption.
Give 4 versions of an encryption key:
There are several types of encryption used on wireless networks: WEP, WPA, WPA2, AES. All of these are used to make data more secure. WEP is older than the other 3 versions, so is therefore less secure.
Name the three types of Software:
Operating Systems
Utility Software
Application Software
What is an OS?
An Operating System. They allow software to be run on a computer system and manage the hardware.
What are the 4 key feures of an OS?
Windows
Icons
Menus
Pointer (or Touch Screen in some cases)
What is Utility Software?
Utility software adds new functions to the operating system. Printer drivers, disk management utilities and anti-virus software are all utilities. Peripheral devices often come with utilities that allow users to make full use of the device on their computer system.
What is Application Software?
Application software allows users to work and carry out tasks on their computer system.
For example:
- Word processors and desktop publishing software
- Spreadsheet and database software
- Multimedia software
- Presentation and slideshow software
- Photo-editing and graphics manipulation software
- Video-editing software
- Communications software
- Gaming software
- Web browsers
- Apps for portable devices
What is the difference between Open Source and Proprietary Software?
Open Source is avaliable to everyone free of charge, and generally has acessiable source code - so people are free to edit and imporve on the base product (for example Linux).
Proprietary Software is only avaliable when paid for, and the source code is generally hidden - so it cannot be easily edited or improved (for example Windows/OSX).
Why is it important that software can be configured?
So personal settings can be adjusted - i.e. language preferences.
So people with disabilities can make the computer easier to use; for example the use of magnifiers or text to speech software.
What does updating software do?
Updating software can add new functions, fix problems or ‘bugs’ in the software, fix security problems or change to a newer version of the software.
What are the two different types of updating?
Software can be updated automatically or manually.
Automatic updates are especially important for security software or anti-virus software, which need to be constantly on guard for new threats.
Manual updates allow the user to choose which updates to carry out, but the user may forget or miss important updates.
