basic structure of computers

Question 1

computer organisation

Answer 1

explains the function and design of the various units of digital computers that store and process information
deals with the input and the output units of the computer (receive and send information and results)

Question 2

computer types

Answer 2

embedded computers
personal computers
servers and enterprise systems
supercomputers and grid computers
cloud computing

Question 3

embedded computers

Answer 3

integrated into a larger device or system in order to automatically monitor and control a physical process or environment
have a specific purpose and users may not be aware of the role that the computers play in the system

Question 4

personal computers

Answer 4

widespread use in home, educational institutions, and business and engineering office settings
classification: desktop, workstation, portable and notebook computers

Question 5

servers and enterprise systems

Answer 5

large computers, shared by a large number of users that access them from some form of a PC over a public or private network
they host large databases and provide information processing for a government agency or a commercial organisation

Question 6

supercomputers

Answer 6

for highly demanding computations needed in weather forecasting, engineering, design and simulation and scientific work

Question 7

grid computers

Answer 7

cost-effective: combine a large number of personal computers and disk storage units in a physically distributed high-speed network

Question 8

supercomputers and grid computers

Answer 8

offer the highest performance, are the most expensive and physically the largest category

Question 9

cloud computing

Answer 9

engineering trend in access to computing facilities
pc users access widely distributed computing and storage servers resources for individual, independent, computing needs
cloud hardware and software providers operate as a utility, changing on a pay-as-you use basis

Question 10

functional units

Answer 10

input unit
memory
arithmetic and logic unit
output unit
control unit
interconnection network
processor
(machine) instructions
program
data
bits

Question 11

input unit

Answer 11

accepts called information from human operators using devices such as keyboards, or other computers over digital communication lines

Question 12

memory

Answer 12

stores the received information and the processing program
stores programs and data

Question 13

arithmetic and logic unit

Answer 13

process the received information immediately

Question 14

output unit

Answer 14

sends results to the outside world

Question 15

control unit

Answer 15

coordinate all the actions

Question 16

interconnection network

Answer 16

provides the means for the functional units to exchange information and coordinate their actions

Question 17

processor

Answer 17

the arithmetic logic circuit + the main control circuits

Question 18

(machine) instructions

Answer 18

explicit commands that:
- govern the transfer of information within a computer between the computer and I/O devices
- specify arithmetic and logic operations to be preformed

Question 19

program

Answer 19

stored in the memory
a list of instructions which performs a task

Question 20

data

Answer 20

stored in memory
numbers and characters that are used as operands by the instructions

Question 21

bits

Answer 21

a string of binary digits that contains an instruction, number or character

Question 22

primary memory(main)

Answer 22

a fast memory that operates at electronic speeds
programs must be stored here during
execution
the storage cells are handled as words

Question 23

words

Answer 23

storage cells in groups of fixed size, number of bits in each word is referred to as word length (16, 32, 64)

Question 24

address

Answer 24

associated with each word location to provide easy access to any word in the memory -> accessed by specifying its address and issuing a control command to the memory that starts the storage or retrieval process

Question 25

Moores Law

Answer 25

number of transistors per chip: density of silicon chips
doubles every 1.5 (2) years

Question 26

Koomey’s Law

Answer 26

Computation/Energy: energy efficiency increases 2x every 1.5 years

Question 27

Rock’s Law

Answer 27

cost to produce chips: cost of equipment to produce chips 2x every 4 years

Question 28

registers

Answer 28

high-speed storage elements that store operands
each can store one word

Question 29

first generation

Answer 29

1945-1955
electro-mechanical
memory contained the programs and data
assembly language
mercury delay-line memory
I/O functions were performed by devices similar to type writers

Question 30

second genearation

Answer 30

1955-1965
transistors replaces vacuum tube
magnetic core memories and magnetic drum storage devices widely used
high-level languages and compilers developed
IBM became a major computer manafucturer

Question 31

third genearation

Answer 31

1965-1975
ability to fabricate many transistors on a single silicon chip -> integrated circuit technology, faster and less costly processors
microprogramming, parallelism, pipelining
operating system software -> efficient sharing of a computer system by several user programs
cache and virtual memory

Question 32

fourth generation

Answer 32

1975-present
very large scale integration (VLSI)
complete processors and large scale of the main memory of small computers could be implemented in single chips
super computers and grid computing
ARPANET
TCP/IP
early internet

Question 33

Metcalfe’s Law

Answer 33

usefulness of a network ~n^2, n object/users

Question 34

ASCC

Answer 34

Howard Aiken

Question 35

ENIAC

Answer 35

John Mauchly and John Presper Eckert
first all electronic computer

Question 36

EDVAC

Answer 36

basis pf stored program

Question 37

PLATO

Answer 37

early learning managment systems

Question 38

BBS ( Bulletin Board System)

Answer 38

early business apps

Question 39

IBM personal computer

Answer 39

blueprint for todays PC

Question 40

the Y2K problem/The Millenium Bug

Answer 40

2000

Question 41

Ariane 5

Answer 41

1996

Question 42

the FDIV Problem

Answer 42

1993
Intel had an incorrect way of computing divisions