Chapter 1 Flashcards
What are business practices?
setting practices that should be implemented throughout the work day. (Code of conducts , dress code, etc)
most important part of an information system
people
Information Technology
the study, design, development, implementation, support, and management of computer based information systems particularly software and hardware
Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002
attempts to protect investors from accounting and reporting fraud
Moores Law
computing power doubles every 18 months
Leaders
aka first adopters are the businesses that are the first to buy new tech
Followers
businesses that do not buy new tech and wait for the leaders to see if there is any advantage
Computer hardware
the tangible or physical part of a computer like circuit boards, chipsets, and keyboards
Mainframe computers
are massive room sized computers that process and store enormous amounts of bulk data and information, typically used by very large organizations like credit card processors who use them for transaction processing and vital applications, they require a huge amount of physical space and have special requirements like specialized ac units and fire protections systems
Midrange computers
(sometimes called minicomputers) are less powerful and smaller in physical size than mainframe computers but do many of the same things but on a smaller scale. small to medium sized businesses who cant afford mainframes can use these in the same way
Micro computers
smaller than mainframes and midrange computers and are so common that they are commonly referred to simply as computers or boxes, they are the least powerful computers in terms of processing and come in 4 typical configurations: desktop, laptop, tablet, and handheld
Desktop/laptop computers
desktops are made to reside on a desk and is not portable, while laptops have the same basic component and are designed specifically for portability
Handheld computers
often referred to as personal digital assistants or PDA’s are compact but far less powerful than desktops or laptops, they contain embedded operating systems and are well suited for a business environment as they are typically used to organize information
Software
is a collection of computer programs that accomplish a specific task
Application software
this software does not work without system software or operating software
Operating system
called a platform, is a collection of computer programs that work together to manage hardware and software to ensure that they are working properly. it is the groundwork for all system software and performs jobs like allocating memory, administering input and output, and file management, the part of the computer that coordinates memory
Platforms (operating systems)
the most popular platforms in todays market are Microsoft Windows, Mac IOS, Linux, and UNIX.
File management
one of the most important jobs of an operating system, and it is a way to store and organize files to the memory of a computer, operating systems are made up of a hierarchy of directories called folders
Computer folders
are the modern counterparts of printed documents that in the past were typically stored in a file cabinet
Graphical User Interface (GUI)
is how information is represented on a monitor…….this is Microsoft windows file management system, this is the inner workings of a physical filing cabinet that contains file folders that house paper files.
File manager
is part of an operating system that a computer uses to display the filing system
Multitasking
where a computer runs more than one process at a time
Process
is any task a computer performs
Memory Management
operating systems coordinate a computers memory which includes cache, random access memory (RAM), registers, and virtual memory
Computers memory
holds data and information in an assortment of way
RAM (Random Access Memory)
is known as the primary storage, it is a type of memory that allows data to be accessed in any order without physical movement of the silicone media
Virtual Memory
seemingly endless supply of memory the operating system provides by coordinating, tracking, and efficiently allocating the use of the CPU cache, registers, RAM, and disk storage
Disk Management
an OS is responsible for reading and writing data and information to a disk typically a hard drive
Disk Storage
a non volatile secondary storage on a physical device like a hard drive or optical disk with a read/write apparatus
File Allocation Table (FAT)
directs the read/write arm of the hard drive to where data exists and accesses it upon the users request and is the table of content of a hard drive
Application software
designed to serve the user and carry out whatever task such as creating a document or spreadsheet, and executes when the user chooses to run it
system software
requires very little user intervention and computers turns it on when it gets electricity
Business computing software
4 basic applications: spreadsheets, word processors, databases, presentation software. often sold as a software suite sometimes called an application suite or productivity suite
Software suites
a collection of business computer application programs of associated functionality that share a common graphical user interface (GUI), and have the capacity to smoothly exchange data across the programs
Productivity Suite
most important characteristic is its capability to share data and information between business application software, offer 3 ways of sharing data copy and paste, object linking, and embedding (OLE),
Object linking
similar to object embedding but is dynamic, when the source file is linked into the destination file both files stay up to date and are editable
Object embedding
is static and only takes a snapshot and when files are reopened it can be edited but the source file embedded in it cannot and is only as current as the last time it was embedded
