Chapter 3 Flashcards
Post
When a computer is booted, the basic input/output system (BIOS) performs a hardware check on the main components of the computer. This check is called a power-on self-test (POST).
BIOS and CMOS
All motherboards need BIOS to operate. BIOS is a ROM chip on the motherboard that contains a small program. This program controls the communication between the operating system and the hardware.
UEFI
Most computers today run Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI). All new computers come with UEFI, which provides additional features and addresses security issues with legacy BIOS. You may see “BIOS/UEFI” when booting into your BIOS settings. This is because Intel chips currently support backwards compatibility with legacy BIOS systems. However, by 2020, Intel will end support for legacy BIOS. For more information, do an internet search for “Intel to remove legacy BIOS”.
Wattage and voltage
Power supply specifications are typically expressed in watts (W). To understand what a watt is, refer to the interactive image which describes the four basic units of electricity that a computer technician must know.
RAID levels
There are several levels of RAID available. These levels use mirroring, striping, and parity in different ways. Higher levels of RAID, such as RAID 5 or 6, use striping and parity in combination to provide speed and to create large volumes. The figure shows the details about the RAID levels. RAID levels higher than 10 combine lower RAID levels. For example. RAID 10 combines RAID 1 and RAID 0 functionalities
Term
Network attached storage (NAS) devices are servers that are connected to a network to provide file-level data storage to clients. This specialized computer is sometimes single-purposed, running a stripped-down operating system to perform only the function of file serving. Sometimes the device can offer additional functionality such as media streaming, network services, automated backup functions, website hosting, and many other services.
