Chapter 4 Flashcards
You have been asked to set up a workstation for a new graphic designer at your company. Which of the following is not a requirement for a graphic design workstation?
Fast hard drive
Maximum RAM
Powerful CPU
High-end video
C. Graphic design and CAD/CAM design workstations do not require a powerful CPU. They can use a fast hard drive because the artist works with large images that can take a long time to load or save. Maximum RAM is needed to hold the highly detailed, sometimes 3D, artwork before saving. High-end video is necessary for assisting in the rendering and display of the images.
You have been hired as a consultant for a video editing company that needs all new workstations for its six editors. Which of the following is required when constructing an A/V editing workstation?
Gigabit NIC
Powerful processor
Maximum RAM
Fast hard drive
D. A/V editing workstations require specialized audio and video cards and large and fast hard drives; they also benefit from dual monitors. A fast NIC, extra RAM, and a faster than normal processor do not support the requirements of A/V editors.
Danielle has been asked to configure virtualization at her company. She recommends that her manager buy multicore processors. What justification should she give as to why virtualization workstations require as many CPU cores as possible?
Each virtual machine has one or more cores installed directly in it.
Each virtual machine makes use of actual CPU resources for processing instructions and data.
Fault tolerance dictates that if one CPU core fails, there should be one or more in line to take its place.
Because each guest operating system runs in its own space, multiple cores are required to store the collective data.
B. Virtual machines do not imply virtual processing. The data storage, processing cycles, and RAM usage are all real. The separate hard drive and chassis for each operating system are virtual. The other answers all have at least one fundamental problem with their logic. CPU cores are not installed in virtual machines but in CPU packages within physical machines. CPU cores do not take over for each other. There is no fault tolerance among them. Storing data is the job of RAM, which should also be maximized for virtualization workstations.
Your friend Joe plays video game tournaments online, and he read in an online forum that he should install multiple GPUs for better speed. You tell him that if he does that, he needs better cooling. Why is high-end cooling a requirement for gaming PCs?
Multiple GPUs generate more heat and can cause components to fail.
Gaming controllers have components for tactile realism that generate copious amounts of heat.
Digital sound cards generate more heat than analog sound cards.
Placing that many hard drives in such a small space generates too much heat.
A. Multiple video cards (to get multiple GPUs) can be a way to increase video performance. Such a configuration may generate too much heat for conventional cooling to dissipate before the system is damaged. The cooling has no effect on external controllers, and sound cards don’t generate much heat, but analog would certainly generate more than digital.
Marcus, a network technician, has been asked to build a virtualization workstation for his manager. Which of the following are not common requirements that Marcus should consider for this custom configuration? (Choose all that apply.)
Surround sound
Maximum RAM
Large, fast hard drives
Multiple CPU cores
A, C. Virtualization workstations need to maximize the amount of RAM as well as CPU cores. Each virtualized instance of an operating system will be assigned its own memory and processor resources, and those resources are essentially reserved and off-limits to other virtual operating systems. Therefore, maximize both of them. Audio isn’t required on a virtualization workstation, so surround sound is not needed. Large fast hard drives will be nice but are not a primary requirement.
Which type of system simply needs to meet recommended requirements for standard versions of operating systems and support desktop applications?
Thin client
Thick client
Network-attached storage device
Virtualization workstation
B. Thick clients are standard desktop PCs. They stand in contrast to systems with specialized requirements, such as the remaining options.
Which of the following descriptions most closely matches that of a thin client?
A high-resolution monitor, keyboard, and mouse
A computer with a low-profile case
A laptop
A dumb terminal with a NIC
D. Although not all thin clients are devoid of local processing capability, some are. High-resolution graphics are not a requirement, but thin clients do require a system unit with a NIC.
You have recently installed a NAS in your home so that all your family members could share media. You have a router and network cabling that supports Gigabit Ethernet. Why should you equip a NAS with a Gigabit NIC?
All systems, including the NAS, should communicate at the same speed.
The NAS should not be allowed to communicate at the higher speeds of the rest of the network or it will be overused.
The NAS should exceed the communication speed of the clients to avoid a bottleneck.
The operating system that a NAS runs is not compatible with Gigabit Ethernet.
C. Optimally, the NAS should communicate across a link that is the aggregate of all client links, but at the very least, the NAS’s link should be a faster one to alleviate the potential bottleneck when all clients try to access the server simultaneously.
An engineer on your network is complaining that his CAD workstation is slow and he wants a GPU upgrade. Which of the following reasons is justification for having a powerful video card in a CAD/CAM workstation?
Only powerful GPUs can stream graphical information efficiently.
Manufacturing equipment is generally faster than design equipment, which needs faster GPUs to keep up.
On a CAD system, the CPU defers to the GPU for all system processing requirements.
The algorithms used in rendering graphics can be GPU-intensive.
D. Quite simply, the rendering of 2D and 3D graphics makes use of complex algorithms that need all of the GPU power they can get to remain usable. CAD workstations deal with static images, not streaming video. Manufacturing equipment is generally slower than computers used for the design phase. The CPU still does its job, but CAD workstations call for high-end video, which includes graphics adapters with GPUs often more powerful than the system’s CPU.
A video editor at your company wants a second monitor, claiming that having only one monitor limits her ability to work. Why do A/V editing workstations benefit from more than one monitor?
Their software often has enough controls across their width that one monitor seems cramped.
While one graphics adapter works on one rendering project, the other can simply display a normal desktop.
Once the editing is complete, the second monitor is used to present the results to others on the team.
Additional monitors are used for remote collaboration among other editors.
A. Editors of this type of media have numerous controls and timelines to track. These constructs often lie along the bottom of the application and run horizontally. Subsequent monitors allow the editor to spread out her work without shrinking the view excessively.
You are configuring a virtualization workstation for your home use. Which of the following is required for your new system?
Multiple host operating systems
Maximum RAM allowed
File sharing services
Multiple NICs
B. Maximum RAM and CPU cores are the primary requirements for such systems. Although there are multiple guest operating systems, generally there is but one host to those guests. File sharing may be a service the administrator decides to offer, and multiple NICs might prove advantageous with virtual machines that are popular among the clients, but these workstations do not require either.
Robin has been asked to lead training for new technicians at a local PC distributor specializing in gaming PCs. For which one of the following should she not recommend upgraded parts?
High-end cooling
A RAID array
High-end video
Better sound card
B. Gaming PCs are not known for requiring fault tolerance or data persistence. RAID arrays, therefore, are generally not included. The other components are a benefit for gaming PCs, however.
Which of the following system types do not require a CPU enhancement of any sort? (Choose all that apply.)
A/V editing workstation
Gaming PC
Graphic design workstation
Virtualization workstation
A, B, C. Virtualization workstations are the only custom configuration that requires CPU enhancements. For these types of systems, more cores are better. A/V editing workstations, gaming PCs, and graphic design workstations do not require CPU enhancements.
Maria is setting up a gaming PC and wants to know which type of video cables to purchase. Which of the following is the recommended video output technology for a gaming PC?
DVI
VGA
HDMI
YCbCr
C. Because of its exceptional capabilities of digital video and audio output, as well as its potential for support of future standards, HDMI is the video output technology of choice. VGA, DVI, and component video (YCbCr and YPbPr) can’t make the same claim.
Which of the following is a common feature of a standard thick client?
Has enhanced video capabilities
Has a high-performance hard drive
Has as much RAM installed as possible
Can run a full version of Windows
D. These standard systems do not have any special requirements, only that they can run Windows and desktop applications. Thick clients do not need enhanced video, hard drives, or RAM.
