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Computer Science > Components of a Computer System > Flashcards

Components of a Computer System Flashcards

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1
Q

a computer is a…

A

machine that processes data

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2
Q

a computer consists of…

A

hardware and software

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3
Q

What is hardware?

A

physical stuff that makes up your computer system (CPU, motherboards, monitor)

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4
Q

What is software?

A

programmes or applications that a computer system runs (operating system, word processor, video games)

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5
Q

Examples of computer systems:

A

watches, calculators, super computers

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6
Q

What is a general purpose computer?

A

designed to perform many tasks (PCs, tablets)

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7
Q

What is a dedicated system computer?

A

one particular function (traffic light, aeroplane)

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8
Q

What is the CPU?

A

Central Processing Unit

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9
Q

What are the three main parts of the CPU?

A

Control Unit, Arithmetic Logic Unit, Cache

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10
Q

What is the control unit, what does it do?

A

CU, overall control of CPU, fetch - execute cycle (fetching, decoding, execution of instructions), controls flow of data to registers, caches, ALU and memory and input - output devices

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11
Q

What is the arithmetic logic unit and what does it do?

A

ALU, does all the calculations, -+/x, compares size of numbers, performs logic operations (AND, NOT, OR), binary shifts, contains the Accumulator Register

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12
Q

What is the cache and what does it do?

A

very fast memory, stores regularly used data for quick access, CPU checks cache first for data it needs and then RAM, has a low capacity and more expensive than RAM and secondary storage, different levels of cache memory, L1 - L3 (L1 is fastest but lowest capacity)

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13
Q

What are registers?

A

hold tiny bits of data for the CPU temporarily, quickest form of memory (MAR, PC, MDR, accumulator

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14
Q

What does volatile mean?

A

temporary memory, needs power to retain its data

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15
Q

What does non-volatile mean?

A

permanent memory, keeps contents when there is no power

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16
Q

What is RAM and what is it used for?

A

Random Access Memory, main memory, volatile, read and written, where data, files programmes are stored when being used

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17
Q

What is the speed of RAM like?

A

high speed, slower than CPU cache but faster than secondary storage

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18
Q

When a computer boots up, where does it get instructions from?

A

the CPU copies the operating system from secondary storage to RAM?

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19
Q

When files, applications etc are first opened …

A

they are copied from secondary storage to RAM

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20
Q

What is Virtual Memory and what is it used for?

A

secondary storage used as RAM. when RAM is full data is moved to virtual memory

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21
Q

What is bad about using virtual memory?

A

if the CPU needs to read data from virtual memory it moves it back to RAM - slow data transfer, makes the computer run slowly

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22
Q

When is virtual memory used?

A

when too many applications are open or when a memory intensive application us open

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23
Q

What is ROM?

A

Read Only Memory, non-volatile, can only be read and is built into the motherboard

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24
Q

What does the ROM do?

A

has the boot-up instructions for the CPU - BIOS and self check/ set up (basic input output systems)

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25
Q

What does CPU performance depend on?

A

clock speed, cores, and cache

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26
Q

What is meant by clock speed?

A

number of instructions a single processor core can carry out per second (Hz)

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27
Q

How does a higher clock speed help?

A

higher the clock speed, more instructions carried out per second

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28
Q

What are the risks of a really high clock speed?

A

if not adjusted carefully = overheating, crash, damage

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29
Q

How does the number of cores effect CPU performance?

A

more cores = more instructions carried out (software needs to be designed for multi core processing)

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30
Q

What does a core do?

A

each core in the CPU can process data individually from the rest

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31
Q

What is cache?

A

storage inside the CPU that’s faster than RAM

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32
Q

How does larger cache size help CPU performance?

A

faster access to more data it needs to process

33
Q

What other ways can you increase CPU performance?

A

more RAM and GPU

34
Q

How would more RAM benefit the CPU performance?

A

faster and smoother system, don’t need to use virtual memory, easy to upgrade and means more applications or memory intensive applications can be run

35
Q

What does the GPU do?

A

helps CPU process image, Graphics Processing Unit, (specialised circuits for processing graphics and images), basic GPUs in motherboard but can be easily upgraded

36
Q

What is primary storage?

A

memory areas the CPU can access very quickly (ROM, RAM, cache, registers), mostly volatile, fast read/write speed)

37
Q

What is secondary storage?

A

where all data is stored when not in use (HDD, SSD, CDs), non-volatile, slow read/write speed

38
Q

Hard Disk Drives (HDDs)

A

traditional internal storage, high capacity, reliable, stack of magnetised disks and a moving read/write arm, portable HDDs used for moving or backing up data

39
Q

Solid State Drives (SSD)

A

fast and reliable, no moving parts, non-volatile, flash memory used, portable SSDs available

40
Q

Optical Discs

A

cheap, robust, CDs, DVDs, Blue Ray discs

41
Q

Why is the use of Optical Discs declining?

A

low capacity, slow read/write speeds, poor reliability, also; streaming (Netflix, Spotify, and modern devices don’t use Optical Discs)

41
Q

Why is the use of Optical Discs declining?

A

low capacity, slow read/write speeds, poor reliability, also; streaming (Netflix, Spotify, and modern devices don’t use Optical Discs)

42
Q

Magnetic Tapes

A

cassettes, used for archiving, cheap, highest capacity, read/written sequentially = slow to find data stored on it but faster read/write time once in the correct place

43
Q

Advantages of HDDs

A

cheaper, higher capacity, longer read/write life

44
Q

Advantages of SDDs

A

faster, don’t need defragmenting, more shock proof, silent

45
Q

Fastest and Slowest read/write speed

A

F = SDD, S = optical disc

46
Q

Cheapest and most expensive

A

C = magnetic tape, E = SDD

47
Q

Least capacity and highest capacity

A

L = optical disc, H = magnetic tape

48
Q

What is an Operating System?

A

a complex piece of software found on most computer systems

49
Q

Systems Software:

A

software designed to run and maintain a computer system

50
Q

Main functions of an OS:

A

communicate with internal/external hardware via device drivers, provide a user interface (allowing user to interact with computer), provide platforms for different applications to run, allow computer to multitask by controlling CPU and memory, deal with file management, manage security

51
Q

What is a Device Driver?

A

a translator for the signals between OS and hardware

52
Q

What do OS use device drivers for?

A

to communicator with internal or external hardware (or peripherals) connected to the computer system

53
Q

What happens when the computer is booted up with regards to device drivers?

A

OS picks the correct drivers for the hardware it detects

54
Q

What happens when a new bit of hardware is connected?

A

OS installs new matching driver

55
Q

What do device manufacturers do to device drivers?

A

update them to fix bugs or add features or improve performance of their hardware. OS can install updates or manually by user

56
Q

The OS provides a user interface to allow…

A

user to interact with computer system

57
Q

What are GUIs and what are they designed for?

A

Graphical User Interfaces, easy for everyday users by making them visual, interactive and intuitive

58
Q

GUIs are optimised for specific input methods such as:

A

clicking, touch screen, swiping, pointers, icons

59
Q

What is meant by Command-line interface?

A

text based, user enters commands, less resource heavy than GUIs

60
Q

Multi tasking:

A

OS allows multitasking by managing resources

61
Q

How do computers run applications?

A

OS provides a platform and gives access to the CPU and memory and configures hardware

62
Q

What are OS that can run multiple applications called?

A

multi-tasking OSs

63
Q

How does the OS help the CPU carry out multi tasking?

A

managed memory and CPU processing time

64
Q

Computers store data as files, what do file extensions do?

A

tell the computer what type of file it is (.jpg, .mp3)

65
Q

File management:

A

organisation of data; naming, saving, moment, and editing and deletion of data (usable hierarchal structure)

66
Q

What does the OS do to the hard disk to organise data?

A

splits the disk into sectors and decides which sectors to write data to and keeps track of free space

67
Q

What does utility software do?

A

OS includes it to help manage files and disks; file compression, encryption, defragmentation

68
Q

File compression software:

A

reduce the size of individual files (.zip, .rar), compressed files need to be extracted before they can be used

69
Q

Encryption software:

A

used to secure the contents of its files (scrambling of data and a key is needed)

70
Q

Defragmentation software:

A

help to organise an maintain the hard disk by collecting all the free space together

71
Q

OS can be single or multi user, what do these mean?

A

Single user - allow only one user to use the computer at once (macOS), multi user - allow several users to use the computer at once (ATMs)

72
Q

OS is responsible for user account control, what does this do?

A

allow different users to be granted access to specific data or resources on a computer system

73
Q

Most desktop OS; each user has access to their own data and desktop but …

A

cannot access other users’ personal data

74
Q

What measures are used to prevent theft of data?

A

passwords and pin protected, specific pattern, retina scan, fingerprint

75
Q

What do defragmentation utilities do?

A

put broken up files back together,

76
Q

How does fragmentation and defragmentation work in the OS?

A

as files are moved/deleted/changed size, space appears on the storage disks and the OS splits the files into blocks to fill up the gaps. This means the disk becomes more fragmented and slower to read/write to because the read/write hand has to move back and forth across the disk. Defragmentation software reorganises the data to put fragmented files together. It puts all the free space in one area to prevent fragmentation.

77
Q

In terms of fragmentation, why are SSDs better?

A

has no moving parts so the data can be accessed quickly however it is arranged

78
Q

Why is encryption effective?

A

difficult to crack because hackers can’t use brute force attacks to guess the key

Computer Science (4 decks)

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