CompTIA A+ 1101 - 3.0 Hardware Flashcards
RAM
Random Access Memory
Principle storage space for computer data and program instructions. Volatile memory that loses data when there is no power.
(This is because it needs to constantly be refreshed 1000 times every second to remain available)
DIMM
Dual Inline Memory Module
Standard RAM sticks that come in a variety of DDR formats.
Chipset
Provides communication between different components in a system by implementing various controllers:
Basic I/O
System Memory
Integrated Video, Network & Sound Interfaces
CMOS / RTC
Small battery that powers the chipset and keeps track of date & time.
Removing this will reset the BIOS settings to default
Bus
Connections between components on
the motherboard and peripheral devices attached to the computer.
Traces
Wiring etched into the motherboard to provide electrical pathways.
Bus Architecture
Carries electronic signals on the motherboard.
Moves Information being processed (Data) and information on where data is (Address).
Provides power to components and timing signals to synchronize data transfer.
Local Bus (Frontside Bus)
The Internal bus that links core components directly to the CPU resulting in high data transfer speeds.
Ideal for RAM and Video Transfer etc.
Expansion Bus
External bus that is connected to the frontside bus. A variety of different cards can be added to the system this way via the PCI / PCI-E slots. (Wireless, GPU)
Expansion Slots
Slots of various sizes in which cards can be installed.
Modern systems have PCI-E 1x, 4x, 8x and 16x
Riser Card
An expansion card that can be installed into some slimline form factor systems, allowing cards to the installed horizontally to the motherboard to save on space.
Often used in Servers and other compact systems.
System Clock
The computer’s timing mechanism that synchronizes the operation of all parts of the computer and provides the basic timing signal for the CPU.
Keeps tempo - Internal Metronome - The Drummer of the PC
Mhz = 1 Million Cycles per second
Ghz = 1 Billion Cycles per second
PCI
Peripheral Component Interconnect
Obsolete. Would utilize the Southbridge (Before Chipsets) via a 32 bit or 64 bit Parallel transfer method.
Parallel Transmission
-> -> -> -> ->
-> -> -> -> ->
-> -> -> -> ->
-> -> -> -> ->
Serial Transmission
-> -> -> -> ->
<- <- <- <- <-
-> -> -> -> ->
<- <- <- <- <-
PCI-E
Peripheral Component Interconnect Express
Replaced PCI.
Serial Transmission using point to point highways to connect Input/Output Controller and Devices.
Bits (Mbps, Gbps)
Active Data (Downloading, Uploading etc)
Bytes (MB, GB, TB)
Static Data (Storage, File Size etc)
PCI-E Versions
PCIe 2 - 500 Mbps Speed
PCIe 2.1 - Power Draw Upgrade to 150w & Additional 150w with Connector
PCIe 3 - 1Gbps Speed
PCIe 4 - 2 Gbps Speed
PCIe 5 - 4 Gbps Speed
Storage Bus
A special type of of expansion bus dedicated to communicating with storage devices
IDE (Parallel ATA)
Obsolete Storage Transmission Method
Would use a 40-pin Ribbon Cable for Data, and a Molex connector for power.
SATA
Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (Serial ATA)
Modern Data Transmission for Storage Devices.
Uses a 7-pin connector and power cable.
Only a single drive can be connected to one SATA port.
SCSI
A set of (ANSI) standard electronic interfaces that allow computers to communicate with peripheral hardware such as disk drives, tape drives, CD-ROM etc
M.2
Small Form Factor SSD
Connects into the motherboard directly via M.2 slot, and allows up to 8Gbps of transfer speed from drive to RAM
In-Plane Switching (IPS) Display
Excellent colour representation but expensive to produce/purchase.
Twisted Nematic (TN) Display
The original LCD technology.
Fast response times, but poor viewing angles due to colour shift.
Vertical Alignment (VA) Display
A good compromise between TN and IPS. Has good colour representation, but slowed response times than TN
OLED (Organic LED)
OLED displays feature great image quality - bright colors, fast motion and most importantly - very high contrast.
Produced by LED’s that are capable of true black - hence the organic element.
LCD
A liquid-crystal display is a flat-panel display or other electronically modulated optical device that uses the light-modulating properties of liquid crystals combined with polarizers. Liquid crystals do not emit light directly, instead using a backlight or reflector to produce images in color or monochrome.
Motherboard Form Factors
ATX - 12 inches x 9.6 inches
Micro-ATX - 9.6 inches x 9.6 inches
Mini-ITX - 6.75 inches x 6.75 inches
Thunderbolt
Primarily for Apple systems
Display or general peripheral interface with a lighting bolt icon on it, supporting both Data AND Power.
TB1 - Mini Display Port Connector at 10Gbps
TB2 supports 20Gbps and up to 6 devices per port.
TB3 uses the same interface as USB-C, 40Gbps speed (!)
Lightning
A reversible Apple connector, restricted for use with mobile devices & iOS devices.
PC connectors require an adaptor.
480Mbps
eSATA
External SATA
eSATA-150 - 1.5Gbps
eSATA-300 - 3Gbps
eSATA-600 - 6Gbps
DVI
DVI-A (Analog)
DVI-D (Digital)
DVI-I (Both)
RJ 45
Patch / Ethernet Cable
RJ 11
Standard Telephone Cable
Expansion Card
A printed circuit board you can install to widen/improve a PC’s capabilities
Keyed Connectors
Connectors that have a catch/slot to ensure the wrong cable isn’t installed into an incompatible port.
KVM Switch
A switch that allows for the Keyboard, Video Display and Mouse to control multiple PC’s (Server Setups etc) by routing the input/output
Hot Swap
Enables the removal and adding of devices without needing to power down the PC
Projector Types
CRT - Analog format using high intensity/heat producing lamp
LED - Uses a much more powerful lamp than a backlight
DLP (Digital Light Processing) - Beams light through a colour wheel, reflection mirrors and then a lens.
Laser Projector - Most current, boasting higher brightness, longer lifetime, lower power consumption, and lower total cost of ownership (TCO). No lamp.
Refresh Rate
The refresh rate is the number of times the display is built per second, measured in Hz.
60Hz = 60 times per second.
The higher this number, the better it captures moving objects.
Native Resolution
The total number of pixels that a monitor can utilize when addressed by software.
IE; 1280 x 720
Contrast Ratio
The contrast between True Black and True White.
The higher the contrast ratio, the more noticeable the difference.
HDMI
High Definition Multimedia Interface
DisplayPort
DP Connector.
A royalty free HDMI alternative.
Maximum data rate for a 4-lane link (PCI-E) is 17.28Gbps
API
An application programming interface (API) is a way for two or more computer programs to communicate with each other.
DSP
Digital Signal Processer
Basis of a sound card
DAC
Digital-Analog Converter
Manipulates digital signals from the CPU into Analog, for use with loudspeakers.
Found in a soundcard.
5.1 Dolby Digital / DTS
3 Front Speakers (L, C, R)
2 Rear Speakers (Left Point Surround, Right Point Surround)
1 Sub-Woofer
7.1 Dolby Digital Plus / DTS-HD
3 Front Speakers (L, C, R)
2 Side Speakers (Left Surround, Right Surround)
2 Rear Speakers (Left Point Surround, Right Point Surround)
1 Sub-Woofer
THD & SNR
Total Harmonic Distortion (Noise Levels in Percentage)
Signal-to-Noise Ration (Measured in Decibels)
Rule: The lower for both, the better
RAID
Redundant Array of Independent Disks
Virtual Memory
An area on the hard disk allocated to contain pages of volatile memory
DDR3
Double Data Rate 3
Twice the speed of DDR2
Maximum DIMM (RAM Stick) Size of 16Gb
Incompatible with any other type of RAM
DDR4
Double Data Rate 4
Twice the speed of DDR3
Maximum DIMM Size of 64Gb
Incompatible with any other type of RAM
DDR5
Double Data Rate 5
Twice the speed of DDR4
Maximum DIMM size of 128Gb
Dual Channel
All DDR Modules can use Dual Channel on compatible motherboards
(Memory Controller can access two sticks at once)
Triple Channel
Only DDR3 is compatible with Triple Channel utilization
Quad Channel
Only DDR3, DDR4 and DDR5 are compatible with Quad Channel
Parity Checking
An Error-checking method where each byte of data in memory is accompanied by a ninth bit to check for corrupted data.
ECC Memory
Error Correcting Code
RAM with built-in error correction security.
DRAM
Dynamic Random Access Memory
Dynamic meaning the memory is refreshed every tick of the system clock - it is volatile
NVMe
Non-Volatile Memory Express
Latest Generation of Storage Device that uses the M.2 Form Factor.
Allows up to 32Gbps of transfer speed from the drive to the RAM.
S.M.A.R.T
Self Monitoring and Anaylsis Reporting Technology
Provides status reports to diagnostic software for compatible hard drives.
RAID 0
Striping without Parity
No Fault Tolerance.
File blocks are split between two physical drives, resulting in high performance and quick write/rewrite.
Zero Redundancy, meaning that if one drive fails, the entire array fails.
Fault Tolerance
The capacity of a RAID / NAS storage setup to reduce data loss in a system failure
Disk Striping
A disk array access pattern where data is written in stripes to two or more separate physical drives at the same time, improving performance.
PC
|
----------------------------------------------
| |
Disk 1 Disk 2
Data 1,3,5,7 Data 2,4,6,8
RAID 1
Disk Mirroring
High redundancy
File blocks are duplicated on two or more physical drives, meaning drive failure doesn’t result in any data loss.
RAID 5
Striping with Parity (Error checking data)
Requires a minimum of 3 physical drives.
If one disk fails, data spread on the other 2 disks allows data to be completely reconstructed. If two disks fails, then the array fails and the volume will disappear.
Reduces performance due to writing process for parity calculation.
RAID 10 (1 + 0)
Striping with Mirrors
Requires a minimum of 4 physical drives.
If more than one disk fails, the array is done. 2 disks mirrored allows for improved read & write, but also a high degree of fault tolerance.
3 Different RAID Solutions are:
Software - Inbuilt Windows 8 and onwards ( Windows Server, professional/enterprise )
Hardware - PCI-e Cards that allow mass storage to be connected and configured for RAID
Firmware - Inbuilt BIOS options for RAID configuration
bootrec /fixmbr
Startup Repair from CMD to fix Master Boot Record
bootrec /fixboot
Command to attempt repair of Boot Sector
bootrec /rebuildbcd
Adds missing Windows installations to the Boot Configuration Database (BCD)
CPU Cache
A small block of high speed memory within the CPU that pre-loads and stores instructions from the system RAM to improve speed.
Level 1 - 512kb
Level 2 - 1MB
Level 3 - 2MB
Quickest to slowest.
Hyperthreading / Multitasking
The capacity of an operating system to run multiple programs / tasks at the same time.
SMP
Symmetric MultiProcessing
A condition where two or more physical CPU’s occupy the same system.
Often found in High End workstations and Servers.
LGA
Land Grid Array
Intel CPU Form Factor
PGA
Pin Grid Array
AMD CPU Form Factor
Power Supply Unit Voltages
12v
5v
3.3v
PSU Adaptor Types
PCIe Connectors: 6-Pin
CPU Connector: 4-Pin
Graphics Connector: 8-Pin
Duplex Printing
Simply printing on both sides of the page to save paper consumption costs
Laser Printers
Inexpensive, high quality output printing solution that is quiet, fast and has cheap toner replacements.
Supports Greyscale and Colour printing, superior to Inkjet printing.
Laser Printer Imaging Process
Processing -> Charging -> Exposing (Writing) -> Developing -> Transferring -> Fusing -> Cleaning
Toner Safe Vacuum
Tool used to clean toner leakages inside printers.
Compressed air will make things worse.
Page Count
A well established limit to the pages printable, before needing to replace the breakables
(Feed rollers, transfer rollers, fuser…)
Inkjet Printing
Liquid ink is propelled out of a nozzle into a carriage assembly that moves backwards and forwards across a page.
CYMK
Cyan, Yellow, Magenta, Black
Printhead types
Thermal/Bubblejet (Canon)
Piezoelectric (Epson)
Carriage Assembly
Utilizes line printing and a stepper motor to tack on liquid ink
ASF
AutoSheet Feeder
Feeds paper in a consecutive fashion
Thermal Printing
A direct thermal printing process wherein head sensitive thermal paper is burned to produce plain images.
Used for barcodes, receipts, bus tickets etc…
Impact Printing
Legacy printing process that utilizes a Dot matrix print head and a ribbon system to punch ink physically onto a page.
Has tractor fed paper with holes specifically for transit.
3D Printing
A printing process that creates a solid, physical object from successive layers of material.
Filament
A thin wire-like coil of material that is used when 3D printing.
3D Printing Process
3D Scan / 3D Model -> Sliced into build layers -> Melt & Extrude filament
SLA Printing
Stereolithography Resin.
SLA printers use a laser to cure a liquid resin into a solid object, layer by layer.
SLS Printing
Selective Layer Sintering Printing.
Uses a laser to sinter small particles of polymer powder into a solid structure.
FDM Printing
Fused Deposition Modelling.
Filament is pushed into the hot extruder to create, layer-by-layer, 3D objects.
XPS
A Microsoft own, cross-platform document format for use in printing.
Based on XML
PDL
Page Description Language
Specifies page arrangements in a format designed for most printers.
Eg; XML, XPS
Virtual Printing
The process of “printing” a document into a file type for a variety of uses.
Eg; Print to File (XPS/XML), Print to PDF
XML
Extensible Markup Language
A programmable language that is used for storing, transmitting and reconstructing simple data.
Understood by both humans and machines.
Printing Security
User Authentication via PIN/Swipe Card
Disable Hard Drive Caching on the printer
Create Audit logs for jobs
Shared Printer
A printer connected to a network via a PC, that can be shared and used by others.
Must be enabled
Print Server
A server that manages printers. Users on a network can utilize this if the correct criteria is met (AD groups, physical location, access controls etc…)
OCR Software
Optical Character Recognition
Software that can identify characters and digits to convert them from printed images into digital files for editing.
QR Scanner
Quick Response Scanner
Scans 2D QR codes that contain a set of instructions, linking you to a website or specific document.
Used for restaraunts, advertising etc
Barcode Scanner
A handheld device used for scanning lines of parallel bars, typically representing ISBN or UPC.
A laser sensor reads the light reflected off the barcode and software then correlates this image with a database.
