Digital Devices that form part or all of IT systems Flashcards
What are multifunctional devices?
Touchscreens that are used on every gadget we own such as phones, tablets, computers and even tills in restaurant
Vibrations on games controller
What are servers?
heavily used in gaming industry
store millions of terabytes of data within their systems and are used to serve a network
Gaming companies use servers farms to keep the huge capacity of players on their network and running fast
What are data capture and collection systems?
things such as barcodes on items are scanned by epos scanners (electronic point of sale)
They are purchased and paid on EFTPOS (chip and pin scanners) and RFID readers (contactless card readers)
what are the 6 uses of digital devices?
education and training personal social retail organisational use creative
input devices:
keyboard, mouse, scanner, graphics tablet, microphone, webcam, sensor
output devices:
monitor, projector, printer, plotter, speakers, headphones
Name and explain some accessibility devices?
trackball - easier mouse alternative
touchscreen keyboard - easier than keys
eye motion sensor - used by those with limited mobility
braille - a printer that outputs text to those who are blind
name and explain using an example of adaptive technology
tracker ball or eye motion
helps disabled people or those with limited mobility
Name some automatic data processing devices
biometric readers, barcode readers, optical mark recognition, radio frequency identification, smart meters
name some manual data processes
inputting client or product details into a database
entering customers meal choices into a restaurants system
marking exams
entering survey responses from a form
explain hard drives using there positives and negatives
are magnetic storage devices, used as the primary internal storage but can be external, Good- large storage capacity low cost very reliable
Bad-
slower than SSDs
not very portable
explain solid state drives and their positives and negatives
are memory drives used as primary storage in portable devices such as tablets and laptops Good) very fast data reading low power consumption very reliable
Bad)
higher cost than Hard disk drives
usually lower storage
only have a finite amount of writes
explain SD cards and their pros and cons
small flash memory cards that are used for storage in cameras and some smartphones
Good)
very small and portable
easy to transfer between devices
Bad)
very small storage capacity
has lots of compatibility problems
explain usb memory sticks and their pros and cons
small flash memory devices hat connect through a usb port
pros)
v portable
compatible with most computer systems
cons)
low storage
finite number of writes
very small and easy to lose
explain optional disks and their pros and cons
such as cds, dvds, blu ray disks and are used for software music and movies
pros)
small and portable
a lot of devices have the readable optical disks software
cons)
archival stability is questionable
fragile and easy to damage
explain magnetic tape and their pros and cons
used for large data backups
pros)
very large storage capacity
very cheap
cons)
data is loaded slow
requires specialist equipment
explain real time operating systems (RTOS)
inputs are processed and responded to immediately
fast responses
best used when inputs must be responded to instantly such as a traffic light and air traffic control systems
explain single user single task operating systems
one user can use the system at a time and one application at a time
requires fewer resources
best used on devices that have limited processing and memory
explain single user multitasking operating systems
one user can use the system at a time but more than one application can run at the same time
it allows the user to use several applications at once
best used on systems where a user needs to be able to switch between applications
explain multi users operating systems
many users at same time all running applications at the same time
processing and resources can be shared by multiple users
it is best used where many users need access to the same resources at the same time eg servers
name the factors that affect performance
slow hard disk drive, number of cores, limited cpu speed, limited ram, malware (viruses, worms, spyware)
explain command line interface (CLI)
the user interacts with the computer by typing in commands in response to prompts on the screen
good points- experienced users find it quicker to complete tasks
requires far less memory and processing power than GUIs
bad points- requires knowledge of the specific commands for performing functions
learning so many commands can be intimidating for new users
explain GUI (graphic user interface)
user interacts with the device by controlling a pointer or touch screen to select icons or menus on screen. these are mostly used on pcs and smartphones
Good) simple and easy to learn, doesn’t require the user to learn commands, usually have lots of accessibility features
bad) often very resource heavy, experienced users prefer the use of CLI as it only takes one command there vs lots of clicking about on this interface
explain menu based interface
users interact using a simple menu that presents options to choose from eg an atm screen
good) limited options make it easy to use, doesn’t need instructions, can be adapted to the users need eg larger text or even speech output
bad) performing tasks can be slow and frustrating due to the many levels of the menu
explain utility softwares
used to manage system resources, utilities help us optimise and maintain our computer systems, many utilities are pre installed as part of the operating system while others may be selected by the user and installed such as antivirus scanners
explain the 3 disk utilities
file compressors- compress files to reduce their size and decompresses them for later access
backup- utlitkies al
explain network utilities and give 2 examples
network utilities are designed to maintain good network traffic and keep networks secure
firewalls prevent unauthorised access by monitoring and blocking suspicious traffic since open networks are at risk from hackers
antivirus prevents computers from receiving viruses and detects and removes viruses that have already infected a system
what are the two other utilities that do not have a specific category
registry cleaners are designed for windows systems to remove old and no longer in use registry entries which can help improve the overall performance of the system
system profilers display a detailed breakdown of the whole system including the hardware and software. This can help with deciding where a system can be upgraded or which part is causing the problems
Explain all the image file types
gif- small file size but low quality, can display animation
jpg- good compression, files can not be decompressed tho
bmp- uncompressed file format, image quality is high but file size is large too
png- lossless compression to save high quality images in low file sizes
explain all 4 video files
mkv- high quality playback but is not supported by some devices
mov- designed for use with apple quicktime software but can be used on others, high quality and can be compressed, good for streaming
mp4- supports high quality video whilst still compressing file size, works on a wide variety of devices and software
avi- uncompressed so is v high quality but large file sizes, not good for streaming
what are the 3 issues with file types?
compatibility, quality and file size
