Hardware and Components Flashcards
What does RAM stand for? And what does DIMM stand for? And what does SO-DIMM stand for?
Random Access Memory
Dual Inline Memory Module
Small Outline - Dual Inline Memory Module (smaller form factor than regular DIMM)
What is the typical OUTPUT from a PSU? (AC input to a PSU is 240v)
12 volts DIRECT CURRENT is the most commonly outputted PSU output into a PC system. Internally components run on 12 volts or less and are very sensitive to minor voltage changes.
The PSU also supplies the PC with 3.3v Direct Current and 5v Direct Current.
What type of cables use twisted pairs of copper cabling with opposite signals?
Ethernet cables used twisted pairs to prevent interference and allow the opposing signals to be compared at the other end of the cable.
What max. data transfer speed can a 1000BASE-T Cat 5e cable support?
1000Mbit/s. AKA 1Gbit/s.
Why must plenum-rated cables be used in a plenum (shared airspace used for heating/ventilation/AC)?
To reduce FIRE RISK - of toxic burning plastic smoke being pumped through the ventilation etc systems into the building in the event of a fire.
Are unshielded twisted pair (UTP) cables more or less commonly used than shielded twisted pair (STP) cables?
UTP are much more commonly found especially in SOHO environments.
Shielding provides additional/better interference protection and requires each cable to be grounded.
What is the benefit of using cable shielding (STP) over unshielded twister pair (UTP) cable?
Shielding provides additional resistence to interference (EMI).
Shielding needs grounding though. +more expensive.
Which mode of fibre connection is better for longer distances, single or Multi?
Single mode fibre is better for transmitting over long distances (greater than 2km distances). Single mode fiber communication can reach up to 100km without needing to refresh/regenerate the signal using a laser as the light source!
T568A and T568B cable standards differ how?
By the COLOUR arrangement of the WIRES in the 8 pin to 8 conductor layout/arrangement.
How the colours of the cables vs pin arrangements differ across the standards. NEITHER IS WRONG OR BETTER OR WORSE THAN THE OTHER ARRANGEMENT.
A standard has white + green cables in pin 1.
Which cable standard T568A or B uses white and green cables in pin 1?
T568A.
What is the difference between DRAM and SRAM?
Pros/Cons
Dynamic (DRAM) RAM needs constant refreshing/recharging to retain any information/data whereas SRAM (Static RAM) doesn’t. As a result SRAM is MUCH faster but also more expensive.
SRAM generally has a smaller form factor.
What is a clock cycle?
The length of time it takes for a CPU to complete one operation such as store some data.
What is clock speed a measure of?
How many clock cycles/operations your CPU executes per second (GHz).
What is the RAM capacity of a DDR4 stick/DIMM? Is this the same as a DDR5 stick?
Both DDR4 and DDR5 DIMMs have a maximum capacity of 64GB.
However, DDR5 has faster data transfer speeds than DDR4 RAM.
What is multi-channel memory?
Using multiple different memory channels to spread the load/throughput over to increase the data transfer rate.
What is Virtual Memory?
Using/partitioning a secondary type of memory such as an SSD/HDD to use as if it were RAM (primary memory).
Obviously this is still slower than real RAM.
What is the purpose of a parity bit?
A simple form of error detecting code. A parity bit is appended to a binary (10101010) string to make the string an even number. E.g. 11011 sums to 5 so to make it even the parity bit is a 1.
11 sums to 2 which is already even so the parity bit (check bit) remains 0.
Which technology, AHCI (Advanced Host Controller Interface) or NVMe (Non-Volatile Memory Express), allows for faster maximum data transfer rates?
NVMe was designed for SSD’s faster speeds/higher throughputs (than HDD). It is used with M.2 interfaces whereas AHCI is used by SATA interfaces.
Both technologies are ways of moving data from storage drives (secondary memory) to RAM (primary PC memory).
What type of drive uses a laser to read small bumps on a disc?
Optical Drive/CD Drive.
What is the difference between a RAID 0 setup and a RAID 1 setup?
RAID 0 provides 0 redundancy as it stripes data across two drives which means that if either drive fails ALL data is effectively lost. However, it does provide very high read and write speeds as the data load/throughput is spread across two drives.
RAID 1 duplicates data across two drives which provides good redundancy as if either of the drives fail the other drive has it all saved. However, the duplicating of data means that the total available storage/drive space is filled twice as fast!