Hardware and Software Flashcards
Modular design
a computer made up of many parts
advantages of a modular design
=repairs -allows user to remover nd replace only necessary parts
=upgrades -simplifies the upgrading of the computer with better hardware
=fexibility-allows a variety of components to be added to the motherboard depending on the user’s needs
hyperthreading
process which breaks a single physical processor into two logical/virtual processors
multithreading
process that simultaneously runs numerous threads in a single process
multiprocessing
having multiple CPUs called cores on a single CPU chip. Instead of duplicating the registers only, the entire core is duplicated on the CPU chip. Processes re executed at the same time which is parallel processing.
processor cache
The speed of the processor which is much faster than the speed of the RAM .LU1 cache has the same speed as the CPU internal speed.LU2 is slightly larger than LU1 and has slower access.LU3 is on or near the CPU chip and has the lowest access.
register size
indicates how much information the processor can operate at one time and how it moves data around internally within the chip
Bus size
the amount of bits than can be simultaneously transferred on a bus
Bus size
the amount of bits that can be simultaneously transferred on a bus. The bigger the bus…
overclocking
the practice of making computer components run at speeds faster than designed by manipulating the frequencies at which the components are set to run
overclocking per component
the CPU operates faster than the system clock by changing its own clock maipulation factor
overclocking the whole system
the system clock is increased affecting all components that detect the system clock and multiply a factor
onboard
a term used to describe a hardware coponent embedded into a circuit board.Users cannot remove these components from their computer like expansion cards
expansion cards
printed circuit board that can be inserted into an expansion slot on a computer’s mpotherboard to add functionaltiy to a computer system
motherboard
a large circuit board which connect components of the CPU and connectors for other peripherals
co-processor
an assistant to the CPU by taking over the burden of some of the processing.Most common co-processors are graphics and maths
graphics processing unit
a computer chip that renders graphics and images by performing rapid mathematical calculations
The main components of a graphics card
- a motherboard connection for data and power
-a processor to render each pixel on the screen
-memory to store details about each pixel and temporarily store completed pictures
-monitor connection to view images
VRAM
type of RAM that stores data about each pixel ,its colour and location on the screen
intergrated graphics
a GPU built onto the processor and shares the system RAM instead of having a separate RAM
advantages of using integrated graphics
cost- the computer will be more affordable
less heat and less power usage -rsults in longer battery life in mobile devices
math co-processor
Helps the ALU of the CPU process complex calculations using numeric data such as integers of real numbers.It is designed to perform floating point calculations extremely quickly
advantages of a maths co-processor
calculations are processed faster improving performance
disadvantages of a maths co-processor
- the cost of additional co-processor
- the required motherboard space
- great power consumption
frequency
the amount of data that can travel to and from RAM at a time
latency
how quickly it takes for RAM to respond to a request
virtual memory
an area of a computer system’s secondary memory storage space that acts as if it were a part of the system’s RAM or primary memory
paging file
data stored in virtual memory on your secondary storage device
internal bus
loca busses situated on the motherboard and are an integral part of the processing capabilities f the computer
external bus
a bus that primarily connects external devices to a computer (PCI Express, SATA , USB,NVMe, M.2. format )
USB standards
indicates the speed and function.This is USB 3.1 , 3.2 and USB 2.0
USB ports
indicates the shape of the port in you computer or device .This is USB Type-A ,Type-B ,Type-C
USB Type-A
familiar rectangular port which is usually the host device meaning it provides electricity and controls data transfers to attached devices
USB Type-B
a square-shaped plug that is often for external hard drives and printers
USB 3.0 (micro B)
introduced before TYPE-C to carry data and power in USBis superspeed applications .The cables for this are not backwards compatible with USB 2.0 or 1.1 devices
USB Type-C
reversible port that is similar to USB 3.0(micro) which allows charging with bi-directional power .The host can charge the peripheral but if the host runs low,the peripheral can charge the host
USB on the go
allows mobile devices to act as USB hosts (in android phones)
HDMI
proprietary specification designed to ensure compatibility between video and audio devices over a single digital interference
display port
an interference for digital displays,particularly computer monitors. Display port supports daisy chaining
daisy chaining
connecting multiple monitors with a single cable
thunderbolt ports
a port designed by apple to compete with USB but the 3rd version uses the same USB-C port and cable to transfer adta at high speed ,connect to high resolution displays and perform other tasks
secondary storage
the storage of data that is not accessed frequently as the data in primary storage, this includes SSDs and HDDs
M.2 format
a small form factor that describes the shape and size of a hardware device
SATA
An older,slower bus ,that defines how data is transferred between a computer’s motherboard and mass storage devices
PCIe
a seria l expansion bus standard for connecting a computer to oe or more peripheral devices.It provides lower latency ad higher data transfer rates than PCI and PCI-X
SERVER COMPUTER
a powerful computer that provides resources to other computers in a network such as sharing data or performing computations
characteristics of SSD
-has a semi conductor flash chips (integrated circuit assembly)
- no moving mechanical parts
-resistant to physica; shcok ,run silently ,quicker access time ,lower latency
-more expensive
-consume less power
- 3 times less boot time
characteristics of HDD
-consists of a read/write heads and a revolving disks
- prone to physical shocks ,makes noise ,slowera\ access time and higher latency
- less expensive
-three times more boot time
-consume three times more power than SSD
forur stages of CPU processes simple instructions
= Fetch-a program instruction from memory
=decode and understand the instruction
=execute-the instruction, using data
=store the result obtained back in the ain memory or send to an output device.
small form factor
a computer designed to take up less space
non-volatile memory express
a storage access and bus for flash and next generation SSDs that delivers the highest throuhput and fstest response times yet for all types of enterprise workloads.An updated version of SSDs
entry level computers
-slowest CPU,it has the minimum mount of RAM ,storage and lowest screen resolutions
-2 to 2.7 GHz
-4 GB RAM
-500 GB hard drive
-HD graphic cards
-Performs web surfing , emails and basic business tasks .Suited for small businesses that do not need high performance
MId-level computer
-2 to 4 cores
-2 to 3 GHz processor
- 4,6 to 8 GB RAM
-1TB HDD or up to 512GB SSD
-UHD graphics card
-suited ofr users that need faster processing and better graphics and better graphics for business but do not need the expenses of the best and fastest .
high lever computers
(15) - 4 to 6 cores
-2.4 to 3.4 GHz processor
- 8 GB RAM
-1TB to 2TB HDD or up to 256 to 480 GB SSD
-UHD graphics card
(17)
- 4 to 8 cores
-3.2 GHz processor
- 8 GB RAM
-1TB to 2TB HDD or up to 256 to 480 GB SSD
-FOR users needing advanced features of apps
wearable technology
technology is worn near or on the skin with the purpose of detecting ,analysing and transmitting information about the user to provide immediate biological feedback to the user
head-mounted display
technology worn on the head or is embedded in a helmet with a small display for one or both eyes used in gaming ,aviation,engineering and medicine
AR
the intergaration of digital information with the iserss environment in real time
VR
the use of computer tech to create a simulated environment which can be xplored in 360 degrees
mobile tech constraints
1 screen size
-single window
touch screen
computing power
battery life
power consumption
chipsets
a set of chips used on a motherboard to connect components
front side bus
a bus within the microprocessor itself that connects the CPU and the rest of the hardware via chipset ,particularly the northbridge
address bus
trab=nsfer the physicsl address of the instructons or data between the CPU and RAM
direct memory access controller
the controller that controls the memory on a hard disk
data bus
transfers the actual instruction or data between the CPU and RAM
Register
holding cell within the porcessor
serial processing
problem is broken down into a ste of instructions that are executed sequentially
parallel processing
a method of simultaneous breaking up and running program instructions on multiple microporcessors ,reducing rpcessing time
control bus
carrues comands between the CPU and the RAM
system clock
a very small quartz that pulses at a regular frequency
characteristics of RAM
-has no moving parts
-fast
-volatile= it loses its contents if the power supply is interyuppted
-expensive -more expensive per gigabyte than storage
-limited- the aount of memory and number of slots are limuted
serial transmission
data is transmitted one bit at a time
parallel transmission
data is sent along multiple wires at the same time but is susceptipble to inferference
magnetic hard disks
nonvolatile storage device which stores digitally encoded data on rapidly rotating platters with magnetic surfaces
access time
time taken when data is accesses for the HDD
cloud drive
a web based service that provides storage space on a remote server
advantages of Cloud storage
- highly reliable and available
- pay as you go, billed on actual use
-geographic scalability - no hardwate purchase needed
-highly secure environment
disadvantages of Cloud storage
-higher latency and lower bandwidth (slower performance)
-dependent on the internet connection
- privacy issues
-customer support
ROM
a memory chip that permamnently stores instructionns and data
EEPROM
electrically erasable programmable read only memory
Bus
a set of wire used to transfer data between the parts of a compute
point to point connections
connections dedicated to transferring data between the RAM and CPU and can operate at maximu speed withou being nteruppted by data of other devices
cookies
a piece of data form a website that is stored withing a web browser that the website van retrieve at a later time
cache
a cache is a hardware or software component that stored data so that future requests for that data can be accessed faster
web cache
a feature that copies and saves web page data for future use
M.2 format
a small form factor that describes the shape and size of a hardware device
BIOS
is low-level software that redied\s in anon-volatile ROM chip on a computer’s motherboard.
what is the BIOS responsible for
the POST and loading of the operating system
when the computer is turned on the following steps are followed:
=The BIOS begins the POST to check the hardware.
=An inventory of the hardware connected to the computer is contained in the CMOS
=The hardware is tested to determine if it is functioning properly
=The BIOS locates the MBR, a section of code usually stored on the hard disk drive. The MBR is responsible for loading and executing the operating system kernel, which continues with the start-up procedure.
kernel
the core of a computer’s operating system that remains in RAM. It is responsible for input/output requests from software, translating them into instructions for the CPU. It handles memory and peripherals like keyboards, monitors, printers, and speakers.
CMOS
is a battery-backed up, volatile memory
what does CMOS store?
hardware settings
UEFI
a more efficient system to start up
advantages of UEFI
=can boot from drivers of 2.2 TB or larger
= can run in 32-bit or 62-bit mode which has more address space than BIOS means that it boots faster
=setup screens can be more user-friendly than BIOS setting screens, including graphics and mouse cursor support.BIOS does not have the capability of using mouse and graphics drivers.
other features of UEFI
=it supports secure boot, which means that the operating system can be checked for validity to ensure no malware has tampered with the boot process.
=support networking features right in the UEFI firmware itself, which can aid in remote troubleshooting and configuration, which is not possible with the traditional BIOS
= it is not a BIOS replacement either, UEFI is essentially a tiny operating system that runs on top of a computer’s firmware, and it can do a lot more than a BIOS.
=It may be stored in flash memory on the motherboard or it may be loaded from a hard drive or network share a boot.
interrupts
a signal sent to the CPU from hardware or software indicating the need for the CPU’S attention.
software interrupts
a signal sent to the CPU from hardware or software indicating the need for the CPU’S attention. Generated from programs.
hardware interrupts
when a signal is sent from a device, such as a keyboard indicating that a key has been pressed, or a printer that has run out of paper.
IRQs??
interrupt request number which the CPU uses to identify which device is interrupting it.
IO range
a temporary storage area in RAM used to speed up a slow input/output device
processing techniques
designed to optimize the efficiency of a computer system.
multitasking
is it a technique used by the operating system to appear to be running several programs at the same time?
how does multi-tasking work
=a process occupies a certain amount of RAM. It also makes use of register within the CPU and operating system memory space
=when 2 processes are multi-tasking, the operating system allows a certain number of CPU execution cycles to one program.
=After that number of cycles, the operating system makes copies of all the registers used by the processes and notes the point at which the process paused in its execution.
=It then loads all the registers used by the second process and allows it a certain number of CPU cycles.
=When those are complete it makes copies of all the registers used by the second program and loads the first program.
virtual memory
memory that appears to exist as main storage although most of it is supported by data held in secondary storage, transfer between the two being made automatically as required.
translator
software programming tools that convert code into another type of code. They translate the source code into code that the CPU can understand
what can a translator refer to
a compiler
assembler
interpreter
high-level language
contain a high level of abstraction where the underlying workings of the computer are hidden from the programmer and are closer to human languages.
low-level languages
are closer to machine language and generally refer t machine language or assembly language.
interpreter
reads each program line, converts it into machine code, and executes it
machine code generation
compile source code directly into machine code by creating a file called the object code.
compiler
the compiler takes the entire source code and translates it into machine code
intermediate representations
occurs in 2 steps; the language is first compiled to an intermediate representation called a bytecode and the second the representation can be executed without the need to re-read the source file.
Describe the control unit.
sends and receives signals from and to different parts of the comouter
supervises the fetch decode execute cycle
ensures all data and instructions are processed at the right time, in the right order
directs the flow of data and instructions
Describe the Arithmetic and logic unit.
processes and manipulates data
performs simple arithmetic calcs and logic operations e.g. comparing values
Why are registers required in the CPU?
to store results from ALU
for the CU to store details of operations being dealt with by fde cycle
Describe what registers are.
Temporary fast access storage location in the cpu where info is temporarily stored
serial processing
can only process one instruction at a time. The processor has a single core where the problem was broken into a set
