intro to computer hardware Flashcards
what is a computer ?
electronic machine that can receive, process or store data according to a set of instructions ( computer program ) and output information
data representation in computer
binary digit also known as bits
two states of binary digit
on - digit 1 and off - digit 0
most popular coding schemes
American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII),
Extended Binary Coded Decimal Interchange Code (EBCDIC),
UniCode
categories of computers
personal computer
mobile computer
embedded computer
server
main frames
super computer
what is a server
computer dedicated to provide services to another computer in a network
small cupboard
what is a mainframe
large, expensive, powerful server that can handle hundreds
or thousands of connected users simultaneously
half a room to a room full
what is a supercomputer
capable of processing many trillions of instructions in a single second
a room full of equipment
what is an embedded computer
A special-purpose
computer that functions
as a component in a larger
product. Small and
embedded into devices
define system unit
Contains all the electrical components that the
computer uses to process data
three components of cpu
control unit
arithmetic and logical unit
memory unit
roles of cpu
- Direct and coordinate all computer operations
(conducted by control unit) - perform arithmetic and logical operations (comparison) on data
(conducted by arithmetic and logic unit)
term writing in storage devices
the process of saving data, instructions or information
from memory to storage medium
term reading in storage devices
process to recall data from a storage medium to
memory
How data is stored in computer memory?
Each bytes resides temporarily in memory has an address
This address is a unique number that identifies the
location of the memory
