Key Terms Flashcards
BIOS
Instructions that control most of the computer’s input/output functions, such as communicating with disks, RAM, and the monitor kept in the System ROM chips, are known as the BIOS (basic input/output system). You can think of the BIOS as the instincts of the computer. By having instructions (software) written on the BIOS, the system already knows how to com- municate with some basic components such as a keyboard and how to read some basic disks such as IDE drives. It also looks for additional ROM chips that may be on the motherboard or on expansion cards that you add to the system. These additional ROM chips will have instructions to operate other devices such as SCSI or RAID drives.
clean installation
A clean installation is installing the software from scratch on a new drive or on a newly reformatted drive. Many people find that doing a clean install of an operating system is the best way to go because you are starting fresh. The disadvantage is that the system and all of its software needs to be reinstalled, patched, and configured and data copied over, something that may take hours or even days.
disk cloning
One way to install Windows Server 2008 R2 is to use disk cloning software such as Norton Ghost to create an image file, which is a sector-by-sector copy stored in a large file. To use the disk cloning software, you use the installation disk to install Windows onto a master computer (also called reference computer), update and patch the com- puter, customize Windows, and install any additional software. You then use the cloning software to copy the contents of a hard drive to a file. You use the disk cloning software to copy the contents of the image to a target computer.
drives
Traditionally, hard drives are half electronic/half mechanical devices that store magnetic fields on rotating platters. Today, some hard drives, known as solid-state drives, are electronic devices with no mechanical components. While most personal computers have only local storage consisting of internal hard drives, servers may connect to external storage through a network- attached storage (NAS) or storage area network (SAN).
Most systems today have some form of optical drive. Older systems will have compact disk drives, which use disks similar to a music CD player. Newer systems have either a DVD or Blu-ray drive. In either case, the optical drives store information using laser light. Traditionally, optical disks were considered read-only devices, but now many systems have burning capabilities that allow the user to write data to special optical disks.
firmware
On the motherboard and expansion cards, you may find firmware. Firmware is software contained in read-only memory (ROM) chips. Unlike RAM, ROM instructions are permanent and can’t be changed or erased except with special software. When you shut off your computer, ROM instructions remain so that when you turn your computer on again, it knows how to boot the system, test the system, and find a boot device such as your hard drive.
motherboard
The component that brings these four subsystems together is the motherboard. For the processor to communicate with the rest of the system, the processor plugs in or connects to a large circuit board called the motherboard or system board. The motherboard allows the pro- cessor to branch out and communicate with all of the other computer components. Although everything is made around the processor, the motherboard is considered the nervous system of the PC. Motherboard capabilities have been greatly expanded (most include sound and network connectivity), and you can further expand the capabilities of the system by installing expansion cards, sometimes referred to as daughter boards.
network connections
The last primary component that makes up a server is the network connection. Without a network connection, the server is not able to communicate with other servers or the cli- ents. Most servers include one or more network interface cards or NICs. Because servers are designed to support many network connections, you must have the available bandwidth from the server. The minimum speed of today’s network cards is 100 Mbit/second, while the mini- mum speed for servers is 1 Gbit/second or faster.
ports
Ports are plug sockets that enable you to connect an external device, such as a printer, keyboard, mouse, or external drive, to your computer. You can usually identify these ports by the shape of the plug socket, the number of pins, the number of rows of pins, and the orientation of the pins (male or female).
power supply
You can think of the power supply as the blood of the computer. The computer runs on electricity. Without it, the computer is just a box. Since power supplies are half electronic and half mechanical devices, they are considered high-failure items when you compare them to pure electronic devices such as memory chips or processors. Mechanical devices tend to wear out over a period of time.
processor
The computer, including servers, is built around one or more integrated chips called the processor. It is considered the brain of the computer since all of the instructions it performs are mathematical calculations and logical comparisons. Intel and AMD produce most of today’s processors.
The clock speed of a processor is usually expressed in gigahertz (GHz). A gigahertz is 1 billion (1,000,000,000) cycles per second. During each cycle, a circuit reacts in a predictable way—it brings in a value, performs a calculation, or performs a comparison. It is these reactions that make the computer do what it does. Of course, if a processor runs at a faster speed, it would be safe to assume that it could do more in a shorter amount of time.
RAM
RAM, which stands for random access memory, is the computer’s short-term or temporary memory. It stores instructions and data that the processor accesses directly. If you have more RAM, you can load more instructions and data from the disks. In addition, having sufficient RAM can be one of the main factors in your computer’s overall performance. Unfortunately, when power is cut to the RAM, like when you shut off your PC, the contents of the RAM disappear. This is the reason you use disks rather than RAM for long-term storage.
server
A server is a computer that is meant to be a dedi- cated service provider, and a client is a computer that requests services. A network that is made up of dedicated servers and clients is known as a client/server network. A server-based network is the best network for sharing resources and data, while providing centralized network security for those resources and data. Networks with Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2008 are usually client/server networks.
Server Core
Server Core installation provides a minimal environment with no Windows Explorer shell for running specific server roles and no Start button. Just about the only thing that you can see is a command prompt window to type in commands. Since the system has a minimal environment, the system runs more efficiently, focusing on what it needs to provide instead of processing fancy graphics for you to manage the system. It also reduces the attack surface for those server roles that could be exploited by a hacker because not all of the components that Windows has will be running.
server features
Windows Server 2008 R2 server features are software programs that are not directly part of a role. Instead, they are often used to augment the functionality of one or more roles or to enhance the functionality of the entire server. To install Windows Features, you would use the Initial Configuration Tasks window or the Server Manager console.
server roles
A server role is a primary duty that a server performs. You should note that a server could have multiple roles. Some of the more common server roles include: • File services • Print services • Web services • Remote access • Application servers • Email server • Database server • Monitoring servers • Threat management servers
