R Flashcards
List the 2 disciplines of the Unified Process.
Discipline - A set of related activities of similar
type and skill requirements.
Iteration - A short time duration where UP activities are performed to
produce one or more specific deliverables.
Study the Discipline and Iteration graph.
Chapter 1, Page 8.
Describe architectural design.
The description of all h/w, network, system s/w & application
development tools to support system development &
operations.
Describe the detailed design.
Specification of internal details of specific
components such as d/base design, s/w modules & user
interfaces.
Name the implementation activities.
Build, acquire & integrate application s/w
components.
Name the testing activities.
Verify the correct functioning of the infrastructure &
application s/w components & ensure that they
satisfy system requirements.
List the classification of computer professionals.
Software developers
Systems programmers
Hardware personnel
Systems managers
List some sources of information in an IT environment.
Professional societies
Publishers and their Web sites
Vendors, manufacturers, and their websites
What type of knowledge should managers have?
In-depth technical knowledge.
What type of knowledge is required for deployment tasks?
Technical knowledge of computer h/w & system s/w.
What type of knowledge is required for System Evaluation and Maintenance?
Broad technical knowledge for evaluation.
Deep technical knowledge to implement changes
What type of knowledge is required for architectural design?
Broad technical knowledge
What type of knowledge is required for detailed design?
Deep technical knowledge
Study the computer system diagram.
Chapter 2, Page
List the functions of the ALU.
Performs arithmetic operations and logical instructions.
List the functions of registers.
Stores data or instructions.
List the functions of the control unit.
Moves data among registers and other storage locations.
Executes program instructions.
What is the main channel for moving data & instructions to &
from h/w components called?
System bus
What type of memory does not permanent storage?
Volatile memory
What type of memory holds permanent storage?
Non-volatile memory
Differentiate between RAM and ROM.
RAM:
Expensive
Volatile
Temporary storage
Faster writing speeds
Vice versa
Name the technique that divides a single computer’s capacity among
multiple virtual machines.
Virtualisation
What are the groups of similar or identical computers, connected by a high-speed network that cooperate to provide services or run a single application called?
Clusters
Example of clusters.
Chapter 2 page 30
List the pros and cons of clusters.
Pros:
High processing speed.
Cost-effective.
Cons:
Complex configuration.
What is a specialized cluster housed within one
cabinet called?
A blade.
List the pros and cons of blades.
Pros:
Scalable
Fault tolerance
Cons:
Complex configuration
Examples of blades.
Chapter 2, Page 40.
What is a a group of dissimilar computers, connected by a highspeed network, that cooperate to provide services or run a
shared application called?
A grid.
Example of grids.
Chapter 2, Page 45.
What are computing resources with a front-end interface and back-end resources called?
Clouds
List the pros and clouds.
Pros:
Fault tolerance
Flexible
What is the protocol header in a URL?
The language used to access a resource.
What is the Server name in a URL?
Identifies the device that
manages the resources.
What is the resource name in a URL?
Identifies a specific resource managed by
the device.
What is the interface device that connects the
storage device to the system bus called?
A device controller.
List the storage device characteristics.
Speed
Volatility
Access method
Portability
Cost & Capacity
What is the CPU cycle spent waiting for access to an
instruction or data called?
The wait state
What is the most important characteristic differentiating
primary & secondary storage?
Speed
What is storage device speed also called?
Access Time.
What is the complete measure of storage device speed called?
Data Transfer Rate.
What is the amount of data transferred in one read/write
operation called?
A block
What is the amount of data transferred to/from an optical or
magnetic disk in one read/write operation (usually 512 bytes) called?
A sector
How to calculate DTR (in seconds).
(1 second/access time) x block size
Study the number system.
Chapter 5, Page 14.
List the 3 types of access methods.
Serial access - Stores & retrieves data items in a linear order.
Random access - Direct Access
Parallel access - can simultaneously access multiple storage locations.
Know the storage hierarchy.
Chapter 5, Page 19.
List the direct methods of storing electrical signals.
Batteries
Capacitors
Mechanical switches.
Transistor-based switched.
Differentiate between SRAM and DRAM.
Static RAM:
Faster
More expensive
Uses transistors
Dynamic RAM:
Slower
Less expensive
Uses transistors and capacitors.
Know how to distinguish between different semiconductor devices.
Chapter 5, page 25
What is an electrical switch that “remembers” its last position
(open or closed) as long as power continuously flows
though it called?
A flip-flop circuit
Know the different logic gates.
Chapter 5, page 26.
Know the different magnetic fields.
Chapter 5, page 32
Explain the magnetic write operation.
A magnetic write operation involves a wire coiled around a read/write head. When an electric current flows through the wire, it creates a magnetic field across the head’s gap. The field’s polarity (north or south) depends on the current’s direction. Placing a magnetic storage medium near the gap magnetizes the closest part of the medium with the same polarity as the field, permanently storing data.
Explain the magnetic read operation.
A magnetic read operation involves placing a magnetic storage medium near a read/write head’s gap. The stored data’s magnetic field induces a small electric current in the head’s wire. The current’s direction corresponds to the stored data’s polarity (0 or 1). Switches at the wire’s ends detect this direction and interpret it as binary data.
List the factors that must be balanced in magnetic storage devices.
Magnetic decay
Magnetic leakage
Aerial density
What are flat,
circular platters with metallic
coatings that are rotated beneath
read/write heads called?
Magnetic disk
What is a storage device imitating the behaviour of a magnetic disk drive, but uses flash RAM or other NVM devices called?
Solid-state drive
Study the calculation of binary.
Chapter 8, page 4.
What is data generated, sent, received, or
stored by electronic means called?
Data message
What is a message that controls some aspects of the communication process called?
Command message
Name the set of rules and conventions governing the message
transmission and reception.
Communication protocol
Know the data communications model.
Chapter 8, page 8
List the 3 characteristics of a sine wave.
Amplitude
Phase
Frequency
What is data encoded in a carrier wave (e.g., wave
encoded with data/bits) by varying one or more
of the above characteristics called?
Modulation
What is a data transmission event or group of
events representing a bit or group of bits called?
A signal
List the 4 modulation techniques.
Amplitude modulation (AM) - represents bit values as amplitude levels.
Frequency modulation (FM) - represents bit values by wave frequency
Phase-shift modulation - represents bit values as changes in the phase.
Multilevel coding - encodes multiple-bit values in a single wave characteristic, such as frequency or amplitude.
Know the diagrammatic representation of signals.
Chapter 8, page 17.
What can contain one of a finite number of
values in each signal event?
Digital signal
What can represent only one of two possible values in each signal
event?
Binary signal
List the Two important differences between analogue and digital
signals.
Data carrying capacity
Susceptibility to error
Know the elements of a communication channel.
Chapter 8, page 23.
What is the communication pathway that
physically carries signals from sender to receiver called?
Communication medium
List the characteristics of all transmission media that
affect their capability to transmit messages successfully
and efficiently.
Speed and capacity
Frequency
Bandwidth
Susceptibility to noise, distortion, and external
interference.
What is the amount of data that can be transferred from one point to another within a network in a specified amount of time called?
Bandwidth
What are any unwanted signal components added to the data
signal that might be misinterpreted as data called?
Noise
What is the “extra” signal added
to the original signal during transmission by “leakage” into
the medium called?
Electromagnetic interference
What is the loss of signal power as the signal travels
through a transmission medium (due to resistance) called?
Attenuation
What is the change in signal as it travels through a
transmission medium called?
Distortion
What uses a single transmission path between sender and receiver and is unidirectional?
Simplex mode
What uses two transmission paths, one in each direction?
Full duplex mode
What Uses a single transmission path between sender and receiver with a line turnaround?
Half-duplex mode
Know the Configurations for simplex (a), half-duplex (b),
and full-duplex (c) modes.
Chapter 8, Page 41.
What is bit encoding and decoding is
controlled by a clock called?
Clock synchronization
Name the communication where the sender and receiver synchronize the start and duration of each bit value by referencing a common clock signal.
Synchronous communication.
Name the communication where the sender and receiver devices are separated by greater distances and each device has its clock.
Asynchronous communication.
What is the spatial organization of network devices, physical
routing of network cabling, and flow of messages from
one network node to another called?
Network Topology
List the characteristics differentiating network topologies.
The length and routing of network cable
Cost
Susceptibility of the network to failure
Data transfer performance
Type of node connections
Which topology directly connects every node to every
other node (point-to-point link)?
Mesh Topology
List the pros and cons of mesh topology.
Pros:
Resistant to failure
Reliable
Cons:
High setup costs
Difficult admin
Which topology directly connects every node to a single
shared transmission line?
Bus topology
List the pros and cons of bus topology.
Pros:
Reliable
Easy to setup
Cons:
Security issues
Which topology directly connects every node to
two other nodes with a set of links
forming a loop or ring?
Ring topology
List the pros and cons of ring topology.
Pros:
Easy to identify faults
High-speed transmission
Cons:
Multiple failure points
Which topology directly connects every
node to a central node
(hub, switch, or router).
Star topology
List the pros and cons of star topology.
Pros:
Easy to identify faults
Simple wiring
Cons:
High setup costs
What is a request made by a
user-level program to the operating system to
perform a specific task called?
System call
What manages resources and
interacts directly with computer hardware?
The OS portion of the kernel
What is it called when memory partition allocation
and deallocation leads to an increasing
number of small free partitions
separated by allocated partitions?
Memory Fragmentation
What specifies a client/server request and response language for copying files from one internet host to another?
File Transfer Protocol
List the 3-layer architecture.
Data layer -manages stored data
Business logic layer - carries out rules
View layer - displays results
List the commonly used security measures.
Physical security - locked doors and key cards
Access controls - authorization and authentication
Password controls and security
Auditing
Virus protection
Software updates
Firewalls
What is a hardware device, software, or a combination of
hardware and software that prevents unauthorized
users in one network from accessing resources on
another network called?
Firewall
List the issues to be considered when choosing or
preparing a location for hardware.
❑Electrical power
❑Heat dissipation
❑Moisture
❑Cable routing
❑Fire protection
