things to memorize Flashcards
What are the six steps of trouble shooting
▪ Identify the problem
▪ Establish a theory of probable cause
▪ Test the theory to determine the cause
● If the theory is not confirmed, re-establish a new theory
▪ Establish a plan of action to resolve the problem and implement the
solution
▪ Verify full system functionality
▪ Document the findings, actions, and outcomes
“bit”
o A single “bit” can store one of two values: 1 or 0
“Nibble”
is 4 bits
1000 bits
▪ 1Kilobit (1Kb)
how do we represent a “bit” and a “byte”
bit = b
byte = B
DB 25 Connector
▪ A D-shaped sub miniature pin that goes into the back of a computer and
has two thumb screws on the side
Serial Cable
▪ A cable that sends data in ones and zeros in a straight line, but it can only
send one bit at a time, which is measured at the speed of cables in bits
per second
DB9 Connector
▪ A slow speed connection for much older mice keyboards and other
external modems
▪ A USB 1 and a USB 2 run at a much slower speed and should be split
across a hub
▪ A USB 1.0 has the slowest speed out of a USB with a maximum speed of
1.5 megabits per second
USB 1.1
▪ Known as full speed and runs at 12 megabits per second
USB 2.0
▪ Known as high speed and runs at 480 megabits per second
USB 3.0
▪ Known as super speed and is at least 5 gigabits per second
USB 3.1 Gen One
▪ Runs at 5 gigabits per second
USB 3.1 Gen Two
▪ Runs at 10 gigabits per second
USB 3.2 Gen 2x2
▪ Runs at 20 gigabits per second
USB 4
▪ The most modern version of USB and can run at 40 gigabits per second
▪ A USB 4 and a USB 3.2 gen 2x2 must have a shorter cable because that is
going to give the best performance
▪ The longer a cable, the more likelihood that the cable would not work as
efficiently, or even at all
● Type A
● Type C
● Type B
● Type B Mini
● Type B Micro
DVI
Used to support both analog and digital outputs
● DVI A - DVI A only supports analog signals,
● DVI D - DVI D only supports digital signals,
● DVI I - DVI I support both signals
VGA
▪ The graphic standard that used a 15-pin standard analog video interface
port that would connect to the computer
Thunderbolt
▪ Supports speeds of up to 40 gigabits per second for data transfer over
cables
Lightning Cable
▪ A specific proprietary connector that was created by apple their mobile
devices
SATA Cable
▪ The standard cables that are the main method of connecting a storage
device to a motherboard inside of a desktop computer
▪ The SATA cable has two cables, one is a seven-pin data cable, which does
not supply any power, and the other is a 15-pin SATA power connector to
provide the power to the device
▪ SATA version 1 can support speeds of up to 1.5 gigabits per second,
version 2 can support speeds of up 3 gigabits per second, and version 3
can support speeds of up to 6 gigabits per second
External SATA or ESATA
▪ A SATA cable on the outside of the case
PATA
▪ The old IDE connectors with the exact same cables and connectors and
standards but renamed for branding
▪ Parallel devices have each cable support up to two devices and they both
can communicate at the same time
Molex Power Connector
▪ A 4-pin connector that would attach from the power supply directly to a
device
SCIS
▪ A legacy parallel bus connector that allows multiple devices to be Daisy
chained together
▪ A narrow SCIS can support up to 7 devices, but a wide SCIS can support
up to 15 devices
Advanced Technology eXtended (ATX)
▪ Full-size motherboard and measures 12” x 9.6” in size (305mm x 244 mm)
Mini-ATX
▪ Smaller than ATX but contains the same features (11.2” x 8.2” / 284mm x
208 mm)
Micro-ATX (mATX)
▪ Measures 9.6 inches squared (244mm x 244mm)
▪ Micro-ATX is the same as ATX but only has 4 expansion card slots
Information Technology eXtended (ITX)
▪ Designed as a replacement for the ATX but never produced
Mini-ITX
▪ Measures 6.7” x 6.7” with only one expansion slot (170 x 170mm
squared)
● Mobile-ITX
CPU
▪ The brains of the computer that execute the different programing codes
in the software and firmware
▪ The CPU is performing the basic operations for every instruction in the
computer
▪ Once the processor has done the execution of the instruction, it will send
that information back to the memory so that it can be stored and used for
later use
X86
X86
▪ Can support a maximum of 4 gigabytes of Ram
X64
X64
▪ An extension of the X86 instruction set to be able to support 64-bit
operations
▪ 32 bit systems can only run 32 bit programs, but 64 bit processors can run
64 bit programs and 32 bit programs because they are fully backwards
compatible
Advanced RISC Machine (ARM)
▪ Used for low-power devices (tablets and cell phones)
● Extended battery life
● Produces less heat
▪ RISC systems use code to do tasks
CPU Sockets
ZIF
▪ The ability to insert the CPU without pressing down and applying
pressure to it
▪ If you bend, snap, or break a pin from a processor, the entire processor is
no longer functional
LGA Socket
▪ A form factor that positions all the pins to be able to connect the CPU
processor into the socket
PGA Form Factor
▪ The processor has the pins and the socket have holes which allows the
holes to align when installing the processor
Multi-Socket
▪ Multiple CPU’s or processors installed on a motherboard
▪ You cannot upgrade or change out the processor on a mobile device
▪ The two main types of CPU sockets are LGA, which is made by Intel, and
we have PGA, which has made by AMD.
CPU Features
Simultaneous Multithreading (SMT) / Hyper-threading
▪ Single stream of instructions is being sent by a software application to a
processor
▪ Manufacturers developed a way to allow software to run multiple parallel
threads at the same time
Symmetric Multiprocessing (SMP)
▪ Traditional workstation and servers have multiple processors
Multi-core Processors
▪ Single CPU with multiple processors inside
▪ Multiple processors have multiple cores inside the CPU
Dual-core Processor
▪ Two CPUs inside a single chip
Quad-core Processor
▪ Four CPUs inside a single chip
Hexa-core Processor
▪ Six CPUs inside a single chip
Octa-core Processor
▪ Eight CPUs inside a single chip
● Hyper-threading / SMT
● Symmetric Multiprocessing
● Multi-core Processors
● Virtualization
VT and AMD-V
provide processor extensions to support virtualization
Virtualization
Virtualization allows running multiple systems on a single physical host
▪ Extended Page Table (EPT)
● Intel
▪ Rapid Virtualization Indexing (RVI)
● AMD
PCIe (PCI Express) replaces PCI, PCI-X, and AGP
▪ PCIe x1
▪ PCIe x4
▪ PCIe x8
▪ PCIe x16
● PCIe x1 is used for modems, network cards, wireless cards,
input/output devices, and audio cards
● PCIe x16 is used for graphics cards
Thermal Load
▪ Heat from different components inside the computer
Passive Cooling
▪ Type of cooling that doesn’t rely on moving parts or power
Heat Sink
▪ Finned metal device that radiates heat away from the processor
Thermal Paste
▪ Compound that ensures heat transfer by eliminating air gaps
● Passive cooling requires no power to operate and is silent when
operating
Active Cooling
▪ Uses a fan to cool down the heat from the device
Closed Loop System (liquid cooling)
▪ Cooling of a single component
Open Loop System (liquid cooling)
▪ Liquid cooling based system of different components
Power supply unit (PSU)
Converts AC power from the wall jack to DC power for computers components
120V AC (Low Line Power)
▪ US-based power supply
230V AC (High Line Power)
▪ Europe and Asia power supply
Random Access Memory (RAM)
▪ Used to load applications and files into a non-persistent and fast storage
area
Cache
▪ High-speed memory
Storage
▪ Mass storage device that holds more data but is slower than a cache
Mass Storage Devices
▪ Permanent storage area
Random Access Memory (RAM) / System Memory
▪ Temporary storage area/non-persistent storage
Disk Cache
▪ Pulls the files from the disc into memory and replaces the old file
Dynamic RAM (DRAM)
▪ Oldest type of memory that requires frequent refreshing
● DRAM storage cell is dynamic
Synchronous DRAM (SDRAM)
▪ First memory module that operates at the same speed as the
motherboard bus (168-pin connector)
● PC66 (66 MHz bus)
● PC133 (133 MHz bus)
● PC266 (266 MHz bus)
Double Data Rate Synchronous Dynamic Random-Access Memory (DDR
SDRAM)
▪ Doubles the transfer speed of an SRAM module (184-pin connector)
Double Data Rate 2 Synchronous Dynamic Random-Access Memory (DDR2
SDRAM)
▪ Higher latency and has faster access to the external bus (240-pin
connector)
● PC2-4200
Double Data Rate 3 Synchronous Dynamic Random-Access Memory (DDR3
SDRAM)
▪ Runs at a lower voltage and at a higher speed than DDR2 (240 keyed pin
connector)
● PC3-10600
▪ DDR3 throughput is 6.4 to 17 GB/s with a maximum module size of 8GB
per memory module
Small Outline Dual In-line Memory Module (SODIMM)
▪ Classified as DDR3, DDR4, or DDR5
Multi-Channel Memory
▪ Uses two different memory modules to increase the performance and
throughput
Single-Channel
● Uses one memory module on one bus (64-bit data bus)
Dual-Channel
● Requires two memory modules and two memory slots on the
motherboard (128-bit data bus)
Triple-Channel
● Uses three memory modules and three memory slots (192-bit
data bus)
Quad-Channel
● Uses four memory modules and four memory slots (256-bit data
bus)
Multiple modules
● Give faster speeds and add memory for storage
Non-Parity Memory
▪ Standard memory that does not check for errors and allows data to be
put in or taken out
Parity Memory
▪ Performs basic error checking and ensures the memory contents are
reliable
● A parity check does basic calculation
o Every bit has an associated parity bit
▪ Bits can only be a zero or one
Error Correcting Code (ECC)
▪ Detects and corrects an error
Virtual Memory/Page File
▪ Space on a hard drive that is allocated by the OS and pretends to be
memory
DDR5
▪ Has an internal error checking for its modules
● DDR5 modules can still be sold as ECC or non-ECC modules
DDR4 and DDR5 have how many pins?
288
BIOS and UEFI
Basic Input/Output System (BIOS)
▪ Program that a CPU uses to start the computer system
▪ BIOS serves as a method of configuring the motherboard using a
text-based interface
Firmware
▪ Software on a chip and contains BIOS program code in the flash memory
of a motherboard
Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI)
▪ Supports 64 bit processors and provides a GUI
Read-Only Memory (ROM)
▪ Type of chip embedded in the motherboard and can be upgraded through
flashing
Power-On Self-Test (POST)
▪ Diagnostic testing sequence to check the computer’s basic input/output
system
BIOS/UEFI Security
- BIOS and UEFI are used during loading and booting up the OS
- Computers that rely on BIOS use MBR to hold the boot information
- Computers that rely on UEFI use GPT to hold the boot information
Trusted Platform Module (TPM)
▪ Specification for hardware-based storage of digital certificates, keys,
hashed passwords, and other user and platform identification
information
● TPM is a hardware RoT
● Secured boot-up
● Provides encryption
▪ A TPM can be managed in Windows via tpm.msc console
or through group policy
Hardware Root of Trust (RoT)
▪ Cryptographic module embedded in a computer system that endorses
trusted execution and attests to boot settings and metrics
Hardware Security Module (HSM)
▪ Appliance for generating and storing cryptographic keys that
is less susceptible to tampering and insider threats
Hard Disk Drive (HDD)
▪ Form of mass storage device
Mass Storage Device
▪ Non-volatile storage device that holds the data when the system
is powered down (GB or TB)
Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID)
▪ Combination of multiple physical hard disks that is recognized by the
operating system
RAID 0
RAID 0 is great for speed but provides no data redundancy
RAID 0 has no loss of space on the disks
RAID 1
RAID 1 provides full redundancy
Failure Resistant
▪ Protection against the loss of erased data (RAID 1/RAID 5)
Fault Tolerant
▪ Raid can function even when a hard drive fails (RAID 1/RAID 5/RAID 6)
Disaster Tolerant
▪ RAID with two independent zones with full data access (RAID 10)
▪ RAIDs provide redundancy and high-availability
Virtualization
▪ Host computer installed with a hypervisor that can be used to install and
manage multiple guest operating systems or virtual machines (VMs)
Type I Hypervisor (Bare Metal)
runs directly on the host hardware and functions as the
operating system
Type II Hypervisor
Runs within the normal operating system
VM Escape
▪ Threat attempts to get out of an isolated VM and send commands to the
underlying hypervisor
▪ VM escape is easier to perform on a Type II hypervisor than a Type I
hypervisor
VM Hopping
▪ Threat attempts to move from one VM to another on the same host
Sandbox Escape
▪ Occurs when an attacker circumvents sandbox protections to gain access
to the protected OS or other privileged processes