Topic 1 Introduction to Personal Computer Hardware (II)

Question 1

What is the function of adapter cards?

Answer 1

Adapter cards increase the functionality of a computer by adding controllers for specific devices or by replacing malfunctioning ports.

Question 2

List

List the common types of adaptor cards

Answer 2

• Sound adapter
• Network Interface Card (NIC)
• Wireless NIC
• Video adapter or display adapter
• Capture card
• TV tuner card
• Universal Serial Bus (USB) controller card
• eSATA card

Question 3

List

What are the common types of adaptor cards?

Answer 3

Common expansion slots include:
* Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI)
* Mini-PCI
* PCI eXtended (PCI-X)
* PCI Express (PCIe)
* Riser card
* Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP)

Question 4

How are storage devices classified?

Answer 4

Data storage devices can be classified
according to the media on which the data
is stored:
* Magnetic
* Solid state
* Optical

Question 5

Name five(5) charecteristics of Solid State Drives(SSD).

Answer 5

• Has not moving parts
• Built using nonvolatile flash memory stored on EEPROM
  (Electronically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory) chips
• Memory in an SSD is called NAND flash memory
• Lifespan is based on the number of write operations to the drive
• Expensive technology, but faster, more reliable, last longer, and
  use less power than magnetic drives

Question 5

List the charecteristics of Hard Disk Drive

9 Charecteristics

Answer 5

• One, two, or more platters, or disks
  * Stacked together, spinning in unison inside a sealed metal housing
• Has a firmware controls data reading, writing and motherboard communication
• Read/write heads are controlled by an actuator
• Data is organized in concentric circles, called tracks
• Tracks are divided into segments called sectors
• One or more sectors makes up clusters
• Most current drives use 4096-byte sectors
• Spindle rotates at 5400, 7200, 10,000 or 15,000 RPM
  (revolution per minute)

Question 5

How are storage devices connected to the motherboard?

Answer 5

Storage devices inside a computer connect to the motherboard using Serial AT Attachment (SATA) connections. The legacy interface is Parallel ATA (EIDE).

Question 6

What is the purpose of the interface standards?

Answer 6

The interface standards define the way that data is transferred, the transfer rates, and physical characteristics of the cables and connectors

Question 7

What are the three(3) main versions of the SATA stabdard?

Answer 7

• SATA 1
• SATA 2
• SATA 3

Question 8

What are the data transfer speeds of:
1. IDE
2. EIEDE
3. SATA 1
4. SATA 2
5. SATA 3

Answer 8

1. IDE - 8.3 Mb/s
2. EIDE - 16.6 Mb/s
3. SATA 1 - 1.5Gb/s
4. SATA 2- 3.0Gb/s
5. SATA 3 - 6.0 Gb/s

Question 9

Describe a Megnetic Media Storage

Answer 9

This type of storage represents binary values as magnetized or non-magnetized physical areas of magnetic media.

Question 10

List common types of magnetic media storage drives.

2

Answer 10

• Hard Disk Drive (HDD)
• Tape Drive

Question 11

Describe a Hard Disk Drive (HDD)

Answer 11

– the traditional magnetic disk devices with storage capacity ranging from gigabytes (GBs) to terabytes (TBs).

Question 12

Describe a Tape Drive

Answer 12

• most often used for archiving data.
• Tape drives use a magnetic read/write head and removable tape
  cartridge.
• Common tape storage capacities vary between a few GBs to many
  TBs.

Question 12

Describe a Semi Conductor storage

Answer 12

• Solid-state drives (SSD) store data as electrical charges in semiconductor flash memory.

Question 13

What are the three(3) form factors that SSds come in?

Answer 13

SSDs come in three form factors:
* Disc drive form factor – similar to an HDD
* Expansion cards – plugs directly into the motherboard and mounts in the computer case like other expansion cards
* mSata or M.2 modules – these packages may use a special socket. M.2 is a standard for computer
expansion cards