Week 3: Tech Guide 1

Question 1: What is computer hardware and what are the major hardware components?

A computer hardware is a set of devices (for example, processor, monitor, keyboard printer) that together accept data and information, process them, and display them. The major hardware components are the central processing unit (CPU), primary storage, secondary storage, input technologies, output technologies and communication technologies.

Question 2: What is Moore's Law/what does it mean in relation to computers.

More’s law refers to the theory of microprocessors complexity doubling approximately every two years.

Question 3: In basic terms, describe how a microprocessor functions.

A control unit which sequentially accesses program instructions, decodes them and controls the flow of data to and from ALU, registers, caches and various other output devices.
The Arithmetic-Logic Unit performs the mathematical calculations and makes logical comparisons
Registers are used as high speed storage areas that store small amounts of data for short periods of time.
The caches is external memory that data from registers is sent to.

Question 4: What factors determine the speed of the microprocessor?

The speed of the microprocessor is determined by the clock speed(measured in MHz), word length, bus width and number of transistors in the chip.

Question 5: What are the four main types of primary storage?

• Register
• RAM (Random Access Memory)
• Cache Memory
• ROM(read-only memory.

Question 6: What are the main types of secondary storage?

Magnetic storage devices include Hard drives, NAS (network attached storage), Memory Cards and Tumb Drives(USB Sticks)
Optical Storage Devices include CD-ROM, DVD and Blueray Discs

Question 7: How does primary storage differ from secondary storage in terms of speed cost and capacity?

The primary storage is there to be used immediately to store very small amounts of information as close to the CPU as possible. The shorter the distance the shorter the data has to travel thus making the computer run faster
Secondary storage was designed to store large amounts of data for a very long period of time unlike primary storage which holds data for a very short amount of time. Even though secondary storage can hold data for longer periods of time, it is actually a lot cheaper when compared to any primary storage device.

Question 8: What are enterprise storage systems?
An enterprise storage system is an independent, external system with intelligence that includes two or more storage devices.

Question 9: Distinguish between human data input devices and source data automation.

Human data-entry devices include keyboards, mouse, trackball, joysticks; touch screen, stylus and voice recognition. Source data automation devises input data with minimal human intervention (e,g. barcode reader).

Question 10: What is one new technology that will change how we do things? You need to do some research

THE CHUMBY: The Chumby is a wireless Internet device about the size of a rugby ball. It has no keyboard or mouse but instead uses software called widgets to display pretty much anything you want it to - all the time. For instance, it will act as an alarm clock, play your music, show you constantly updated news or track an eBay auction. The really interesting thing is that it is designed to be hacked - everything from the software code to the specifications for the case are freely available. No one, including the manufacturers, knows what owners will make Chumbys do once they are released.


http://www.chumby.com