Lecture Notes

Introduction to
Computing Application

1st Semester

Compiled by:
Shahid Imran

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Q. WHAT IS COMPUTER? DESCRIBE CHARACTERSTICS AND USES
OF COMPUTER IN DETAIL.

COMPUTER:
Now a day, the applications of computer are on almost every aspect of our daily lives.
As like many ordinary objects around us, we may need clearer understanding of what
they are. You may ask "What is a computer?" or "What is a software", or "What is a
programming language?" Let’s have some introduction of computer.

Every one of us is well aware of the word “Computer”, we see computers everywhere
in shape of Personal Computer (PC), Laptops, Mobile Phones, Tablet Pc, ATM
Machines and Bar code readers etc. Computer becomes the most important electronic
device in every aspect of life for human beings, our daily life activities become very
easy, efficient, and quick with the use computers.

DEFINITION:
The word computer is derived from the “compute”, which means to calculate or to
count. So by word, we may define computer as a device which helps us in counting or
calculation, but modern computers are doing much more working than simple
calculations. Therefore, we may define “computer is an electronic device, operating
under the control of instructions, it can accepts data as in input, processes the data
according to predefined rules, produces results, and stores the results for future
use.”. This definition indicates that computer is a machine which is totally dependent
on human instructions to perform specific action.

IMPORTANT CHARACTERISTICS OF COMPUTER

Following are main and important characteristics of computer:
Speed
Computer was invented as high speed
calculators and processing speed is the
most important feature of the computers.
Speed of any computer is measured in
terms of the processing time the computer
takes to execute a given task. The units
used to measure the speed of computers
are Hertz, Kilo Hertz (KHz), Mega Hertz
(MHz) and Giga Hertz (GHz).

Storage
Computers have large storage capacity,
secondary storage devices are the key for
data storage. User can store data to retrieve it for future use. The examples for various
secondary devices are Hard Disk, Optical disks (CD and DVD), Zip drives, Pen drives
etc.

Accuracy
Computers are strictly working according to the predefined rules so the degree of their
accuracy is very high. There may be errors in the result but these errors in computing

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are due to human rather than due to technological weakness. If we enter wrong data
then the results can never be accurate.

Diligence
As computer is a machine so it is free from tiredness, lack of concentration and
fatigue, etc. It can work for hours without creating any error with same speed and
same level of accuracy. This capability of computers makes them able to overpower
humans in routine life work.

Versatility
Computer is very versatile machine, it can do different nature of tasks at the same
time and you can listen the music, while preparing your financial statements and also
can chat with friends at the same time.

Power of Remembering
The computers have great power of remembrance; data once stored can retrieve at any
time. We can store large amount of data on computers for future use and computer
never forget the data and return us as we stored on them.

No IQ
Computer is a machine so it can do nothing by itself, it is fully dependant on human
instructions. The IQ level of computer is zero, so it is called as dumb machine. It is
humans who decide which task to do and when to do.

No Feelings
Computer does not have any kind of feelings; they can never feel bad or good about
any event, situation or happening. They just act upon the instructions given by the
humans without any complaint, protest and criticism.

USES OF COMPUTER
Due the variety of their characteristics computers
are used in every field of life and they become the
necessity of every profession. Teachers are using
the computers to prepare notes, time tables,
results and other reports, students are using the
computers to complete their assignments, research
about their thesis and many more educational
tasks. Engineers, architects, jewelers, and
filmmakers all use computers to design things.
Teachers, writers, and most office workers use
computers for research, word processing and
emailing. Small businesses can use computers as
a point of sale and for general record keeping.

Following are some fields in which computers are playing vital role to enhance the
capabilities of the humans to deliver better results:

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Education
In education field computers are used in multiple ways, computers are not only
helping the teachers and students in the academic activities but also a major source of
information and education. It helps the students to prepare better presentation, notes,
project, assignments and thesis. With the help of internet it is quite possible for the
students to get access to the teacher on distance through e-learning. Universities all
over the world are running online educational programs and students are getting
diplomas and degrees via electronic learning (E-Learning).
Computers are used as aid for education this term is called computer aided learning,
in which

Medical Field
In health care computers are used for different purposes i.e. doctors are using these
devices to diagnose different diseases, to keep the records of the patients, to monitor
the vital signs of the patients even during surgery these devices help the surgeons for
better precision during operations.

Entertainment
Computers are widely used for entertainment purposes. We can play games, watch
movies, listen music and can attend a concert on computer. Animated movies and
cartoons are created and designed on computers.

Manufacturing
Manufacturing industry uses computers for different processes of during development
of their products. Computer Aided Manufacturing (CAM) & Computer Aided
Designing (CAD) software are used to reduce the costs of designing and
manufacturing of the products.

Sports
Computers have entirely changed the world of sports, we can keep history record of
players on computers, which is used by the analyst during any games, computerized
score board in different games are very helpful and entertaining. Different types of
comparative graphs can easily be made on computers.

Tourism
Computers offer great help for tourists, one can plan his trip with the help of
computer, tourist can find the places of their interests; reserve airline tickets, book
hotel rooms can learn new cultures with the help of computers via internet. With the
help of GPRS one can find the nearest key places at any location.

Banking
The deployment of computers in banking sector has entirely changed the system since
last 20 years. Now ATM machine is working as a cashier, we can easily, quickly and
safely transfer funds, pay our utility bills, get vouchers of mobile prepaid connections
with the help of online banking.

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Q. DESCRIBE COMPUTER GENERATIONS IN DETAILS.

COMPUTER GENERATIONS
The development and growth of computer was started in 16th century and today we
see the result of the evolution. In 20th century, with the development of electronic
computers this industry grew very rapidly. This rapid growth is divided in to 5 major
periods which are commonly known as Generations. Each of these generations of
computers is distinguished by a major technological development that fundamentally
changed the way computers operate, resulting in increasingly smaller, cheaper, more
powerful and more efficient and reliable computing devices.

The time period of these generations is as follows:

Sr. Generation From To

1 1st Generation Computers 1940 1956
2 2nd Generation Computers 1956 1963
3 3rd Generation Computers 1964 1971
4 4th Generation Computers 1971 Present
5 5th Generation Computers Present and Beyond

FIRST GENERATION COMPUTERS

Era:
The era of 1st generation computers is 1940-1956

Technology Used:
These computers used vacuum tubes for circuitry and magnetic drums for memory,
and were very huge in size that taking up entire rooms.

Examples:
 ENIAC
 EDVAC
 UNIVAC
 IBM-701
 IBM-650

ENIAC UNIVAC-1

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Advantages
1. The development of these computers made possible the advent of electronic
digital computers.
2. These computers were the fastest calculating devices of their time.
3. They could perform computations in milliseconds.

Disadvantages
1. These computers were too bulky in size.
2. Due to the huge size they were non portable, and it is impossible to move
these computers from one place to another.
3. Manual assembly of individual components into functioning unit required.
4. Air conditioning was must required for these computers.
5. These computers were not reliable computer machines.
6. Thousands of vacuum tubes that were used emitted large amount of heat and
burnt out frequently
7. These computers faced frequent hardware failures.
8. Constant maintenance was required for these computers.
9. Commercial production was difficult and costly.
10. Limited commercial use.

SECOND GENERATION COMPUTERS

Era:
The era of 2nd generation computers is around 1956-1963.

Technology used:
In this generation, the transistor were replaced with vacuum tubes, with the use of
transistors the computers became cheaper, faster, consumed less power, more
compact in size and more reliable. In these computers, magnetic cores were used as
primary memory and magnetic tape and magnetic disks were used as storage devices.
The programming languages such as COBOL, FORTRAN were developed during this
period.

IBM 1620 CDC-3600

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Examples:
Some of the computers of the Second Generation were:
 IBM 1620: Its size was smaller as compared to First Generation computers and
mostly used for scientific purpose.
 IBM 1401: Its size was small to medium and used for business applications.
 CDC 3600: Its size was large and is used for scientific purposes.

Advantages
 These computers were smaller in size as compared to first generation
computers.
 These computers were more reliable.
 While replacing transistors these computers generate less amount of heat.
 These were the faster computer.
 Hardware failures ration become low.
 Wider commercial use.

Disadvantages
 Air-conditioning required in most of the cases.
 These computers need frequent maintenance.
 Manual assembly of individual components into a functioning unit was
required, due to which labor cost increases.
 Commercial production was difficult and costly.

THIRD GENERATION COMPUTERS

Era:
The era of third generation computers was 1964-1971.

Technology:
The technological development of the integrated circuit was the major breakthrough
in the history of computers. By using this technology Transistors were miniaturized
and placed on silicon chips, called semiconductors, which drastically increased the
speed and efficiency of computers. The third generation computers were introduced in
1964. They used Integrated Circuits (ICs). These ICs are popularly known as Chips. A
single IC has many transistors, registers and capacitors built on a single thin slice of
silicon.

Input devices like keyboard and output devices like monitors were introduced in these
computers and interfaced with an operating system, which allowed the device to run
many different applications at one time with a central program which monitored the
memory.

Advantages
 These computers were smaller in size as compared to previous generation
computers.
 The speed of these computers was very high.
 They were easily portable computers and can be moved from one place to
another.
 These computers were more reliable than second-generation computers.

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  Less power requirement than previous generation computers.
 Maintenance cost of these computers was low because hardware failures are
rare.
 They were totally general purpose computer so they were widely used for
various commercial applications all over the world.
 Manual assembly of individual components into a functioning unit not
required. So human labour and cost involved at assembly stage reduced
drastically.
 Commercial production was easier and cheaper.
Disadvantages
 Air-conditioning required in many cases.
 Highly sophisticated technology required for the manufacture of IC chips.

Examples:
 IBM-360 series
 Honeywell-6000 series
 PDP(Personal Data Processor)
 IBM-370/168
 TDC-316

IBM - 360 IBM - 370

FOURTH GENERATION COMPUTERS

Era:
The present day computers that we are using today are the fourth generation
computers that started around 1975.

Technology:
Fourth Generation computers are the modern day computers. The Size started to go
down with the improvement in the Integrated Circuits. Very Large Scale(VLSI) and
Ultra Large scale(ULSI) ensured that millions of components could be fit into a small
chip. It reduced the size and price of the computers at the same time increasing power,
efficiency and reliability.

Advantages
 The use of microprocessor makes these computers very small in size.

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  Much faster in computation than previous generations.
 Hardware failure is negligible.
 These computers are very reliable.
 No air conditioning required in most cases.
 Easily portable because of their small size.

Disadvantage
 Highly complicated technology is required for the manufacturing of these
chips.
 Very few countries can afford to have this manufacturing technology.
 Highly trained and skilled staff is required for manufacturing.

XT Computer Sharp MZ80

FIFTH GENERATION COMPUTER

The development of fifth generation computers is in process. It is the dream of the
scientists to develop a computer which would behave like human machine with the
help of artificial intelligence, neural network, robotics and natural languages. The
scientists are trying to create a computer machine which can think, which would have
real IQ, which can learn from its mistakes. The process of developing fifth-generation
computers is still in the development stage. Microprocessor has changed the computer
industry dramatically, the fifth generation of computer looks to turn the whole
industry on its head once again.

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Q. WHAT ARE DIFFERENT CLASSIFICATIONS OF COMPTUER?

CLASSIFICATION OF COMPUTER
We can classify computers on the basis of their physical size, processing speed and
price. Some of the computers are general purposes which are used in different fields
of life and some are special purposes which are designed for specific environment or
even for specific organization, so according to the requirements they vary in size,
speed and cost. Computers can be classified in following classes:
 Micro Computers
 Mini Computers or Mini-frame Computers
 Mainframe Computers
 Supercomputers

Microcomputer:
Microcomputers are the smallest computers available for the use of single person at a
time. They are the slower and cheaper computers then other classes of computers. The
processor used in these computers is called micro processor.

These computers are available in variety of different types, so they can further divided
in following categories:
 Personal Computers (PC)
 Laptop Computers
 Game consoles
 Tablet PC
 Smart Phones
 PDA
 Portable Media Players

Personal Computers
A personal computer (PC) is a general purpose computer, which is designed
for the use of individuals. First PC was introduced by IBM in 1972, with the
advent of PCs the computer industry grew drastically.
There are two popular types of PCs are used i.e. Desktop Computers and
Laptop Computers.

Desktop Computer Laptop Computer

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 Desktop Computers
This type of computer fit on a desk or table so it is called desktop
computer. In many models, the system unit (Casing) is a tall and narrow
tower, which can sit on the floor vertically, and other models have casing
placed horizontally on the desk.

Laptop Computers
A laptop computer is designed to fit on your lap, an easily portable, thin
and lightweight computer which fits in a carrying bag, but yet it can be as
powerful as the average desktop computer. Laptop computers are
operated on special rechargeable batteries or a power supply or both.

Game Console Tablet PC

Game Consoles
Game consoles are handheld computing devices used to play video
games. They have multiple buttons, a display screen and game controller
handles. They also have storage capacity to store data of video games.
They are single as well as multi user consoles.

Tablet PC
Tablet PCs Resembling a letter-sized slate, the Tablet PC is a special type
of notebook computer that allows you to write or draw on the screen
using a digital pen. For users who prefer typing instead of handwriting,
some Tablet PCs have an attached keyboard; others allow you to connect
a separate keyboard to the device. Most Tablet PCs have touch screens.

Smart Phones
A smart phone is an Internet-enabled cell phone that also provides
personal information management functions like calendar, appointment
book, address book etc. It is also used to receive or make phone calls and
for messaging.

PDAs
A PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) is industry-specific computing device
that usually serves the needs of mobile employees, such as order takers,
meter readers and parcel delivery people, whose jobs require them to
move from place to place in order to collect data from multiple places.

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 A meter reader is using PDA Smart Phone

Mini Computer:
They are also referred to as server computers or midrange computers. These
computers are very much attractive to mid level economy users. These computers
have multiple processors which enhance their processing capabilities and large
storage capacity which enable these computers to process large amount of data and
can work as server in LAN (Local Area Network) environment to provide services up
to thousands of computers.

Advantages:
 These computers are faster than the micro computers.
 Due to high speed these computers are used as server in networking
environment.
 These computers are easily available in markets.
 These computers are economical servers.
 These computers have large storage capacity.
 Mini computers are used as data server in mid level organizations.
 They support high graphic software and video games.

Miniframe Server Computers

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Mainframe Computer:
These are the large server computers that can serve hundreds or even thousands of
computers connected to them. These systems are used to control the whole
organization. They contain a large number of self-maintenance features, including
built-in security features and high data handling capacity. They operate at very high
speed, have very large storage capacity and can handle the work load of many users.
They are generally used in centralized databases. They are also used as controlling
nodes in Wide Area Networks (WAN).

Advantages:
 These computers are used for high level computing
 They support the feature of virtualization by which it can be divided into
logical partitions.
 System administration becomes very easy.
 They are much reliable computers and can detect, report, and self-recover
from system problems.
 They have high security and can be secured at different levels.
 They are known for their long lasting performance.

Disadvantages:
 The main disadvantage of these computers is high maintenance cost.
 They are the larger computers, so they occupy huge space.
 They are not easily available in market.
 Skilled staff required to run and maintain these computers.

Manufacturer:
IBM and HP are the major manufacturers of mainframe computers.

Mainframe Computers

Supercomputer:
Supercomputers are the fastest, most powerful and most expensive computers of
today. These are the large computers or collection of computers act as large computer
capable of processing huge amount of data. They have high processing speed
compared to other computers. They have also multiprocessing technique. One of the

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ways in which supercomputers are built is by interconnecting thousands of
microprocessors.

Chinese Supercomputer Tianhe-2 is the fastest supercomputer of today. Tianhe-2 is

built entirely with Intel processors. It contains 16,000 nodes, which each contain two
Xeon IvyBridge processors and three Xeon Phi processors, for a total of 3,120,000
total processor cores. Its theoretical top speed is 27 petaflops, it means 27,000 trillion
calculations per second that is hundreds of thousands time faster than our fastest PC.

Uses:
Supercomputers are mainly being used for weather forecasting, biomedical research,
remote sensing, aircraft design and other areas of science and technology.

Manufacturer:
IBM and Cray are the major manufacturers of supercomputers.

IBM Blue Gene Tianhe-2

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 Q. DESCRIBE THE TYPE OF COMPUTERS. WHAT IS DIFFERENCE
IN ANALOG AND DIGITAL COMPUTER?

Answer:

On the basis of their functions, data input and output techniques computers can be
divided into following types:
 Analog computers
 Digital computers
 Hybrid computer

Analog Computers
An analog computer is a computer which receives analog data as input and returns the
result on a meter or graph. Analog data is continuous measurement of a physical
property of an object. Speedo meter of bike or car is an example of analog computer,
in Speedo meter the rotation of tires per second is feed as an input and output is
shown on a graph in shape of speeds in kilometers per hour.

These computers are normally slow in speed and having low capacity of memory to
store data and output. The results provided by these computers are not highly reliable
and degree of error is high.

Analog Speedometer Analog Weight Machine

These computers are designed and built for specific purpose and majority of analog
computers are used in engineering and medical field to calculate different type of
reading from physical objects.

Examples:
Analog clock, speedometer, weight machine, analog processor at petrol pumps are the
examples of analog computers.

Digital Computers
A digital computer is designed to process data in digit
or numeric. Everything is described in two states on
or off. It operates by counting numbers or digits and
gives output in digital form. These computers accept
input in digital form and display output on a screen.
The digital computers are very fast. They can be
programmed to perform mathematical calculations,

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compare values. Digital computers are manufactured in a wide variety of sizes, speeds
and capacities. These computers have great storage capacity and more reliable than
analog computers.

Examples:
Digital watch, scoreboard, calculator, PC are examples of digital computers.

Hybrid Computer
A hybrid computer combines the best characteristics of both the
analog and digital computer. It can accept data in analog and digital
form. A hybrid computer system offers a much cost effective method
that is used to perform complex simulations.

Examples:
Hybrid devices may calculate patient’s heart functions, temperature,
and blood pressure. This measurement can be converted and
displayed in digital form.

Difference between Analog and Digital Computer:

There are following differences between analog and digital computers:

Sr. Analog Computers Digital Computers
Analog Computers Work on Digital computers Work on discrete
1 continuous values. values.
Digital computers have a large
Analog Computers have low memory.
2 memory.
Analog computers have Slow speed. Digital computers have fast speed.
3
4 Analog computers are less reliable. Digital computers are more reliable.
Analog computers used in
Digital computers are used in all fields
engineering and science and medical
5 of life.
fields.
Digital computers are used to calculate
Analog computers are used to mathematical and logical operations. It
calculate or measure analog quantities can solve addition, subtraction,
6
like speed and temperature. division, multiplication and other
mathematical and statistical operations.
Analog computers provide less Digital computers provide 100%
7 accurate results. accurate results.
Normally Analog Computers are
8 Digital Computers are general purpose
specific purpose
9 Analog computers are difficult to use Digital computers are easy to use
Examples of Analog computers are: Examples of digital computers are:
10 thermometer, analog clock, Personal Computer, laptops, smart
speedometer etc. phones etc.

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Q. WHAT ARE DIFFERENT INPUT DEVICES OF COMPUTER?

Hardware
All the physical parts of computer are called hardware. These are manufactured by
substance physical materials. They have some weight, occupy some space and can be
touched. According to the needs of the computer there are different types of hardware
as follows:
 Input Devices
 Output Devices
 CPU
 Storage Devices
 Memory

Input Devices

The parts of computer which are used to feed data into computer system are known as
input devices. As there are different types of data like characters, numbers, pictures,
audio, video and biometrics, there are following types of input devices:

 Keyboard
 Pointing Input Devices
 Optical Input Devices
 Audio Video Input Devices
 Biometric Input Devices

Key Board
Key board is the most commonly used input device in computer. We can feed
alphabets, numeric and special characters into the computer with the help of
keyboard. Depends upon the nature of the computer machine, there are many types of
keyboard. In case of PC the QWERTY keyboard is used, in laptop the structure of
keyboard is different. ATM machine has keypad with fewer keys while Tablet PCs
have touch screen keyboards.

QWERTY Keyboard
This type of keyboard is most commonly used with desktop computers, normally
it consists of 101-105 keys. The keys on this keyboard are divided into following
groups:
 Alpha-Numeric Keys
 Num pad
 Function Keys
 Navigation Keys
 Multimedia Keys
 Special Keys

Alpha-Numeric Keys
This is the main group
of keys consist
alphabets characters in

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 small & capitals, numeric keys from 0-9 and special characters i.e. *, %, &, >,
?. The arrangements of these keys are very similar to typewriter buttons.

Num-Pad
On right hand side of the key board there are some keys similar to calculator,
these keys are known as numeric pad. The num-pad enables the users for
quick numeric calculations.

Function Keys
The top row keys on keyboard from F1-F12 are called function keys. These
keys perform different special functions in different software. F1 key is used
for help in most of the programs.

Navigation Keys
This group includes up, down, left and right arrow keys, HOME, END, PAGE
UP and PAGE DOWN keys. These keys are used to navigate or move cursor
on screen.

Multimedia Keys
In some keyboards multimedia keys are used, these keys are used to operate
entertainment programs to listen music or to watch videos.

Special Keys
There are some other keys which are used for special purposes like Windows
button, delete key, internet control buttons, print screen and pause/break
buttons.
Followings are some special keys:

BACKSPACE KEY- Deletes the character just to the left of the

cursor.

DELETE KEY- Deletes the character at the right of the cursor, or

deletes the selected object, but does not move the cursor.

ARROW KEYS- Four arrow keys for moving the cursor or insertion
point right, left, up, or down.

CAPS LOCK KEY - A toggle key that, when activated, causes all
alphabetic characters to be uppercase.

HOME - Moves the cursor to the top left corner of the screen or to the
beginning of the line, but it can have other meanings depending on
which program is running.

END - Moves the cursor to the end of the line, the end of the page, or
the end of the file depending upon which program is running.

ENTER - Used to enter commands or to move the cursor to the

beginning of the next line. Sometimes labeled Return instead of Enter.

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 ESC - Short for Escape, this key is used to send special codes to
devices and to exit (or escape) from programs and tasks.

FUNCTION KEYS - Special keys labeled F1 to F12, these keys have

different meanings depending on which program is running.

CTRL KEY - Short for Control, this key is used in conjunction with
other keys to produce control characters. The meaning of each control
character depends on which program is running.

ALT KEY - Short for Alternate, this key is like a second Control key.
In most of the program this key is used to activate menu.

PAGE UP & PAGE DOWN - Moves the cursor up or down a set

number of lines usually one page or screen at a time.

Pointing Input Devices

GUI (Graphical User Interface) environment is very user friendly & easy to use. In
GUI we use pointing devices to control cursor on display screen, cursor is a small
symbol on screen and user use pointing devices to access specific areas of screen in
order to perform specific actions.

Followings are some pointing devices use now a day:

 Mouse
 Track Ball
 Touch Pad
 Light Pen
 Pointing Stick
 Joy Stick
 Touch Screen
 Graphics Tablet

Mouse
The most commonly used pointing input device in personal computers is
mouse. In MS-windows environment mouse appears to be an essential part of
the computer. The mouse is used to control the movement of cursor or pointer
on screen. Mouse has some buttons on it which are used to send commands by
the user. The traditional mouse is known as mechanical mouse, it has a ball at
the bottom of the mouse, when we move the mouse on table or mouse pad the
ball rotate and the cursor move according to the rotations of the ball.

Mouse Track Ball

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 Now a day we use optical mouse in which a laser light is emit from the bottom
of the mouse and when we move the mouse on some surface the sensor sense
the motion of the light and hence the cursor is moved. Wireless mouse is also
available, this mouse used Infrared technology. Air mouse is also in practice
now a day; this mouse is work on desk like a laser mouse but also work in air.

Track Ball
Track ball is also a pointing device, it is very similar to mouse but it has ball
on its top. The ball is rotated with the help of figure or thumb and the cursor
moves on the screen. Track ball also has some buttons to send command
instructions.

Touch Pad
In laptops and notebooks a little pad is placed under the keypad, this pad is
pressure sensitive with touch technology. When user presses figure on the
surface of pad, the pointer/cursor on the screen moves.

Touch Pad Pointing Stick

Pointing Stick
In laptops a little stick with blue or red color is placed right in the middle of
keyboard. This little stick is also pressure sensitive device, when your put
pressure on it in some direction with its figure the cursor moves on the screen.

Joy Stick
A handle like device especially designed to play video games, central handle
of this device used to move the character of video game and control button on
it are useful to send different commands.

Joy Stick Light Pen

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Touch Screen.
This is dual device used for input and output at the same time; these devices are often
used in public places, such as shopping centers, hotels, and airports, where users may
not have much experience working with computers. The user simply touches the
screen for the desired menu item. Today modern mobile phones also contain touch
screen. ATM and Point of Sale are examples of these devices.

ATMs have revolutionized banking by extending

“bankers’ hours” to 24 hours a day. ATM users
can borrow cash, transfer funds, and make
deposits at their convenience. Most ATM devices
employ some sort of card input that contains
information about the user. The user inserts the
card and is prompted to enter a personal
identification number (PIN) to authorize access.
If the user fails to enter the correct PIN after
three attempts, the ATM will assume an unauthorized person is attempting an illegal
access. Point-of-Sale (POS) Devices are found in many kinds of retail businesses; for
example, grocery stores, on airports and metro bus & train stations. Most POS
terminals use some type of optical scanning device, usually involving laser beams, for
reading the product code on an item.

Graphics Tablet
A graphics tablet is a flat rectangular board used to input
drawings or other graphical data. The user draws on the
graphics tablet with an electronic pen (called stylus) or a
mouse-like device (called a puck). The drawing movements
are converted into digital signals that are sent to the computer
as input. Architects and mapmakers commonly use this input
device.

Optical Input Devices

These are the devices which uses laser beam to read data from any object and feed it
into computer. A laser light emits from these devices and capture data from target
source.

There are few of the optical input devices:

Scanners
Scanner is an optical input device, it is used to read text and graphics printed
or written on the paper, card or on other surfaces. Scanner works just like a
photocopy works, user put the page/card in the scanner, and a laser beam reads
the data & stores in the computer in image form. There are different types of
scanners are used, which include flatbed scanner, drum scanner, sheet-fed
scanner and pen scanner. Flatbed scanner is most commonly used. The quality
of a scanner is measured by the resolution on which it stores images.

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 Scanner Optical Character Recognition

Optical Character Recognition

Optical character recognition (OCR) is a technology that involves reading text
from printed documents and translating the images into a form that the
computer can process. This technology is used to make lengthy documents
make available in electronic form quickly and enable the user to edit these
documents in any word processor. Almost all the OCR devices use a small
optical scanner for reading characters from the paper and OCR software
recognize the text.

Optical Mark Recognition

Optical mark recognition (OMR) is a technology that detects the presence or
absence of specific marks on a paper the marks can be a small circles or
rectangles. OMR scanner is a special scanning device that can read carefully
placed pencil marks on specially designed documents. A very common OMR
application is the use of "bubble sheets" for multiple-choice questions that is
used by many institutions. In the “bubble sheet” a student has to indicate the
correct answer of MCQ by filling a circle in choices table.

Barcode Readers
Barcode reader is very simple and easy to use device. It is used to read printed
barcodes from paper or products. This device is widely used at POS (Point of
Sale) counters for preparing bills of the customers. A laser beam emits from
the barcode reader and read data from the source object.

Bar Code Reader Optical Mark Recognition

Magnetic Stripe Card Readers

A black stripe usually at the back of Credit Card, Debit Card or Employee
Cards is called Magnetic Stripe, it contains the data of card holder i.e. name,
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 account no. and bank branch. The device that is used to read data from this
stripe is called magnetic stripe card reader, often called a magstripe reader.

There are two types of magnetic stripe card readers are in practice, one used
the insertion technique in which the card is to be inserted and it reads the data
and other requires to swipe the card for reading data.

Magnetic Stripe Card Reader Magnetic Ink Character Recognition

MICR Readers
MICR (Magnetic Ink Character Recognition) devices are used to read text
printed with magnetized ink. The magnetized ink is very much in exercise to
print special words on sensitive documents, for example in banking sector the
code on the bottom of cheque is written with this ink, the MICR readers used
to read these special characters and feed in the computer.

Audio and Video Input Devices

Microphone:
We can feed our voice in the computer with the help of microphone. This
device is widely used in voice communication and voice chat. We also can
record our voice with the help of this device and hence can listen or
communicate the recorded file.

Webcam:
The webcam is digital camera device which enable the user to record videos or
still pictures in the computer. This device is broadly used for video
communication. The user can have video chat and participate in video
conference with the help of this device. The device is also used to capture
images in many places for example NADRA and License Departments used
these cameras to capture latest image of the candidate for CNIC or License.

Microphone Webcam

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Biometric Input
These devices are used to input the physical or behavioral characteristics of a person
in the computer. These devices can scan fingerprints, hand geometry, facial features,
voice, signatures, and eye patterns and then act according to the prescribed
instructions.

The common methods for system security is the use of password, the method of using
password is considered not the best safe methods so the biometric input devices are
used at the entry points to verify the person, in offices for attendance, for security
purpose of sensitive areas. These devices scan the personal characteristics, translate
them into digital code and then compare them with already stored data, if the
characteristics are matched then the system allow the user to for further processing
otherwise denies.

The following techniques are use for these devices:

 Scanning of Thumb impression
 Scanning of retina or eye pattern
 Voice recognition System
 Signature recognition System
 Scanning of hand scanning
 Facial recognition System

Facial Recognition Finger Scanning Machine

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Q. WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENT OUTPUT DEVICES OF COMPUTER?

Output Devices

The computer is an electronic device which accepts input and after processing returns
us a result as output. The peripheral devices which are used to return the output are
called output devices. Depending upon the nature of the data and working format of
output is of various types, so different types of output devices are used for this
purpose.
The computer returns the output of following forms:
 Softcopy output
 Hardcopy output

Softcopy output
This output is in logical or non-physical form and we can see or hear the output. This
output is in electronic and temporary form and we can see or hear it for the time
being. Monitors and Speakers are examples of softcopy output devices.

Hardcopy output
This output is in physical form on some paper or card. This output is in permanent
form and can keep for longer period of time. Printers and Plotters are examples of
hardcopy output devices.

Display Devices
The devices which are used to display the output in visual form are called display
devices. These devices show the output of text, images and videos on a screen.

There are the following devices that are used as display devices:
 CRT Monitors
 LCD Monitors
 Plasma Monitor

CRT Monitor
CRT is abbreviation of Cathode Rays Tube. These monitors use a vacuum
tube and Cathode Rays to display the image on screen. The screen is coated
with small phosphors elements. The image on a CRT display is created by
firing electrons from the back of the tube to phosphors located towards the
front of the display. Once the electrons hit the phosphors, they light up and are
projected on the screen.

CRT Monitors

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 The quality of these monitors is determines by small dots on the screen and
each dot is referred to as pixel. The image is created by firing pixels on each
dot starting from top left corner upto right bottom corner of the screen. In
Black & White monitor the image is created while determining that pixel is on
(white) or off (black), in Gray Scale monitors the brightness of the pixel is
exposed. In color monitor instead of single beam, three electron beams are
used and each pixel contains three phosphors red, green and blue. The color
you see on the screen is produced by a blend of red, blue, and green light,
often referred to as RGB.

These monitors are cheaper than other display screens, create brighter images
and are used by long time with desktop computers. But these monitors are
very heavy in weight, occupy lot of space and consume a lot of energy. So
now the use of these monitors is reduced.

LCD Monitors
These computers are also known as flat-panel
monitors, these monitors use Liquid Crystal
Display (LCD) technology. LCDs contain
fluorescent tubes which emit light waves toward the
liquid-crystal cells, which are sandwiched between
two sheets of material. When an electrical charge
passes through the cells, the cells twist. This
twisting causes some light waves to be blocked and
allows others to pass through, creating images on the display. The quality of
these monitors depends on their resolution, response time, brightness, dot
pitch, and contrast ratio.

These are slim in size so occupy small space on desk, very light in weight and
consume very few energy so they are used widely now a days. Some mobile
computers also contain built-in LCD screens. A big problem with these
monitors is that their image is very difficult to see in bright light and another
issue is that their image is best viewable on a typical right angle and is faded
on inappropriate angle.

Plasma Monitors
Plasma monitors are also flat panel monitors
that use gas plasma technology to display
images, the gas is packed in two glass plates,
and when voltage is applied the gas releases
ultraviolet (UV) light. This UV light causes
the pixels on the screen to glow and form an
image. These monitors are available in large
screen, so can display wide and rich images.

Plasma monitors are slimmest of all displays so having less weighs and are
less bulky than CTR’s. These monitors are with higher viewing angles

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 compared to other displays and can be placed even on walls. These monitors
exhibit very little motion blur due to high refresh rates and response time and
has a life span of about 100,000 hours. One of the limitations of these
monitors is the cost which is much higher as compared to other monitors.
They consume more energy and produce glares due to reflection. These
displays are not available in smaller sizes than 32 inches.

Printers
A printer is an output device that produces hardcopy output on physical medium
typically on paper. To meet the range of printing needs, many different types and
styles of printers exist with different speeds, capabilities, and printing techniques.
Home users are printing dozens of print per week, in a small size organization users
are printing hundreds of page per week but in a large organizations users are printing
thousands of print out per month, so different types of printers are used by these users.

We can print paper in portrait or landscape orientation with the help of printers. The
portrait orientation is taller in size while landscape is wider. Letters, books, notes and
thesis typically use portrait orientation and wider spreadsheets and slide shows often
use landscape orientation.

Types of Printers
According to needs of users and printing techniques there are many type of printers
are used and generally printers are classified into two major types:
 Impact Printers
 Non-Impact Printers

Impact Printers
An impact printer uses the technique of punching or striking on page. Normally a
ribbon filled with liquid inked is used against the paper in these printers and some
physical object like hammer strikes the ribbon and ink is converted into papers. The
printout quality of these printers is very low and normally just readable. Three
commonly used types of impact printers are dot-matrix printers, daisy wheel printers
and line printers.

Dot-matrix Printer
This printer prints a tiny dot at a
time so it is called as dot-matrix
printer. Small pins are used in
these printers which strike the
inked ribbon and the output is
printed on paper. Normally 9
pins, 18 pins or 24 pins are used
in head of this printer which are
used to form characters or
graphics on paper, more pins
Dot Matrix Printer
create better quality printout.

These printers are normally very noisy and economical in price. The printing
speed is very slow and measured in Character per Second (CPS).

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 Daisy Wheel Printer
This printer uses the technique which is very similar to a typewriter. It
includes a print wheel and each petal of the wheel has character to print. The
print wheel is called daisy wheel. An inked ribbon is placed against the paper,
a motor rotates the wheel and a hammer strikes a petal against the ribbon when
the desired character reaches the position on the paper. This prints the
character on the paper. This printer is also called Character Printer.

Letter Wheel Printer Head

Line Printer
This impact printer prints one line at a time, the printing technique of this
printer is very similar to dot matrix, but this print full line at a time, due to
which its speed is faster than dot matrix. The speed of a line printer is
measured by the number of lines per minute (lpm) it can print. Some line
printers print as many as 3,000 lpm. Mainframes, servers, or networked
applications, such as manufacturing, distribution, or shipping, often use line
printers.

Nonimpact Printers
A nonimpact printer uses the printing technique other than striking or punching the
paper. Some of the non-impact printers spray ink, while others use heat or pressure to
create images. Commonly used nonimpact printers are laser jet printer, ink-jet
printers, photo printers, thermal printers, mobile printers, label and postage printers
and plotters.

Laser Jet Printers

As name shows these printers use
LASER Technology for printing.
Powder ink is used in these printers
for printing purpose. A laser beam
carries and throws the image of data
on paper. A laser printer is a high-
speed, high-quality nonimpact printer.
Laser printers are available in both
black-and-white and color models.
Laser printers print text and graphics
in high-quality resolutions, usually
1200 dpi (Dot per Inch) for black-and-

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 white printers and up to 2400 dpi for color printers.

Using a laser printer has a number of advantages over any other types of
printers available. The speed of a laser printer varies from one model to
another as it depends on a number of factors like the graphic intensity required
in processing the job and others. The latest models of laser printers can print
more than 200 single color pages in one minute, which is more than 12
thousand pages in an hour! The color laser printers are relatively slower, but
even they can print at more than 100 pages per minute. The high speed laser
printers are generally used for printing of mass mailings like utility or credit
card bills etc.

Printing Process

Printing any data onto a piece of paper with a laser printer is a step-by-step
process which is as follows:

 A drum assembly inside the printer is charged with current.

 The image of data to be printed is traced on drum by a laser and creates a
negatively charged electrostatic image.
 The drum gets coated in positively charged toner, which fit tightly to the
negatively charged image.
 The paper is given its own negative charge that's stronger than the
electrostatic image on the drum so it can pull the toner away from it.
 The drum rolls over the paper, transferring the image to the paper.
 The paper's electrical charge is discharged.
 The toner is fused to the paper and ink is transferred on the paper.

Ink-Jet Printers
An ink-jet printer is a type of nonimpact printer
that forms characters and graphics by spraying
tiny drops of liquid ink onto a piece of paper.
Ink-jet printers have become a popular type of
color printer for use in the home and offices.

The quality of an ink-jet printer is depends

upon the resolution. Printer resolution is
measured by the number of dots per inch (DPI)
a printer can print, for an ink-jet printer a dot is
a drop of ink. The speed of an ink-jet printer is
measured by the number of pages per minute
(PPM) it can print. Most ink-jet printers print
from 12 to 36 ppm. These are the low cost but
high quality printers.

Photo Printers
A photo printer is a color non-impact printer
that can print high quality pictures instantly and
it is also used print other bright color projects.

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 Photo printers differ from other printers because they have more color
cartridges, which allow for a wider range of hues and tones, and some even
contain special photo ink. These are the easily portable and even can attached
with the camera directly. The price of these printers is depends upon the
resolution and size of the pictures it can print.

Label and Postage Printers

A label printer is a small printer that prints labels on special material that can
be placed on a variety of items. These printers are different from other printers
as they have special paper feed mechanism. The labels are used to place on
different items for examples envelopes, packages, optical discs, photos, file
folders, and toys. A postage printer is a special type of label printer that prints
postage stamps. Some have built-in digital scales for weighing letters and
packets on which the stamp is to be printed. These printers also allow users to
buy and print digital postage, often called Internet postage. Both color and
black & white prints can be printed with the help of these printers.

Label Printer

Plotters
Plotters are the printers which are used to output the high quality graphics and
normally are used in printing of drawings, maps, circuit diagrams. The engineering
fields like civil, mechanical and electronics are using these printers very efficiently.
There are two types of plotters i.e. flatbed plotter and drum plotters.

Drum Plotter Flatbed Plotter

A flatbed plotter is also known as Table Plotter. In this plotter a flatbed table is used
to hold the paper and the plotter plots the output on paper which is spread and fixed
over a rectangular flatbed table. In this format the paper is fixed and two pencil like

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niddels or robotic drawing arms move around the paper and draw the sketch of given
output. The maximum size of the output is according to the size of table. The plot size
may be 20- by-50 feet. It is used in the design of cars, ships, aircrafts, buildings,
highways etc. Flatbed plotter is very slow in drawing or printing graphs. The large
and complicated drawing can take several hours to print. The main reason of the slow
printing is due to the movement mechanical devices.

A drum plotter is like a stand with a drum, paper is wrapped around a drum. The drum
then rotates the paper and pencil like niddles move across the paper to draw the
image. It was the first output device used to print graphics and large engineering
drawings.

Output Devices for Sound

These devices are used to output the sound from the computer system. Depending
upon the need of the sound, there are different type of devices are used. The
commonly used sound output devices are speakers, headphones and earbuds.

Speakers
Speakers are the most commonly used output device for sound, they are used
to listen music, watching movies, playing games and during voice
communication or chat. According to the sound output quality and size there
are many types of speakers are used. PC Speakers are the most conventional
speakers found in the primitive IBM machines, they are built in the system
unit of computer and were the only sound systems and in fact used to be the
only one in use in PC games before more technologically advanced sound
cards were introduced. Multi-channel Speakers are new age audio output
devices. These speakers have separate speaker units also called channels. A
5.1 channel surround sound system means a 5 speaker and one subwoofer
sound system which delivers amazing sound quality and can bring any PC
game to life. The standard speakers are nothing but the normal 2.1 channel or
2 channel speakers which include a subwoofer in the 2.1 channel model. These
are the most popular type of speakers with generating enough sound required
by a home or corporate user. There are also USB speakers which are powered
from the 5 volts at a few milliamps provided by the USB port, per the
standard. The USB powered amplifier draws the power through a USB
cable/plug. No batteries or AC power source are required.

Different types of Speaker

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 Headphones and Earbuds
The headphones are the headset that are plugged into computer system or
speakers and allow the user to privately listen to audio without disturbing
anyone else. Some headphones have Built-in Mic which used for audio input.
In a computer laboratory or other crowded environment, speakers might not be
practical. Instead, users can listen through wireless headphones or earbuds or
plug the device in a port on the sound card, in a speaker, or on the front of the
system unit. The difference is that headphones cover or are placed outside of
the ear, whereas earbuds, or earphones, rest inside the ear canal.

Wired Earbud Headphone Wireless Earbud

Multimedia Projectors
A multimedia projector is an output device that is a compact, high resolution, full-
color and capable of projecting text, images, video and audio content. Typically the
projector will feature inputs for a computer, DVD player, VCR, CD player and
storage device. The delivery of visual media through projection is an effective way to
entertain, educate, and communicate with people
on a large scale. The projectors are used to
project the image or video on a large screen, for
example, many classrooms use projectors so that
all students easily can see an instructor’s
presentation on the screen. Some projectors are
large devices that attach to a ceiling or wall in an
auditorium. Some operating systems allow
projectors to be part of the network, which
enables a presenter to operate the projector
remotely via a network connection. Others, designed for the mobile user, are small
portable devices that can be transported easily. An output level between 1500 to 2500
lumens suitable for smaller screens with controlled lighting or low ambient light. In a
room equipped with a medium-sized screen, ambient light, or dimmed light, a 2500 to
4000 lumen level is a good choice. A projector with a 4000 lumen output level should
work well with very large screens such as those used in a large conference room with
little or no lighting control.

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Q. DEFINE CPU. WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENT UNITS OF CPU?

Central Processing Unit (CPU)

The processor often called CPU (Central Processing Unit) is main part of computer. It
is used to process all the data, instructions and information so it is also referred to as
the brain of the computer. The purpose of the CPU is to process data. It is where all
the searching, sorting, calculating and decision making takes place in the computer. In
Personal Computers Microprocessors are used. The first Microprocessor was invented
by Ted Hoff in 1968, and IBM introduced 1st Personal computer using this processor
in 1972.

The processing speed of a computer depends upon the speed at which CPU can
process the instructions. We can measure the speed of CPU in Hertz (Hz). Hertz is a
unit used to measure the frequency, and Hz represents no. of cycle per second.

In PC, we usually use single microprocessor, but most of the

processor manufacturers are manufacturing the processors
with multiple cores. A single core contains Control Unit,
Arithmetic & Logic Unit, Registers and Cache memory, these
parts are necessary to execute an instruction. In a multi-core
more than one processor are arranged on a single chip, for
example a dual core processor contain two separate
processors and quad-core contains four processors.
Micro Processor Intel P-IV

The principles of working of all computer processors are the same. It does not matter
of the brand, age, software or broadband set-up. Fundamentally, they all take signals
in the form of binary (0s and 1s), manipulate them according to a set of instructions,
and produce output in the form of binary. Processors work by reacting to an input of
0s and 1s in specific ways and then returning an output based on the decision. The
fact that today’s processors contain millions of transistors offers a clue as to how
complex the logic system is.

Processor Speed
Any computer can work as faster as its processor allows doing, so it is important to
know the speed of the processor. To know about the working capacity of processor
there are three most important specifications, which include its clocking frequency
(specified in Giga Hertz or Mega Hertz), the number of cores contained in the chip,
and the memory cache size. The clocking frequency determines the number of tasks
that a processor can simultaneously process, making it the most important factor
determining processing speed. The number of cores determine the parallel processing
ability of the computer, and more the cores, better equipped is the processor for
multitasking. The memory cache is the working memory of the processor, where data
is temporarily stored. More cache size speeds up processing, improving the processor
speed.

Processor Brands
Intel and AMD are two major types of processor based upon brand and manufacturer
names. Intel's Pentium Pro, Pentium II, Celeron, Pentium II and III Xeon, Pentium M,

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Dual Core Xeon, Intel Core and Intel Core 2, Intel Pentium Dual Core, Dual Core
Xeon LV, Pentium Duo, Core 2 Quad and Intel Pentium 2 Dual Core Processor, are
some of the most popular processors from Intel that are used in their products by a lot
of PC and laptop manufacturers. On the other hand, AMD's Athlon, Duron, Turion,
Sempron, Phenom and Opteron processor ranges are equally popular.

Units of Processor
Processors contain a control unit and an arithmetic logic unit (ALU). These two
components work together to perform processing operations.

Control Unit:
This is the supervisory part of the computer and
manages all the operations of hardware machine. It is a
circuitry that directs operations within the computer's
processor by directing the input and output of a
computer system. The control unit maintains order
within the computer system and directs the flow
of operations and data. The control unit selects one
program statement at a time from the program
storage area, decodes the statement, and sends it to
the arithmetic-logic unit and storage section to cause
them to carry out the instruction. The control unit
does not perform the actual processing operations
on the data but it controls the flow of all data entering
and leaving the computer. The function of control unit is
to generate relevant timing and control signals to all
operations in computer. It controls the flow of data between the processor and
memory and peripherals. The control unit directs the entire computer system to carry
out stored program instructions. The control unit must communicate with both the
arithmetic logic unit (ALU) and main memory. The control unit instructs the
arithmetic logic unit that which logical or arithmetic operation is to be performed. The
control unit co-ordinates the activities of the other two units as well as all peripherals
and secondary storage devices linked to the computer.

The Arithmetic Logic Unit

An arithmetic logic unit (ALU) is a major component of the central processing unit of
a computer system. It does all processes related to arithmetic and logic operations that
need to be done on instruction words. For example, to find out if an employee should
receive overtime pay, software instructs the ALU to compare the number of hours an
employee worked during the week with the regular time hours allowed (e.g., 32
hours). If the hours worked are greater than 32, software instructs the ALU to
perform calculations that compute the overtime wage. In microprocessor
architectures, the ALU is divided into the arithmetic unit (AU) and the logic unit
(LU).

Arithmetic Unit
Arithmetic unit is used to perform arithmetic calculations like addition,
subtraction, multiplication and division.

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 Logic Unit
Boolean functions are used in the logic component of the arithmetic logic unit.
Computers use these functions to test information in order to make logical
decisions. Subjecting information to these logic tests allows the unit to make
the requested alterations to data.
Registers
A processor contains small but very fast computer memory used to speed the
execution of computer programs that are called registers. They are providing quick
access to commonly use values-typically, the values being in the midst of a
calculation at a given point in time. Registers are built from fast multi-ported memory
cell. They must be able to drive its data onto an internal bus in a single clock cycle.
The result of ALU operation is stored here and could be re-used in a subsequent
operation or saved into memory.

Registers are normally measured by the number of bits they can hold, for example, an
“8-bit register” or a “32-bit register”. Registers are now usually implemented as a
register file, but they have also been implemented using individual flip-flops, high
speed core memory, thin film memory, and other ways in various machines.

Cache Memory
Main memory (RAM) is a computer device with the slowest access rate. If the CPU
needs a data item, a request is sent to the main memory via a memory bus. The main
memory then searches for the data item and sends it back to the CPU. Lot of time is
wasted in this entire cycle. So to avoid this delay a cache memory is built-in in the
CPU to temporarily store the frequently used instructions and data so that CPU should
not approach RAM for data every time and hence lot of time will be saved. The use of
Cache Memory is vital to enhance the speed of processor.

Machine Cycle
Processing a single instruction by processor is called machine cycle. For every
instruction, a processor repeats a set of following four operations
(1) Fetch,
(2) Decode,
(3) Execute
(4) Store

Fetch
In this step the program instruction or
information about a needed piece of data is
fetched or obtained from the memory.

Decode
In this step the instructions are decoded so the control unit and ALU can
understand them.

Execute
In this stage the ALU executes the appropriate instruction, if any arithmetic
computation or logical comparisons are required.

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 Store
At the end the original data or the result from the ALU's execution is stored
either in a register or memory, depending on the instruction.

Pipeline Processing
Some of the traditional processors
were working in such a way that they
fetches, decodes, executes, and stores
only one instruction at a time. In
these computers, the processor has to
wait until currently fetched
instruction completes all four stages
of the machine cycle (fetch, decode,
execute, and store) before beginning
work on the next instruction.

Now most of today’s personal

computers are working in a different
way and support a concept called
pipelining. With pipelining, the processor begins fetching a second instruction before
it completes the machine cycle for the first instruction. In this way there is more than
one instruction in the processor at a time and hence processors that use pipelining are
faster because they do not have to wait for one instruction to complete the machine
cycle before fetching the next and when the first instruction is in the last stage of the
machine cycle, three other instructions could have been fetched and inserted in the
machine cycle.

Parallel Processing
It is quite possible to divide a single task into pieces and process them by more than
one microprocessor in a single computer
simultaneously. This term of using multiple
processors at the same time is referred to as
parallel processing. The computer resources can
include a single computer with multiple
processors, or a number of computers connected
by a network, or a combination of both.

In this way a problem is broken into discrete

parts that can be solved concurrently, each part
can be further broken down to a series of
instructions. Instructions from each part execute
simultaneously on different processors. With the help of parallel processing, highly
complicated and complex problems can be solved effectively. Some of the
supercomputers use hundreds or thousands of microprocessors for parallel processing.

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Q. WHAT ARE DIFFERENT STORAGE DEVICES USED IN
COMPUTER?

Storage Devices
A storage medium also called secondary storage is the physical material on which a
computer keeps data, instructions, and information.
Examples of storage devices are hard disks, solid state
drives, memory cards, USB flash drives, optical discs,
smart cards, magnetic stripe cards, and microfilm. The
devices are used to store data or information for longer
period of time permanently, and data is not lost when
computer is shutdown.

A storage device is the computer hardware that stores

and/or gets back data to and from storage media.
Storing data also called writing is the process of
transferring data, instructions, and information from
memory (RAM) to a storage medium. Reading or
retrieving is the process of transferring these items from a storage medium into
memory.

Storage Units
Byte is the storage unit for computers and we calculate the storage capacity of any
computer in terms of Byte. Byte is the basic unit however following is the list of units
used for measuring storage capacity of computer:

Storage Unit Approximate Exact Number of Bytes

Number of Bytes
Kilobyte (KB) 1 thousand 210 = 1,024
Megabyte 1 million 220 = 1,048,576
(MB)
Gigabyte (GB) 1 billion 230 = 1,073,741,824
Terabyte (TB) 1 trillion 240 = 1,099,511,627,776
Petabyte (PB) 1 quadrillion 250 = 1,125,899,906,842,624
Exabyte (EB) 1 quintillion 260 = 1,152,921,504,606,846,976
Zettabyte (ZB) 1 sextillion 270 = 1,180,591,620,717,411,303,424
Yottabyte (YB) 1 septillion 280= 1,208,925,819,614,629,174,706,176

Capacity of storage devices:

The capacity of these storage devices is vary according to the need of the user. A
home user typically need less storage capacity and a device of 300GB may be enough
for him to store his personal data, games, songs and pictures etc. but organizations
need large capacity in PB (Petabyte) or EB (Exabyte) to store data for example a bank
has to store the data of all its countrywide customers on a server, it need very huge
capacity. The storage devices used to communicate data like USB is less in capacity
as 16GB or 32GB USBs are available in market.

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Access Time:
The speed of storage devices is measured in terms of time need to read and/or write
data on it. The access time of storage devices is very slow as compared to the memory
(RAM).

Types of Storage Devices:

According to the technology of data storage and access there are three followings
major categories of storage devices:
 Magnetic Storage Devices
 Optical Storage Devices
 Other Storage Devices
Magnetic Storage Devices:
The devices which use magnetized media to store data are categorized in this group.
Hard Disk, Floppy Disk, and Zip Disk are examples of magnetic storage devices.

Hard Disk
A hard disk also called a fixed disk is usually fixed in the system unit of
personal computer. In hard disk data is stored on hard material surfaces
(aluminum platters) so it is called as hard disk. It provides large capacity of
data storage usually 2TB or more. The access rate of hard disk is very fast as
compared to other storage media and it is much safer & reliable than
conventional storage devices like Floppy Disk, Zip Disk or even USB Disk.
The system unit on most desktop and notebook computers contains at least one
hard disk. Because disk cannot be removed from the drive the terms hard disk
and hard drive are used interchangeably.

Hard drive contains one or more inflexible,

circular platters that use magnetic particles to
store data, instructions, and information. The
entire device is enclosed in an airtight, sealed
case to protect it from any damage. The
platters are coated with magnetized material
i.e. Sulpher Oxide and a head is used to
read/write data on the surface. The platters are
used by both sides and there is separate head
for both sides which enables fast data access
from different areas of hard disk. These
platters rotate on a common axis; typical rotation speed is 5400 or 7200
rotations per minute, although high-performance hard disks have higher
speeds and older disks may have lower speeds. The heads move along the
radius of the platters; this movement combined with the rotation of the platters
allows the head to access all parts of the surfaces.

The surfaces of hard disk are usually divided into logical areas called tracked
and sectors. The data is actually stored in the sectors; a sector can store 512
bytes. This division is used to specify locations on the hard disk and to
allocate disk space to files. The formatting process is used to divide the disk
into tracks and sectors.

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 Hard disk has a special-purpose chip called a controller, which is used to
control all the operations of hard disk. It controls the movement of head and
rotating motor. It receives a request for data, instructions, or information from
the processor and according return the required data.

Drive Interface Standards

An important factor in determining how quickly a drive can read or write data
is the type of controller that the drive uses. A disk controller connects the disk
drive to the computers bus enabling the drive to exchange data with other
devices. There are following interfaces available for hard disk:
a) IDE
b) SATA
c) SCSI
d) SAS

a) IDE (Integrated Drive Electronics) drives are also known as PATA

drives (Parallel Advance Technology Attachment). These drives
have usually 40 pins, offer 133 MB/sec transfer rate and can send 8 bit
data at a time. PATA Cables are used to connect PATA HDD. Two drives
can be connected in a single PATA cable one as master and other as slave.
The configuration of master and slave is done by different combination of
jumpers in the HDD.
b) SATA (Serial Advance Technology Attachment) drives usually have 7
pins, 4 pins in pair of two for sending and receiving data and rest 3 pins
are grounded. SATA Drives offers generally 300MB/sec transfer rate. It
sends data bit by bit. SATA Cables are used to connect SATA HDD. Only
one drive can be connected with a single SATA cable.

PATA Hard Drive SATA Hard Drive

c) SCSI (Small Computer System Interface) Drives have usually 50 to 68

pins. SCSI Drive offers generally 640MB/sec transfer rate. SCSI cables are
used to connect SCSI HDD. These drives are hot swappable mean they can
be removed or inserted while the computer is on. Maximum of 16 drives
can be connected in a single SCSI cable.
d) SAS (Serial Attached SCSI) drives generally offers 805 MB/sec transfer
rate. These drives are hot swappable. SAS Cables are used to connect SAS
Drives. Maximum of 128 drives can be connected in a single SAS cable.

Types of Hard Disk

According to the usage the hard disks are divided into following types:
a) Internal Hard Disk
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 b) External Hard Disk
c) Removable Hard Disk
d) Miniature Hard Disk

Internal Hard Disk

An internal hard disk is usually placed inside the system unit and contains
the data which is required to be used on that system again and again.
Normally Operating System, Software and other data is stored on it. The
storage capacity of these hard disks varies from 40GB to 2TB or more.

External Hard Disks

An external hard disk is a separate freestanding hard disk that connects to
the computer through a cable to a USB port or FireWire port or
communicates wirelessly. External hard disks have storage capacities of up
to 4 TB and more.

Removable Hard Disks

A removable hard disk is a hard disk that you insert and remove from a
drive. A separate drive is needed to use removable hard disk and this drive
may be built in the system unit. Removable hard disks have storage
capacities up to 1 TB or more.

Miniature Hard Disks

Both internal and external hard disks are available
in smaller sizes which are called miniature hard
disks. The sizes of these tiny hard disks are
normally 1.8 inch, 1 inch, and 0.85 inch. Portable
devices like media players, digital cameras, and
smart phones often have internal miniature hard
disks. Miniature hard disks have storage capacities
that range from 1 GB to 320 GB.

Magnetic Tape:
Magnetic Tape is a secondary storage media and can be used to perform both
functions -input and output. Magnetic tapes are used for large computers like
mainframe computers where large volume of data is stored for a longer time.
In PC also you can use tapes in the form of cassettes. The cost of storing data
in tapes is inexpensive. Tapes consist of magnetic materials that store data
permanently. It can be 12.5 mm to 25 mm wide plastic film-type and 500
meter to 1200 meter long which is coated with magnetic material. The deck is
connected to the central processor and information is fed into or read from the
tape through the processor. It is similar to
cassette tape recorder. Not Write
Protected
Floppy Disk
Write Protected
A floppy disk is a portable, inexpensive
storage medium that consists of a thin,
circular, flexible plastic disk with a
magnetic coating enclosed in a square-
shaped plastic shell. A floppy disk drive

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 (FDD) is a device that can read from and write on a floppy disk. When you
insert a floppy disk into a floppy disk drive, a shutter on the disk’s plastic shell
slides to the side to expose the disk’s recording surface. A floppy disk is a type
of magnetic media because it uses magnetic patterns to store items. The
physical size of latest floppy disks is 3.5” and it can store data up to 1.44MB.
With the advent of CDs and USBs storage media the floppy disk is almost
obsolete.

Zip Disk
Zip Disks are magnetic-based high-capacity floppy
diskettes. The disks are about the same size as the
standard 3.5-inch disk, but require special disk drives
for reading from and writing to the disks. Disk drives
may be permanently built-in the computer or
externally connected to the computer through a port.
These drives have larger storage capacity than floppy
disk i.e. 1000MB and have been used in past for backup disks. Now modern
storage devices have replaced Zip Disks.

Optical Storage Devices

These devices use laser technology to read and write data from the surface of disk.
Laser beam writes on the surface by creating small pits (hole) in the disk, this is
called the disk burning. CD’s, DVD’s and Blu-ray disks optical storage devices and
are great to record music, movies, games, and software applications.
Followings are the commonly used optical discs:
CDs
CD stands for Compact Disk, it is 4.75 inches plastic disk made of
reflective media and can hold data up to 700MB. CDs are widely used
as portable storage media, data can be transferred from one computer
another with the help of CDs. Today software, audio songs, video
movies, books and games are available on CDs. CDs are available as
Read Only (CD-R), Write Once Read More (WORM), Re-Writable
forms.
A CD-R is coated with a photosensitive organic dye between the
polycarbonate substrate and the light reflective layer. CD-R is widely
used around the world due to its low cost and availability. It can be
accessed by any multimedia computers or operating system that
supports CD-ROM capability. WORM (Write Once, Read Many)
media, data can only be written once permanently. Others CDs can be
recorded on multiple times and are designate as CD-RW (compact
disc-rewritable).

DVDs
DVD is abbreviated as Digital
Versatile Disk), the size and shape of
a CDs and DVDs is very similar. A
DVD stores data, instructions, and
information in a slightly different
manner and thus achieves a higher
storage capacity. DVD quality also far

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 surpasses that of CDs because images are stored at higher resolution.
Widely used DVDs are capable of storing 4.7 GB to 17 GB, depending
on the storage techniques used. The storage techniques are single side
sing layer, single side double layers, double side single layer and
double side double layer. The first storage technique involves making
the disc denser by packing the pits closer together. The second
involves using two layers of pits. For this technique to work, the lower
layer of pits is semitransparent so that the laser can read through it to
the upper layer. This technique doubles the capacity of the disc.
Finally, some DVDs are double-sided.

Blu-Ray Disk
A newer and more expensive DVD format is Blu-ray, which has a
higher capacity and better quality than standard DVDs,
especially for high-definition audio and video. A
Blu-ray Disc-ROM (BD-ROM) has storage
capacities of 100-200 GB. Blu-ray Disc (BD)
drives and players are backward compatible
with DVD and CD formats.

Another high density format, called HD VMD

(Versatile Multilayer Disc), recently emerged
as a competitor to Blu-ray and it will contain up
to 20 layers, each with a capacity of 5 GB.
Current HD VMDs have capacities of 40 GB and
more.

A mini-DVD that has grown in popularity is the UMD (Universal

Media Disc), which works specifically with the PlayStation Portable
(PSP) handheld game console. The UMD, which has a diameter of
about 2.4 inches, can store up to 1.8 GB of games, movies, or music.
Similarly, the mini Blu-ray Disc, which is used primarily in digital
video recorders, stores approximately 7.5 GB.

Other Storage Media

Magnetic Stripe Cards
A magnetic stripe cards are plastic made cards with magnetic stripe on the
back and are used to store data. These cards are used as a credit card,
entertainment card, bank card, or other similar card, with a stripe that contains
information identifying you and the card. A magnetic stripe card reader reads
information stored on the stripe.

Smart Cards
A smart card, which is similar in size to a credit card or ATM card, stores data
on a thin microprocessor embedded in the card. Smart cards contain a
processor and have input, process, output, and storage capabilities.

Microfilm and Microfiche

Microfilm and microfiche store microscopic images
of documents on roll or sheet film. Microfilm is a

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 100- to 215-foot roll of film. Microfiche is a small sheet of film, usually about
4x6 inches. A computer output microfilm recorder is the device that records
the images on the film. Microfilm and microfiche use is widespread, libraries
use these media to store back issues of newspapers, magazines, and genealogy
records. Some large organizations use microfilm and microfiche to archive
inactive files. Some banks use them to store transactions and canceled checks.

Memory Cards
Memory cards enable mobile users easily to transport
digital photos, music, or files to and from mobile
devices and computers or other devices. A memory
card is a removable flash memory device, usually no
bigger than 1.5 inches in height or width, which you
insert and remove from a slot in a computer, mobile
device, or card reader/writer.

USB Flash Drives

A USB flash drive, sometimes called a pen drive, is a flash memory storage
device that plugs in a USB port on a computer
or mobile device. USB flash drives are
convenient for mobile users because they are
small and lightweight enough to be transported
on a keychain or in a pocket. Current USB
flash drives have data transfer rates of about 12
MBps and storage capacities ranging from 512
MB to 100 GB, with the latter being extremely
expensive.

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 Q. WRITE NOTE OF DIFFERENT TYPE OF COMPUTER MEMORY.

Memory
Memory refers to the instructions, information, and data waiting for immediate
processing. For this reason, memory is also referred to as working memory. Memory
consists of electronic components that store instructions which are waiting to be
executed by the processor. It also store the data needed by those instructions, and the
results of processing the data. Memory usually consists of one or more chips on the
motherboard or some other circuit board in the computer.

Types of Memory
The system unit contains two types of memory: volatile and nonvolatile. When the
computer’s power is turned off, volatile memory loses its contents. Nonvolatile
memory, by contrast, does not lose its contents when power is removed from the
computer. RAM is the most common type of volatile memory. Examples of
nonvolatile memory include ROM, flash memory, and CMOS.

RAM
Random-access memory (RAM) is the best known form of computer memory.
RAM is a volatile memory, it means information stored on it can be accessed
as long as power is on. As soon as the power is off, it cannot be accessed.
RAM holds data and processing instructions temporarily until the CPU needs
it. RAM is read and write memory, CPU can read data on RAM and also can
write the data.

RAM temporarily holds data of operating

system and application software. The
operating system resides in RAM only while
the computer is turned on. The application
software remains in RAM only while it is
being used. Unless there is enough RAM to
hold the application software for more than
one program at a time, when new
application software is opened from
secondary storage, it is loaded into RAM, replacing the application software
that was previously residing there. Most current computers have enough RAM
to run several applications simultaneously, a process called multitasking. Data
and instructions about to be processed are in RAM, as are the output of the
processes.

Three basic types of RAM chips exist: Dynamic RAM, Static RAM, and
Magneto-resistive RAM.
• Dynamic RAM chips must be recharged or refreshed constantly again
and again. When we on the computer the DRAM chip gets charged,
and discharged as we use it. So it needs to be recharged after some
time in order to keep the data otherwise data will be lost. This is a
slower speed memory as CPU has to wait for the response of RAM
when it is busy in recharging. Many variations of DRAM chips exist,
most of which are faster than the basic DRAM. Most personal

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 computers today use some form of SDRAM chips or RDRAM chips.
SDRAM (Synchronous DRAM) is synchronized with the CPU speed
and transfer data as CPU clock speed. DDR-SDRAM is Double Data
Rate SDRAM, it transfer double data as clock speed and it is much
faster than SDRAM. DDR2 & DDR3 are the next generations of
SDRAM and are much faster. DDR3 is designed for the computers
which are having multi-core processor. RDRAM (Rambus DRAM)
uses pipeline technique and hence it is faster than SDRAM.
• Static RAM chips are faster and more reliable than any variation of
DRAM chips. These chips do not have to be recharged or refreshed
again & again and available every time CPU read/write data, so CPU
does not have to wait for the response of RAM. SRAM chips are much
more expensive than DRAM chips.
• A newer type of RAM, called Magneto-resistive RAM (MRAM). It
stores data using magnetic charges instead of electrical charges.
Manufacturers claim that MRAM has greater storage capacity,
consumes less power, and has faster access times than electronic RAM.

ROM
Read-only memory (ROM) is
permanent memory and it contains
instructions that the computer uses to
operate various aspects of the hardware.
Unlike RAM, ROM is nonvolatile,
which means its contents are not lost
when power is removed from the
computer. However, this information is
written in the factory and cannot be
modified by the user. Manufacturers of
ROM chips often record data, instructions, or information on the chips when
they manufacture the chips. These ROM chips, called firmware, contain
permanently written data, instructions, or information. ROM contains the
instructions the computer follows to load the operating system when first
turned on.

The ROM is further divided into following types:

PROM: PROM stands for Programmable Read Only Memory. This

ROM chip is blank initially on which the user can write program
instructions and data but only once. However, once the program or
data is written in PROM chip, it cannot be modified.

EPROM: EPROM stands for Erasable Programmable Read Only

Memory. Once data is stored on ROM or PROM, it cannot be
modified. However, there is another type of memory chips called
EPROM that overcomes the problem. It is similar to PROM but
program instructions written on it can be changed or erased with
special devices by using ultraviolet rays. When EPROM is in use, its
contents can only be read.

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 EEPROM: EEPROM stands for Electrically Erasable Programmable
Read Only Memory. In this ROM, the contents can be modified
electrically and no special devices are needed.

Cache Memory
Cache memory is pronounced as CASH memory.
It is a high speed memory where data is copied
when it is retrieved from the RAM. This storage of
key instructions enables a performance
improvement in the processor. Most of today’s
computers improve their processing times with
cache. Cache helps speed the processes of the
computer because it stores frequently used
instructions and data. Most personal computers
today have two types of memory cache; Intel
Processors contain L1 cache and L2 cache.

• Level 1 Cache is built-in directly in the processor chip. L1 cache

usually has a very small capacity, ranging from 8 KB to 128 KB. The
more common sizes for personal computers are 32 KB or 64 KB.

• Level 2 Cache is attached with the CPU externally. It is slightly

slower than L1 cache but has a much larger capacity, ranging from 64
KB to 16 MB. When discussing cache, most users are referring to L2
cache. Current processors include advanced transfer cache (ATC), a
type of L2 cache built directly on the processor chip.

• L3 cache is a cache on the motherboard that is separate from the

processor chip. Personal computers often have up to 8 MB of L3
cache; servers and work stations have from 8 MB to 24 MB of L3
cache.

Difference between RAM and ROM

There are the following differences in RAM and ROM:
Sr RAM ROM
#
1 RAM stands for Random Access ROM stands for Read Only
Memory Memory.
2 RAM is a temporary memory. ROM is a permanent memory.
3 RAM is a volatile memory. ROM is a non volatile memory.
4 When computer is turned off, all data When computer is turned off, all
and programs are erased from RAM. data and programs are retained in
ROM.
5 RAM is a Read / Write memory. Data ROM is a read only memory. Data
can be read and written to RAM from ROM only can be read and not
written.
6 Data and programs in RAM can be The contents of ROM cannot be
changed. changed.
7 Data or programs in RAM can be Contents of ROM cannot be deleted.
deleted.

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8 The instructions and data are written The instructions in ROM are written
(loaded) in RAM at execution time, at the time of manufacturing.
when computer is working.
9 RAM is used to load data and programs ROM contains the instructions that
currently running. help the computer to start and make
it ready.
10 RAM is much faster than ROM. ROM is slower than RAM.
11 RAM has two main types: Static RAM ROM has three types: PROM,
and Dynamic RAM EPROM and EEPROM
12 Physically RAM chip is larger than Physically ROM chip is smaller than
ROM chip. RAM chip.

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Q. DEFINE SOFTWARE. DESCRIBE DIFFERENT TYPES OF
APPLICATION & SYSTEM SOFTWARE.

Software
Software is simply defined as logical or non-physical parts of the computer. The role
of software is to provide the detailed instructions that control the operation of a
computer system. Hardware consists of physical or tangible parts the software is the
intangible parts of the computer. If the CPU is the physical brain of the computer,
then software is its mind. Software instructions are programmed or written in a
computer language, translated into machine language, and executed by the computer.
Software is the instructions for the computer to “what to do and how to do”. Software
is the collection of computer programs, procedures and documentation that performs
different tasks on a computer system. The term 'software' was first used by John
Tukey in 1958.

Types of Software
There are the following two major types of software:
 Application Software
 System Software

Application Software
This is the type of software through which most of the users interact with the
computer. It is the usual interface between user and computer. Application
software enables the user to give instruction to the computer for controlling and
transforming input data into useful output information. It also allows the user to
change the information generated by the processing system. Rarely users directly
manipulate systems software, especially the operating systems software.

Availability of software
Application software are available in variety of forms, it can be written for a
specific user’s application (custom software), or it can be mass-produced for
general use (packaged software). Naturally, custom software is usually much
expensive than packaged software. An accounting package written for a specific
company might cost many thousands of Rupees, whereas a commercial
accounting package might cost only a few hundred Rupees at a retail store. The
advantage of custom software is that it is modified to the user’s specific needs and
can be effortlessly integrated into the user’s existing software. Not only is

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 commercial software less costly, it is also available immediately, and the package
can be evaluated before being purchased.

Types of Application Software

Application software comes in incredibly different types. It is available for
business, personal, educational, communication, and graphic design purposes.
There is almost certainly a software package somewhere available to suit any
need. If not, there are programmers ready to be hired to build it. So it is very
difficult to limit all the types of application software, but followings are some
major types of application software which are widely used to solve routine life
problems:
 Word Processing
 Spreadsheets
 Presentation
 Databases
 Graphics Designing
 Web Browser
 E-mail Client
 Video and Audio Editing
 Chat
 Entertainment

Word processing
These programs allow the user to quickly and easily create, edit and format
documents. By using word processing applications, the user can format
documents with ease, changing font size, margins, color, etc. Different
types of documents e.g., letters, memos, and reports are often preformatted
in the application. PC-based word processing software is so capable and
inexpensive so in most businesses it has become the usual tool for creating
documents. MS-Word, Word Star, Word Pad and Word Perfect are the
examples of Word Processing Software.

Spreadsheet programs
Spread sheet is another widely used type of application software. These
software are especially useful in calculations in business and accounting.
The electronic spreadsheet consists of rows and columns of data, which the
user can easily edit, copy, move, or print. Using numeric data entered in
the spreadsheet, the computer can perform not only the simple numerous
mathematical calculations automatically but also many of impressive
complex tasks for example in statistical, logical, and engineering fields.
These software are very much help for recalculations, creating charts,
managing multi-sheet documents. MS-Excel and Lotus are the examples of
spreadsheet software.

Presentation software
Presentation software enables users to design quality presentations for
business and educational purposes. The presentations usually consist of
formatted slides for projecting onto a screen from a computer projector or
overhead projector, or for display on a large monitor. These presentations

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 may also be used for online meetings and web broadcasts. The slides can
be designed to include text, backgrounds, graphic images, charts, clipart,
shading, animation, and audio effects. MS-PowerPoint is an example of
presentation software.

Database software
This software allows the user to enter, store, maintain, retrieve, and
manipulate data. In some ways, databases pickup where spreadsheets leave
off, although a fairer assessment is probably that the relationship between
the two types of software is mutual. Database software is certainly more
efficient and effective to handle numeric and non-numeric data than is
spreadsheet software. In most databases, data is entered into tables of rows
and columns, similar to spreadsheets. Unlike spreadsheets, these tables can
be connected into relationships that allow users incredible versatility in
what they can do with that data. MS-Access, SQL Server and MySQL are
the examples of database software.

Graphics Designing
These software are helpful for graphic designers to create interactive
designs. This software includes computer-aided design, desktop
publishing, paint/image editing, photo editing, video and audio editing.
Many graphics and multimedia programs incorporate user-friendly
interfaces and/or have scaled-down versions, making it possible for the
home and small business users to create documents using these programs.

Web Browser
This software allows users to access and
view Web pages on the Internet. Web
Browsers are available for download on
the Web free or for a fee. Internet
Explorer, Opera, FireFox and Google
Chrome are the examples of web
browsers.

Email Client
The e-mail client enables the user to send,
receive, forward and delete emails on
desktop. With the help of email client software users can download their
email on the computer and can use that data even in offline mode.

Video and Audio Editing

Video editing software allows the ordinary users and professionals to
modify a segment of a video, called a clip. For example, users can reduce
the length of a video clip, reorder a series of clips, or add special effects
such as words that move horizontally across the screen. Audio editing
software lets users modify audio clips, produce studio-quality soundtracks,
and add audio to video clips.

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 Chat
These software enable user to interact with another user on internet, the
chat can include text, audio and video. Skype is an example of chatting
software which allows user to communicate in audio and video formats.

Entertainment
Entertainment software for personal computers, game consoles, and
mobile devices includes interactive games, videos, and other programs
designed to support a hobby or provide enjoyment. For example, you
might use entertainment software to play games individually or with others
online, make a family tree, or fly an aircraft.

System Software
System software directly controls the computer’s hardware, whereas application
software is one level removed from hardware. System software manages the
computer’s resources, enables the various components of the computer to
communicate, runs application software, and makes the hardware respond to the
user’s needs. When the system software operates efficiently, the difficult operations
of controlling the hardware are transparent to the user.

Types of System Software

System software includes four main types:
 Operating System
 Device Driver
 Utility Programs
 Language Translators

Operating System
The operating system provides an
interface between the computer
hardware and the user or the
application software. The operating
system has two primary functions.
First, it manages the computer's
resources, the computer's hardware
and any external devices. For
example, the operating system
controls the CPU, accesses RAM,
executes programs, receives input
from the keyboard or other input
device, retrieves and saves data to
and from secondary storage devices,
displays data on the monitor, and controls the printer. Second, the
operating system contains instructions for running application
software.
The examples of operating systems are:
 MS- DOS
 MS-Windows
 Mac OS
 Unix

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  Linux
 Sun Solaris

Device Divers
CPU and RAM is the internal world of the computer, all the hardware
devices other than CPU & RAM are called peripheral devices. Every
peripheral device needs special software in order to configure with the
operating system in order to use that peripheral device. That special
software is called device driver and it is provided by the manufacturer
of hardware device on CDs. Thousands of drivers for various devices
are built-in in operating system like MS-Windows, user does not to
install the drivers for specific device. When user attached the device
with computer system, operating system will automatically install the
driver for of the device.

Utility Programs
Utility programs perform various specialized "housekeeping" tasks,
such as file management, virus protection, disk defragmentation,
program installation and un-installation, file and disk back up, disk
formatting, and providing screen saver programs. The user directly
controls most utility programs, although some utility programs can be
set to run automatically i.e. screen savers and anti-virus scanning.

Language Translator
Language translators are used with high level languages and are used
to translate the code of high level language into the machine language
that actually controls the computer's operations. Assembler, Compiler
and Interpreters are the language translator. Assembler is used with
Assembly language and other high level languages use their own
compilers and interpreters.

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 Q. WHAT IS OPERATING SYSTEM? DESCRIBE DIFFERENT
FUNCTIONS OF OPERATING SYSTEM.

OPERATING SYSTEM
The operating system provides an interface between the computer hardware and the
user or the application software. The operating system has two primary functions.
First, it manages the computer's resources, the computer's hardware and any external
devices. For example, the operating system controls the CPU, accesses RAM,
executes programs, receives input from the keyboard or other input device, retrieves
and saves data to and from secondary storage devices, displays data on the monitor,
and controls the printer. Second, the operating system contains
instructions for running application software.

The examples of operating systems are:

 MS- DOS
 MS-Windows
 Unix
 Linux
 Sun Solaris

Functions of Operating System

There are the following major functions of operating system:

User Interface
A basic function of Operating system to provides an environment where user can
interact with the computer. This environment is referred to as user interface. Modern
operating system are graphics based today and the user interface includes graphical
components i.e. the windows, menus, drop down boxes, command buttons, this
interface is referred to as Graphical User Interfaces (GUI). On older operating system
all operation of the computer was performed by typing in commands that interface is
referred to as Command Line Interface (CLI). CLI based operating system are not at
all expired, command-line interfaces are alive and well and provide an alternate way
of running programs on all major operating systems.

Booting a Computer:
It is a major function of the operating system to boot the system. Booting is the
process of transferring the basic information from storage media to RAM which is
required to run the computer. The operating system consists of a supervisor portion
and a set of system programs. When the computer is switched on, the supervisor
portion of the operating system is loaded in the RAM from the disk. The supervisor
portion then loads the system programs from the disk. Each time the computer is
booted, the important components of operating system are loaded from disk into the
RAM.

Running Application Programs:

The operating system also provides the interface between the application programs
and the user. Through program, the user accesses other computer resources such as
printer, storage or another application program.

Device Interfacing:

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In addition to managing application programs, operating systems also perform
functions relating to the peripheral devices connected to the computer. For example,
the operating system handles the requests for print jobs sent to the printer. When more
print requests are sent to the printer that can be handled at once, the operating system
assigns them an order and places them in a buffer, an area of memory, awaiting
printing. This process is called spooling. Another important function of the operating
system is that of configuring the external devices. Each device must communicate to
the computer, a process requiring a device to have its own program, referred to as the
device driver. The operating system coordinates the installation of this software and
ensures its proper functioning. These procedures are often done manually but in some
cases the process is automatically perform by the operating system called Plug and
Play.

Multi-Tasking:
Operating systems that allow only one user to run one
program at a time are called single user or single tasking
operating systems. Most current operating systems and
computers have moved beyond this stage to multitasking.
In multitasking, the operating system allows more than
one task or program to be executed at a time in a single-
user computer. Operating systems that address more
memory can run several tasks simultaneously. A
computer’s multitasking capability is also limited by the
amount of RAM it contains.

Time Sharing
Another feature of the operating systems in supercomputers, mainframes and
minicomputers, called timesharing, assigns to each user a fraction of the processor’s
time. An efficient operating system controls the multiuser environment in such a way
that the user feels as though he or she is the only person using the computer.

Multiprocessing:
Computers, especially mainframe and minicomputer systems, can also employ
multiprocessing. In this process, the operating system uses more than one processor or
CPU to execute the commands of a single program. The operating system sends
instructions to several processors in parallel, which results in the faster processing of
instructions.

Virtual Storage
An application program can be very large. It might take up many millions of bytes on
a secondary storage device. For this reason, the operating system does not load all of a
large application program into RAM at once. Instead, it loads only a portion of the
application program; when the program requires other code, it accesses that code from
secondary storage. The operating system’s ability to divide the computer program into
variable-length portions and to store only a small portion at a time in RAM is called
virtual storage.

Virtual Memory
Some operating systems also have virtual memory, which enables a small portion of
the hard disk to function as additional RAM by storing the portions of the program

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not being used in the RAM on the hard disk but in such a fashion that they can be
very quickly accessed.

File System:
An Operating System can create and maintain a file System, where users can create,
delete and move files around a structured file system. Many systems organize the files
in directories or folders. In multi-users system; these folders can have associated user
ownership, and associated access rights.

Multi-User:
This allows one or more user to log into a system. Thus the operating system must
contain a user account database, which contains user name, default home directory,
user passwords and user right.

Establishing Internet Connection:

The Operating System also
provides means to establish a
connection between computer
and the ISP (Internet Service
Provider) server. Some operating
systems also have built-in
browser programs used to access
the information on Internet. The
information downloaded from
the internet is managed by the
operating system in RAM as well
as in the disk.

Controlling Network:
Some operating systems are specially developed for networking environment as
server. These operating systems are called the network operating systems. A network
operating system organizes and co-ordinates multiple users and makes it possible to
access and share resources on the network. The network operating system also has
security features.

Data Management
Data management keeps track of the data on disk, tape and optical storage devices.
The application program deals with data by file name and a particular location within
the file. The operating system's file system knows that data are physically stored on
which sectors of disk and interaction between the application and operating system is
through the programming interface. Whenever an application needs to read or write
data, it makes a call to the operating system.

Security
Operating systems provide password protection to keep unauthorized users out of the
system. Some operating systems also maintain activity logs and accounting of the
user's time for billing purposes. They also provide backup and recovery routines for
starting over in the event of a system failure.

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 Q. WHAT IS COMPUTER LANGUAGE? DESCRIBE DIFFERENT
TYPES OF LANGUAGES.

What is a Computer Program?

Computer programs or software is set of instructions to solve some specific problem.
Computer programmers use programming languages, to write these instructions that
tell computers what to do.

Programming Language
Programming Language is a set of words, special characters and some rules that
enable a computer programmer to write a program that computer can understand.
Programming languages have developed over time to become more like the natural
languages that human beings speak. There are different methods of computer
programming and for this purpose different computer languages are being used.

Types of Languages
The languages are majorly divided into two main types:
 Low Level Languages
 High Level Languages

Low Level Languages

The languages which are very near to machine or computer language (i.e. 0,1)
called low level languages. These programming languages are designed for a
particular computer and reflecting its internal machine code; low-level languages
are therefore often described as machine-oriented languages. They cannot easily
be converted to run on a computer with a different central processing unit, and
they are relatively difficult to learn because a detailed knowledge of the internal
working of the computer is required.

There are two types of low level languages:

o Machine Language
o Assembly Language

Machine Language (1st Generation Languages)

Programs for the first computers were written in strings of binary digits
("bits," consisting of 0s and 1s). Thus, this first programming language is often
referred to as the first-generation languages. It is also called the machine
language because computers—past and present—require this type of
instructions in order to perform their operations as machines. Instructions (and
data) are represented ultimately as bits because these strings of 0s and 1s
correspond to the actual binary on-off flow of electrical current through the

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 computer's circuitry. Because machine language is so far removed from
natural language, it has a number of inherent problems as a programming
language. It is time-consuming and tedious for humans to work in machine
language, and errors in machine-language programs are difficult to find.

Assembly Language (2nd Generation Languages)

Assembly language (also referred to as the second-generation language) was
the next step in the evolution of programming languages. Assembly language
is nothing more than a symbolic representation of machine code, commands
are written with mnemonic codes rather than numerical codes. These
commands are translated from the source language into machine language.
Assembly languages are specific to a particular processor and give the
programmer control over the lower-level operations of the computer.

High level Languages

The programming languages that are close to human language like English
language are called high level languages. The examples of high level
languages are, FORTRAN, COBOL, BASIC, PASCAL, C++

The high level programming languages are further divided into following
categories:
o Non-Procedural Languages
o Procedural Languages
o Object Oriented Programming
Language
o Visual programming language

Non-Procedural Languages (3GL)

The evolution of programming languages
toward providing user-friendly environment for
easy to learn and easy to program continued
with the development of third-generation
languages (3GL). Third-generation languages,
such as FORTRAN, COBOL, Pascal, Java, and
C, are procedural languages. Program
instructions are executed in a sequence to
accomplish a task. These languages use statements in English like word i.e.
PRINT, INPUT, SORT, and IF, which must be translated into machine
language.
BASIC (Beginner’s All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code) was
designed as a programming language for beginners. The language uses
an interpreter that evaluates each line for syntax errors, which helps
beginning programmers. The language became very popular for
microcomputer use in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
FORTRAN (Formula Translation) was developed in 1956 to provide
scientists, engineers, and mathematicians a programming language that
is rich in scientific and mathematical operations.
COBOL (Common Business Oriented Language) was designed for
such business applications as inputting records from a data file and
manipulating, storing, and printing them. A tremendous number of

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 programs have been written in COBOL since its inception in the early
1960s.

Procedural Programming Languages (4GL)

The development of computer programs written in third-generation languages
takes a considerable amount of time, often several months to several years.
Increasingly users need software that allows them to develop simple
applications quickly. Fourth-generation languages (4GL) were developed to
meet this need. They are not procedural, languages. With the earlier
generations of procedural languages, the user/programmer had to define the
step-by-step procedures for the computer to follow to achieve a certain result.
With fourth-generation language, however, the user simply tells the computer
what end result is desired and let the computer to decide the steps needed to
achieve that goal.
Pascal was written to take advantage of the programming technique
called structured or procedural programming, in which programs are
divided into modules that are controlled by a main module. The
language was very popular in the 1980s for teaching structured
programming and advanced programming techniques in computer
science courses.
C Language: In the 1970s, AT&T Bell Labs developed a
programming language called C that could be run on various types of
computers. Source code written for a microcomputer could thus easily
be converted into source code for a mainframe.
SQL: Data base management systems usually contain a 4GL query
language that allows the user to retrieve data from and store data into
the database. Relational data base management systems have been
standardized on a query language called Structured Query Language
(SQL). By using either a menu-driven interface or simple commands,
the end user can develop advanced queries to the database without a
programmer’s assistance.

Object Oriented Programming Languages (5GL)

The object oriented programming language concept was introduced in the late
1960s but now it has become the most popular approach to develop software.
In object oriented programming, the software is developed by using a set of
interfacing objects. As object is a component of program that has a set of
modules and data structures. It is very easy approach, in which program is
design by using objects. It is also known as fifth generation programming
languages. C++ and JAVA are the examples of Object Oriented Languages.
Java was developed in the mid 1990s by Sun Microsystems. It is based
on a new programming technique called object-oriented programming.
Object-oriented programming allows the programmer to define not
only the characteristics of data but also the data's associated
procedures. This type of programming is especially beneficial in a
networked environment because it allows computers to quickly
transmit computations to each other, not just data requiring subsequent
computation.

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 Visual Programming Languages (6GL)
The term visual programming refers to creating or developing windows based
applications or GUI (Graphical User Interface). The visual programming
languages, sometimes called sixth generation languages are also object
oriented languages. The most popular and widely used visual programming
language is Visual Basic.

Sixth-generation languages are attempting to make the task of programming

even user-friendlier than did the 5GLs. This is achieved by removing most of
the verbal aspects from programming. Instead, 6GLs use a visual or graphical
environment that allows the user to design the program with minimal use of
programming words. For example, visual programming allows the user to drag
icons together in a windows environment in order to assemble a program
component. The 6GL development interface then automatically creates the
source language that is typically compiled with a 4GL or 5GL language
compiler. Enabling users to design something as complex as a computer
program by means of graphical symbols is a difficult undertaking. Not all
attempts at developing a workable 6GL have been successful.

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Q. What is computer virus? Describe different types of computer viruses and
methods to prevent viruses.

Answer:
A computer virus is an ill-natured software application or authored code that can
attach itself to other programs, self-replicate, and spread itself onto other devices.
When executed, a virus modifies other computer programs by inserting its code into
them. If the virus’s replication is successful, the affected device is considered
“infected” with a computer virus.

The malicious activity carried out by the virus’s code can damage the local file
system, steal data, interrupt services, download additional malware, or any other
actions the malware author coded into the program. Many viruses pretend to be
legitimate programs to trick users into executing them on their devices, delivering the
computer virus payload.

Types of Viruses:
Every computer virus has a payload that performs an action. The threat actor can code
any malicious activity into the virus payload, including simple, innocuous pranks that
don’t do any harm. While a few viruses have harmless payloads, most of them cause
damage to the system and its data. There are nine main virus types, some of which
could be packaged with other malware to increase the chance of infection and
damage. The nine major categories for viruses on computers are:

Boot Sector Virus

Your computer drive has a sector solely responsible for pointing to the operating
system so that it can boot into the interface. A boot sector virus damages or controls
the boot sector on the drive, rendering the machine unusable. Attackers usually use
malicious USB devices to spread this computer virus. The virus is activated when
users plug in the USB device and boot their machine.

Web Scripting Virus

Most browsers have defenses against malicious web scripts, but older, unsupported
browsers have vulnerabilities allowing attackers to run code on the local device.

Browser Hijacker
A computer virus that can change the settings on your browser will hijack browser
favorites, the home page URL, and your search preferences and redirect you to a
malicious site. The site could be a phishing site or an adware page used to steal data
or make money for the attacker.

Resident Virus
A virus that can access computer memory and sit dormant until a payload is delivered
is considered a resident virus. This malware may stay dormant until a specific date or
time or when a user performs an action.

Direct Action Virus

When a user executes a seemingly harmless file attached to malicious code, direct-
action viruses deliver a payload immediately. These computer viruses can also remain
dormant until a specific action is taken or a timeframe passes.

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Polymorphic Virus
Malware authors can use polymorphic code to change the program’s footprint to
avoid detection. Therefore, it’s more difficult for an antivirus to detect and remove
them.

File Infector Virus

To persist on a system, a threat actor uses file infector viruses to inject malicious code
into critical files that run the operating system or important programs. The computer
virus is activated when the system boots or the program runs.

Multipartite Virus
These malicious programs spread across a network or other systems by copying
themselves or injecting code into critical computer resources.

Macro Virus
Microsoft Office files can run macros that can be used to download additional
malware or run malicious code. Macro viruses deliver a payload when the file is
opened and the macro runs.

Resident Viruses:
This type of virus is a permanent which dwells in the RAM memory. From there it
can overcome and interrupt all of the operations executed by the system: corrupting
files and programs that are opened, closed, copied, renamed etc.

Overwrite Viruses / Stealth Virus:

Virus of this kind is characterized by the fact that it deletes the information contained
in the files that it infects, rendering them partially or totally useless once they have
been infected. The only way to clean a file infected by an overwrite virus is to delete
the file completely.

Companion Viruses:
They are known as companion viruses because once they get into the system they
"accompany" the other files that already exist. In other words, in order to carry out
their infection routines, companion viruses can wait in memory until a program is run
or act immediately by making copies of them.

FAT Virus:
This type of virus attack can be especially dangerous; they attack on FAT by
preventing access to certain sections of the disk where important files are stored.
Damage caused can result in information losses from individual files or even entire
directories.

Worms:
A Worm is a program that copies itself repeatedly in memory or hard disk until no
memory space remains. Ultimately computer stops working and needs restart again &
again.

Trojan Horse:
Trojan horse is a virus program that hides itself with common computer files like zip
file. Whenever the infected files are opened the virus activates.

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Logic Bombs:
They are not considered as viruses because they do not replicate. They are not even
programs in their own right but rather camouflaged segments of other programs. Their
objective is to destroy data on the computer once certain conditions have been met.
Logic bombs go undetected until launched, and the results can be destructive.

What Causes Computer Viruses?

Computer viruses are standard programs; instead of offering useful resources, these
programs can damage your device. Computer viruses are typically crafted by hackers
with various intentions, like stealing sensitive data to causing chaos in systems. Some
hackers create these malicious programs for fun or as a challenge, while others have
more sinister motives like financial gain or cyber warfare.

Hackers may exploit weak points in an operating system or app to acquire unapproved
access and power over a user’s machine to achieve their goals.

Ego-driven: Some virus authors seek fame within the hacker community by creating
destructive or widespread viruses that garner media attention.

Cybercrime: Hackers often use computer viruses as tools for ransomware attacks,
identity theft, and other forms of online fraud.

Sabotage: In some cases, disgruntled employees create computer viruses to

intentionally damage their employer’s infrastructure.

Cyber espionage: State-sponsored hackers may develop advanced persistent threats

(APTs) using custom-made malware designed for long-term infiltration into targeted
networks.

Preventing Viruses and Other Malware

 Never start a computer with removable media inserted in the drives or plugged
in the ports, unless the media are uninfected.
 Never open an e-mail attachment unless you are expecting it and it is from a
trusted source.
 Set the macro security in programs so that you can enable or disable macros.
Enable macros only if the document is from a trusted source and you are
expecting it.
 Install an antivirus program on all of your computers. Update the software and
the virus signature files regularly.
 Scan all downloaded programs for viruses and other malware.
 If the antivirus program flags an e-mail attachment as infected, delete or
quarantine the attachment immediately.
 Before using any removable media, scan the media for malware. Follow this
procedure even for shrink-wrapped software from major developers. Some
commercial software has been infected and distributed to unsuspecting users.
 Install a personal firewall program.
 Stay informed about new virus alerts and virus hoaxes.

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Q. WHAT IS DATA COMMUNICATIONS? DESCRIBE COMPONENTS
OF DATA COMMUNICATIONS AND MODES OF DATA
COMMUNICATION.

Answer:

Data Communication
Data communication is the exchange of data between two devices via some
transmission medium such as a cable or wireless. For data communication the
communicating devices must be part of a communication system made up of a
combination of hardware and software.

Effectiveness of Data Communication

The effectiveness of a data communications system depends on four fundamental
characteristics: delivery, accuracy, timeliness, and jitter.

1. Delivery
The system must deliver data to the correct destination. Data must be
received by the intended device or user and only by that device or user
.
2. Accuracy
The system must deliver the data accurately. Data that have been
altered in transmission and left uncorrected are unusable.

3. Timeliness
The system must deliver data in a timely manner. Data delivered late
are useless. In the case of video and audio, timely delivery means
delivering data as they are produced, in the same order that they are
produced, and without significant delay.

4. Jitter
Jitter refers to the variation in the packet arrival time. It is the uneven
delay in the delivery of audio or video packets. For example, let us
assume that video packets are sent every 30ms. If some of the packets
arrive with 30-ms delay and others with 40-ms delay, an uneven
quality in the video is the result.

Components of Data Communication

A data communications system has five components

 Message
The message is the
information (data) to be
communicated. Popular
forms of information
include text, numbers,
pictures, audio, and video.

 Sender

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 The sender is the device that sends the data message. It can be a computer,
workstation, telephone handset, video camera, and so on.

 Receiver
The receiver is the device that receives the message. It can be a computer,
workstation, telephone handset, television, and so on.

 Transmission medium
The transmission medium is the physical path by which a message travels
from sender to receiver. Some examples of transmission media include
twisted-pair wire, coaxial cable, fiber-optic cable, and radio waves.

 Protocol
A protocol is a set of rules that govern data communications. It represents an
agreement between the communicating devices. Without a protocol, two
devices may be connected but there will be no communicating, just as a person
speaking French cannot be understood by a person who speaks only Japanese.

Communications Channels
A communications channel is a pathway over which information can be
communicated from one device to another. It may be defined by a physical wire that
connects communicating devices, or by a radio, laser, or other radiated energy source
that has no obvious physical presence. Information sent through a communications
channel has a source from which the information originates, and a destination to
which the information is delivered. Although information originates from a single
source, there may be more than one destination, depending upon how many receive
stations are linked to the channel and how much energy the transmitted signal
possesses.

In a digital communications channel, the information is represented by individual data

bits, which may be collected into multibit message units. A byte, which consists of
eight bits, is an example of a message unit that may be conveyed through a digital
communications channel. A collection of bytes may itself be grouped into a frame or
other higher-level message unit. Such multiple levels of encapsulation facilitate the
handling of messages in a complex data communications network.

Mode of Data Communication

Communication between two devices can be
simplex, half-duplex, or full-duplex as

Simplex
In simplex mode, the communication is
unidirectional, as on a one-way street.
Only one of the two devices on a link can
transmit and the other can only receive.
Keyboards and traditional monitors are
examples of simplex devices. The
keyboard can only input data into
computer system and the monitor can only deliver output. The simplex mode
can use the entire capacity of the channel to send data in one direction.

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 Half-Duplex
In half-duplex mode, each station can both transmit and receive, but not at the
same time. When one device is sending, the other can only receive, and vice
versa. The half-duplex mode is like a one-lane road with traffic allowed in
both directions. When cars are traveling in one direction, cars going the other
way must wait. In a half-duplex transmission, the entire capacity of a channel
is taken over by whichever of the two devices is transmitting at the time.
Walkie-talkies and CB (citizens band) radios are both half-duplex systems.
The half-duplex mode is used in cases where there is no need for
communication in both directions at the same time; the entire capacity of the
channel can be utilized for each direction.

Full-Duplex
In full-duplex mode (also called duplex), both stations can transmit and
receive simultaneously. The full-duplex mode is like a two way street with
traffic flowing in both directions at the same time. In full-duplex mode, signals
going in one direction share the capacity of the link with signals going in the
other direction. This sharing can occur in two ways: Either the link must
contain two physically separate transmission paths, one for sending and the
other for receiving; or the capacity of the channel is divided between signals
traveling in both directions. One common example of full-duplex
communication is the telephone network. When two people are
communicating by a telephone line, both can talk and listen at the same time.
The full-duplex mode is used when communication in both directions is
required all the time. The capacity of the channel, however, must be divided
between the two directions.

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Q. WHAT IS TRANSMISSION MEDIA? DESCRIBE GUIDED AND
UNGUIDED
MEDIA USED TO CONSTRUCT A NETWORK.

Transmission Media
The transmission media is the physical path by which a message travels from sender
to receiver. Some examples of transmission media include twisted-pair wire, coaxial
cable, fiber-optic cable, and radio waves.

Guided or physical Transmission Media

The most common guided or physical media for data communication are twisted-pair
wire, coaxial cable and fiber-optic cable.

Twisted-Pair Wire
Twisted-pair wire normally consists of
four or eight copper fibers of wire,
individually insulated in plastic, then
twisted around each other in braided pairs
and bound together in another layer of
plastic insulation. Except for the plastic
coating, nothing shields this type of wire
from outside interference, so it is also
called unshielded twisted-pair (UTP)
wire. Some twisted-pair wire is further encased in a metal sheath and therefore
is called shielded twisted-pair (STP) wire.

Coaxial Cable
Coaxial cable, sometimes called coax,
is widely used for cable TV and is used
in some net-works (however, the
connectors are different for TV and
networks). There are two conductors in
coaxial cable. One is a single wire in
the center of the cable, and the other is
a wire mesh shield that surrounds the
first wire with an insulator in between.

Coaxial cable can carry more data than older types of twisted-pair wiring, and
it is less susceptible to interference from other wiring. However, it is also
more expensive and has become less popular as twisted-pair technology has
improved. Two types of coaxial cable are used with networks: thick and thin.
Thick coax is the older standard and is seldom installed in new networks.

Fiber-Optic Cable
A fiber-optic cable is a thin strand of glass that transmits beams of light rather
than electric frequencies. When one end of the thread is exposed to light, the
thread carries the light all the way to the other end, bending around corners
with only a minute loss of energy along the way. Because light travels at a
much higher frequency than electrical signals, fiber-optic cable can easily
carry data at more than a billion bits per second usually 1300 Mbps. Fiber-

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 optic cable is also immune to the electromagnetic interference that is a
problem for copper wire.

The disadvantage of fiber-optic cable is that it is

more expensive than twisted-pair and coaxial
cables, and it is more difficult to install because
it does not bend around corners as easily. As
costs have come down, however, fiber-optic
cable has become increasingly popular, and it is
now revolutionizing a number of
communications industries. Telephone and cable
television companies, especially, have been
moving from twisted-pair wire and coaxial
cables to fiber-optic cables.

Fiber-optic cables have the following advantages

over cables that use wire, such as twisted-pair and coaxial cables:
 Capability of carrying significantly more signals than wire cables
 Faster data transmission
 Less susceptible to noise (interference) from other devices such as a
copy machine
 Better security for signals during transmission because they are less
susceptible to noise
 Smaller size (much thinner and lighter weight)

Unguided or wireless Transmission Media

In wireless transmission media, communication devices communicate with each other
and data is communicated through the air or space using broadcast radio signals,
microwave signals and infrared signals. Unguided media transport electromagnetic
waves without using a physical conductor. This type of communication is often
referred to as wireless communication.

Electromagnetic spectrum for wireless communication

Broadcast Radio
It is a wireless transmission medium that is used to communicate information
through radio signals in air, over long distance such as between cities and
countries. In this medium, a transmitter is required to send messages in form
of signals and receiver is required to receive them. To receive the broadcast
radio signal, the receiver has an antenna that is located in the range of signal.
Some networks use a special device called transceiver used to send and to
receive messages in the form of radio signals. The data transmission speed of
broadcast radio is up to 54Mbps.

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 Cellular Radio
Cellular radio is a form of broadcast radio that is used for mobile
communications such as cellular telephones and wireless modems. A cellular
telephone is a telephone device that uses high frequency radio waves to
transmit voice and digital messages. Some mobile users connect their laptop
computer or other mobile device to a cellular telephone to access the Web,
send and receive e-mail etc. while away from a standard telephone line.

Microwaves
Microwaves are radio waves that provide a high speed data transmission.
Using Microwaves transmission, data is transmitted from one station to
another. Microwave station contains an antenna, transceiver (transmitter &
receiver) and other equipments that are required for microwave
communication. Microwave uses the line-of-sight transmission, which means
that in microwave transmission system the data signals travel in a straight path
and cannot bend. Microwave stations or antennas are usually installed on the
high towers or buildings. Thus microwave stations need to be placed within 20
to 30 miles of each other. Each microwave station receives signals from the
previous stations. In this way, data is transmitted from one place to another.

The data transmission speed of microwave transmission is up to 150 Mbps.

Microwave transmission is used in environments where installing physical
transmission media is impossible and where line-of-sight transmission is
available. It is used in wide-open areas. Today, it is used by telephone
companies, cable television providers, universities etc.

Communication Satellite
A communication satellite is a space station that receives microwave signals
from earth microwave station (earth based station). The earth based stations
often are microwave stations. Other devices, such as PDAs and OPS receivers,
also functions as earth based stations. Transmitting a signal from ground or
earth station to a satellite station in space is called up-linking and the reverse is
called the down- linking.

Now-a-days, television & radio

broadcast, global positioning
systems and Internet also use the
communication satellites. The
communication satellite is launched
about 22300 miles or more above the
earth into space. The communication
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 satellite consists of solar powered, transceiver that receives and sends signals.
The signals are transmitted from one earth station to the satellite. The satellite
receives and amplifies the signals and sends them to another earth station. This
entire process takes only a few seconds. The data transmission speed of
communication satellite is very high such as up to 1 Gbps.

Infrared
Infrared is a wireless transmission
medium that sends signals using
infrared light waves. Mobile
computers and devices, such as a
mouse, printer, and smart phone, often
have an IrDA port that enables the
transfer of data from one device to
another using infrared light waves.
These ports conform to standards
developed by the IrDA (Infrared Data
Association). To ensure nothing
obstructs the path of the infrared light
wave, you must align the IrDA port on
the device with the IrDA port on the
computer, similarly to the way you
operate a television remote control. Devices that use IrDA ports include a
smart phone, PDA, keyboard, mouse, and printer. Several of these devices use
a high-speed IrDA port, sometimes called a fast infrared port. Infrared requires
a line-of-sight transmission; that is, the sending device and the receiving
device must be in line with each other so that nothing obstructs the path of the
infrared light wave.

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 Q. DEFINE COMPUTER NETWORK. WHAT ARE THE
ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF NETWORK?

Computer Network
A computer network is a Group of computers which are connected to each for the
purpose of sharing data & resources and for communication between computers. The
main purpose of the network is to share the resources of an organization; these
resources may include data, printers, internet, scanner or other resources. In network
computers can be connected with the help of cables, telephone lines, radio waves or
through satellites.

Component of network:
A network consists of following:
 Minimum 2 computers
 Cable or wireless medium also called
transmission media
 Networking devices i.e. NIC Card, Hub, Switch,
Router
 Protocols as rules and regulations

Advantages of network:

File Sharing:
Networks offer a fast and easy way to share files among the computers in network.
Instead of using a disk or USB key to carry files from one computer or office to
another, you can share files directly using a network.

Software Cost and Management:

Many popular software products are available for networks. In this way user need not
to purchase a software for each computer, the software can be purchased for network
and shared among the users.. You can also load software on only the file server which
saves time compared to installing and tracking files on independent computers

Security:
Network offers greater securities to the users. By using security software like
firewalls on server, we can secure the whole network. The sensitive data can be
secured and protected by password and by limiting the rights of the users we can
minimize the chances of data lost and data theft.

Resource Sharing:
All computers in the network can share resources such as printers, fax machines,
modems, and scanners.

Communication:
In a network user can communicate with others by using email, web browser, audio
and video conference tools.

Workgroup Computing:
Workgroup software like Microsoft BackOffice enables many users to contribute to a
document concurrently. This allows for interactive teamwork.

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Easier backup
Network provides easy and flexible way for backing up the data and hence restoring
it.

Disadvantages:
There are some disadvantages of using networks. Of course, these small
disadvantages of running a network are much outweighed by the many advantages of
setting up a home or office network, but you should still take them into consideration
when you are installing your network.

The followings are the disadvantages:

High initial costs

To install a network we need different devices like cables, network card and software
and these initial costs can be high. It also required the services of a technical person
which will install the network.

Cost of Administrative staff

After installing the network requires proper maintenance and administration and
technically qualified and trained staff is required for this purpose. People usually set
up a network without planning the administrative cost. So this cost also needed in
order to run the network properly and successfully.

Failure of Main Server:

In server-client model of network, the central computer (main server) is used to store
all the data and software. In case of failure of main server communication of whole
the network is failed.

Damaged Cables:
Cables are usually used as main medium for communication in a network. If cables
are broken or damaged then it is not possible to communicate through network.

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Q. WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENT MODELS OF NETWORK?

Answer:

Network Models / Architecture

According to the design the network may be divided into following models:
 Peer-to-Peer
 Server Based
 Client Server Based

Peer-to-Peer
This is the simplest form of network to share data and resources. Two or more
computers are connected through wires or wirelessly. In this model of network, all the
computers in the network are at the same level and users have direct access to the
other computers and the peripherals attached to
the network. These are the very economical
and simple to install. No dedicated server is
needed to run this network. This is very much
useful for smaller networks.
This type of network means that every PC,
once connected to the network is acting both as
a server and a client. There is no need for a
special network operating system. Access
rights to files, folders and data is controlled by
setting the sharing permissions on individual
machines. So for example, if User A wants to
access some files from User B's computer,
User B must set their permissions to allow this.
Otherwise, User A won't be able to see or
access any of User B's work.

Advantages:
 No need for a network operating system
 Does not need an expensive server because individual workstations are used to
access the files
 No need for specialist staff such as network technicians.
 Much easier to set up than other network models

Disadvantages:
 Because each computer might be being accessed by others it can slow down
the performance for the user
 Files and folders cannot be centrally backed up
 Files and resources are not centrally organized into a specific 'shared area'.
They are stored on individual computers and might be difficult to locate if the
computer's owner doesn't have a logical filing system.
 Ensuring that viruses are not introduced to the network is the responsibility of
each individual user
 There is little or no security besides the permissions. Users often don't need to
log onto their workstations.

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Server Based
A server based network is ideal for
larger companies that want to
streamline their network by storing
files in a central location, encourage
collaboration, and provide a way to
access workstation when employees
are away from their desks. In addition
you can rest worry-free that your data
is secure.

Advantages:
 A server enables file storage in
one central location where
employees can access data and
work collaboratively with
ease.
 Running software from a server means that you can upgrade multiple systems
at the same time — keeping your systems in sync.
 With a server based network a Virtual Private Network (VPN) can be set up to
access the server over the Internet. You can then access your network when
away from the office, no matter where you or your employees are.
 Employees can share not only the files they're working on, but also group
calendars, contact lists and project management applications.
 Servers can be configured to back up data automatically using duplicate hard
drives, recording data to tape systems or copying your files to secure off-site
locations.
 To keep your data safe from outside threats you can tightly control Internet
interaction. By using multiple levels of access control, data encryption and
firewalls designed to keep intruders and viruses out, you keep your
information safe from prying eyes and hackers, while also enjoying the
convenience of a wireless office setup.

Disadvantages
 Often a central server can be quite a bit more expensive than a single
workstation
 A server requires some level of administration. That is, someone who knows
how to set it up, create/modify users and groups, apply security, etc.

Client Server Based

A network architecture in which each
computer or process on the network is
either a client or a server. Servers are
powerful computers or processes
dedicated to managing disk drives (file
servers), printers (print servers), or
network traffic (network servers). Clients
are PCs or workstations on which users
run applications. Clients rely on servers

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for resources, such as files, devices, and even processing power. Client/server
architecture is widely used, and has following unique advantages and disadvantages:

Advantages:
 It has the centralized control i.e. centralized user accounts, security, and access
to simplify network administration.
 It does not slow down with heavy use.
 The size of the network can be expanded to any size.
 Proper Management: All the files are stored at the same place. In this way,
management of files becomes easy. Also it becomes easier to find files.
 As all the data is stored on server, so it is easy to make a back-up of data.
 Reduces Data Replication - Data stored on the servers instead of each client,
so it reduces the amount of data replication for the application.

Disadvantages:
 Whole network is failed if server is failed.
 It is very expensive to install and manage as dedicated hardware (server) and
special software is required.
 Professional IT people are required to maintain the servers and other technical
details of network.

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Q. DESCRIBE DIFFERENT TYPES OF NETWORK IN DETAILS.

Types of Network

The networks can be divided into different types on the basis of their geographical
limits. The physical area that a network covered may be in a small room, throughout a
city or it may be around the world.

There are the following types of networks:

 Local Area Network
 Campus Area
 Metropolitan Area Network
 Wide Area Network

Local Area Networks

A computer network contained in a small
room, normally in a room or in a
building is known as Local Area
Network (LAN). Computers are
connected through telephone, coaxial
cables in LAN. The major benefit of a
local area network is that it can help to
reduce costs by allowing people and
microcomputers to share expensive
resources. LAN are established normally
share the resources and data among the
computers. The sharing of data and
information refers to having users who
access the same data files, exchange
information via electronic mail, or search
the Internet for information. The main benefit of information sharing is improved
decision making, which makes it generally more important than resource sharing.

LAN connections can only operate in a local area which is usually not any bigger then
a house, or a floor in an office building. Typically a LAN will consist of only a
handful of clients, but can have upwards of a hundred. One of the major advantages of
LANs is the high speed of data communication. Another advantage to having a LAN
connection is the cost, it is relatively cheap to have as it tends to require less advanced
infrastructure to keep it running. A LAN connection is very easy to setup and simple
in nature, all you need is some cables, a network switch, and you are good to go.
Alternatively, you can also see LANs being done over Wi-Fi.

LANs are designed to allow resources to be shared between personal computers or

workstations. The resources to be shared can include hardware (e.g., a printer),
software (e.g., an application program), or data. A common example of a LAN, found
in many business environments, links a workgroup of task-related computers, for
example, engineering workstations or accounting PCs. One of the computers may be
given a large capacity disk drive and may become a server to clients. Software can be
stored on this central server and used as needed by the whole group.

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Metropolitan Area Networks
A metropolitan area network (MAN) is
a network with a size between a LAN
and a WAN. It normally covers the area
inside a town or a city. It is designed
for customers who need a high-speed
connectivity, normally to the Internet,
and have endpoints spread over a city
or part of city. A good example of a
MA N is the part of the telephone
company network that can provide a
high-speed DSL line to the customer.
Another example is the cable TV
network that originally was designed
for cable TV, but today can also be used for high-speed data connection to the
Internet.

Wide Area Networks

A wide area network (WAN) provides long-distance transmission of data, image,
audio, and video information over large geographic areas that may comprise a
country, a sub-continent, or even the whole world. A WAN can be as complex as the
backbones that connect the Internet or as simple as a dial-up line that connects a home
computer to the Internet.

We normally refer to
the first as a switched
WA N and to the
second as a point-to-
point WAN. The
switched WAN
connects the end
systems, which usually
comprise a router
(internet-working
connecting device) that
connects to another LA
N or WAN. The point-
to-point WA N is
normally a line leased from a telephone or cable TV provider that connects a home
computer or a small LAN to an Internet service provider (ISP). This type of WAN is
often used to provide Internet access.

Advantages of WAN
Some important advantages of WAN are as follows:

Communication Facility:
A big company may exist at multiple locations in country. The employees can
communicate using WAN. It saves long distance phone calls. Video

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 conferencing is another use of WAN where users can communicate with each
other through their computer systems.

Remote Data Entry:

Remote data entry is possible in WAN. The user can sit at any location and
enter, update and process data on any computer attached to WAN. For
example the user can access the data of a computer located at Karachi while
sitting in Lahore through WAN.

Centralized Data:
The centralized data storage is an important advantage of WAN. It means that
data can be stored in single location even if the organization is spread over
many cities. WAN can manage critical data in a better way by storing it at a
centralized server. The centralized data can be shared among different users
anywhere in the world.

Entertainment:
WAN can facilitate many types of games and entertainment to the user. For
example, Internet provides many sources of entertainment. Many multiplayer
games are available that can be played over WAN.

Disadvantages of WAN
Some important disadvantages of WAN are as follows:

Setup Cost:
Setting up a WAN requires an investment in hardware, software, planning,
designing and implementing. The devices used in WAN are very expensive.

Management Cost:
Managing a WAN is complicated. It requires intensive trained staff to handle.
A network manager and network team usually need to be employed.

Data Security Concerns:

A poorly-secured WAN put critical data at risk in the network. It may expose
data to hackers, unauthorized access and even sabotage. Virus can spread
across WAN if it enters the central backing store.

Failure of Server:
If a server fails, all computer connected with server are affected and it may
leads to failure of whole network.

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Q. WHAT IS NETWORK TOPOLOGY? EXPLAIN DIFFERENT
TOPOLOGIES OF NETWORK.

TOPOLOGY:

In Computer Networking “topology” refers to the layout or design of the connected

devices in a network. Network Topologies can be physical or logical. Physical
Topology means the physical design of a network including the devices, location and
cable installation. Logical Topology refers to the fact that how data actually transfers
in a network regardless to its design.

Computer network topologies can be categorized in the following categories.

• Bus Topology
• Star Topology
• Ring Topology
• Mesh Topology
• Tree Topology

Bus Topology
Bus topology uses a common backbone to connect all the network devices in a
network in a linear shape. A single cable functions as the shared communication
medium for all the devices attached with this cable with an interface connector. The
device, which wants to communicate send the broadcast message to all the devices
attached with the shared cable but only the intended recipient actually accepts and

process that message.

Advantages of Bus Topology

 It is easy to handle and implement.
 It is less expensive.
 When nodes are added and removed to and from the network, the network is
not affected.
 It is best suited for small networks.

Disadvantages of Bus Topology

 The cable length is limited. This limits the number of stations that can be
connected.
 This network topology can perform well only for a limited number of nodes.
 Entire network fails if there is any problem in the central cable.

Ring Topology
In ring Network, every computer or devices have two adjacent neighbors for
communication. In a ring network, all the communication messages travel in the same

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direction whether clockwise or anti clockwise. Any damage of the cable of any cable
or device can result in the breakdown of the whole network. Ring topology now has
become almost obsolete.

Advantage of Ring Topology

 The data being transmitted between two nodes
passes through all intermediate nodes.
 A central server is not required for the
management of this topology.
 Nodes can easily be added or removed
 It is less expensive than star topology.

Disadvantages of Ring Topology

 The failure of a single node of the network can cause the entire network to fail.
 The movement or changes made to network nodes affects the performance of
the entire network.
 It is more difficult to install and maintain.

Star Topology
In the computer networking world the most
commonly used topology in LAN is the star
topology. Star topologies can be implemented in
home, offices or even in a building. All the
computers in the star topologies are connected to
central devices like hub, switch or router. The
functionality of all these devices is different.
Computers in a network are usually connected with
the hub, switch or router with the Unshielded
Twisted Pair (UTP) or Shielded Twisted Pair
Cables.

Advantages of Star Topology

 Due to its centralized nature, the topology offers simplicity of operation.
 It is easy to install and to maintain.
 You can easily add & remove nodes to & from network without affecting
network.
 If any node fails, other nodes are not affected.
 It also achieves an isolation of each device in the network.

Disadvantage of Star Topology

 The network operation depends on the functioning of the central hub. Hence,
the failure of the central hub leads to the failure of the entire network.
 Each computer is directly connected to the Hub through a cable, so it is more
costly.

Tree Topology
Tree topologies are comprised of the
multiple star topologies on a bus. Tree
topologies integrate multiple star
topologies together onto a bus. Only the

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hub devices can connect directly with the tree bus and each Hub functions as a root of
a tree of the network devices. This bus/star/hybrid combination supports future
expandability of the computer networks.

Advantages
 The tree topology is useful in cases where a star or bus cannot be implemented
individually. It is most-suited in networking multiple departments of a
university or corporation.
 The advantages of centralization that are achieved in a star topology are
inherited by the individual star segments in a tree network.
 Each star segment gets a dedicated link from the central bus. Thus, failing of
one segment does not affect the rest of the network.
 Fault identification is easy.
 The network can be expanded by the addition of secondary nodes. Thus,
scalability is achieved.

Disadvantages
 As multiple segments are connected to a central bus, the network depends
heavily on the bus. Its failure affects the entire network.
 Owing to its size and complexity, maintenance is not easy and costs are high.
Also, configuration is difficult in comparison to that in other topologies.
 Though it is scalable, the number of nodes that can be added depends on the
capacity of the central bus and on the cable type.

Mesh Topology
Mesh topology work on the concept of routes. Internet employs the Mesh topology
and the message finds its route for its destination. Router works in find the routes for
the messages and in reaching them to their destinations.

Advantages
 The arrangement of the network
nodes is such that it is possible to
transmit data from one node to
many other nodes at the same
time.
 The failure of a single node does
not cause the entire network to
fail as there are alternate paths for
data transmission.
 It can handle heavy traffic, as
there are dedicated paths between
any two network nodes.
 Point-to-point contact between every pair of nodes makes it easy to identify
faults.

Disadvantages
 The arrangement wherein every network node is connected to every other
node of the network, many connections serve no major purpose. This leads to
redundancy of many network connections.

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  A lot of cabling is required. Thus, the costs incurred in setup and maintenance
are high.
 Owing to its complexity, the administration of a mesh network is difficult.

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82 | P a g e
Q. WHAT ARE THE ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF
INTERNET IN HUMAN LIFE?

Answers:

It is the network of networks around the world. It is made up of thousands of smaller,

national, regional, governmental, academic and commercial networks. More than 200
millions of computers are attached with internet. No government or organization is
the owner of internet. Many people, organizations, universities and research agencies
participate to run internet.

Although, many people still think e-

mail and World Wide Web as the
principle constituents of internet, there
is lot more in store than e-mail, chat
rooms, celebrity web sites and search
engines. It also became the best
business tool of modern scenario.
Today internet has brought a globe in a
single room. Right from news across
the corner of the world, wealth of
knowledge to shopping, purchasing the
tickets of your favorite movie-
everything is at your finger tips.
Internet has great potential and lot to
offer, however, like every single
innovation in science and technology, internet has its own advantages and
disadvantages.

Advantages

Communication:
The foremost target of internet has always been the communication. And internet has
excelled beyond the expectations .Still; innovations are going on to make it faster and
more reliable. By the advent of computer’s Internet, our earth has reduced and has
attained the form of a global village.

Information:
Information is probably the biggest advantage internet is offering. The Internet is a
virtual treasure trove of information. Any kind of information on any topic under the
sun is available on the Internet. The search engines like Google, yahoo is at your
service on the Internet. You can almost find any type of data on almost any kind of
subject that you are looking for. There is a huge amount of information available on
the internet for just about every subject known to man, ranging from government law
and services, trade fairs and conferences, market information, new ideas and technical
support, the list is end less.

Entertainment:
Entertainment is another popular reason that why many people prefer to surf the
Internet. In fact, media of internet has become quite successful in trapping versatile

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entertainment factor. Downloading games, visiting chat rooms or just surfing the Web
are some of the uses people have discovered. There are numerous games that may be
downloaded from the Internet for free. The industry of online gaming has tasted
dramatic and phenomenal attention by game lovers.

Services:
Many services are now provided on the internet such as online banking, job seeking,
purchasing tickets for your favorite movies, guidance services on array of topics
engulfing the every aspect of life, and hotel reservations. Often these services are not
available off-line and can cost you more.

E-Commerce:
Ecommerce is the concept used for any type of commercial maneuvering, or business
deals that involves the transfer of information across the globe via Internet. It has
become a phenomenon associated with any kind of shopping, almost anything. You
name it and Ecommerce with its giant tentacles engulfing every single product and
service will make you available at your door steps. It has got a real amazing and wide
range of products from household needs, technology to entertainment.

World Wide Web

This is also called web or www or 3w. The collection of all web pages in all web sites
on internet is called www. These web pages provide us information.

E-MAIL
E-mail stands for electronic mail. It is the most popular, cheap, easy and fastest
mailing service. We can send and receive messages on internet with in seconds or
minutes.

Online banking
Several banks are online now. So we can manage our bank accounts on internet. Due
to online banking, money is transferred from one city or country to another within
seconds or minutes.

Job search
You can search jobs on internet. There are many job seeking sites on internet.

Search engine
Internet contains a very large amount of information. Search engine is used to easily
and quickly find the required information. Many sites provide facility of search
engine like Google, Yahoo, Find, Lycos and AltaVista.

Chat
It is the most popular services by which two users can live chat with each other. It is
just like talking on telephone. We can chat by text or audio or video. Messenger
software like Yahoo messenger or MSN messenger is used for chatting.

Download free software

We can download (save in our computer) free software from internet.

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Traveling Guides
You can find information about any country of the world on internet. You can find
maps of any country and big cities.

Disadvantages of Internet

Theft of Personal information:

If you use the Internet, you may be facing grave danger as your personal information
such as name, address, credit card number etc. can be accessed by other culprits to
make your problems worse.

Spamming:
Spamming refers to sending unwanted e-mails in bulk, which provide no purpose and
needlessly obstruct the entire system. Such illegal activities can be very frustrating for
you, and so instead of just ignoring it, you should make an effort to try and stop these
activities so that using the Internet can become that much safer.

Virus threat:
Virus is nothing but a program which disrupts the normal functioning of your
computer systems. Computers attached to internet are more prone to virus attacks and
they can end up into crashing your whole hard disk, causing you considerable
headache.

Hacking
Hackers access the important information and programs and may destroy it. Hackers
try to get password of internet users and then access important information.

Wastage of time
There are so many interesting facilities on internet. So people use internet for several
hours. In this way valuable time is wasted.

Educational loss of students

Students spend much time in internet café. So they waste their time and do not attend
their studies properly.

Online robbery
Important documents are stolen on internet. Passwords of credit cards are stolen on
internet. This can do financial loss.

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Q. WHAT IS CYBER CRIME? DESCRIBE TYPES OF CYBER CRIMES.

Answer:

Computer Crimes
Computer crime includes traditional criminal acts committed with a computer, as well
as new offenses that lack any parallels with non-computer crimes. The U.S.
Department of Justice (DOJ) broadly defines computer crimes as “any violations of
criminal law that involve knowledge of computer technology for their perpetration,
investigation, or prosecution.”

Cyber Crimes
Any illegal activity which involves computer, internet, telecommunication and
networks is called cyber crimes. Following are the major types of cyber crimes.

Types of Computer Crimes

Credit Card Fraud

Credit card fraud is the No. 1 problem in e-commerce. Ninety-three percent of
purchases that are made online use credit cards as a form of payment. Credit card
fraud happens when others use someone else's credit card to make purchases online.
Credit card numbers can be stolen with false online forms or emails. Some red flags
of a purchase made with a stolen credit card include the shipping address being
different from the billing address, requesting leaving orders at the door, and ordering
expensive items or many items of the same product.

Here are some signs that an order may be fraudulent:

o Larger than normal orders.
o Orders for multiples of the same item.
o Orders made up of expensive items.
o Shipping address differs from billing address.
o Suspicious billing address.
o Leave at door.
o Orders shipped “rush” or overnight.
o Untraceable email address.
o Orders that cannot be confirmed.
o Suspect ship address.

The crimes through credit cards may be minimized if sellers use following steps on
booking of orders
o Use common sense. Don’t immediately ring up orders received.
o Call customers to confirm.
o Use tracking codes in order forms.
o Ship only within the country.
o Accept orders only from ISP or domain name email addresses.

Hacking
An illegal access to a computer or a network is called hacking. Hacking involves
compromising the security of networks, breaking the security of application software
or creating malicious programs such as viruses.

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The most common technique used technique used by hackers is scanning. Hackers
have created tools that scan computers for weak spots. It can be an operating system
that hasn't been upgraded or a port in the computer that it is open without the
knowledge of the user.

Hackers use this "open window" to get inside your computer in order to do whatever
they want to do. The interesting thing about this is that these hacker tools are available
for free in the Internet. So, with a couple of hours of instructions, almost every
computer user can become a hacker.

Another way that hackers can access your machine is through malware: programs
designed to capture vital information from your computer, like login users and
passwords. Malware could be hidden in a PowerPoint presentation sent by email or
even in an innocent Instant Messenger message window.

Phishing and Scam

Phishing is a type of social engineering attack that targets the user and tricks them by
sending fake messages and emails to get sensitive information about the user or trying
to download malicious software and exploit it on the target system.

Identity Theft
Identity theft occurs when a cybercriminal uses another person’s personal data like
credit card numbers or personal pictures without their permission to commit a fraud or
a crime.

Ransomware Attack
Ransomware attacks are a very common type of cybercrime. It is a type of malware
that has the capability to prevent users from accessing all of their personal data on the
system by encrypting them and then asking for a ransom in order to give access to the
encrypted data.

Internet Fraud
Internet fraud is a type of cybercrimes that makes use of the internet and it can be
considered a general term that groups all of the crimes that happen over the internet
like spam, banking frauds, theft of service, etc.

Cyber Bullying
It is also known as online or internet bullying. It includes sending or sharing harmful
and humiliating content about someone else which causes embarrassment and can be
a reason for the occurrence of psychological problems. It became very common lately,
especially among teenagers.

Cyber Stalking
Cyber Stalking can be defined as unwanted persistent content from someone targeting
other individuals online with the aim of controlling and intimidating like unwanted
continued calls and messages.

Software Piracy
Software piracy is the illegal use or copy of paid software with violation of copyrights
or license restrictions.

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An example of software piracy is when you download a fresh non-activated copy of
windows and use what is known as “Cracks” to obtain a valid license for windows
activation. This is considered software piracy. Not only software can be pirated but
also music, movies, or pictures.

Social Media Frauds

The use of social media fake accounts to perform any kind of harmful activities like
impersonating other users or sending intimidating or threatening messages. And one
of the easiest and most common social media frauds is Email spam.

Online Drug Trafficking

With the big rise of cryptocurrency technology, it became easy to transfer money in a
secured private way and complete drug deals without drawing the attention of law
enforcement. This led to a rise in drug marketing on the internet. Illegal drugs such as
cocaine, heroin, or marijuana are commonly sold and traded online, especially on
what is known as the "Dark Web".

Electronic Money Laundering

Also known as transaction laundering. It is based on unknown companies or online
business that makes approvable payment methods and credit card transactions but
with incomplete or inconsistent payment information for buying unknown products. It
is by far one of the most common and easy money laundering methods.

Cyber Extortion
Cyber extortion is the demand for money by cybercriminals to give back some
important data they've stolen or stop doing malicious activities such as denial of
service attacks.

Intellectual-property Infringements
It is the violation or breach of any protected intellectual-property rights such as
copyrights and industrial design.

Online Recruitment Fraud

One of the less common cybercrimes that are also growing to become more popular is
the fake job opportunities released by fake companies for the purpose of obtaining a
financial benefit from applicants or even making use of their personal data.

Cyberterrorism
Cyberterrorism is the leveraging of an organization’s or government’s computers and
information, particularly via the Internet, to cause physical, real-world harm or severe
disruption of infrastructure. There are some that argue cyberterrorism is really a form
of hacking or information warfare. They disagree with labeling it terrorism because of
the unlikelihood of the creation of fear, significant physical harm, or death in a
population using electronic means, considering current attack and protective
technologies.

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Identity Theft:
This is one of the most serious frauds as it involves stealing money and obtaining
other benefits through the use of a false identity. It is the act of pretending to be
someone else by using someone else's identity as one's own. Financial identity theft
involves the use of a false identity to obtain goods and services and a commercial
identity theft is the using of someone else’s business name or credit card details for
commercial purposes. Identity cloning is the use of another user's information to pose
as a false user. Illegal migration, terrorism and blackmail are often made possible by
means of identity theft.

Salami Attacks
In such crime criminal makes insignificant changes in such a manner that such
changes would go unnoticed. Criminal makes such program that deducts small
amount like Rs. 2.50 per month from the account of all the customer of the Bank and
deposit the same in his account. In this case no account holder will approach the bank
for such small amount but criminal gains huge amount.

Cyber Defamation
The Criminal sends emails containing defamatory matters to all concerned of the
victim or post the defamatory matters on a website. Disgruntled employee may do this
against, ex boss, ex- boyfriend against girl, divorced husband against wife etc.

Denial of Service Attack

A Denial-of-Service (DoS) attack is an attack meant to shut down a machine or
network, making it inaccessible to its intended users. DoS attacks accomplish this by
flooding the target with traffic, or sending it information that triggers a crash. In both
instances, the DoS attack deprives legitimate users (i.e. employees, members, or
account holders) the service or resource they expected. Victims of DoS attacks often
target the web servers of high-profile organizations such as banking, commerce, and
media companies, or government and trade organizations. Though DoS attacks do not
typically result in the theft or loss of significant information or other assets, they can
cost the victim a great deal of time and money to handle.

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Q. What is e-commerce? Describe different types / models of e-commerce.

Answer:
Two thousand years ago, Roman roads brought trade and commerce to Europe in an
unprecedented manner. A thousand years ago, the spice routes linked the cultures of
East and West. At the dawn of the second millennium, the Internet, the world’s largest
computer network, the network of networks, is making fundamental changes to the
lives of everyone on the planet-changing forever the way business is conducted.
Internet has become an important medium for doing global business based on the state
of the art technology. Global business was conducted in a new way: electronically,
using networks and the Internet. The availability of Internet has led to the
development of E-Commerce (Electronic commerce), in which business transactions
take place via telecommunication networks.

Electronic commerce is an emerging model of new selling and merchandising tools in

which buyers are able to participate in all phases of a purchase decision, while
stepping through those processes electronically rather than in a physical store. The
processes in electronic commerce include enabling a customer to access product
information, select items to purchase, purchase items securely, and have the purchase
settled financially. It is an emerging concept that describes the process of buying and
selling or exchanging of products, services; and information via computer networks
including the Internet.

Different types of e-commerce

The major different types of e-commerce are: business-to-business (B2B); business-
to-consumer (B2C); business-to-government (B2G); consumer-to-consumer (C2C);
and mobile commerce (m-commerce).

B2B - Business to Business

E-commerce has been in use for quite a few years and is more commonly known as
EDI (electronic data interchange). In the past EDI was conducted on a direct link of
some form between the two businesses where as today the most popular connection is
the internet. The two businesses pass information electronically to each other. B2B e-
commerce currently makes up about 94% of all e-commerce transactions. Typically in
the B2B environment, E-Commerce can be used in the following processes:
 Procurement;
 order fulfillment;
 Managing trading-partner relationships.

B2C - Business to Consumer

Business to Consumer e-commerce is relatively new. This is where the consumer
accesses the system of the supplier. It is still a two way function but is usually done
solely through the Internet. B2C can also relate to receiving information such as
share prices, insurance quotes, on-line newspapers, or weather forecasts. The supplier
may be an existing retail outlet such as a high street store; it has been this type of
business that has been successful in using E-Commerce to deliver services to
customers. These businesses may have been slow in gearing-up for E-Commerce
compared to the innovative dot.com start ups, but they usually have a sound
commercial structure as well as in-depth experience of running a business - something
which many dotcoms lacked, causing many to fail.

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C2B - Consumer to Business
Consumer to Business is a growing arena where the consumer requests a specific
service from the business. Example: Harry is planning a holiday in Darwin. He
requires a flight in the first week of December and is only willing to pay Rs. 250.
Harry places a submission with in a web based C2B facility. Dodgy Brothers Airways
accesses the facility and sees Harry’s submission. Due to it being a slow period, the
airline offers Harry a return fare for Rs. 250.

B2E - Business to Employee

Business to Employee e-commerce is growing in use. This form of E-commerce is
more commonly known as an ‘Intranet’. An intranet is a web site developed to
provide employees of an organisation with information. The intranet is usually access
through the organisations network, it can and is often extended to an Entrant which
uses the Internet but restricts uses by sign on and password.

C2C - Consumer to Consumer

These sites are usually some form of an auction site. The consumer lists items for sale
with a commercial auction site. Other consumers access the site and place bids on the
items. The site then provides a connection between the seller and buyer to complete
the transaction. The site provider usually charges a transaction cost. In reality this site
should be call C2B2C.

B2G e-commerce
Business-to-government e-commerce or B2G is generally defined as commerce
between companies and the public sector. It refers to the use of the Internet for public
procurement, licensing procedures, and other government-related operations. This
kind of e-commerce has two features: first, the public sector assumes a pilot/leading
role in establishing e-commerce; and second, it is assumed that the public sector has
the greatest need for making its procurement system more effective.

C2B E-Commerce
C2B or Consumer to Business transactions involves reverse auctions, which empower
the consumer to drive transactions. A concrete example of this when competing
airlines gives a traveler best travel and ticket offers in response to the traveler’s post
that she wants to fly from New York to San Francisco. There is little information on
the relative size of global C2C e-commerce. However, C2C figures of popular C2C
sites such as eBay and Napster indicate that this market is quite large. These sites
produce millions of dollars in sales every day.

M-commerce
M-commerce (mobile commerce) is the buying and selling of goods and services
through wireless technology-i.e., handheld devices such as cellular telephones and
personal digital assistants (PDAs). Japan is seen as a global leader in m-commerce.
As content delivery over wireless devices becomes faster, more secure, and scalable,
some believe that m-commerce will surpass wireline e-commerce as the method of
choice for digital commerce transactions. This may well be true for the Asia-Pacific
where there are more mobile phone users than there are Internet users.

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Q. WHAT IS INFORMATION SYSTEM? DESCRIBE ITS MAIN
COMPONENTS OF INFORMATION SYSTEM.

Answer:

An information system (IS) is a collection of hardware, software, data, people, and

procedures that work together to produce quality information. When information
requirements change, the information system must meet the new requirements.

Components of Information Systems

An information system is a system that accepts data resources as input and processes
them into information products as output.

An information system
depends on the resources of
people (end users and IS
specialists), hardware
(machines and media),
software (programs and
procedures), data (data and
knowledge basis), and
networks (communications
media and network support) to
perform input, processing,
output, storage, and control
activities that convert data
resources into information
products.
This information system
model highlights the relationships among the components and activities of
information systems. People, hardware, software, data, and networks are the five basic
resources of information systems.
 People resources include end users and IS specialists.
 Hardware resources consist of machines and media
 Software resources include both programs and procedures, data resources can
include data and knowledge bases,
 Network resources include communications media and networks.
 Data resources are transformed by information processing activities into a
variety of information products for end users.

PEOPLE RESOURCES
People are required for the operation of all information systems. The people resources
include end users and IS specialists.
 End users (also called users or clients) are people who use an information
system or the information it produces. They can be accountants, salespersons,
engineers, clerks, customers, or managers. Most of us are information system
end users.
 IS Specialists are people who develop and operate information systems. They
include systems analysts, programmers, computer operators, and other
managerial technical, and clerical IS personnel. Briefly, systems analysts

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 design information systems based on the information requirements of end
user, programmers prepare computer programs based on the specifications of
systems analysts, and computer operators operate large computer systems.

HARDWARE RESOURCES
The concept of Hardware resources includes all physical devices and materials used in
information processing. Specially, it includes not only machines, such as computers
and other equipment, but also all data media, that is, all tangible objects on which data
is recorded, from sheets of paper to magnetic disks. Example of hardware in
computer-based information systems are:
 Computer systems, which consist of central processing units
containing microprocessors, and variety of interconnected peripheral
devices. Examples are microcomputer systems, midrange computer
systems, and large mainframe computer systems.
 Computer peripherals, which are devices such as a keyboard or
electronic mouse for input of data and commands, a video screen or
printer for output of information, and magnetic or optical disks for
storage of data resources.

SOFTWARE RESOURCES
The concept of Software Resources includes all sets of information processing
instructions. This generic concept of software includes not only the sets of operating
instructions called programs, which direct and control computer hardware, but also
the sets of information processing instructions needed by people, called procedures.
It is important to understand that even information systems that don’t use computers
have a software resource component. This is true even for the information systems of
ancient times, or the manual and machine-supported information systems still used in
the world today. They all require software resources in the form of information
processing instructions and procedures in order to properly capture, process, and
disseminate information to their users. The following are the examples of software
resources:
 System Software, such as an operating system program, which can controls
and supports the operations of a computer system.
 Application Software, which are programs that direct processing for a
particular use of computers by end users. Examples are a sales analysis
program, a payroll program, and a worksheet processing program.
 Procedures, which are operating instructions for the people who will use an
information system. Examples are instructions for filling out a paper form or
using a software package.

DATA RESOURCES
Data is more than the raw material of information systems. The concept of data
resources has been broadened by managers and information systems professionals.
They realize that data constitutes a valuable organization resource. Thus, you should
view data as data resources that must be managed effectively to benefit all end users
in an organization. Data can take many forms, including traditional alphanumeric
data, composed of numbers and alphabetical and other characters that describe
business transactions and other events and entities.
Text data, consisting of sentences and paragraphs used in written communications;
image data, such as graphic shapes and figures; and audio data, the human voice and

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other sounds, are also important forms of data. The data resources of information
systems are typically organized into:
 Database that hold processed and organized data.
 Knowledge bases that hold knowledge in variety of forms such as facts, rules,
and case examples about successful business practices. For example, data
about sales transactions may be accumulated and stored in a sales database for
subsequent processing that yields daily, weekly, and monthly sales analysis
reports for management. Knowledge bases are used by knowledge
management systems and expert systems to share knowledge and give expert
advice on specific subjects.

NETWORK RESOURCES
Telecommunications networks like the Internet, intranets, and extranets have become
essential to the successful operations of all types of organizations and their computer-
based information systems. Telecommunications networks consist of computers,
communications processors, and other devices interconnected by communications
media and controlled by communications software. The concept of Network resources
emphasizes that communications networks are a fundamental resource component of
all information systems. Network resources include:
 Communication media, Examples include twisted pair wire, coaxial cable,
fiber-optic cable, microwave systems, and communication satellite systems.
 Network Support, This generic category includes all of the people, hardware,
software, and data resources that directly support the operation and use of a
communications network. Examples include communications control software
such as network operating systems and Internet packages.

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