EVELYN HONE COLLEGE OF APPLIED ART AND COMMERCE

SCHOOL OF BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT

INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTERS

TYPES OF COMPUTERS

Computers differ based on their data processing abilities. They are classified according to purpose, data
handling and functionality.

According to purpose, computers are either general purpose or specific purpose. General purpose
computers are designed to perform a range of tasks. They have the ability to store numerous
programs, but lack in speed and efficiency. Specific purpose computers are designed to handle a
specific problem or to perform a specific task. A set of instructions is built into the machine.

According to data handling, computers are analog, digital or hybrid. Analog computers work on
the principle of measuring, in which the measurements obtained are translated into data. Modern
analog computers usually employ electrical parameters, such as voltages, resistances or currents,
to represent the quantities being manipulated. Such computers do not deal directly with the
numbers. They measure continuous physical magnitudes. Digital computers are those that operate
with information, numerical or otherwise, represented in a digital form. Such computers process
data into a digital value (in 0s and 1s). They give the results with more accuracy and at a faster
rate. Hybrid computers incorporate the measuring feature of an Analog computer and counting
feature of a Digital Computer. For computational purposes, these computers use analog
components and for storage, digital memories are used.

a) Analog Computer

An analog computer is a form of computer that uses continuous physical phenomena such as
electrical, mechanical, or hydraulic quantities to model the problem being solved.

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b) Digital Computer

A computer that performs calculations and logical operations with quantities represented as digits,
usually in the binary number system

c) Hybrid Computer (Analog + Digital)

A combination of computers those are capable of inputting and outputting in both digital and
analog signals. A hybrid computer system setup offers a cost effective method of performing
complex simulations.

CLASSIFICATION OF COMPUTERS: ON THE BASIS OF SIZE

Based on processing power and internal memory, the following kinds of computers are found.

1. Micro-computers

2. Mini-computers

3. Mainframes

4. Super computers

5. Work stations

1. Micro computers

Microcomputers are the types of computers which are being used in most organizations today.
These computers are usually divided into desktop models and laptop models. These are small,
portable, inexpensive, occupies less space and consumes very less power. Personal Computers
(PC) are the best example of this kind. They are terribly limited in what they can do when compared
to the larger models which will be discussed later because they can only be used by one person at
a time, they are much slower than the larger computers, and they can not store nearly as much
information, but they are excellent when used in small businesses, homes, and school classrooms.
These computers are inexpensive and easy to use.

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They have become an indispensable part of modern life. Examples of microcomputers include the
following:

• Desktop Computer: a personal or micro-mini computer sufficient to fit on a desk.

Figure 1: Desktop Computer

• Laptop Computer: a portable computer complete with an integrated screen and keyboard. It is
generally smaller in size than a desktop computer and larger than a notebook computer.

Figure 2: Laptop

• Palmtop Computer/Digital Diary /Notebook /PDAs: a hand-sized computer. Palmtops have

no Palmtops have no keyboard but the screen serves both as an input and output device.

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 Figure 3: Palmtop

2. Mini computers

A mini computer is bigger than a micro-computer and smaller than a mainframe. The cost of these
computers can vary from a few thousand dollars to several hundred thousand dollars. They possess
most of the features found on mainframe computers, but on a more limited scale. They can still
have many terminals, but not as many as the mainframes.

Figure 4: Mini Computer

They can store a tremendous amount of information, but again usually not as much as the
mainframe. Medium and small businesses typically use these computers.

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3. Mainframes

Mainframe computers are very large and expensive, often filling an entire room. They can store
enormous of information, can perform many tasks at the same time, can communicate with many
users at the same time, and are very expensive. . The price of a mainframe computer frequently
runs into the millions of dollars. Mainframe computers usually have many terminals connected to
them. These terminals look like small computers but they are only devices used to send and receive
information from the actual computer using wires. Terminals can be located in the same room
with the mainframe computer, but they can also be in different rooms, buildings, or cities.
Large businesses, government agencies, and universities usually use this type of computer.

Figure 5: Mainframe Computer

Large organizations use mainframes for highly critical applications such as bulk data processing
and ERP. Most of the mainframe computers have capacities to host multiple operating systems and
operate as a number of virtual machines. They can substitute for several small servers.

4. Super computers

Supercomputers are more powerful than mainframes and can process several hundreds or even
thousands million instructions per second. They are designed for high precision based application
and have vast processing power applied in a narrow range.

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 Figure 6: Super Computer

They are mostly used in research centers, complicated military and scientific jobs such as weather
forecasting, cracking of enemy codes, predicting how a nuclear bomb will explode and designing
missiles and jet fighters.

5. Workstations
A terminal or desktop computer on a network. Networking is the practice of linking computers for
the purpose of sharing data and enhanced communication. Types of networks include LAN, WAN,
MAN, CAN etc.

INTERNAL MEMORIES
Memory
A personal computer must have a means of storing information (data) and instructions so that it
can perform processing tasks on the data. Personal computers have two types of memory.
Internal memories refer to the computer memory chips that are used to store information for easy
retrieval by the C.P.U/processor. Internal memories are memories which are found inside the central
processing unit (C.P.U). These memories are used to perform four main functions which are:

1. To hold systems and applications programmes

2. To hold data that has been input awaiting processing

3. To provide a working area to store data that is currently being processed

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4. To hold output data before it is sent to an output device

The two most abundant memories found in the main storage are RAM and ROM.

a) RAM (Random Access Memory)

Random Access Memory is a type of internal memory which is volatile or this is the area of memory
where data and program instructions are stored while the computer is in operation. This means that
the contents of RAM are lost once power has been cut off, RAM is unable to retain its contents after a
power disruption or accidently loss of data, therefore, RAM only provides a temporal memory to store
data and programs while in use.

The data stored in RAM is lost forever when the power is turned off. For this reason it is very
important that you save your work before turning off your computer. This is why we have
peripheral storage devices like your computer’s hard disk and floppy diskettes.

b) ROM (Read Only Memory)

ROM is a small area of permanent memory that provides startup instructions when the computer
is turned on. Read Only Memory is a type of internal memory which is non-volatile. Therefore, data
kept on ROM can still be accessed even after power has been cut. The ROM memory chip is used to
hold data which does not need to be changed as it does not allow the user to make any changes once
data has been stored. This memory is usually used to hold systems and application programs. ROM is
usually used at the point of manufacturing to keep information on permanent basis. You cannot store
any data in ROM. The instructions in ROM are set by the manufacturer and cannot be changed by
the user. The last instruction in ROM directs the computer to load the operating system.

Every computer needs an operating system. This is a special computer program that must be loaded
into memory as soon as the computer is turned on. Its purpose is to translate your instructions in
English into Binary so that the computer can understand your instructions. The operating system
also translates the results generated by your computer into English when it is finished so that we
can understand and use the results. The operating system comes with a computer. The other common
types of internal memories include, Cache, EPROM (Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory),
PROM (Programmable Read Only Memory) etc.

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COMPUTER STORAGE MEASUREMENTS
Everything that is stored and processed inside a digital computer (all data, information, instructions,
files, images, etc.) is stored as numbers. This is because computers only understand numbers, nothing
else. Numbers are made up of digits so we can say that computers only understand digits and because
of this, we say that computes are digital devices.

Figure 7: Representation of data storage

These sounds a bit strange how do you store text and pictures as numbers? The solution is to use
numeric codes. Different letters in a text document are given different numeric codes, Different
pixels (colored dots) in an image are given different numeric codes, and Different sounds in a
music file are given different numeric codes. In short everything is numbers. The numeric codes
used for letters are defined by a system called the American Standard Code for Information
Interchange (ASCII). For example the letter ‘A’ has the ASCII code 65. (David Varley, 2006).

A computer only understands a particular type of numbers called Binary. This strange number system
only uses the digits 0 and 1. The reason for the use of binary numbers is that the electronic devices in
a computer (the CPU, RAM etc.) have parts that can only be turned on or off. We can use binary
numbers to control these ONs and OFFs: OFF = 0, ON = 1
Chaffey (2003) identified the following measurements of electronic storage:
(a) Bit: This is the smallest measure of storage. It represents a one or a zero which means data is present
or absent.

(b) Byte: This is the amount of space required to hold a single character such as 9, C, 2, S etc. A byte
is made up of eight bits.

(c) Kilobyte (KB): This is approximately one thousand bytes which is equivalent to one thousand
characters or the amount of space required to store one typed page.

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(d) Megabyte (MB): This is approximately one thousand kilobytes or the equivalent of one million
characters.

(e) Gigabyte (GB): This is approximately one thousand megabytes or the equivalent of one billion
characters.

(f) Terabyte (TB): Approximately one thousand gigabytes or an equivalent of one trillion characters.