Module II – Chapter 1

Computer Hardware
Course Outline
 Hardware Introduction
 CPU
 Types of Computer Systems
 Microcomputer systems
 The Computer System Concept –
Input, Output, Processing, Storage
 Computer Memory
 Primary Storage
 Secondary Storage

Chapter 3 Computer Hardware 2

Introduction: Hardware
Decisions about hardware focus on three
interrelated factors:
 capability (power and appropriateness for
the task),
 speed, and
 cost.
Introduction Contd..
 Hardware refers to the physical equipment
used for the input, processing, output, and
storage activities of a computer system. It
consists of the following:
 Central processing unit (CPU)
 Primary storage
 Secondary storage
 Input technologies
 Output technologies
 Communication technologies
Central Processing Unit
The central processing unit (CPU): performs the actual
computation or “number crunching” inside any
computer. The CPU is a microprocessor made up of
millions of microscopic transistors embedded in a
circuit on a silicon wafer or chip.
 Control unit: Portion of the CPU that controls the flow
of information.
 Arithmetic-logic unit (ALU): Portion of the CPU that
performs the mathematic calculations and makes
logical comparisons.
 Registers: High-speed storage areas in the CPU that
store very small amounts of data and instructions for
short periods of time.
 Categories of Computer Systems

Chapter 3 Computer Hardware 7

Microcomputer Systems
 Usually called a personal computer or PC
 Computing power now exceeds that of the
mainframes of previous generations
 Relatively inexpensive
 Are the networked professional workstations
used by business processions
 Versions include hand-held, notebook, laptop,
tablet, portable, desktop, and floor-standing

Chapter 3 Computer Hardware 8

Recommended PC Features
Business Pro Multimedia Heavy Newcomer
2-3 GHz processor Mac G4 or 2-3 GHz 1-2 GHz Celeron
Intel processor processor
512MB RAM 512MB RAM 256MB RAM
80GB hard drive 120GB+ hard drive 40GB hard drive
18-inch flat-panel 18-inch or larger CRT, 17-inch CRT or 15-inch
display flat-panel LCD, or flat panel LCD
plasma display
CD-RW/DVD drive or CD-RW/DVD+RW CD-RW/DVD drive
portable hard drives for drive
backup
Network interface card High-end color printer Internal, 56K modem
(NIC)
Basic speaker system Deluxe speaker system Basic inkjet printer
Chapter 3 Computer Hardware 9
Computer System Concept
 A system of hardware devices organized by
function
 Input
 Keyboards, touch screens, pens,

electronic mice, optical scanners

 Converts data into electronic form for entry

into computer system

 Processing
 Central Processing Unit (CPU)
 CPU subunits: arithmetic-logic and control

unit
Chapter 3 Computer Hardware 10
Computer System Concept
 Output
 Video display units, printers, audio response
units,
and so on
 Converts electronic information into human-

intelligible form
 Storage
 Primary storage (memory)
 Secondary storage (disk drives)
 Control
 CPU controls other components of the system

Chapter 3 Computer Hardware 11

Computer System Concept

Chapter 3 Computer Hardware 12

Storage Capacity Measurement
 Kilobyte (KB): one thousand bytes
 Megabyte (MB): one million bytes
 Gigabyte (GB): one billions bytes
 Terabyte (TB): one trillion bytes
 Petabyte (PB): one quadrillion bytes

Chapter 3 Computer Hardware 13

Primary Storage
Primary Storage stores for very brief period of time three
types of information –
 Data to be processed by the CPU
 Instructions for the CPU as to how to process the data
 Operating system programs that manage various
aspects of the computers operation.

Primary storage takes place in chips mounted on the

computers main circuit board.
Four types of primary storage –
1. Registers
2. Random Access Memory
3. Cache Memory
4. Read Only Memory
Types of Primary Storage
Registers: registers are part of the CPU with the least capacity, storing
extremely limited amounts of instructions and data only immediately
before and after processing.
Random access memory (RAM): The part of primary storage that
holds a software program and small amounts of data when they are
brought from secondary storage.
It stores more information than the registers and farther away from the
CPU.
As the Software program is started it is brought from secondary storage
to the RAM
As the program is used small parts of the program’s instructions and
data are sent to the registers and then to the CPU.
RAM is temporarily and volatile i.e RAM chips lose the content if the
current is lost or turned off.
Ram chips are located directly on the computers main circuit board or in
other chips located on peripheral cards that plug into the main circuit
board.
Types of Primary Storage
Cache memory: A type of high speed memory that a
processor can access more rapidly than RAM.
A type of primary storage, a place closer to CPU where
the computer can temporarily store blocks of data used
more often.
Blocks used less often remain in RAM until they are
transferred to cache.
Blocks used infrequently stay stored in Secondary
storage.
Read-only memory (ROM):
Need of greater security when storing certain types of
critical data or instructions.
The data lost due to computer crash is in RAM,
Registers or Cache as they are volatile.
Types of Primary Storage
ROM - Type of primary storage where certain critical
instructions are safeguarded; the storage is
nonvolatile and retains the instructions when the
power to the computer is turned off.
 An example of ROM instructions are those needed to
start or boot the system one the computer is shut down.
 Flash memory: A form of rewritable read-only memory
that is compact, portable, and requires little energy to
read and write.
 This technology can be built into a system or installed on
a PC.
 Flash memory or flash cards is very popular for small
portable technologies such as cellular telephones, digital
cameras tec.
Flash Drive
 Sometimes referred to as a jump drive
 Uses a small chips containing
thousands of transistors
 Can store data for virtually
unlimited periods without power
 Easily transported and highly
durable
 Plugs into any USB port
Differences b/w RAM and ROM
 Random Access Memory (RAM)
 Most widely used primary storage medium
 Volatile memory
 Read/write memory
 Read-Only Memory (ROM)
 Permanent storage
 Can be read, but not overwritten
 Frequently used programs burnt into chips
during manufacturing process
 Called firmware
Secondary Storage
Memory capacity that can store very large
amounts of data for extended periods of
time.
 It is nonvolatile.
 It takes much more time to retrieve data
because of the electromechanical nature.
 It is cheaper than primary storage.
 It can take place on a variety of media
 Magnetic tape: A secondary storage medium on
a large open reel or in a smaller cartridge or
cassette.
 It is the cheapest and can handle enormous
amount of data.
 It is the slowest for retreival of data.
 Used for information that an organization must
maintain, but uses rarely or does not need
immediate access to.
 Magnetic disks:
Used for secondary storage
 Fast access and high capacity
 Reasonable cost
 Magnetic Disks
 Types of Magnetic Disks
 Floppy Disks (diskettes)
 Magnetic disk inside a plastic jacket
 A form of easily portable secondary storage on flexible Mylar disks; also

called floppy disks.

 Much slower than hard drives.
 Less capacity ranging from 1.44 mega bytes to 250 megabytes.
 Hard Disk Drives (hard drives)
 A form of secondary storage on a magnetized disk divided into tracks

and sectors that provide addresses for various pieces of data;

 Fixed or removable
 Capacity from several hundred MBs to

hundreds of GBs
 Much more rapid access to data.
 Low cost, high speed and large storage capacity.
 These disks are permanently mounted in a system which may be

internal or external to the system.

 Optical storage devices: A form of secondary storage in
which a laser reads the surface of a reflective plastic
platter.
 Compact disk, read-only memory (CD-ROM): A form of
secondary storage that can be only read and not written
on.
 High capacity, low cost and durability.
 CD - RW adds rewritability feature to the recordable CD.
 Digital video disk (DVD): An optical storage device used
to store digital video or computer data.
 DVD provides sharp detail, true color, no flicker and no
snow.
 Memory cards: Credit-card-size storage
devices that can be installed in an adapter
or slot in many personal computers.
 Expandable storage devices: Removable
disk cartridges, used as backup storage
for internal hard drives of PCs.
Enterprise Storage Systems
 Enterprise Storage system provides large
amounts of storage, high performance data
transfer, a high degree of availability, protection
against data loss and sophisticated
management tools. There types of Enterprise
Storage Systems -
 Redundant arrays of independent disks. (RAID)
 Storage Area Network (SAN)
 Network Attached Storage. (NAS)
 T
Enterprise Storage Systems
 RAID (Redundant Array of Independent
Risks) - To improve reliability and protect
the data in their enterprise storage
systems.
 RAID links groups of standard hard drives
to a specialized microcontroller.
 It coordinates the drives so they appear as
single logical drive, but they take
advantage of the multiple physical drives
by storing data reduntantly avoiding the
data loss by failure of one drive.
Enterprise Storage Systems
 storage area network (SAN): An enterprise storage system
architecture for building special, dedicated networks that allow rapid
and reliable access to storage devices by multiple servers.
Storage over IP: Technology that uses the Internet Protocol to transport
stored data between devices within a SAN; sometimes called IP over SCSI
or iSCSI.
Storage Visualization SOftware - is used with SANs to graphically plot an
entire network and allow storage administrators to view the properties of and
monitor all devices from a single console.

Network attached Storage - (NAS) is a special purpose server that

provides file storage to users who access the device over the
network.
Simple to install i.e. plug and play.
Difference between Primary and Secondary
Storage
 Primary Storage has much less capacity than
secondary storage and is faster and more
expensive per byte stored.
 Primary storage is located much closer to the
CPU than its secondary storage.
 Primary memory of CPU is the place where
computer program and data is stored during
processing whereas the devices of computer
that store information such as soft ware and data
permanently are called secondary storage
device .
1 GB of SDRAM mounted in a personal
computer. An example of primary storage.
40 GB hard disk drive (HDD); when
connected to a computer it serves as
secondary storage.
Motherboards tie everything in your computer together. A typical
motherboard contains areas for computer memory, CPU, AGP, PCI
and more
RAM Upgrade
The basic input-output system BIOS is the first thing you see
when you turn on your computer. BIOS gives important
instructions to the computer hardware
A hard disk is a sealed aluminum box, which has been opened in this
photo. The controller electronics are attached to one side, controlling
the read/write mechanism and the motor that spins the platters
This hard drive has three platters,
also called hard disks, and six
read/write heads.
The arm on a hard disk holds the read/write heads and has to be
incredibly fast and precise. There is one arm per read/write head, and
all of them are lined up to form one unit.
Computer Hierarchy
 Supercomputers
 Mainframe Computers
 Midrange Computers
 Microcomputers
 Workstations
 Supports have mathematical computer and
graphics display demands
 Network Servers
 More powerful than workstations
 Coordinates telecommunications and resource
sharing
 Supports small networks and Internet or
intranet websites

Chapter 3 Computer Hardware 38

WorkStations, PC and Servers
 Desktop is a Personal PC (gaming machine)
 Workstation is obviously for work. Sometimes it is designed
only to perform 1 function (stock trader workstations don't
have cd drives, speakers, or usb ports....only
keyboard/mouse/monitor)
 Server is what it says. It serves files. Internet connections, file
sharing, print sharing, database access, etc are all handled by
servers.
 So
 Desktop - customizable home pc
 Workstation - work pc
 Server - Backbone of networks/internet.
Difference between a desktop and
Server
 Desktop -
 Normally a desktop workload is no more than casual
surfing, may be a bit of office suite tools or some
developmental activity.
 All this pertaining to One physical user at a time and
not many services running on the system,
 The load on the system resources such as CPU, RAM
& I/O is not very demanding.
 The CPUs are generally designed to handle the
compute requirements of a single user computing
needs
Difference between a desktop and
Server
 Servers -
 It has to support multiple users.
 A server could be a web server, App server, DB server which
require a lot of processes to be running in the background.
 A lot of load on the CPU, RAM and I/O. Which means the
bus(es) interconnecting the various peripherals have to be
fast.
 Since the server is a critical, it needs certain Reliability.
availability and serviceability (RAS) features, such as circuit
redundancy built-in, remote management etc. All this require
additional circuitary which needs to be incorporated on to the
board.
Servers
 A File server is a computer attached to a network that has the
primary purpose of providing a location for the shared storage of
computer files (such as documents, sound files, photographs,
movies, images, databases, etc.) that can be accessed by the
workstations that are attached to the computer network.
 Web Server - A computer program that is responsible for accepting
HTTP requests from clients (user agents such as web browsers),
and serving them HTTP responses along with optional data
contents, which usually are web pages such as HTML documents
and linked objects (images, etc.).
 A database server is a computer program that provides database
services to other computer programs or computers, as defined by
the client-server model.
INPUT AND OUTPUT TECHNOLOGIES

 Input technologies allow people and other

technologies to put data into a computer.
The two main types of input devices are:
 human data-entry devices and
 source-data automation devices
Input Devices - human data-entry
devices
Mouse - Handheld device used to point cursor at point on screen, such as an icon;
user clicks button on mouse instructing computer to take some action.
Optical mouse - Mouse is not connected to computer by a cable; mouse uses camera
chip to take images of surface it passes over, comparing successive images to
determine its position.
Trackball - User rotates a ball built into top of device to move cursor (rather than moving
entire device such as a mouse).
Touchpad - User moves cursor by sliding finger across a sensitized pad and then
can tap pad when cursor is in desired position to instruct computer to take action
(also called glide-and-tap pad).
Joystick Joy stick moves cursor to desired place on screen; commonly used in
workstations that display dynamic graphics and in video games.
Touchscreen Users instruct computer to take some action by touching a particular
part of the screen; commonly used in information kiosks such as ATM machines.
Stylus Pen-style device that allows user either to touch parts of a predetermined menu
of options or to handwrite information into the computer (as with some PDAs); works
with touchsensitive screens.
Microphone in conjunction with Voice recognition software is one of the critical
technologies used for physically challenged people.
Source-Data Automation Input
Device
Automated teller machines
Interactive devices that enable people to make bank transactions from remote locations.
Barcode scanners Devices scan black-and-white barcode lines printed on merchandise
labels.
Optical mark reader Scanner for detecting presence of dark marks on
predetermined grid, such as multiplechoice test answer sheets.
Magnetic ink character reader Read magnetic ink printed on checks which
identify the bank, checking account, and check number.
Optical character recognition Software is used in conjunction with scanners to
converts text into digital form for input into computer. Although the scanner can
digitize any graphic, the OCR software can recognize the individual characters, so
that they can be manipulated.
Sensors Collect data directly from the environment and input data directly into computer;
Cameras Digital cameras capture images and convert them into digital files
Retinal scanning displays Projects an image, pixel by pixel, directly onto a viewer’s
retina; used with mobile devices;
Software Selection Process

output Description
Device
Monitors
Cathode ray tubes Video screens on which an electron beam illuminates pixels on display screen.
Liquid crystal Flat displays that have liquid crystals between two polarizers to form characters and images on a backlit
display (LCDs) screen.
Organic light- Displays that are brighter, thinner, lighter, cheaper, faster diodes (OLEDs), and take less power to run than
emitting LCDs.
Retinal scanning Project image directly onto a viewer’s retina; used in medicine, air traffic control, and controlling industrial
displays machines.

Printers
Impact Slow, noisy, subject to mechanical failure, but inexpensive.

Nonimpact:
Laser Use laser beams to write information on photosensitive drums; produce high-resolution text and graphics.

Inkjet Shoot fine streams of colored ink onto paper; less expensive than laser printers, but offer less resolution
quality.
Plotters Use computer-directed pens for creating high-quality images, blueprints, schematics, drawing of new
products, etc.
STRATEGIC HARDWARE ISSUES

 Productivity
 Changing Work Styles
 Improved Communications