OBJ 1 AND 2- COMPUTER FUNDAMENTALS

●​ IT is the use of computers, storage, networking and other physical devices, infrastructure and processes to create,
process, store, secure and exchange all forms of electronic data.
●​ Areas impacted are Business, Finance, Medicine, Education, Art, Engineering, Entertainment
●​ Types of Computer Systems:
○​ Super computers
○​ Mainframes
○​ Desktop Systems
○​ Mobile Devices
○​ Embedded Devices
●​ A Supercomputer is a computer that performs at/near the current highest operational rate for computers.
Supercomputers are typically used for scientific and engineering applications that must handle very large
databases or do great amounts of computation (or both).
○​ Eg. Sierra Supercomputer, CRAY-1, PARAM-SIDDHI
●​ Mainframes are very large computers with several cpus, capable of supporting hundreds/thousands of users. It is
the central data repository/hub, in a corporation's data processing center, linked to users through less powerful
devices such as workstations or terminals. They are generally known for their large size, amount of storage,
processing power and high level of reliability.
○​ Eg. IBM, HITACHI
●​ A Desktop computer is a computer that fits on/under a desk. They use peripheral devices for interaction, such as
a keyboard + mouse for input, and display devices like a monitor/projector. Desktop computers are generally
made to stay at one location
○​ They are typically small-sized, inexpensive, low-power computers designed for basic tasks such as web
browsing, accessing web-based applications, document processing, and audio/video playback.
●​ A Mobile device refers to any type of handheld computer. They are designed to be extremely portable because
they’re smaller, lighter and contain batteries so they are not restricted to connection to electrical outlets
○​ Eg. laptops, notebooks, netbooks, smart phones, tablets, gaming consoles
●​ An Embedded device is a highly specialized device meant for one/very few specific purposes and is usually
embedded or included within another object/is part of a larger system. Usually, the device is part of a system that
serves a greater purpose, for example, a heart rate monitor embedded in a wristwatch that can connect to a smart
phone to display the heart’s status in real time or an accelerometer embedded in shoes to monitor speed, distance
traveled and calories burned. pos and atm machines are also examples of embedded devices or systems.
○​ Eg. domestic appliances (dishwashers)tvs and digital phones, digital watches, electronic calculators, gps
systems, fitness trackers, pos, atm machines
Type Processing Speed Storage Portability Examples
Super Computers 1 – 450Petaflops 40 Not Titan, Sequoia
TB-2.8PetaFlops portable
Main Frame 5.2GHz – Up to 40 TB Not IBM z Series, System Servers
100GHZ portable
PCs/Desktops 2.5GHz – 320GB-2TB Portable
5.5GHZ
Mobile Devices 1.2Ghz – 5.5Ghz 128GB-2TB Highly Laptops, Notebooks, Smart Phone, Tablets,
Portable Gaming Consoles
Embedded 20MHz – Up to 256MB Not Microwave, washing machine, alarm clock,
Devices 32MHz portable dishwasher
●​ Petaflop measures a computer’s processing speed and is expressed as a thousand trillion floating point operations
per second
OBJ 3- HARDWARE COMPONENTS

●​ Functions of a general purpose system:

○​ Input: obtains data for processing
○​ Processing: manipulates data to produce information. multiplying, adding, subtracting, dividing, sorting
etc.
○​ Output: sending information to users.
○​ Storage: keeps the data on electronic storage
●​ The CPU/processor takes raw data, follows a set of instructions (programs) and converts it into information. The
CPU consists of two smaller units known as the CU and ALU
○​ Control Unit- main part of the CPU. It directs and coordinates all activities within the CPU. It
determines the sequence in which instructions are executed. The CU executes an instruction by
performing the following steps:
■​ Fetching the instructions from memory
■​ Decoding the instructions
■​ Fetching the data required by the instructions from memory
■​ Sending the data and instructions to the ALU for processing
■​ Sending the data to memory after processing
○​ ALU- Performs all arithmetic/logic functions in a computer.

○​ Main Memory/Primary Memory/Immediate Access Store(IMAS)

 ■​ This unit of memory is directly accessible to the CPU and holds data+instructions that the
computer is processing at the time
■​ RAM -This chip is used to hold data and instructions (programs) temporarily while processing is
taking place using that data and program.
■​ DYNAMIC RAM- Dynamic means the memory must be constantly refreshed or it’ll lose its
contents. DRAM is typically used for the main memory in computing devices.
■​ STATIC RAM- SRAM is said to be static because it doesn’t need to be refreshed. SRAM is faster
than DRAM.

●​ Types of Secondary Storage Devices:

○​ MAGNETIC- use magnetic fields to magnetise tiny individual sections of a metal spinning disk.
■​ E.g. Magnetic Disks, Floppy disks, hard disk drives, magnetic tapes
○​ OPTICAL- use a laser to scan the surface of a spinning disc made from metal and plastic.
■​ E.g. CD, DVD and Blu-ray discs
○​ SOLID STATE - Solid state devices use non-volatile random access memory (RAM) to store data
indefinitely
■​ E.g. solid state drives,USB drives, memory cards, flash drive
●​ MAGNETIC
○​ Magnetic Disk- circular platter with metallic coating that is rotated beneath read/write heads. It is a
RAM; read/write head can be moved to any location on the platter.
○​ Floppy Disk- small removable disks that are plastic coated with magnetic recording material. Floppy
disks are typically 3.5″ in diameter and hold 1.44 MB of data. This portable storage device is a rewritable
media and can be reused a number of times. Floppy disks are commonly used to move files between
different computers. The main disadvantage of floppy disks is that they can be damaged easily and,
therefore, are not very reliable
○​ Hard Disk- consists of one or more rigid metal plates coated with a metal oxide material that allows data
to be magnetically recorded on the surface of the platters. The hard disk platters spin at a high rate of
speed, typically 5400-7200RPM. Storage capacities of hard disks for personal computers range from 10
GB-120 GB

●​ OPTICAL
○​ CD-ROM (read only)
○​ CD-R: (record) to a CD
○​ CD-RW: can write and erase
○​ DVD(Digital Video Disk)
■​ CD: Compact Disk with data storage capacity between 650-700 MB. It contains digital
information that can be read, but cannot be rewritten.
 ■​ DVD Digital Versatile/Video Disk is similar to a CD but has larger storage capacity and
enormous clarity. Depending upon the disk type it can store several Gigabytes of data.
●​ DVDs are primarily used to store music or movies and can be played back on your
television or the computer too. They are not rewritable media.
■​ DVD-ROM- Over 4 GB storage
●​ Many recordable formats (e.g., DVD-R, DVD-RW). More compact than a CD. Special
laser is needed to read them
○​ Blu-ray- name is derived from the blue-violet laser used
■​ Data capacity is very large because Blu-ray uses a blue laser(405 nanometers) instead of a red
laser(650 nanometers) this allows the data tracks on the disc to be very compact. This allows for
more than twice as small pits as on a DVD.
●​ SOLID STATE
○​ Flash Drives- (jump drives, thumb drives, pen drives, and USB keychain drives) small data storage
device that uses flash memory and has a built-in USB connection.
○​ Can store several GBs of information. Since they are small but have large storage capacities, flash drives
have replaced most previous portable data storage mediums such as floppy disks and removable hard
disks like Zip disks. Because they have a built-in USB connection, flash drives also don't require a special
disk drive to be used. Instead, they can be used on any computer with a USB port, which nearly all
modern computers have.

Medium Cost Capacity Speed of Portability Durability Reliability Typical use

and type access

Hard disk -
magnetic
Cheap 500GB-1 Slow
2 TB extrnl dvce-
portable
dropped ⏸
Intrnl dvce- fixed, reasonable, damaged if Generally reliable if Long-term storage of
looked after ( ) programs and data

CD-ROM/R Very cheap 640 MB Very Very portable Easily ⏸ Backups, archives, copies

⏸⏸
- optical slow damaged/broken/scratch of data or distribution of

CD-RW -
optical
Very cheap 640 MB Very
slow
Very portable
ed ( )
⏸ programs , music
Copies of
data/transferring files

DVD-ROM/ Cheap
R - optical
4.7 GB Slow Very portable ⏸ ⏸ between computers
Backups, copies of data,
distribution of games,

DVD-RW - Expensive 4.7 GB Slow Very portable ⏸ ⏸ films

Backups, archives/copies
optical
Blu-ray-RO Very cheap 50 GB Slow Very portable ⏸ ⏸ of data
Distribution of films
M/R - optical
Blu-ray-RW Very cheap 50 GB
- optical
Slow Very portable ⏸ ⏸ Backups or archives

●​ Memory is made up of bistable devices- the components that make up memory can be set to one of two states
either on (1) or off (0).
●​ A byte=8 bits- represents one character (letter/punctuation/blank space)
●​ Word- amt of bits computer can process in 1 operation. 32,64
●​ Word size/length- amount of bits in a word
Name Symbol Number of bytes Equal to
Kilobyte KB 1024 1024 bytes
Megabyte MB 1048576 1024 KB
Gigabyte GB 1073741824 1024 MB
Terabyte TB 1099511627776 1024 GB
Petabyte PB 1125899906842624 1024 TB
Exabyte EB 1152921504606846976 1024 PB
Zettabyte ZB 1180591620717411303424 1024 EB
Yottabyte YB 1208925819614629174706176 1024 ZB

OBJ 4- COMPUTER FUNDAMENTALS

●​ A computer is any electronic device that performs 4 basic functions. These functions make up the IPOS
cycle.
●​ Input- gets data into the computer for processing
●​ Processing- turns data into information. The CPU receives directions from the OS software and the
application software. This allows the CPUt to perform operations based on the input of data.
○​ pressing a key on a keyboard will send a signal to the computer. The computer will then process
this signal to display on the screen.
●​ Output- Allows you to see/hear the results of processing
●​ Storage- Info is stored for future use. RAM is lost when the computer is turned off.
●​ Fetching the instructions and data from memory
●​ Decoding the instructions
●​ Fetching the data required by the instructions from memory
●​ Sending the data and instructions to the ALU for processing
●​ Sending the data to memory after processing