SAJITH.

K(BS)

CHAPTER : 1 : COMPUTER SYSTEM (NOTES)

COMPUTER SYSTEM
A computer is an electronic device that processes data, converting it into
information that is useful to people. Any computer- regardless of its type- is
controlled by programmed instructions, which gives the machine a purpose
and tell it what to do.
A computer is:

 An electronic device
 Can be programmed
 Accept data
 Processes the data
 Generate output
 Works with the help of hardware and software

COMPONENTS
OF COMPUTER

INPUT/OUTPUT STORAGE
CPU MEMORY
DEVICES DEVICES

BLOCK DIAGRAM OF COMPUTER SYSTEM

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CENTRAL PROCESSING UNIT (CPU)

It is the electronic circuitry of a computer that carries out the actual processing
and is usually referred to as the brain of the computer. It is also commonly
called 'microprocessor' .

Basic Working of CPU

 A CPU can be placed on one or more microchips called integrated
circuits (IC). The ICs comprise semiconductor materials.
 The CPU is given instructions and data through programs. The CPU
then fetches the program and data from the memory and performs
arithmetic and logical operations as per the given instructions and
stores the result back to memory.
 While processing, the CPU stores the data as well as instructions in
its local memory, 'called' registers.

ALU performs all the arithmetic and logic

ALU operations that need to be done as per the
instruction in a program.

CU controls sequential instruction execution,

interprets instructions and guides data flow
CU output
devices.

Different registers are used for storing data,

REGISTERS instructions or intermediate results
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INPUT DEVICES

An input device is a piece of computer hardware equipment used to provide

data and control signals to an information processing system such as a
computer or information appliance

 Data entered through input device is temporarily stored in the main memory (also
called RAM) of the computer system..

Keyboard
Keyboard is the most common and very popular input device which helps to input data to the
computer. The layout of the keyboard is like that of traditional typewriter, although there are
some additional keys provided for performing additional functions.

Mouse
Mouse is the most popular pointing device. It is a very famous cursor-control device having a
small palm size box with a round ball at its base, which senses the movement of the mouse
and sends corresponding signals to the CPU when the mouse buttons are pressed.

Joystick
Joystick is also a pointing device, which is used to move the cursor position on a monitor
screen. The joystick can be moved in all four directions. It is mainly used in Computer Aided
Designing (CAD) and playing computer games.
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Light Pen
Light pen is a pointing device similar to a pen. It is used to select a displayed menu item or
draw pictures on the monitor screen.

Scanner
Scanner is an input device, which works more like a photocopy machine. Scanner captures
images from the source which are then converted into a digital form that can be stored on the
disk. These images can be edited before they are printed.

Microphone
Microphone is an input device to input sound that is then stored in a digital form.

Magnetic Ink Card Reader (MICR)

MICR input device is generally used in banks as there are large number of cheques to be
processed every day. The bank's code number and cheque number are printed on the cheques
with a special type of ink that contains particles of magnetic material that are machine
readable.
This reading process is called Magnetic Ink Character Recognition (MICR). The main
advantages of MICR is that it is fast and less error prone.

Optical Character Reader (OCR)

OCR is an input device used to read a printed [Link] scans the text optically, character by
character, converts them into a machine readable code, and stores the text on the system
memory.

Bar Code Readers

Bar Code Reader is a device used for reading bar coded data (data in the form of light and
dark lines). Bar coded data is generally used in labelling goods, numbering the books, etc. It
may be a handheld scanner or may be embedded in a stationary scanner.
Bar Code Reader scans a bar code image, converts it into an alphanumeric value, which is
then fed to the computer that the bar code reader is connected to.

Optical Mark Reader (OMR)

OMR is a special type of optical scanner used to recognize the type of mark made by pen or
pencil. It is specially used for checking the answer sheets of examinations having multiple
choice questions.

Braille Keyboards
Specially designed braille keyboards are also available to help the visually impaired for
entering data into a computer.
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OUTPUT UNIT

The output unit consists of output devices that are attached with the
computer. It converts the binary data coming from CPU to human
understandable from. For example, monitor, projector, headphone, speaker,
printer, etc

OUTPUT
DEVICES

SPEAKER PRINTER PROJECTER

Most commonly used Output devices are:

Visual Display Unit/Monitor – CRT, LCD, Plasma or

Touch Sensitive:
A monitor is an output device that is responsible for receiving data from a
computer and displaying that information as text or images for users to see.

Printer
A printer is the most commonly used device to get output in physical
(hardcopy) form.

PRINTERS

DOT 3D
INKJET LASERJET
MATRIX PRINTERS
3D-printer:
 used to build physical replica of a digital 3D design.
 used in manufacturing industries to create prototypes of products.
 explored in the medical field, particularly for developing body organs.

Speakers:
Receives sound signal from a computer and then plays that sound signal
and thus we hear songs or music or any other audio.
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Plotters
Produces high quality images and drawings commonly used for CAD).

Projecter
Gets data from a computer and displays or projects the same information onto a
screen or a wall. Projector cannot directly accept data from a user and send that
data to another device.

EVOLUTION OF COMPUTER:- Read from the text Book

 Electronic Numerical Integrator And Computer (ENIAC) is the first

binary programmable computer based on Von Neumann architecture.
 In 1970s, Large Scale Integration (LSI) of electronic circuits allowed
integration of complete CPU on a single chip, called microprocessor.
 In 1980s, the processing power of computers increased exponentially by
integrating around 3 million components on a small-sized chip termed as
Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI).
 Further advancement in technology has made it feasible to fabricate high
density of transistors and other components (approx 106 components) on
a single IC called Super Large Scale Integration (SLSI).
 IBM introduced its first personal computer (PC) for the home user in
1981.
 Apple introduced Macintosh machines in 1984.
 Around 1990s, the growth of world wide web (WWW) further accelerated
mass usage of computers and thereafter computers have become an
indispensable part of everyday life.
 With the introduction of laptops, personal computing was made portable
to a great extent. This was followed by smartphones, tablets and other
personal digital assistants.

 The next wave of computing devices includes wearable gadgets such as

smart watch, lenses, headbands, headphones, etc.
 Further, smart appliances are becoming a part of the Internet of Things
(IoT), by leveraging the power of artificial intelligence.

COMPUTER MEMORY
A computer system needs memory to store the data and instructions for
processing.
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MEMORY

PRIMARY SECONDARY CACHE

MEMORY MEMORY MEMORY

UNITS OF MEMORY

PRIMARY MEMORY
 The primary memory is an essential component of a computer
system.
 Program and data are loaded into the primary memory before
processing.
 The CPU interacts directly with the primary memory to perform
read/ write operation.
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TYPES OF PRIMARY
MEMORY

RAM ROM

RAM: RANDOM ACCESS MEMORY

• RAM is volatile i.e. as long as the power is supplied to the computer, it

retains the data in it.

• It is used to store data temporarily while thecomputer is working.

• Whenever the computer is started or a software application is

launched, the required program and data are loaded into RAM for
processing.

• RAM is usually referred to as main memory and it is faster than the

secondary memory or storage devices.

ROM: READ ONLY MEMORY

 ROM is non-volatile, means its contents are not lost even when the power is
turned off.
 It is used as a small but faster permanent storage for the contents which
are rarely changed.
 The startup program (boot loader) that loads the operating system into
RAM is stored in a ROM.
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CACHE MEMORY

 To speed up the operations of the CPU, a very high speed memory is

placed between the CPU and the primary memory known as cache.

 It stores the copies of the data from frequently accessed primary memory
locations, thus, reducing the average time required to access data from
primary memory.

 When the CPU needs to access memory, it first examines the cache. In
case the requirement is met, it is read from the cache, otherwise the
primary memory is accessed.

SECONDARY MEMORY

If we need to store large amount of data or programs permanently, we need a

cheaper and permanent memory. Such memory is called secondary memory.

CHARACTERISTICS OF SECONDARY MEMORY

 It is non-volatile, i.e. it retains data when power is switched off.
 It is large capacities to the tune of terabytes.
 It is slower and cheaper as compared to primary memory.
 It cannot be accessed directly by the CPU.
 There are secondary storage devices like Solid-State Drive (SSD)
which support very fast data transfer speed as compared to earlier
HDDs.
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EXAMPLES OF SECONDARY MEMORY

 Hard Disk Drive (HDD)
 CD/ DVD
 Memory Card

COMPARISON OF PRIMARY MEMORY AND SECONDARY MEMORY

DATA CAPTURING, STORAGE, AND RETRIEVAL

Steps for Processing of Data:

INPUT or CAPTURE THE

DATA

STORING THE DATA IN A

FILE or DATABASE

RETRIEVAL OF DATA
FROM FILE or DATABASE

Data Capturing :
 It involves the process of gathering data from different sources in digital
form.

 Data may be captured using, keyboard, bar code readers, remore sensors
on earth orbiting satellites etc. comments/ports over multiple social media
are also captured as data.
SAJITH.K(BS)

Data Storage:

 It is the process of storing the captured data for processing later.

 Since data is being produced at a very high rate , it has become quite
challenging to store the data.
 With the increasing demand of storage of data there is decrease in the
cost of storage devices.
 In large organisations, computers with larger and faster storage called
data servers are deployed to store vast amount of data. Such dedicated
computers help in processing data efficiently.
 The cost (both hardware and software) of setting up a data server as well
as its maintenance is high, especially for small organisations and startups.
Data Retrieval
 It involves fetching data from the storage devices, for its processing as
per the user requirement.
 Minimising data access time is crucial for faster data processing.
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DATA DELETION AND RECOVERY

THREAT DELETION
OF
TO
DATA
DIGITAL DATA

REASONS FOR DELETION OF DATA 






MALFUNCTION OR CRASH
OF STORAGE DEVICE


ACCIDENTAL ERASE OF
DATA BY USER


HACKER/MALWARE
DELETES THE DIGITAL DATA



DATA RECOVERY

Data recovery is a process of retrieving deleted, corrupted and lost data from
secondary storage devices.
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IMPORTANT:
Recovery of the data is possible only if the contents/memory space marked as deleted have
not been overwritten by some other data.

SECURITY CONCERNS ASOCIATED WITH DATA






DELETION BY • We can limit the access to the computer system and use
passwords for user accounts and files
UNAUTHORISED • Encrypting files to protect them from unwanted
PERSON/SOFTWARE modification.

• We discard our old, broken or malfunctioning storage

UNWANTED devices without taking care to delete data
• if these storage devices fall into the hands of mischief-
RECOVER OF DATA BY mongers, they can easily recover data from such devices;
UNAUTHORISED this poses a threat to data confidentiality
USER/SOFTWARE • using proper tools to delete or shred data before
disposing off any old or faulty storage device.

SOFTWARE

The software comprises of set of instructions which on execution deliver the

desired outcome. It comprises of the instructions and data to be processed using
the computer hardware
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CHARACTERISTICS OF SOFTWARE

 Hardware needs to be operated by a set of instructions or software.

 We cannot touch the software or view physically.
 It comprises of the instructions and data to be processed using the
computer hardware.
 Each software is written for some computational purpose.
 The computer software and hardware complete any task together.

COMPARISON BETWEEN HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE

SAJITH.K(BS)

EXAMPLES OF SOFTWARE
UBUNTU
OPERATING SYSTEM WINDOWS 7
WINDOWS 10

WORD PROCESSING MS WORD

TOOLS LIBRE OFFICE WRITER

VLC PLAYER
VIDEO PLAYER KM PLAYER

PAINT
PHOTO EDITOR LIBRE OFFICE DRAW

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SOFTCOPY AND HARDCOPY

SOFTCOPY HARDCOPY
A document or Once printed, the
image stored on the document or an
hard disk or pen image is called a
drive is referred to hardcopy.
as a softcopy

NEED OF A SOFTWARE
 A software makes computer hardware useful and operational.
 A software makes different hardware components of a computer work
and communicate with each other as well as with the end user.
 Software acts as an interface between human users and the hardware.
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CLASSIFICATION OF SOFTWARE

TYPES OF
SOFTWARE

SYSTEM PROGRAMMING APPLICATION

SOFTWARE TOOLS SOFTWARE

SYSTEM SOFTWARE

SYSTEM
SOFTWARE

OPERATING SYSTEM DEVICE DRIVERS

SYSTEM UTILITIES

WINDOWS, ANTIVIRU
MACINTOSH, SOFTWARE, DISK
UBUNTU, ANDRIOD, CLEANUP, DISK
IOS DEFRAGMENTATION

The software that provides the basic functionality to operate a computer by

interacting directly with its constituent hardware is termed as system software.

FEATURES OF SYSTEM SOFTWARE

 A system software operates and use different hardware components of a
computer.
 It provides services directly to the end user.
 Examples of system software include operating systems, system utilities,
device drivers, etc.
SAJITH.K(BS)

(A) Operating System

 Operating system is a system software that operates the computer.
 An operating system is the most basic system software, without which
other software cannot work.
 The operating system manages other application programs.
 It provides access and security to the users of the system.
 Some of the popular operating systems are Windows, Linux, Macintosh,
Ubuntu, Fedora, Android, iOS, etc.
(B) System Utilities
 Software used for maintenance and configuration of the computer system
is called system utility.
 Some system utilities are shipped with the operating system, for example
disk defragmentation tool, formatting utility, system restore utility, etc.
 Another set of utilities are those which are not shipped with the operating
system but are required to improve the performance of the system, for
example, anti-virus software, disk cleaner tool, disk compression
software, etc.

(C) Device Drivers

 The purpose of a device driver is to ensure proper functioning of a particular
device.
 Everyday new devices and components are being added to a computer
system. The responsibility for overall control, operation, and management
of a particular device at the hardware level is delegated to its device driver.
 The device driver acts as an interface between the device and the
operating system.
 It provides required services by hiding the details of operations
performed at the hardware level of the device.
 A device driver acts as a mediator between the operating system and the
attached device.

APPLICATION SOFTWARE
An application is any program, or group of programs, that is designed for the end
user. Applications software (also called end-user programs) include such things as
database programs, word processors, Web browsers and spreadsheets.

Application softwares are classified into two [Link] are

(A) General Purpose Software
 The application software developed for generic applications, to cater to a
bigger audience in general are called general purpose software.
 Such ready-made application software can be used by end users as per
their requirements.
 For example, spreadsheet tool LibreOffice Calc can be used by any
computer user to do calculation or to create an account sheet. Adobe
Photoshop, GIMP, Mozilla web browser, iTunes, etc. fall in the category of
general purpose software
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(B) Customised Software

 These are custom or tailor-made application software, that are developed
to meet the requirements of a specific organisation or an individual.
 They are better suited to the needs of an individual or an organisation,
considering that they are designed as per special requirements.
 Some examples of user-defined software include websites, school
management software, accounting software, etc. It is similar to buying a
piece of cloth with specific color and fabric and get it stitched as desired.

PROPRIETARY OR FREE AND OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE

FOSS (FREE AND OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE)

Developers of some software allow public to freely use their software along with
source code with an aim to improve further with each other’s help. Such software
is known as Free and Open Source Software (FOSS).
For example, the source code of operating system Ubuntu is freely accessible for
anyone with the required knowledge to improve/add new functionality.
More examples of FOSS include Python, Libreoffice, Openoffice, Mozilla Firefox,
etc.

FREEWARE

Sometimes, software are freely available for use but source code may not be
available. Such software is called freeware. Examples of freeware are Skype, Adobe
Reader etc.

PROPRIETARY SOFTWARE

When software to be used has to be purchased from the vendor who has the
copyright of the software, then it is a proprietary software.
Examples of proprietary software include Microsoft Windows, Tally, Quickheal
etc.