Information Technology Review
Section 1
Computer – An electronic device that accepts input, processes data, stores it and produces an output.
Computer system – collection of hardware, software, user, and procedures
Supercomputers – used in weather forecasting, climate research, cryptanalysis, oil and gas exploration,
pharmaceutical research, scientific research (making models for rocket ships, making maps for large
countries)
Mainframes - used mainly in transaction processing by large corporations like Digicel, Flow
Embedded devices – ATM, smart TV, smart watch,
Desktop – productivity tools, communication, video creation, recreation
- get power directly from electric grid
Mobile – smartphone, tablet, laptop,
- performs slower than other personal computers because they are powered by low voltage batteries
- component that turns AC to DC current – power supply
IPOS – Input Processing Output Storage
Hardware responsible for processing – CPU and main memory
Processing Cycle
CU – fetches instructions from main memory, decodes instructions(determines where it is going to go
next, is the operation an arithmetic or logic one), monitors the peripheral hardware (input and output
devices),
NB – registers are on the CPU and faster, while RAM is not
Types of Processing
Production of utility bills – batch
Uni rents time to students for a project – time sharing
Printer operated by queue and executes in the queue – online
Weather reports sent out constantly – real time
A processor can use multiple programs independently – multiprocessing
Storage
Two types – primary and secondary
Primary – can be accessed faster because it has no moving parts and ran by electricity,
Secondary – denser than primary storage because materials are cheaper, cheaper then primary storage.
EEPROM and all flash memory falls under the hybrid category- mixture of primary and secondary
storage – components of primary but falls under secondary category
Three main categories of secondary – magnetic disks, magnetic tape, optical disk
**label secondary storage device – [track, sector, track sector] – platter, read by read write head
Types of cloud storage access – pure and hybrid – with pure, data can only be accessed online on
website providing it, while hybrid allows the download and saving of files on the website.
Calculations
Lisa owns a 1 TB hard drive. And a 3GB flash drive. Flash drive has reached full cap. Wants to transfer all
data to hard drive. – data can fit 341 times.
INPUT AND OUTPUT DEVICES
OUTPUT – Softcopy is intangible and temporary (can be modified), while hardcopy is tangible and
permanent.
Information Processing
To ensure information reliability:
- CRAAP test – currency, relevance, authority, accuracy, purpose
- Compare sources for plagiarized information, or information the differs completely
Machine readable – QR codes, bar codes
Human readable – paper-based questionnaire.
Verification – checking of data after it is processed
Validation – mostly computerized check of data for errors before it is processed
Serial ordering and access – magnetic tape
Random ordering and direct access – magnetic disk
Types of Files –
Grandfather – previous version of master file
master – current permanent records
transaction – add, update, delete records in master files
transaction log - records all activities of master file
Section 2
Data Communication – sharing of data between two computers
3 transmission modes – simplex, half duplex and full duplex
Network – two or more interconnected computers
PAN<LAN< MAN< WAN
Most common type of network – LAN
Topologies
Ring – if part of the line is cut, the entire network is down, messages are more organized because of a
token, so the entire network is not flooded woth every message (only sender and receiver see message)
this frees up bandwidth, making it faster than the bus
Bus – network problems are hard to diagnose, if line fails, entire network is down
Star – advan – hib directs data on hub, if one computer is down the rest are not affected since they are
not interconnected, if hub is down, entire network is down
Mesh – if one node fails, the rest remain unaffected, as all nodes are connected to each other multiple
times, so another redundant path can be used; are expensive and difficult to set up
Transmission Media
Wired – twisted pairs coaxial fibre optic,
Wireless – microwave, infrared, satellite, radio waves (Bluetooth and Wi-Fi – wireless fidelity)
Internet -
Intranet – private network that resembles the internet that can be used only by authorized members of
an organization. Eg. Utilizing campion’s intranet to access z-drive
Extranet – authorized users havscarmart allowing special customers access to company inventory using
a special login