Information Technology

Infrastructure
Lecture 4
 A BRIEF LOOK AT THE EVOLUTION OF
COMPUTERS
• Twenty-five years ago, it was virtually unthinkable that somebody
would want to have a computer on their desk.
• Many of the “big” thinkers of the time could not even conceive of
what anyone would possibly do with such a thing.
 Mainframe Computers
• computers were large, multiple cabinet affairs that required special
room conditions and trained operators and programmers.
• They are very powerful with huge amounts of storage and processing
capability.
• The drawbacks to the mainframe computer for use as a personal
computer are its size, its immense amount of computing power, and
its price, which can run into the millions of dollars.
• each mainframe user worked at a terminal, which is a device that
combines a display monitor with a keyboard and is attached directly
to the mainframe computer by a dedicated cable.
 Mainframe Computers
• The terminal, allows the user to send large blocks of data—the contents of the
entire display screen, actually—to the mainframe for processing, and the results
are displayed on the terminal’s monitor.
• The early mainframe user did not have use of a mouse, and all data was entered
as text. Graphical user interfaces (GUI) such as Microsoft Windows or X Windows
were yet to come.
• Today’s mainframe user is more likely to be connected to the mainframe over a
local network and to use a PC as a terminal device.
 Minicomputers
• The minicomputer was developed to serve the computing needs of smaller
companies and the larger departments of corporations.
• The minicomputer, also known today as a midrange computer, has
essentially the same functionality of the larger mainframe computer but on
a smaller scale.
• The mainframe was scaled into a smaller package with most of its functions
remaining and a little less storage and processing power, sold at a reduced
price.
• fulfill the entire computing needs of a small- to medium-sized company as
well as serve as a very powerful communications server. Minicomputers are
much too big, in terms of processing power and size, not to mention price,
to be used as a personal computer.
 supercomputer
• An extremely powerful computer used mostly in research and space,
military, and governmental applications.
• A supercomputer, which can cost tens of millions of dollars, contains
the equivalent of thousands of personal computers that share in the
processing load to solve very large and complex problems in hours or
days instead of weeks, months, or years. A supercomputer is the
largest and most powerful computer, sometimes equaling the power
of several mainframes combined.
 Embedded computer
• An embedded computer is built into another device to control,
monitor, or manage some activity for the device.
• The controls of a microwave oven, the function of your electronic
alarm clock, even your wristwatch most likely, all have at least one,
and probably more, embedded computers.
 The Evolution of Personal Computers
• The software for the MITS was a BASIC programming language
written by a fledgling company called Microsoft. However, like nearly
all early personal computers, the Altair 8800 did not have
off-the-shelf application software, and users had to write their
software themselves using the BASIC language interpreter.
 The Evolution of Personal Computers
• In 1978, after seeing a demonstration of the Altair 8800, two young
computer enthusiasts, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, set out to build
their own computer and developed a computer they named the
Apple I. The Apple II soon followed bolstered by what may have been
the first killer application, an early spreadsheet program called
VisiCalc, and became a commercial success.
 The Evolution of Personal Computers
• It wasn’t long before nearly every mainframe and minicomputer
manufacturer leaped into the personal computer market. IBM, Digital
Equipment, and others soon had their own PCs in the marketplace.
 INTEL
• The term IBM clone refers to personal computers based on the IBM PC AT
architecture, an open architecture that was shared with other computer
manufacturers and became the standard for computers with Intel
microprocessors.
• With several hundred different manufacturers of IBM-type computers, sales
of the clone have far exceeded the sales of the Apple computers. So much
so that the term PC has come to mean non-Apple computers; although
technically Apple computers are personal computers as well.
• In 1971, two pioneering engineers, Robert Noyce and Gordon Moore,
formed Intel to develop and manufacture microprocessors. One of their
first microprocessors, the 8080 , was used in many of the early computers.
 Generations of Computers
• First Generation (1940-1956) Vacuum Tubes
• The first computers used vacuum tubes for circuitry and magnetic
drums for memory, and were often enormous, taking up entire
rooms. They were very expensive to operate and in addition to using
a great deal of electricity, the first computers generated a lot of heat,
which was often the cause of malfunctions.
• First generation computers relied on machine language, the
lowest-level programming language understood by computers, to
perform operations, and they could only solve one problem at a time
First Generation
Second Generation (1956-1963) Transistors
• Transistors replace vacuum tubes and ushered in the second
generation of computers. The transistor was invented in 1947 but did
not see widespread use in computers until the late 1950s.
• Second-generation computers still relied on punched cards for input
and printouts for output.
• Second-generation computers moved from cryptic binary machine
language to symbolic, or assembly, languages, which allowed
programmers to specify instructions in words
Second generation
 Third Generation (1964-1971) Integrated
Circuits
• Transistors were miniaturized and placed on silicon chips, called
semiconductors, which drastically increased the speed and efficiency
of computers.
• users interacted with third generation computers through keyboards
and monitors and interfaced with an operating system, which allowed
the device to run many different applications at one time with a
central program that monitored the memory.
 Fourth Generation (1971-Present)
Microprocessors
• The microprocessor brought the fourth generation of computers, as
thousands of integrated circuits were built onto a single silicon chip.
What in the first generation filled an entire room could now fit in the
palm of the hand.
• Fourth generation computers also saw the development of GUIs, the
mouse and handheld devices.
 Fifth Generation (Present and Beyond)
Artificial Intelligence
• Fifth generation computing devices, based on artificial intelligence,
are still in development, though there are some applications, such as
voice recognition, that are being used today.
• The goal of fifth-generation computing is to develop devices that
respond to natural language input and are capable of learning and
self-organization.
 AN OVERVIEW OF SYSTEMS AND
COMPONENTS
• Regardless of the size of the package, personal computers all have the
same six groups of hardware components:
• Input devices
• Output (display) devices
• Processor/motherboard
• Storage devices
• Adapters/peripherals
• Power supply
 Input Devices
• Used to send data into the computer
• Over the years, the most common input device has been the
keyboard. However, in the past few years, it has been a dead heat
between the keyboard and mouse.
• touchpad
 Output Devices
• Used to display output from the computer
• Printers and Displays
• Sound Devices
 Digital versus Analog
• The digital signal is either one value or another; there are no
in-between values.
• the analog signal fluctuates among a series of values, all of which are
represented on the wave line. This could represent the rise and fall of
a sound wave or any other event made up of a series of related
increasing or decreasing values.
 ELECTRICITY AND THE PC
• Electricity flows through a circuit in much the same manner as water
flows through a pipe or hose.
• When water is flowing through a pipe, it is pushed along by a
measurable rate of pressure.
• This pressure is measured in units called volts.
• While the water is flowing through a pipe or hose, it experiences
some loss of pressure through friction. The same thing happens to
electricity as it flows through a circuit: there is friction that causes a
loss in pressure. This friction is called resistance and is measured in
units called ohms.
 ELECTRICITY AND THE PC
• The amount of water that flows through a pipe for a specified length of time, such as the gallons-per-minute, is
called the volume of the water flow. For an electrical current, volume, or the rate of flow, is measured in amps.
current is equal to the voltage divided by the resistance. I=V/r
• Another electrical term you should know is watt. The amps (rate of electrical flow) in combination with the volts
(pressure in a circuit) form the watts, or the electrical power in a circuit. When an electrical circuit is open, there
is no current or flow in the electricity. However, there can still be pressure (volts) in the circuit. power equals
voltage multiplied by current. W=VI
• Lets say you have 1000 watts of loads to run. This is equal to:
• 83.3 amps at 12 volts
• 41.6 amps at 24 volts
• 20.8 amps at 48 volts
• 8.3 amps at 120 volts
• 4.1 amps at 240 volts
• A standard household electrical outlet has voltage (electrical pressure) just waiting for you to plug in a
household appliance, which completes the circuit and starts the flow. This is why you don’t want to stick your
finger into an electrical outlet.
 ELECTRICITY AND THE PC
• All appliances have a face plate which contains all of its electrical
data. Lets suppose you have a microwave oven. Often, the
manufacturer will list an amp requirement on the electrical data face
plate. If the rating is 8.3 amps. To find the wattage multiply this by the
homes voltage of 120 volts. This equals 996 watts.
• To take this one step further. Lets see how much power the
microwave will use in one day. If you use the microwave for 2 hours a
day. We multiply the hours per day by the watts to get watt-hours per
day. 996*2=1992 watt-hours per day. When sizing a system this
formula is very important in determining the total power you use per
day.
 AC Power and DC Power
• An electrical current is a movement of electrons through a copper
wire or some other conducive property. There are two types of
electrical currents: alternating current (AC) and direct current (DC).
• Alternating current (AC) changes the direction of the electrical flow
at a rate of about 60 times per second. The voltage changes from a
positive charge to a negative charge, causing the electrical flow to
change directions.
 AC Power and DC Power
• The electrical flow in a direct current (DC) keeps a constant pace and
flows in the same direction all the time. Direct current flows from a
negative charge to a positive charge and does not fluctuate. AC power
is what you very likely have at your standard household electrical
outlets , but DC is what the computer must have to operate properly.
 The Electronic Building Blocks of the PC
• It is the function of the power supply to convert the AC power to DC power.
• Four primary electronic components are used on virtually every electronic circuit inside the
computer. Each of these components provides a specifically different function to each circuit. These
components are resistors, capacitors, diodes, and transistors.
• A resistor slows down the flow of electrical current in a circuit.
• A capacitor is used to store electrical charges. Most of the computer’s capacitors are small, but
there are some large capacitors in the computer that hold enough charge to kill you, such as those
in the monitor and power supply.
• A diode forces the electricity to flow in one way only.
• A transistor, which was mentioned earlier in the chapter, stores a single binary digit (bit).
• Another basic electronic component found in the circuitry of the PC is the logic gate. A logic gate is
created from a combination of resistors, capacitors, diodes, and transistors. Circuits are made up of
logic gates and electronic systems are made up of circuits. Perhaps the most important electronic
component in the computer is the microprocessor.
 Power Supply
• convert the AC input to lower DC voltages. The typical voltages
supplied are:
• 3.3 volts
• 5 volts
• 12 volts
• The 3.3- and 5-volts are typically used by digital circuits, while the
12-volt is used to run motors in disk drives and fans
Power Supply
Power Supply
• using ATX-based power supplies. ATX is an industry specification that
means the power supply has the physical characteristics to fit a
standard ATX case and the electrical characteristics to work with an
ATX motherboard.
• PC power-supply cables use standardized, keyed connectors that
make it difficult to connect the wrong ones. Also, fan manufacturers
often use the same connectors as the power cables for disk drives,
allowing a fan to easily obtain the 12 volts it needs
Power Supply
• A 400-watt switching power supply will not necessarily use more
power than a 250-watt supply. A larger supply may be needed if you
use every available slot on the motherboard or every available drive
bay in the personal computer case. It is not a good idea to have a
250-watt supply if you have 250 watts total in devices, since the
supply should not be loaded to 100 percent of its capacity.
Power Supply
• Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP) card = 20 to 30W
• PCI Express card 25W for normal cards, Vga cards up to 75W
• Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) card = 5W
• small computer system interface (SCSI) PCI card = 20 to 25W
• network interface card = 4W
• 50X CD-ROM drive = 10 to 25W
• RAM = 10W per 128M
• 5200 RPM Integrated Drive Electronics (IDE) hard disk drive = 5 to 11W
• 7200 RPM IDE hard disk drive = 5-15W
• Motherboard (without CPU or RAM) = 20 to 30W
Power Supply
• A typical failure of a PC power supply is often noticed as a burning smell just before the
computer shuts down. Another problem could be the failure of the vital cooling fan, which
allows components in the power supply to overheat. Failure symptoms include
• Strange noises may emit from the back of the computer case where the cord is located.
• When the computer is turned on, nothing happens. Sometimes this may coincide with a
flashing light on the front of the computer or an indicator on the back of the PSU (if
equipped).
• The computer turns on for a couple of seconds and then turns right back off. While this
can be a power supply issue, it may also indicate motherboard failures.
• The computer is on for a while, but maybe while you're playing a game or using another
application it just randomly turns off without warning. It might also display a blue screen
of death.
• random rebooting or failure in Windows for no apparent reason.