BCM 2205:

Computer Application for Business

Computer Hardware

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 Memory: EXTERNAL STORAGE
Secondary Memory (External storage):
✓ Non-volatile, so it is generally used to store data for a long time.
✓The primary memory which is faster (and hence expensive) is generally not sufficient
for large storage of data.
✓As a result, additional memory, called the auxiliary or secondary memory is used.
✓It is also referred as backup storage as it is used to store large volume of data on a
permanent basis which can be transferred to the primary memory whenever required for
processing.
✓ Data are stored in secondary storage in the same binary codes as in the main
(primary memory) storage.
✓Some of the devices for secondary storages are Floppy Disk, Hard Disk, CD-ROM, DVD
and Flash drive.
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 Memory: EXTERNAL STORAGE
✓ Some storage media can only store a very limited amount of data, whilst others can
store vast amounts...

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 Memory: EXTERNAL STORAGE
✓ The device that actually holds the data is known as the storage
medium (‘media’ is the plural).
✓ The device that saves data onto the storage medium, or reads data
from it, is known as the storage device.

Data storage capacity is measured in bytes (B).

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primary vs secondary storage

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secondary storage devices

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factors to consider when choosing a
secondary storage device
▪ Manner of access supported by the device- is it direct or sequential and what
does the operation need?
▪ Storage capacity- how large is it and what does the application need?
▪ Durability- medium and data retention if data were to be stored for a long time.
▪ Speed of access- data transfer rate
▪ Availability of technical, hardware and software support- from suppliers
▪ Cost of the device acquisition and maintenance.
▪ Ability to edit the data stored.

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 Ways to make a computer faster

▪ Add more memory (RAM)

▪ Remove unnecessary programs from your hard drive
▪ Perform a disk defragmentation
▪ Store large files (video, music, photos) on secondary storage instead of hard
drive.
▪ Reduce the number of programs that are running “in the background”
▪ Empty the recycle bin
▪ Scan your computer for viruses or spyware on a regular basis
▪ Upgrade your hard drive capacity
▪ Upgrade your Internet connection (DSL, cable)
▪ If you use 3-D graphic programs, upgrade your video card
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Expansion Slots and Adapter Cards

Expansion Slot and Adapter Cards

❖ Expansion slot is a socket on the motherboard that can hold an adapter card
❖ Adapter card sometimes called an expansion card
▪ is a circuit board that enhances functions of a component of the system
unit and/or provides connections to peripherals.
❖ Peripheral is a device that connects to a system unit and is controlled by the
processor. Examples: keyboard, printer.

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 Expansion Slots and Adapter Cards

Types of adapter cards

Adapter Card Purpose

Graphics accelerator Increases the speed at which graphics are displayed

Modem Connect other computers through telephone or cable TV line

Network Connects other computers and peripherals

Sound Connects speakers or microphone

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Video Connects a monitor
 Ports and Connectors
Port is the point at which a peripheral device attaches to or communicates
with a system unit so the peripheral can send data to or receive
information from the computer.
▪ Ports are an interface between the
computer and another peripheral
device such as a disk drive, mouse,
printer, modem, monitor, camera,
FLASH drive or keyboard

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 Ports and Connectors
Serial Ports is a type of interface that connects a device to the system
unit by transmitting data one bit at a time.

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Ports and Connectors

Parallel Ports is an
interface that
connects a device
by transferring
more than one bit
at a time.

❖ The printers use a

parallel port.

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 Ports and Connectors

USB Ports, Short for universal serial bus port.

❖ Can connect up to 127 different peripherals together with a single

connector.
❖ USB hub is a device that plugs in a USB port on the system &
contains multiple USB ports.

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 Ports and Connectors

FireWire Ports Previously called an IEEE 1394 port.

❖ It is similar to a USB port in that it can connect multiple types of
device that require faster data transmission speeds to a single
connector, such as digital video camera, color printers, scanners.
❖ Allow you to connect up to 63 devices together.
❖ You can use a FireWire hub to attach multiple devices to a single
FireWire port.
❖ USB and FireWire are replacing all other types of port.

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 Ports and Connectors

Special-Purpose Ports
MIDI Port, short for musical instrument digital interface.
❖ Serial port
❖ Connect the system unit to keyboard.

SCSI Port
❖ A special high-speed parallel port.
❖ Allow you to attach SCSI peripherals such as disk driver and
printers.
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 Buses

A set of electronic signal pathways that allow information and signals to

travel between components inside or outside of a computer.

Buses transfer bits

❖ from input devices to memory.
❖ from the processor to memory, and from memory to the processor.
❖ from memory to output devices.

Takes time to get data from main memory, so it’s slower than registers.

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 Buses
There are Three kinds of busses linked between the CPU, primary storage
and the other devices in the computer system:
• Data bus
– Pass information in bi-directional manner.
• Address bus
– Transmits signals for locating a given address in primary storage,
indicating where data should be placed.
• Control bus
– Transmits signal specifying whether to read or write data to or from
primary storage address, input device or output device.

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 Power Supply

Power Supply
Is a component of the system unit that supplies the computer with power.

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 Input Devices

▪ Input devices are hardware used to translate words, sounds, images, and
actions that people understand into a form that the system unit can
process
▪ Some commonly used input devices:
▪ Keyboard: used to key in characters.
▪ Mouse: used to point to or click on a certain area of the screen.
▪ Microphone: used to input sound into the computer.
▪ Scanner: moves across text and images. It converts scanned data into a
form the system unit can process.
▪ Digitizer: converts graphics and pictorial data into binary inputs
▪ Magnetic Ink Card Reader (MICR): used in banks to process cheques.
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 OUTPUT DEVICES

▪ They translate information that has been processed by the system unit
into a form that humans can understand.
▪ Some commonly used output devices:
▪ Monitors: Present visual images of text and graphics. The clarity of a
monitor refers to the quality of the displayed images.

Two main types of monitors are:

▪ Cathode-Ray Tubes (CRT): similar to TV
▪ Flat-panel monitors: much thinner such as Liquid Crystal Display
(LCD)
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 OUTPUT DEVICES
Factors considered when choosing a monitor:
▪Size: The Larger the monitor the bigger the objects on the screen.
Measured diagonally(in inches) across front of the screen.
▪Resolution: The sharpness /clarity of an image. Determined by the number
of pixels on the screen. The more the pixels, the higher the resolution and
the more clearer an image is.
▪Refresh rate: Number of times per second that the electron guns scan
every pixel on the screen. If not refreshed the screen begins to flicker-
Causes eye strain.
▪Dot pitch: Distance between two like-colored pixels.
The smaller the dot pitch, the finer and more detailed
images will appear on monitor. 22
 OUTPUT DEVICES

▪ Printers: Present the information on paper.

Two main features of printers are:
▪Resolution: the clarity of images produced and measured in dpi (dots
per inch). The higher the dpi, the better the quality of images produced.
▪Speed: measured in the number of pages printed per minute (ppm).

There are two types of printers are:

▪ Impact Printers
▪ Non-Impact Printers

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 Printers: impact printers
▪ The impact printers print the characters by striking them on the ribbon
which is then pressed on the paper.
Characteristics of Impact Printers are the following
▪ Very low consumable costs
▪ Very noisy
▪ Useful for bulk printing due to low cost
▪ There is physical contact with the paper to produce an image
These printers are of two types
▪ Character printers
▪ Line printers
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 character printers

Character printers are the printers which print one character at a time.

These are further divided into two types

▪Dot Matrix Printer(DMP)
▪Daisy Wheel

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 character printers
Dot Matrix Printer
The most popular printers. Each character printed is in form of pattern of
dots and head consists of a Matrix of Pins of size (5*7, 7*9, 9*7 or 9*9)
which come out to form a character
Advantages
▪Inexpensive
▪Widely Used
▪Other language characters can be printed
Disadvantages
▪Slow Speed
▪Poor Quality
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 character printers
Daisy Wheel
Head is lying on a wheel and pins corresponding to characters are like
petals of Daisy (flower name). They are used for word-processing in offices
which require a few letters with very nice quality.
Advantages
▪More reliable than DMP
▪Better quality
▪The fonts of character can be easily changed
Disadvantages
▪Slower than DMP
▪Noisy
▪More expensive than DMP 27
 Line printers

Line printers are the printers which print one line at a time.

These are further divided into two types

▪Drum Printer
▪Chain Printer

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 Line printers
Drum Printer
This printer is like a drum in shape. The surface of drum is divided into a
number of tracks. Total tracks are equal to size of paper i.e. for a paper
width of 132 characters, drum will have 132 tracks. A character set (48, 64
or 96 character set) is embossed on a track. One rotation of drum prints
one line. They are fast in speed and can print 300 to 2000 lines per minute.
Advantages
▪ Very high speed
Disadvantages
▪ Very expensive
▪ Characters’ fonts cannot be changed
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 Line printers
Chain Printer
In this printer, a chain of character sets are used . A standard character set
may have 48, 64, or 96 characters.

Advantages
▪ Character fonts can easily be changed.
▪ Different languages can be used with the same printer.

Disadvantages
▪ Noisy

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 Non - impact printers
Non-impact printers print the characters without using ribbon. These
printers print a complete page at a time, so they are also called Page
Printers.
These printers are of two types
▪ Laser Printers
▪ Inkjet Printers
Characteristics of Non-impact Printers
▪ Faster than impact printers.
▪ They are not noisy.
▪ High quality.
▪ Support many fonts and different character size.
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 Non - impact printers
Laser Printers
They use laser lights to produce the dots needed to form the characters to
be printed on a page.
Advantages
▪Very high speed
▪Very high quality output
▪Give good graphics quality
▪Support many fonts and different character
size
Disadvantages
▪Expensive.
▪Cannot be used to produce multiple copies of a document in a single printing.
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 Non - impact printers
Inkjet Printers
They print characters by spraying small drops of ink onto paper. They
produce high quality output with presentable features. They make less
noise because no hammering is done and these have many styles of
printing modes available. Colour printing is also possible. Some models can
produce multiple copies of printing .
Advantages
▪ High quality printing
▪ More reliable
Disadvantages
▪ Expensive as cost per page is high
▪ Slow as compared to laser printer
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