Business Plug-In B3

Hardware and Software

Basics

Copyright 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.
LEARNING OUTCOMES
1. Describe the six major categories of
hardware and provide an example of each

2. Identify the different computer categories

and explain their potential business uses

3. Identify the two main types of software

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 Overview
O HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE BASICS

O Hardware Basics

O Computer Categories

O Software Basics

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 INTRODUCTION
O Information technology (IT) - Any computer-based
tool that people use to work with information and
support the information and information-
processing needs of an organization
O Hardware

O Software -

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 HARDWARE BASICS
O Computer - An electronic device operating
under the control of instructions stored in its
own memory that can accept, manipulate, and
store data
O Hardware components include:
1. Central processing unit (CPU)
2. Primary storage
3. Secondary storage
4. Input device
5. Output device
6. Communication device

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HARDWARE BASICS

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HARDWARE BASICS

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HARDWARE BASICS

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 Central Processing Unit
O Central processing unit (CPU) (or microprocessor) -
The actual hardware that interprets and executes the
program (software) instructions and coordinates how
all the other hardware devices work together

O Control unit - Interprets software instructions and

literally tells the other hardware devices what to do,
based on the software instructions

O Arithmetic-logic unit (ALU) - Performs all arithmetic

operations (for example, addition and subtraction)
and all logic operations (such as sorting and
comparing numbers)

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 Central Processing Unit
O The number of CPU cycles per second determines
the speed of a CPU
O Megahertz (MHz) - The number of millions of CPU
cycles per second

O Gigahertz (GHz) - The number of billions of CPU

cycles per second

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 Central Processing Unit
O CPU speed factors
O Clock speed

O Word length

O Bus width

O Chip line width

O Binary digit (bit) - The smallest unit of information

that a computer can process
O Byte - A group of eight bits representing one
natural language character

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Advances in CPU Design
O Complex instruction set computer (CISC) chip -
Type of CPU that can recognize as many as 100
or more instructions, enough to carry out most
computations directly
O Reduced instruction set computer (RISC) chip -
Limit the number of instructions the CPU can
execute to increase processing speed
O Virtualization - A protected memory space
created by the CPU allowing the computer to
create virtual machines

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 Primary Storage
O Primary storage - The computers main memory,
which consists of the random access memory
(RAM), cache memory, and the read-only memory
(ROM) that is directly accessible to the CPU

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 Random Access Memory
(RAM)
O Random access memory (RAM) - The computers
primary working memory, in which program
instructions and data are stored so that they can be
accessed directly by the CPU via the processors
high-speed external data bus
O Volatility
O Cache memory

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Random Access Memory
(RAM)

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 Read-Only Memory
(ROM)
O Read-only memory (ROM) - The portion of a computers
primary storage that does not lose its contents when
one switches off the power
O Flash memory

O Memory card

O Memory stick

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 Secondary Storage
O Secondary storage - Consists of equipment
designed to store large volumes of data for long-
term storage
O Megabyte (MB or M or Meg) - Roughly 1 million bytes

O Gigabyte (GB) - Roughly 1 billion bytes

O Terabyte (TB) - Roughly 1 trillion bytes

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Secondary Storage

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 Magnetic Medium
O Magnetic medium - A secondary storage medium that uses
magnetic techniques to store and retrieve data on disks or
tapes coated with magnetically sensitive materials

O Magnetic tape - An older secondary storage medium that

uses a strip of thin plastic coated with a magnetically
sensitive recording medium

O Hard drive - A secondary storage medium that uses several

rigid disks coated with a magnetically sensitive material and
housed together with the recording heads in a hermetically
sealed mechanism

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 Optical Medium
O Optical medium types include:
O Compact disk-read-only memory (CD-ROM)
O Compact disk-read-write (CD-RW) drive
O Digital video disk (DVD)
O DVD-ROM drive
O Digital video disk-read/write (DVD-RW)

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 Input Devices
O Input device - Equipment used to capture
information and commands

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Input
Devices

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 Output Devices
O Monitors

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 Output Devices
O Printers

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Communication Devices
O Communication device - Equipment used to
send information and receive it from one
location to another
O Dial-up access
O Cable
O Digital subscriber line
O Wireless
O Satellite

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 COMPUTER CATEGORIES
O For the past 20 years, federally funded
supercomputing research has given birth to some of
the computer industrys most significant technology
breakthroughs including:
O Clustering

O Parallel processing

O Mosaic browser

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COMPUTER CATEGORIES
O Computer categories include:
O Personal digital assistant (PDA)
O Laptop
O Tablet
O Desktop
O Workstation
O Minicomputer
O Mainframe computer
O Supercomputer

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SOFTWARE BASICS

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 SOFTWARE BASICS
O System software - Controls how the various
technology tools work together along with the
application software
O Operating system software

O Utility software

O Application software

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 Utility Software
O Types of utility software
O Crash-proof
O Disk image
O Disk optimization
O Encrypt data
O File and data recovery
O Text protect
O Preventative security
O Spyware
O Uninstaller

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 Application Software
O Types of application software
O Bowser
O Communication
O Data management
O Desktop publishing
O Email
O Groupware
O Presentation graphics
O Programming
O Spreadsheet
O Word processing

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