Computer Fundamentals PDF

Computer Fundamentals: Students are required to understand the makeup of personal computer systems in terms of hardware and software, data storage and memory. Students also need to understand how information networks are used within computing and be aware of the uses of computer-based software appli...

Computer Fundamentals: Students are required to understand the makeup of personal computer systems in terms of hardware and software, data storage and memory. Students also need to understand how information networks are used within computing and be aware of the uses of computer-based software applications in everyday life. Describe the main functional blocks of a computer system and how they work in sequence to process information. Learning Outcomes Hardware: Identify and describe the function of different hardware components such as CPU, storage systems, types of memory like RAM, ROM, etc... and common input and output devices. Compare and contrast different types of computers, including network computers, personal computers, laptops and PDAs. Explain the terms Hertz (incl. MHz, GHz) and byte (incl. KB, MB, GB, TB). Software: Identify and explain the different types of software: operating systems, application software and programming software. Install and uninstall software applications. Working with Computers: Identify the requirements for a computer suitable for purchasing for student usage. Demonstrate a basic understanding of computer ergonomics (seating, lighting, positioning, ventilation, etc.) and explain the common health problems associated with computer usage and the ways to avoid them. Explain the concept of software copyright. Explain the terms shareware, freeware, and end-user license agreement. Explain the Omani data protection legislation. Demonstrate basic keyboard skills. Sultan Qaboos University 1 Basic Computing Skills  Introduction of Computer Fundamentals Computer fundamentals help students understand the world of computer technologies that surrounds them, and give them the necessary IT skills to perform their work at home, in the office, or anywhere.. People wakes up in the morning by the alarm or ringtone of a mobile phone or by a digital alarm clock. Sometimes, before breakfast, a person can messages, etc. from social networking applications, read or watch the news on his computer, tablet or smartphone. While travelling to the university or workplace, drivers are traffic flow, or to get direction. In the university, a student works on assignments using computers, or accesses the library through laptops. When dining in a restaurant, the cashier uses a computerized system to take orders and sends them automatically to the kitchen for food preparation. Nearly everyone pays bills using a debit or credit card. Evening entertainment includes watching favorite shows, viewed on a digital TV connected to the Internet. Indeed, In this chapter, students are expected to understand different parts of a personal computer, in terms of hardware, software, data storage, memory and how information networks are used within computers, usages of computer-based software applications in their everyday life, and factors to consider when buying a computer or laptop. PART 1 - COMPUTER BASICS What is a computer? A computer is an electronic machine that takes data from input devices, processes data in processing cards, and generates required information to output devices, and/or stores it if desired in storage devices. relates to the word means calculate. Computer System A computer system is made up of multiple electronic components that consist of four broad categories, serving in the information processing cycle. See Figure 1.1. Figure 1.1: The Information Processing Cycle Sultan Qaboos University 2 Basic Computing Skills  Input: Those components that help the user to insert data into the computer, like the keyboard, mouse, and touchscreen. Processing: Those components process data inside the computer, like CPU, graphic card, sound card, and other components inside the system unit. Storage: Those components store software and data until needed, like hard drives, USB flash drives, and optical devices. Output: Those components provide results of processing to the user, like the monitor, projector, and printer. Characteristics of Computers: Characteristics of computers are as follows: High Speed: Computers are very fast and can calculate a large amount of data, they can perform billions of calculations in a fraction of a second (i.e. microsecond, nanosecond or picosecond). Storage: computers use different types of memory storage to keep data and information. storage can keep a large amount of data and can recall the information very fast. Accuracy: Computers are completely accurate; this means they make calculations that are 100% error-free. Computer errors usually come from data input errors or software errors. Reliability: Computers are reliable machines where the hardware and software components perform consistently according to their specifications for a long period. They are also designed to be easily maintained. Versatility: Computers are very versatile and can perform multiple tasks simultaneously with equal ease. Diligence: Computers do not have any human traits; therefore, they do not feel any tiredness or lack of concentration. They can work continuously without errors, with the same speed and accuracy. Resource sharing: Computers can connect to other devices and share their resources or vice versa. They computers. Benefits and Uses of Computers Computers are powerful and useful tools and provide many useful benefits, such as their capability to produce high- quality tasks within a short period. Computers can be used to learn a wide range of skills that technological world. The general benefits and uses of computers are as follows: Business: Companies are making computers a part of their business organization. They are used for payroll, sales, budget planning, financial, management information system, etc. Banking: Banks are dependent on computers. They offer online transaction facilities to track bank records such as loans, account statements, interest charges, credit cards and other services. They provide Automated Teller Machines (ATM) and Cash Deposit Machines (CDM) for faster financial operations and 24-hour availability. Sultan Qaboos University 3 Basic Computing Skills  Government: Computers play an important role in government. They are used in different areas of government such as passport and visa systems, driv licensing, traffic systems, national ID systems and many more. Military: Computers are widely used in defense and today most military weapons have computerized control systems. Health Care: Hospitals use computers to keep patients health records and medical history. Most of the equipment used in the hospital laboratories have computerized control systems. Education: Computers have provided a lot of benefits to the education system. They are vital tools in the E- learning system, student information system, teacher and student evaluation system and others. Communication: Communication is a way of transmitting people to communicate easily. E-mail, chatting and video conferencing are the most commonly used applications in communication. Home Computer: Every home uses computers in different ways, including entertainment, Internet connectivity, security system, and even household appliances operated by computer systems. The Topic: Characteristics of the Computer Active Learning Strategy: Group discussion (3 to 5 minutes) Each group of 2 to 3 students should share real-life examples that explain one or more characteristics of computers. Sultan Qaboos University 4 Basic Computing Skills Types of computers: (Patterson & Hennessy, 2014) Computers can be classified by their size, speed, and power of computing as follows: Supercomputers are the fastest and the most expensive computers, executing hundreds of millions of instructions per second. They are designed for specialized applications like nuclear energy research, weather forecasting, electronic designing, evaluation of geological information, and scientific simulation. It may occupy the whole floor of a building depending on the number of processors that are used. See Figure 1.2. Figure1.2:Supercomputer (Davenport, 2023) Mainframe computers (Enterprise Servers): are expensive, powerful servers that are a part of a network system, handle thousands of users simultaneously, and are capable of processing and storing large amounts of business data. These can also support many program applications and execute them simultaneously. In the early days, mainframes occupied a big room, but as the size of this machine has been reduced and the power has Figure 1.3: Mainframe increased, the term mainframe has fallen out of use in favor of the (Levashov, 2018) enterprise server. See Figure 1.3. Minicomputers (Midrange Servers): are midsize servers for multi-user computer systems, supporting only hundreds of users simultaneously from 4 to 200 clients. The Software technology is different from mainframe computers. It was developed in the mid-1960s and the size was smaller than mainframe and larger than microcomputer. For the reason the system is called a "midrange computers". Some companies continue to utilize Figure1.4: Minicomputer in minicomputers for legacy applications that are difficult or expensive to 1969 (Reinhold, 2004) move to newer platforms. See Figure 1.4. Servers: are computers designed to provide services or resources to other computers on a network. Servers can be used for tasks such as data storage, email, hosting websites, and other business or organizational functions. They use common operating systems like Windows Server or Linux. The two famous shapes of servers are the tower server which is like a large desktop computer and the rack server which is a frame that can hold Figure1.5: Tower and rack servers multiple servers in a compact space. See Figure 1.5 (Intirub, n.d.) Sultan Qaboos University 5 Basic Computing Skills  Microcomputers or PCs (Personal Computers): are small and inexpensive, designed for a single user. They are centered on the microprocessor technology that allows the manufacturers to fit an entire CPU within a single chip. Although they are designed for a single user, they can be linked to other devices to form or join a network computer. There are different types of microcomputers, such as: 1. Desktop computers are usually used at home, work, or school. These are designed to be positioned on a desk and are usually a collection of the (a) Desktop Computer system unit, keyboard, mouse, and monitor. See Figure 1.6(a) 2. Laptops or Notebooks are battery-powered computers and are portable, letting users use them everywhere. Its cover opens up to reveal a screen, keyboard, and tactile sensor that is a substitute for the mouse. See Figure 1.6. (b). (b) Laptop/Notebook Figure 1.6: Microcomputers 3. Tablet computers are handheld and easy-to-carry laptops. As an alternative to a mouse and keyboard, they provide a touchscreen option for keying and navigation. See Figure 1.7. Figure 1.7: Tablet 4. Smartphones are devices that are a combination of a mobile phone and a handheld computer. They can perform tasks like computers, such as surfing the internet and using desktop applications, etc. See Figure 1.8. Figure 1.8: Smartphone Sultan Qaboos University 6 Basic Computing Skills  The Topic: Types of Computers Active Learning Strategy: One-Minute Paper (6 to 10 minutes) Now that you have learned about the types of computers, take 3-4 minutes to write a short summary of what you have learned, and then 3-4 more minutes to write down more questions you have about this topic. PART 2 - HARDWARE COMPONENTS Basic Parts of a Computer: , and mouse.See Figure1.9. Figure 1.9: Basic Parts of a Computer The System Unit: The heart of any computer is its system unit, which is the main body of the computer, containing all essential components required for its functioning. The quality and features of the components inside the system unit are the main reason for price differences among computers. Sultan Qaboos University 7 Basic Computing Skills 1. Power Supply: It is used to convert AC (Alternating Current) power to low-regulated voltage DC (Direct Current) power that can be supplied to the components of the computer system. It is a large silver metal box mounted in one corner of the system unit, with many bundles of colored wires and connectors. Each wire carries a different voltage. Each Figure 1.10: Power Supply connector has appropriate wires to deliver the exact voltage required. See Figure1.10. 2. Motherboard: It is the major circuit board, on which all components are placed and connected. It contains the Central Processing Unit (CPU), RAM, ROM, connectors for various storage and optical drives (HDD, Optical Drive CD/DVD/BD), expansion slots, network interface cards, etc. Motherboards vary in many ways, including the CPUs and memory they support, the technology used in their chipset, the expansion slots they have and the external ports they Figure 1.11: Motherboard support. See Figure 1.11. Expansion Slot: It adds capabilities that are not available on the motherboard. It is used to insert an expansion card such as a graphics card, a network card or a sound card, which gives additional features to a computer. See Figure 1.12. Figure 1.12: Expansion Slot Examples of cards we can add to the expansion slots: See Figure 1.13. (a) Network Interface Card (b) Graphic Card (VGA Card) (c) Sound Card Figure 1.13: Cards Sultan Qaboos University 8 Basic Computing Skills Data Representation: The smallest unit of data in a computer is a bit, small (b). A bit is a single binary digit, and has either a value of 1 or 0. Eight bits can combine to make a byte, capital (B), which is an 8-digit binary number. Modern systems work with thousands, millions and even billions of bytes at a time. Table 1.1. lists the names of certain multiples of bytes. Table 1.1 Units of Data Measurement Acronym Equivalent(s) 1 Byte B 8 bits Example: 1 Byte or 8-bits 10010100 1 Kilobyte KB 210 byte = 1024 bytes. Here the word kilo is tricky as compared to our normal KB would represent 64 x 1024. 1 Megabyte MB 1024 Kilobytes 1 Gigabyte GB 1024 Megabytes 1 Terabyte TB 1024 Gigabytes 1 Petabyte PB 1024 Terabytes Example: Convert 25 Gigabytes to Bytes 25 GB = 25 x 1024 x 1024 x 1024 = 26,843,545,600 bytes To convert between Bytes and bits, for example: convert 10MB to Mb (Mega bit) 10 MB = 10 *8 = 80 Mb To convert between bits and Bytes, for example: convert 16 Gb to GB 16Gb = 16/8 = 2 GB To convert a file from size 20 GB to KB (20 * 1024) * 1024 =20,971,520 KB To convert a file from size 500,850 KB to MB (500,850 / 1024 ) =489.11 MB We use some terms on the computer, such as Bytes (B) for storage, for example, file size is 20 Kilo Bytes (KB). bits (b) for transmission. For example, the speed of an Ethernet card is 100 Megabits per second (Mbps), or the speed of the internet is 20 Mbps. Hertz (Hz) \for the speed of the CPU processor. For example, the speed of a CPU is 1.2 Giga Hertz (GHz). Sultan Qaboos University 9 Basic Computing Skills 3. Memory: Computer memory is stored on an electronic chip, which has integrated circuits. This memory is a storage space in a computer where data is processed, and instructions required for processing are stored. Memory storage could be either temporary or permanent. Classification of Memory: RAM (Random Access Memory): This is the main memory and is also called dynamic RAM (DRAM). It is used as a temporary storage space, in which the CPU has direct access to stored data, programs or results. When the computer is shut down or the power is cut off, the content of DRAM would be lost or (a) RAM cleared. The common sizes of RAM available today, are usually 4GB, 8GB, or 16GB.See Figure 1.14 (a) ROM (Read Only Memory): This is another type of primary memory that is a small chip located in a motherboard, that stores the instructions permanently. This chip is used during the start-up of the computer. The program inside ROM (b)ROM includes a function called POST (Power-On Self-Test). The POST is used to Figure 1.14 RAM and ROM diagnose and test the hardware and software components of the computer. See Figure 1.14(b). 4. Central Processing Unit (CPU): Each computer has one processor at a minimum, which is called the Central Processing Unit (CPU). This is the virtual brain of the computer. It accomplishes all kinds of tasks like information processing, storing, accessing, and instruction processing. It also controls all parts of the computer. The CPU consists of a Control Unit, an Arithmetic and Logical Unit, and Registers. The CPU is composed of a very small and thin sheet of semiconductor material. It Figure 1.15 Intel and AMD processors holds millions of small transistors and pathways that carry the information, and instructions, perform calculations as per the given commands, and generates the output as per the given command. The components inside it are so small that you need a microscope to see them. Figure 1.15 shows the most common types of computer processors, Intel and AMD processors. Examples from Intel are i3, i5, i7, and i9. Examples from AMD are Rayzon 3, Rayzon 5, and Rayzon 9. Components of a CPU: 1. Control Unit (CU): This controls and sequences all the processes performed by the processor. It manages the flow of data through the components of the CPU. The CU is considered the central nervous system for all the internal parts. It organizes the whole computer, gets commands from the RAM and ROM, understands and acts on the commands, generates signals for the other parts of the computer to perform different tasks, and guides and controls the actions of the input and output devices. Sultan Qaboos University 10 Basic Computing Skills  2. Arithmetical and Logical Unit (ALU): This does the actual processing. It carries out arithmetic tasks, such as: +, -, *, /, and logic operations, such as: >, >=,