Hardware Lecture 1 PDF

HARDWARE Week 1 Basic Computer Concepts Learning Objectives: 1. Understanding the Definition of a Computer 2. Understanding the definitions of Device Drivers, Firmware and Platform 3. Measuring the Performance of a Computer 4. Exploring Memory and Storage What is a computer? A program...

HARDWARE Week 1 Basic Computer Concepts Learning Objectives: 1. Understanding the Definition of a Computer 2. Understanding the definitions of Device Drivers, Firmware and Platform 3. Measuring the Performance of a Computer 4. Exploring Memory and Storage What is a computer? A programmable Electronic Device stores, retrieves, and processes data Through a set of instructions (Programs) What makes a computer? System Input Board Devices Processor Storage Output Power Devices Supply Another definition….. Electrical and A collection of mechanical Referred to as Hardware parts For a computer to work it needs: Hardware Software Hardware are Software is a the pieces set of that you can instructions or see and commands that tell a computer touch. what to do. Hardware It is a collection performs the of data that is physical work given to the of the computer to complete a computer. particular task. How a computer works? For Input ,Process & Output or in other words for hardware and software to communicate with each other they need: Device Drivers Firm Ware Platform Device Drivers Device driver is a software that allows your computer to communicate with and control the hardware devices that are connected to it. Device Drivers control the hardware. Operating Systems communicate with the device drivers. Without device drivers, devices will not function properly. Firmware Firm ware is a “Built-in” “Programmable” “logic” (Software) attached to a specific hardware. Controls how that hardware functions. Platform Applications run on a hardware device within in an environment created by the Operating System. That environment is called as : Platform. Platform is an interface between the applications and the operating systems. This is what makes it possible for applications to run on a device. About the Numbers.. Before examining the different types of hardware and types of computers let’s understand how storage, capacity and frequency are measured. Measuring Capacity All measurements of computer capacity revolve around the Binary Digit. Which is a bit. A bit can have the value of 0 or 1. This can be used to measure the capacity or storage of a computer. Memory and Storage In order to run programs and create files , a computer needs: 1. Memory to store a file while in use. 2. Storage to store a file when not in use. What is Memory? Computer memory is the physical space that stores digital data and instructions to be accessed quickly and used by a computer. Memory is a Chip in the computer. The term often refers to a computer's primary system memory, or RAM, that temporarily stores active programs and files. Types of Memory: 1. Random Access Memory (RAM) 2. Read Only Memory (ROM) What is Storage? A storage device is hardware that is used for storing, porting, or extracting data files. It can also store information/data both temporarily and permanently. Storage…. Local Storage Remote Storage Stores Programs and user files. Other computers in the network Internally (Inside the computer) Cloud storage or Externally (Devices attached to the computer) Primary and Secondary Storage Storage Devices: Hard Disks External Drives Secure Digital Flash Drives Cards (SD Cards) Optical Discs and Drives Evolution of Data Storage Video Measuring Frequency (Speed) Inside every computer there is a central Processing Unit(CPU). The CPU is a chip that performs calculations and logical operations. The CPU controls everything that happens in the computer. Each CPU processes information and instructions at different speeds. Processor speed is measured in Hertz. Activity Kahoot