Basic structures of a computer

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 Computer System

  •  A computer system consists of input. processing and output components which are also the basic functions of a computer system.
  • Input is a place or a device through which energy or information enters a system. Input devices are keyboards, mouse, microphone and many more.
  • Processing consists of CPU that executes instructions from the computer programs.

  • CPUs are composed of two or more processors known as cores.
  • Multicore CPUs enables computers to carry out instructions which leads to a better performance.
  • Output is a place or a device which produces or delivers data. Output devices are monitor, printers, headphones, projectors and many more.


Storage Components

  • The two main category of storage are short-term storage and long-term storage.
Random Access Memory (Short-term memory)
  • RAM is a temporary memory where the data stored must be retrieved within a short span.
  • It is also referred to as 'working storage'.
  • A disk drive (Virtual memory) is used when there is not enough RAM to run a program.
Long-term storage
  • It is a memory where the data are stored for a longer period of time.
  • eg: Hard disks, CDs, USB flash drives
The four major PC components

  • Motherboard
  • Hard drive
  • RAM
  • BIOS/CMOS

Computer Bus Fundamentals: It is a collection of wires carrying signals from onr place to another on the computer.
There are three types of buses:
  • Data bus: Carries data signals to be stored from main memory to the CPU and vice versa.
  • Address bus: Carries address signals where an input and output devices are attached or where it should be stored.
  • Control bus: Carries control signals from CPU to the memory.
I/O Polling and Interrupt: Polling CPU keeps on checking I/O devices at a regular interval whereas in interrupt, the I/O device interrupts the CPU and tells that it needs CPU service.

Hard Drive Fundamentals
  • It is a long-term storage component.
  • It consists of magnetic disks called platters that store data in the form of magnetic pulses.
Solid State Drives: They are used in place of hard drives and are more expensive. They use flash memory and are often found in mobile devices.

RAM fundamentals: It is the short-term storage component and they are much faster than accessing data on a hard drive.

BIOS/CMOS Fundamentals: It is a set of instructions located in a chip on the motherboard that instructs to perform a task (power-on self test.)

Computer Boot Procedure
Power is supplied to the motherboard and the CPU starts. CPU carries out the BIO setup routines. Boot devices are searched for an OS. The OS is located into RAM and OS services are started.

NIC (network interface card) Basics
It is a hardware component which is installed on a computer so it can connect to a network. It contains Media Access Control Address

Wireless NICs: They connect to network using service set identifier (SSID)

5 types of computers: Embedded computers, personal computers, servers and enterprise systems, supercomputers and grid computers and cloud computing.

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