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Cabrillo College Cisco Networking Academy

Cabrillo College

CIS 181
Damian Alcaraz CCNA CCAI
Cabrillo College Cisco Networking Academy

Computer Basics
Cabrillo College Cisco Networking Academy

Computer Basics
Cabrillo College Cisco Networking Academy

How Computers “Think”


• The circuits on in a digital computer have
only two possible states (think of them as
either being “on” or “off,” like a light
switch).
• Digital computers use these states of “on”
or “off” to represent numbers, text, pictures,
music and video.
Cabrillo College Cisco Networking Academy

Coding
• In order to use these “on” and “off” states to
represent words and images, computers use
various kinds of codes (such as ASCII).
Cabrillo College Cisco Networking Academy

Binary and Computing


• To make it easier to work with a computer’s
states of “on” and “off,” we use a
numbering system that only has two
possible values, 0 and 1.
• This numbering system is called “base 2,”
or “binary.”
Cabrillo College Cisco Networking Academy

Binary Numbering System


In the binary numbering system, each digit
has two possible values:

0 or 1
Cabrillo College Cisco Networking Academy

Binary Numbering System


Each value is a binary digit, or bit for short.

01111000

Eight bits together make a unit called a


byte. In IP addresses, bytes are called octets
(group of eight).
Cabrillo College Cisco Networking Academy

Not exactly…
• Eight bits together make a unit called a
byte, BUT…
• Seven bits grouped together are also,
sometimes, referred to as a byte.
• “Octet” is used to be unambiguous.
Cabrillo College Cisco Networking Academy

Bits, Bytes, Megs, Gigs

1 kilobyte =
1024 bytes,
not bits!
Cabrillo College Cisco Networking Academy

Decimal Numbering System


In decimal, each place value is a power of
ten.
103 102 101 100
1000 100 10 1
2 3 4 2

We read the number 2342 as two-thousand


three-hundred forty-two.
Cabrillo College Cisco Networking Academy

Binary Numbering System


In binary, each place value is a power of two.

27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20
128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1
1 1 0 0 1 1 1 1

The byte 11001111 is equivalent to 207 in decimal.


Cabrillo College Cisco Networking Academy

ASCII
• One of the most common ways to code text
is by using ASCII (the American Symbolic
Code for Information Interchange).
• ASCII uses 7-bits
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ASCII
• ASCII codes the letter “A” as 1000001.

• 1000001 is 63 in decimal.
Cabrillo College Cisco Networking Academy

Bandwidth
• Bandwidth is the measure of how much
information can flow from one place to
another in a given amount of time. It’s
measured in:

bps: bits per second


Cabrillo College Cisco Networking Academy

Bandwidth
Cabrillo College Cisco Networking Academy

Bandwidth

More….
Cabrillo College Cisco Networking Academy

Throughput
• Bandwidth is the potential that a medium such as
fiber optic cable can provide (what can theoretically
get through).

• Throughput usually refers to actual, measured,


bandwidth, at a specific time of day, using specific
internet routes, while downloading a specific file
(what actually gets through).
Cabrillo College Cisco Networking Academy

Throughput
Cabrillo College Cisco Networking Academy

Calculating Throughput

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