Topic2 1

Environments, Functions of Components and Health & Safety Topic 2 - 2.
Environments
• Computers are used in many different
environments and for many different task.
• It is not exhaustive or definitive.
• There are many areas of overlap:
– Home computing
– Gaming consoles & Computer Games
– Business computing
– Networking
– Real Time computing
– Communcations.
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Environments, Functions of Components and Health & Safety Topic 2 - 2.2
Home Computing – Early Years - 1

• Late 1970s – early 1980s
– Affordable micro computers became available
• Sinclair ZX80/81 and Spectrum
• Commodore 64 and Amiga
• Apple II
• Atari ST




Home Computing – Early Years - 2

• Late 1970s – early 1980s (cont.)
– Applications that were useful in the home became
available.
• Mostly simple games
• Simple word processors and spreadsheets
• Music sequencing software – particularly for Atari
ST with its MIDI( Musical Instrument Digital Interface)
interface

Modern Home Systems – PC - 1

• General purpose PCs are common in homes.
• Same technology as office PCs
– x86 architecture (see more on this later)
– Microsoft Windows operating system
• Mainly used for Internet access, email and general
office applications, e.g. word processing and
spreadsheets

Modern Home Systems – PC - 2

• Lots of home and hobby applications available:
– Domestic finance and budgeting
– Picture editing and photograph management
– Family tree and genealogy
.

Modern Home Systems – Games

Consoles – In Class Discussion
Which games consoles have you used?
• Identify the games consoles that you have
experienced.
• For each of the consoles identified, list the key
features that make it different from other consoles.
– Main hardware
– Controllers
– Graphics resolution
– Connectivity

Games Consoles - 1
• As well as general purpose micro computers,
specialist games consoles became available.
• Limited functionality
• Specific focus
• Originally developments of video arcade games

Modern Home Systems – Games

Consoles
“A video game console is an interactive entertainment
computer or customized computer that produces a video
display signal which can be used with a display device (a
television, monitor, etc) to display a video game.”

Source: vgchartz.com

Examples


Modern Home Systems –

Games Console Examples - 1
• A small number of systems rule the market.
• Microsoft Xbox family
– Really a cut down PC with good graphics, but a
restricted operating system
– Includes hard disk and DVD drive that can play
movies.
• Which was a bonus when it launched
– Latest addition is the “Kinect” motion sensor
controller



• Sony PlayStation
– Now at version 4
– Includes hard disk and Blu-Ray player
• Again, a bonus when launched
• “PlayStation Move” motion sensor added later



• Nintendo Wii
– Oldest of these example consoles (just)
– No hard drive – uses 512 MB flash memory and
supports SD cards
– First to have motion sensor technology built into
the Wii Remote
– Lower resolution graphics than the others
– As of April 2011, the best selling of these consoles



Computer Games
• Now dominated by the home market
• Developed from arcade games
– E.g. Pong, Space Invaders, Asteroids, Pac Man
• Development largely dependant on processing
and graphics power
• Big business
• Drives the development of graphics power
– To support even more sophisticated virtual worlds
• See student workbook for some examples to
investigate

Business Computing
• Computer Technology largely developed to supply
business needs.
– From early data processing mainframes to modern
PC networks
• Applicable in every size and area of business.
– Sole trader using PC to do accounts on
spreadsheet and word processor for business
correspondence
– Large multi-national financial corporation using
large mainframes to process millions of customer
records.
– Everything in between

Communications –
Synchronous and Asynchronous - 1
• A large amount of communication is computer
based.
• Asynchronous Communication
– The receiver does not need to be available when
the message is sent
– Email, newsgroups, online forums and discussion
groups, text messaging
– Conversations are possible, but are spread out in
time, possibly over days or weeks

Communications –
Synchronous and Asynchronous - 2
• Synchronous Communication
– Both ends of the conversation have to be
available, online, at the same time
– Telephone (most of which is digital), conference
calls, VoIP (Skype etc.), instant messaging/chat

Communications – Other forms

• There are many other communication systems
available that use computer technology.
• Group schedules - allowing people to share their
calendars
• Collaborative authoring - enabling versioning or text
authoring tools
• Share whiteboard - allowing the collaborative drawing
of participants
• Chat room - resembling a multiple transmission of
short messages between all participants
• Lots of different social networking systems, such as
Facebook and Twitter
• Further examples are given in your student workbook.

When should you use asynchronous

and synchronous collaboration?
synchronous collaboration?

Real Time Computing - 1

• A system where the output feeds back to the input
and the input is processed quickly enough to affect
the output
• In engineering terms, it is a feedback loop.
• E.g. modern car engine management systems are
real time computer systems
– Sensors around the car, including air temperature
and pressure, engine temperature, exhaust gas
sensors, gear position, speed and of course a
throttle position sensor provide the input
– The output is instructions to the fuel injectors on how
much fuel and air to allow into the engine ….
– Which directly affects exhaust gases, engine
temperature, speed etc…

Health and Safety Issues – For

people - 1
• Mains electricity
– Can cause anything from unpleasant to fatal shock!
– Usually only occurs inside power supplies
• Most computers operate at 12v or less
– Ensure mains is OFF and UNPLUGGED
– Wait for capacitors in power supplies to discharge.
• Hot components
– Some components inside a PC are hot enough to
cause burns.
– Turn off power and wait for components to cool
down before handling.

Health and Safety Issues – For

people - 2
• Lifting and carrying
– Some computer equipment is heavy.
– Get proper manual handling training and get
assistance if necessary.
• Trip hazard
– The biggest cause of accidents
– It is very easy to put something on the floor and
then forget about it.
– Keep work area floors clear and tidy.
– Move anything that might be a hazard.

Health and Safety Issues –

For Equipment - 1
• Electrostatic discharg
– Computer components are expensive and delicate

– Particularly susceptible to electric shocks
– Discharge electrostatic by touching a suitable
earth point
• particularly if you are wearing manmade fibre
clothing


For Equipment - 2
– Wear an electrostatic discharge wrist strap
• E.g. http://tinyurl.com/6528t3c
– Or use a full anti-static kit, with wrist strap and mat

• E.g. http://tinyurl.com/62c65w2


For Equipment - 3
• Power surge
– Caused by plugging or unplugging components when
power is on
– Turn off power and unplug before working inside a PC
– Note: Powering down a PC from Windows does NOT
switch it of completely
• There is still power on the motherboard and inside the
PSU
• You may see a light on the back of the PSU or on the
motherboard, but if not, do not assume that there is no
power.
• Switch off at the wall and unplug.

Computer Networks -1
 is a group of computers and devices
interconnected by communication channels that
facilitate communications among users and
allows users to share resources.
 The act of connecting computers together into a
network is called networking.

Computer Networks -2
It includes:
 Network Media/Channel, (wired and wireless)
- to carry network data
 Network Adapter Card (NIC)
- to translate the data between the computer and the network
 Network Operating system (NOS)
-to enable a machine to participate in the network
 Network protocol
-to control the network communication

Networking - 1
• The vast majority of computers these days are
networked.
– Figures difficult to obtain, but probably over 95%
– Can you think of a computer system that is NOT
networked?
• Computers connected together to:
– Share resources
• Disk space, data, printers, Internet connections
– Provide communications
• Email, chat

Network Classification - 1
• Networks can be classified in two main ways:
• Size & Scope
Personal Area Network (PAN)
– Connects computer technology close to (within
physical reach of) one person
– Connecting PC, PDA, smart phone and peripherals
– Typically using Bluetooth wireless technology or
USB/Firewire

Local Area Network (LAN)
– Physically close, such as a company site or
college campus
– Usually using a single overall technology
(Ethernet)
– Usually owned and run by one organisation
– E.g. your college network or a home network

Metropolitan Area Network (MAN)
– Spans a city, large campus or other geographical
area
• i.e. between a LAN and a WAN in size
– Single company or co-operatively managed
– E.g. Net North West provides Internet services to
academic institutions in North West England
• See http://www.netnw.net.uk/

Wide Area Network (WAN)
– Physically large distances, between sites or even
countries
– May use a range of connection technologies, such
as Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM)
– Links often operated by specialist suppliers
– Links often provided these days over the “public”
Internet
– E.g. the Internet

Characteristic LAN MAN WAN

Area Covers smaller area, eg. Covers area larger than Covers a large
Building LAN and smaller than geographical area.
WAN. Eg. Country or
Eg. Corporate Office Continent
Data Transmission High up to 10-100 Mbps Moderate up to Low up to 256 kbps – 2

rate 5-10 Mbps Mbps
Hardware Consists of Same Same

Components Workstations, servers,
switch
Rage 1 KM Up to 50 KM Up to 10000 KM
Usage Used as private network Used as private or Used as private or
public or both public or both
Technology Bus ,Token ring, and Distributed Queue Dual ATM, Frame Relay, and
Star Bus X.25
Examples An office with different Banks with different Several branches of

departments branches in a city. some company
interconnected using
WAN.

Size & Scope: Internet
• Technically a WAN
• Global communications system with access to
virtually anywhere in the world
– and even off world, e.g. the international space
station
• Developed from ARPANET
• There is so much information online about the
development of the Internet – Look it up!

Size & Scope: Intra- and Extra-:
Intranet
– A private computer network that uses Internet
technology (usually TCP/IP and HTTP) to deliver
documents and services within an organisation
– Often a website that is only accessible within a
company or via a company login
– “Intra” means “within” or “inside”

Size & Scope: Intra- and Extra- (cont.):
Extranet
– An extension to an intranet allowing (restricted)
access to people outside the company
– Allows business-to-business (B2B) and possible
business-to-customer (B2C) transactions
– Does not grant whole company network access to
those outside the company

Network Technology
• There are a range of devices used in building a
network.
– E.g. Hub, Bridge, Switch, Router, Gateway
• Not all networks use all these devices.
• Brief notes are given in your student workbook.

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Environments, Functions of Components and Health & Safety Topic 2 - 2.

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Home Computing – Early Years - 1

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Home Computing – Early Years - 2

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Modern Home Systems – PC - 1

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Modern Home Systems – PC - 2

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Modern Home Systems – Games

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Modern Home Systems – Games

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Communications – Other forms

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When should you use asynchronous

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Real Time Computing - 1

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Health and Safety Issues – For

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Health and Safety Issues – For

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Health and Safety Issues –

– Computer components are expensive and delicate

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Health and Safety Issues –

– Or use a full anti-static kit, with wrist strap and mat

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Health and Safety Issues –

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Characteristic LAN MAN WAN

Data Transmission High up to 10-100 Mbps Moderate up to Low up to 256 kbps – 2

Hardware Consists of Same Same