MASTERING LAN AND TROUBLE SHOOTING

PC HARDWARE
INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTER ORGANIZATION
1.Functional unit
2.Input unit
3.Memory unit
4.Storage concept
5.Arithmatic logic unit
6.Output unit

 Functional unit
A computer consists of five functionally independent main parts input,
memory, arithmetic logic unit (ALU), output and control unit.

 Input unit
The source program/high level language program/coded information/simply
data is fed to a computer through input devices keyboard is a most common
type. Whenever a key is pressed, one corresponding word or number is
translated into its equivalent binary code over a cable & fed either to memory
or processor. Joysticks, trackballs, mouse, scanners etc are other input
devices.
  Memory unit
Its function into store programs and data.
It is basically to two types
1. Primary memory
2. Secondary memory

Primary memory
Is the one exclusively associated with the processor and operates at the electronics
speeds programs must be stored in this memory while they are being executed. The
memory contains a large number of semiconductors storage cells. Each capable of
storing one bit of information. These are processed in a group of fixed site called
word.

Secondary Memory
Is used where large amounts of data & programs have to be stored, particularly
information that is accessed infrequently.
Examples: - Magnetic disks & tapes, optical disks (ie CD-ROM’s), floppies etc.,

Arithmetic logic unit

Most of the computer operators are executed in ALU of the processor like addition,
subtraction, division, multiplication, etc. the operands are brought into the ALU
from memory and stored in high speed storage elements called register. Then
according to the instructions the operation is performed in the required sequence.
The control and the ALU are may times faster than other devices connected to a
computer system. This enables a single processor to control a number of external
devices such as key boards, displays, magnetic and optical disks, sensors and other
mechanical controllers.

Output unit
These actually are the counterparts of input unit. Its basic function is to send the
processed results to the outside world.
Examples:- Printer, speakers, monitor etc

Inside the boxes:

Mother board
AT Motherboard
 An AT motherboard is a motherboard which has dimensions of the order of
some hundred millimeters, big enough to be unable to fit in mini desktops.
 The dimensions of this motherboard make it difficult for the new drives to
get installed.
 The concept of six pin plugs and sockets is used so as to work as the power
connectors for this type of motherboards.
 The hard to distinguish power connector sockets make it difficult for
many users to easily make the proper connections and thus leading to the
damage of the device.
 Produced in the mid 80’s, this motherboard lasted a good span from the
Pentium p5 to the times when Pentium 2 had been started to be used.

ATX Motherboard
 Advanced technology extended, or popularly known as the ATX, are the
motherboards which were produced by the Intel in mid 90’s as an improvement
from the previously working motherboards such as AT.
 This type of motherboards differ from their AT counterparts in the way that
these motherboards allow the interchangeability of the connected parts.
 Moreover the dimensions of this motherboard are smaller than the AT
motherboards and thus proper place for the drive bays is also allowed.
 Some good changes were also made to the connector system of the board.
 The AT motherboards had a keyboard connector and on the back plates extra
slots were provided for various add-ons.
 Short for New Low Profile Extended, NLX is a motherboard form factor
originally developed by Intel and finalized in March 1997.
 The NLX motherboard was designed to replace the nonstandard LPX
design and is 9" wide x 13.6" deep maximum to 8" x 10" deep minimum and
included the below features.
 The NLX form factor uses a riser board (backplane), which the
motherboard plugs into instead of being on the motherboard.
 This allowed the motherboard to be removed from the computer
without having to remove all expansion cards and supported motherboards
that can be removed without using tools.
 Support for the Pentium II
 Support for AGP
 Support for USB.
 Support for DIMM.
 Easier access to internal components.

 Micro ATX (sometimes referred to as µATX, uATX or mATX) is a standard

for motherboards that was introduced in December 1997.
  The maximum size of a micro ATX motherboard is 9.6 × 9.6 in (244 × 244
mm).
 Flex ATX is a motherboard form factor derived from ATX.
 It uses a subset of the motherboard mounting holes required for micro ATX
and the same I/O plate system as ATX and micro ATX. Flex ATX specifies that
a motherboard be no larger than 9 × 7.5 in (229 × 191 mm), and can have no
more than three expansion slots.
 Mini-ITX is a 17 × 17 cm (6.7 × 6.7 in) motherboard, developed by VIA
Technologies in 2001. They are commonly used in small-configured computer
systems.
 Mini-ITX boards can therefore often be used in cases designed for ATX, micro-
ATX and other ATX variants if desired.

LPX Mother board

(Low-Profile Extended motherboard) A low-profile PC motherboard for slimline
cases, introduced in 1997 by Western Digital. Unlike boards for desktop and tower
cases that hold the expansion cards perpendicular to the board, cards plug into a
riser card on the LPX and are parallel with the board. Having a 9" width, the Mini
LPX version decreased the length from 13" to 11".

BTX Mother board

Balance technology extended (BTX) is a form factor for motherboards that was
initially intended to replace the 2004 and 2005 ATX motherboard. BTX is
designed to decrease power needs and reduce heat. Furthermore, it employs
enhanced technology that includes the serial advanced technology attachment
(ATA), universal serial bus (USB) 2.0 and peripheral component interconnect
(PCI) express. It is standardized by Intel and is not backward compatible with the
ATX.

Pico ITX Mother board

*It is smaller in size.
*It supports only two expansion slots.

Daughter board
A daughterboard is type of circuit board that plugs in or is attached to the
motherboard or similar expansion card to extend its features and services. A
daughterboard complements the existing functionality of a motherboard or an
expansion card.
A daughterboard is also known as daughter card, piggyback board, riser card or
mezzanine board.

A daughterboard is connected directly to the motherboard. Unlike expansion

cards, which connect with the motherboard using bus and other serial
interfaces, daughterboards are usually directly embedded through soldering.
Like a motherboard, a daughterboard has sockets, pins, plugs and
connectors to be attached to other boards. Typically, daughter boards are
released as a post-launch update to a motherboard or expansion card. For
example, a MIDI daughterboard is used to add on the functionality of the
sound card.

Floppy disk drive

 Media Type: floppy disk
 Date Introduced: 1971 by IBM, Alan Shugart
 Dates in Use: Late 1971 – 1981
 Physical Dimensions: 8” x 8”, with 1 5/16” hole in centre
 Storage Capacities: 100KB – 1+MB
 Media Variations and/or Identifying Features: Originally designed to load
microcode and diagnostics into large IBM mainframe computer systems, 8-inch
diskettes became widely accepted as a data-storage medium.
 The first commercial 8-inch diskettes could only record on one side with
storage capacities of less than 100 KB. In 1973, drives that could read up to 250
KB were introduced.

Hard disk drive

 A hard disk drive (sometimes abbreviated as a hard drive, HD,
or HDD) is a non volatile data  storage device. It is usually installed
internally in a computer, attached directly to the disk controller of
the computer's motherboard. It contains one or more platters,
housed inside of an air-sealed casing. Data is written to the platters
using a magnetic head, which moves rapidly over them as they spin.

Internal hard disks reside in a drive bay, connected to the

motherboard using an ATA, SCSI, or SATA cable. They are powered
by a connection to the computer's PSU (power supply unit).

Speaker
1. A speaker is a term used to describe the user who is giving vocal
commands to a software program.
2. A computer speaker is an output hardware device that connects to
a computer to generate sound. The signal used to produce the
sound that comes from a computer speaker is created by the
computer's sound card.

3. External speakers are connected to a computer or another device

to give the sound more amplification (make it louder), add more
bass with a subwoofer, or create surround sound. If you have a
laptop, smartphone, or another device with built-in speakers, you
do not need external speakers unless you need louder sounds,
more bass, or surround sound.

Front panel indicators and control

You can build the front panel with controls and indicators, which are the interactive
input and output terminals of the VI, respectively. Controls are knobs, push
buttons,dials and other input devices. Indicators are graphs, LEDs and other
displays. Controls simulate instrument input devices and supply data to the block
diagram of the VI. Indicators simulate instrument output devices and display data
the block diagram acquires or generates.
Every control or indicator has a data type associated with it. They are numeric data
type, Boolean data type and string data type. The numeric data type can be of
various types such as integer or real. The two most commonly used numeric objects
are the numeric control and the numeric indicator. The Boolean data type
represents data that only has two parts, such as TRUE and FALSE or ON and OFF.
Use Boolean controls and indicators to enter and display Boolean (True or False)
values. Boolean objects simulate switches, push buttons, and LEDs