FACULTY OF SCIENCE

Computer Science
Computer Maintenance
Group Assignment

This is the final assignment of this “Computer Maintenance” course and the main objective is to
expand your knowledge regarding hardware devices by collecting information about the devices
and their prices from a specific Hardware Store. As far as this assignment is concerned, it is
important that you choose a particular Hardware Store and answer the following questions
based on the information provided by the store. You may have one week to complete and
submit this assignment.

Questions
1. Suppose the harddrive of your laptop (or your desktop) has failed, find a replacement
drive as close to this drive as possible. Explore harddrive options available in the market
showing the sizes, features, and prices of three possible replacements. Which drive
would you recommend as the replacement drive and why?

No. Company Size Features Prce

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2. Suppose you visited an electronic to buy the following devices:
a. DVD+R DL discs, which are usually sold in packs. What is the storage capacity
of each disc? How many discs are in the pack? What is the price per disc?
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b. DVD+RW disc, which is usually sold as a single. What is the price per disc? How
many more times expensive is a DVD+RW disc than a DVD+R disc?
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c. The largest-capacity USB flash drive you can find. What is its capacity and price?
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3. Suppose you visited an electronic shop to find devices that can be used as solutions to
the following problems. Please show the device and its price in your writeup:
a. Find an adapter that allows you to connect a Thunderbolt port on a computer to a
DVI monitor using a DVI cable.
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b. Find an adapter that allows you to connect a Mini DisplayPort on your laptop to a
DVI-D port on your monitor. Also find a cable that will work with the adapter.
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c. Find an adapter that will allow you to connect a DVI-I port on your desktop to a
VGA monitor, using a VGA cable
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4. Suppose you have a DSL connection to the Internet in your home and you want to
connect two laptops and a desktop computer in a wireless network to the Internet. You
need to purchase a multifunction wireless router, you also need a wireless adapter for
the desktop computer. (The two laptops have built-in wireless networking.) In order to
purchase the equipment needed to create the wireless LAN, please answer the
following:
a. Identify two different multifunctional wireless routers available in the market, what
are the brand, model, and price of each router?

No. Brand Model Prce

 b. Identify two different wireless adapters available in the market that a desktop
computer can use to connect to the wireless network. Include one external device
that uses a USB port and one internal device. What are the brand, model, and
price of each device?

No. Brand Model Prce

c. Which router and wireless adapter would you select for your home network?
What is the total cost of both devices?
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5. An IT support technician is often called on to research equipment to maintain or improve
a computer or network and make recommendations for purchase. Suppose you are
asked to upgrade a small network that consists of one switch and four computers from
100BaseT to Gigabit Ethernet. The switch connects to a router that already supports
Gigabit Ethernet. Do the following to price the hardware needed for this upgrade:
a. Find two switches by different manufacturers that support Gigabit Ethernet and
have at least five ports. What are the features and prices of the two switches?
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b. Find two network adapters by different manufacturers to install in the desktop
computers to support Gigabit Ethernet. What are the features and prices of the
two network adapters?
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c. Make your recommendations based on the moderate (middle-of-the-road)
choices. What is the total price of the upgrade, including one switch and four
network adapters?
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