1

Chapter
3

Computer Hardware

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Learning Objectives
Identifythe major types and uses of
microcomputer, midrange, and mainframe
computer systems.

Outline the major technologies and uses of

computer peripherals for input, output, and
storage.

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Learning Objectives (continued)

Identifythe components and functions of a

computer system.

Identify the computer system and peripherals you

would acquire or recommend for a business of
your choice.

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Section I

Computer Systems:
End User and Enterprise Computing

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Types of Computer Systems

All computers are systems of input, processing,

output, storage, and control components.
Three basic categories
Mainframe

Midrangecomputers
Microcomputers

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Types of Computer Systems (continued)

Mainframe

Enterprisesystems
Superservers

Transaction processors

Supercomputers

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Types of Computer Systems (continued)

Midrange

Network servers
Minicomputers

Web servers

Multi-user systems

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Types of Computer Systems (continued)

Microcomputers

Personal computers
Network computers

Technical workstations

PDAs

Information appliances

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Microcomputer Systems

The most important category of computers

Desktop

Laptop

Workstation computers
Network servers

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Microcomputer Systems (continued)

Selection criteria
Solid performance at a reasonable price
Operating system ready
Connectivity

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Microcomputer Systems (continued)

Network computers
Designed primarily for use with the Internet and
corporate intranets
For specialized or limited computing applications
Lower cost of purchase, upgrades, maintenance,
and support

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Microcomputer Systems (continued)

Network computers (continued)

Other benefits
Easeof software distribution and licensing
Computing platform standardization

Reduced end user requirements

Improved manageability

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Microcomputer Systems (continued)

Information appliances
PDAs

Set-top boxes and video-game consoles

Wireless PDAs
Cellular and PCS phones

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Microcomputer Systems (continued)

Computer terminals
Dumb terminals
Intelligent terminals
Network terminals
Transaction terminals

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Midrange Computer Systems

Multi-user systems that can manage networks of

PCs and terminals
Less costly to buy, operate, and maintain than
mainframes
Popular as network servers
Minicomputers

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Mainframe Computer Systems

Large, fast, powerful

Handle high transaction processing volumes or
complex computational problems
Superservers for large client/server networks and
high-volume Internet websites
Popular for data mining and warehousing

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Mainframe Computer Systems (continued)

Supercomputers

Extremely powerful systems specifically designed

for scientific, engineering, and business
applications requiring extremely high speeds for
massive numeric computations
Use parallel processing architectures
Process at speeds measured in gigaflops and
teraflops
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The Computer System Concept

Computers are organized according to the
following system functions:
Input

Keyboards

Touch screens
Pens

Electronic mice
Optical scanners

Convert data into electronic form

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The Computer System Concept (continued)

Processing

Central Processing Unit (CPU)

Two subunits
Arithmetic-Logic Unit (ALU)
Control Unit

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The Computer System Concept (continued)

Output

Video display units

Printers

Audio response units

Convert electronic information into human-

intelligible form

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The Computer System Concept (continued)

Storage

Storedata and software instructions

May also include cache memory

Primarystorage unit (hard drive)

Secondary storage

Magnetic disks
Optical disk drives

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The Computer System Concept (continued)

Control

The registers and other circuits of the control

unit interpret software instructions and transmit
directions to the other components of the
computer system

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The Computer System Concept (continued)

Computer processing speeds

Milliseconds (thousandths of a second)
Microseconds (millionths of a second)

Nanoseconds (billionths of a second)

Picoseconds (trillionths of a second)

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The Computer System Concept (continued)

Clock speeds
Megahertz (MHz)
Millions of cycles per second

Gigahertz (GHz)
Billions of cycles per second

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Section II

Computer Peripherals:
Input, Output, and Storage Technologies

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Peripherals

Generic name given to all input, output, and

secondary storage devices

Depend on direct connections or telecommunications

links to the CPU

All peripherals are online devices

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Input Technologies

Natural user interface

Enter data and commands directly into a computer
Electronic mice and touch pads

Optical scanning, handwriting recognition, voice

recognition

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Pointing Devices

Used for entering data and text

Work with your operating system’s graphical user
interface (GUI)

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Pointing Devices (continued)

Electronic mouse
Trackball

Pointing stick
Touch pad
Touch screen

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Pen-Based Computing

Used in many hand-held computers and PDAs

Digitizerpen
Graphics tablet

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Speech Recognition Systems

Digitize, analyze, and classify your speech and its

sound patterns
Allow operators to perform data entry without using
their hands to key in data or instructions
Speaker-independent

Voice-messaging computers

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Optical Scanning

Read text or graphics and convert them into

digital input

Employ photoelectric devices to scan the

characters being read

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Optical Scanning (continued)

Optical character recognition (OCR)

Reads OCR characters & codes
Merchandise tags

Product labels

Sort mail, score tests

Hand-held optical scanning wands

Reads bar coding
Universal Product Code (UPC)

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Other Input Technologies

Magnetic stripe technology

Credit cards
Smart cards
Embedded microprocessor chip
Debit, credit, and other cards

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Other Input Technologies (continued)

Digital cameras
Stillcameras
Digital camcorders

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Other Input Technologies (continued)

Magnetic ink character recognition (MICR)

technology
Used by banks to sort and post checks and deposit
slips
14 characters of a standardized design

Reader-sorters

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Output Technologies

Video

Print

Storage

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Video Output

Video monitors
Cathode ray tube (CRT)
Liquid crystal displays (LCDs)

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Printed Output

Inkjet

Spray ink onto the page one line at a time

Laser

Use an electrostatic process similar to a copier

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Storage Trade-Offs

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Storage Trade-Offs (continued)

Computer storage fundamentals

Information is stored through the presence or
absence of electronic or magnetic signals
Binary representation
1 = ON

0 = OFF

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Storage Trade-Offs (continued)

Computer storage fundamentals (continued)

Bit

Thesmallest element of data

May have a value of either one or zero

Byte

Basic grouping of bits

Typically, a byte consists of 8 bits and represents

one character of data

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Storage Trade-Offs (continued)

Computer storage fundamentals (continued)

Storage capacities
Kilobytes(KB)
1,000 bytes

Megabytes (MB)

1 million bytes

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Storage Trade-Offs (continued)

Computer storage fundamentals (continued)

Gigabytes (GB)
1 billion bytes

Terabytes (TB)

1 trillion bytes

Petabyte (PB)

1 quadrillion bytes

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Storage Trade-Offs (continued)

 Direct and sequential access

 Terms direct access and random access describe the

same concept
 An element of data or instructions can be directly

stored and retrieved by selecting and using any of the

locations on the storage media
 Each storage position

 Has a unique address

 Can be individually accessed in approximately the

same time
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Storage Trade-Offs (continued)

Direct and sequential access (continued)

Sequential access
Does not have unique storage addresses

Serial process

Data are recorded one after another in a

predetermined sequence.
Locating an individual item requires searching

all of the data until the desired item is located

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Storage Trade-Offs (continued)

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Semiconductor Memory
Primary storage of your computer
Advantages

Small size
Great speed

Shock and temperature resistant

Disadvantage

Volatility

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Semiconductor Memory (continued)

Two basic types of semiconductor memory

RAM – random access memory

Volatile
memory
Read/write memory

“working” memory

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Semiconductor Memory (continued)

ROM – read only memory

Nonvolatile

Used for permanent storage

Can be read but not erased or overwritten

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Semiconductor Memory (continued)

Variations of ROM

PROM

Programmable read only memory

EPROM

Erasable programmable read only memory

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Magnetic Disk Storage

Most common form of secondary storage

Data is recorded on tracks in the form of tiny
magnetized spots
Thousands of bytes recorded on each track

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Magnetic Disk Storage (continued)

Types of Magnetic Disks

Floppy disks
Zip disks
Hard disk drives

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Magnetic Disk Storage (continued)

Redundant arrays of independent disks

(RAID)
 Provides large capacities with high access speeds
 Data are accessed in parallel over multiple paths from

many disks
 Fault tolerant

 Storage area networks (SANs)

 Fiber channel LANs that connect many RAID units

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Magnetic Tape Storage

Used as secondary storage

Also used in robotic automated drive assemblies

Lower-cost storage

Archival storage

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Optical Disk Storage

CD-ROM

CD-R

CD-RW

DVD

DVD-ROM

DVD-RAM

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Optical Disk Storage (continued)

Business applications
Image processing
Provide access to reference materials in a
convenient, compact form
videos

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Discussion Questions
Do you agree with the statement: “The network
is the computer”?

What trends are occurring in the development

and use of the major types of computer systems?

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Discussion Questions (continued)

Do you think that network computers (NCs) will

replace personal computers (PCs) in business
applications?

Are networks of PCs and servers making

mainframe computers obsolete?

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Discussion Questions (continued)

What trends are occurring in the development

and use of peripheral devices? Why are those
trends occurring?
When would you recommend the use of each of

the following:
Network computers

NetPCs

Network terminals
 Information appliances in business applications
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Discussion Questions (continued)

What processor, memory, magnetic disk storage,

and video display capabilities would you require
for a personal computer that you would use for
business purposes?

What other peripheral devices and capabilities

would you want to have for your business PC?

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