CH03 - Computer Hardware

Type of memory that implements tiers of solid-state flash memory stacked on top of each other allowing for much greater storage capacity at a lower cost than 2D flash memory.

3D Flash Memory

A cooling system composed of a liquid heat sink, internal liquid pump, a fan, and a radiator that all actively pump cooled liquid in and out with no help from an outside pumping system.

Active-Liquid Heat Sink

A family of processors most often used in smartphones due to its lower power requirements. This is accomplished by reducing the processors' instruction set.

Advanced RISC Machines (ARM) Processors

A common method of cooling that uses fans to move hot air out of a system.

Air Cooling

An audible alarm that occurs when a computer encounters an issue before a power-on self test (POST) has completed when booting. The number and frequency of the beeps can be used to compare information found in the motherboard manual and identify the issue.

Beep Codes

A short-range wireless communication technology used to connect peripherals such as wireless headphones, speakers, keyboards, mice, smart watches, printers, and game controllers to a computer, including smartphones.

Bluetooth

A camera component that focuses the light that enters it into a point. Behind the point, the light spreads out again, eventually creating an upside-down image of the light that entered.

Camera Lens

A camera component that sits between the lens and the sensor, allowing light to enter for a short time.

Camera Shutter

The most important part of any modern computer system that controls the other parts of the computer.

Central Processing Unit (CPU)

Reencoding a file to consume less storage space.

Compression

Heat sinks and fans that keep computer components, especially the CPU, from overheating.

Cooling System

A memory issue in which unintentional changes have been introduced to your original files resulting in missing files or data, scrambled documents, crashing programs, spontaneous reboots, registry errors, and missing systems.

Data Corruption

A utility in which all fragmented files on a drive are found and reconsolidated into the same physical location on the disk.

Defragmentation

A popular type of computer system that can be equipped with peripheral devices such as a monitor, keyboard, mouse, and speakers.

Desktop

A connector, typically white with three rows of eight pins, designed to connect digital monitors to a computer.

Digital Visual Interface (DVI) Connector

The top-level folder, or directory, of a file system.

Drive

An industry professional who oversees the design and development of computer devices and other systems that use electricity and electronics.

Electrical Engineer

An event in which two objects with different charge levels come together resulting in an electrostatic shock.

Electrostatic Discharge

The process of converting information so it cannot be understood without decrypting it using a key, especially to prevent unauthorized access.

Encryption

A circuit board that connects to a computer's motherboard, giving it additional power or functionality.

Expansion Card

An HDD that can be connected as a peripheral to a computer.

External Hard Disk Drives

The smallest container within a computer's storage system that is used to store information such as data, settings, and commands used in a computer program. A file is the smallest container that can be copied, deleted, or moved within a file system.

File

The way a file is organized. File formats are indicated by an extension such as .jpg, .gif, .png., .mp3, .wav, .wma, .mp4, .avi, and .wmv.

File Format

The use of user and file attributes that control which users can read, write, move, or delete each file.

File Permissions

The methods and structures that an operating system uses to organize files on a storage device like a hard drive. File systems often use directory structures to keep track of files.

File System

An uncommon interface used to connect peripherals such as digital cameras and external hard drives to a computer.

FireWire

A compact, portable storage device that uses special memory chips to store data.

Flash Storage

When parts of a single file, program, or application are stored in different areas of a physical disk.

Fragmentation

An additional computer processor that provides graphics processing, providing better performance by relieving the CPU of this duty.

Graphics Processing Unit (GPU)

The most common type of long-term storage that uses thick magnetic disks encased in a protective housing to store data.

Hard Disk Drive (HDD)

A computer component that attaches to a chip (like a CPU) that disperses heat and prevents overheating.

Heat Sink

Type of drive that allows bits of data to become smaller and more tightly packed together while still retaining data. It uses a tiny laser to briefly heat the recording surface of the hard drive to write the data making it more receptive to the effects of magnetism, which allow writing on much smaller areas than were possible before.

Heat-Assisted Magnetic Recording

A connector used to connect a computer to an HDMI monitor or TV.

High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) Connector

An advanced system of cooling where liquid coolant is in direct contact with the CPU offering a high heat transfer that quickly reduces the temperature of the CPU's surface.

Immersion Cooling

A communication technology that uses light waves to transmit information through the air.

Infrared

A printer that sprays small dots of ink from an ink reservoir onto a sheet of paper.

Inkjet Printer

The process of tracking changes to a file so that a file can be repaired or restored in case of file corruption or data loss.

Journaling

A printer that uses electrical charges and heat to fuse tiny plastic particles (called toner) to the paper.

Laser Printer

Small computing devices such as tablets and smart phones that are much more portable than desktops and laptops.

Mobile Device

A large, flat computer component that connects the important components of the computer, such as the CPU, RAM, and the BIOS chip. It also has power and other communications connections.

Motherboard

A component, sometimes built into and sometimes plugged into the motherboard, that provides network connectivity.

Network Interface Card (NIC)

A small computer that combines a display and keyboard and is designed to be easily carried.

Notebook/Laptop

A storage device that uses light instead of magnetism to store information. This include CD-ROM, DVD, and Blu-ray devices.

Optical Drive

A technician who repairs both software and hardware issues including but not limited to installing, troubleshooting, servicing, and repairing devices, as well as network equipment such as routers, switches, cables, and related network hardware.

PC Repair Technician

The process of dividing a single physical disk into multiple logical drives called volumes.

Partitioning

A device, usually external to a computer, that is plugged into a computer's communication port or is connected wirelessly. Common peripherals are keyboards, mice, monitors, speakers, and printers.

Peripheral

A light sensitive surface used to capture the image focused by the lens.

Photosensitive Material

A unit that supplies electricity to the motherboard and other computer components.

Power Supply

A test that ensures that all the system's hardware is in working order before loading the operating system. During this test, an error message may display on the screen notifying you of the faulty component.

Power-on Self Test (POST)

The main memory of a computer that can be quickly accessed by the CPU and where the computer stores data and instructions that it is actively using.

Random Access Memory (RAM)

A connector used to connect a computer to a wired network.

Registered Jack 45 (RJ-45) Connector

A device that can be connected to a computer or network that scans paper documents and converts them into digital files.

Scanner

A device with similar capacity to an HDD that uses flash storage instead of magnetic disks to store data. SSDs are much faster and more durable than hard disk drives but usually are more expensive.

Solid State Devices (SSD)

Synthetically produced artificial DNA that is capable of storing vast amounts of information and may be a solution to long-term massive storage.

Synthesized DNA Strands

A three step cycle (fetch, decode, and execute) that processors use to execute instructions.

The Fetch-Execute Cycle

An interface primarily used on Apple computers that typically connects a monitor to a computer and can also provide DC power.

Thunderbolt

A display device that allows a user to interact with a computer by touching, tapping, and swiping areas on the screen.

Touch Screen

A process that combines knowledge, experience, and intuition to quickly identify the cause of a problem.

Troubleshooting

A common interface used to connect peripherals, such as mice, keyboards, printers, and digital cameras to a computer.

Universal Serial Bus (USB)

A connector, identified by its blue color and three rows of pins, that is used to connect older monitors to a computer.

Video Graphics Array (VGA) Connector

A liquid-cooled system that places a water-cooled heat exchanger near a heat source. The exchanger then removes the heat, reducing the air temperature.

Water Cooling

A family of processors manufactured by Intel and AMD that use a common instruction set, or list of commands, that the processor can execute.

x86 Processors