Section 3 Intro to IT
What is (IPOS)?
input-process-output-storage
What are some examples of computers?
- Supercomputers - Mainframe computers - Workstation
What are three different types of buses that the instructions are split and sent through?
- Address buses - Data buses - Control buses.
What three parts do CPU consist of?
- Arithmetic logic unit (ALU) - Control unit - Processor register
What were some of the High-level programming languages?
- FORTRAN (FORmula TRANslation) - COBOL (Common Business-Oriented Language).
What are the two type of storge devices?
- Hard disk drive (HDD) - Solid-state drives (SSD).
How is computer storage and memory measured?
- Megabytes (MB) - Gigabytes (GB) - Terabytes (TB).
What are the two primary measurements for system speed?
- Megahertz (MHz), which converts to millions of pulses per second - Gigahertz (GHz), which converts to billions of pulses per second
How much is 1 kilobyte (KB)?
2^10 or 1,024 bytes.
How much is 1 megabyte (MB)?
2^20 or 1,048,576 bytes.
How much is 1 gigabyte (GB)?
2^30 or 1,073,741,824 bytes.
How much is 1 terabyte (TB)?
2^40 or 1,099,511,627,776 bytes.
How much is 1 petabyte (PB)?
2^50 or 1,125,899,906,842,624 bytes.
What is a (GPU) important for?
3D rendering.
What is a bit?
A bit is the smallest unit of storage that is set to 0 or to 1.
What is an expansion bus?
A computer bus that moves information between the internal hardware of a computer system (including the CPU and RAM) and peripheral devices.
How many bits makes a byte?
A group of eight bits.
What is World-Wide-Web?
A system by which documents stored on computers throughout the internet could be linked together producing a system of linked information
What is a communication device?
Allow a computer to send and receive data to and from other computers.
What is the system unit also referred as?
Also known as a tower or chassis.
What is (ROM)?
Another component that stores instructions for crucial system activities, including booting up the system and initializing different computer components.
What is a mainframe computer?
Are designed to support hundreds or thousands of users simultaneously.
What is a supercomputer?
Are the biggest and fastest computers, designed to process huge amounts of data.
What is the bases that the fifth generation computers work?
Based on parallel processing (multiple programs running concurrently) and artificial intelligence (AI) software.
How are computers categorized?
Based on their size and processing speed.
What is the function of a bit?
Bits need to be combined to create a useful representation of data or information;
How are computer generations defined?
By major technological developments that fundamentally changed the way computers operated.
How does the (HDD) work?
By writing binary data onto spinning magnetic disks called platters that rotate at high speeds.
What does the Control bus do?
Carries control signals (commands) from the CPU (and status signals from devices); controls and coordinates all activities within the computer system.
What does the Data bus do?
Carries data between the processor, the memory unit, and the input/output devices.
What does the Address bus do?
Carries the destination address of where the data is assigned to be processed.
What are the three mayor components in a computer?
Central processing unit, storage, and peripheral devices.
How is storge used in a computer?
Computer memory stores ephemeral programs and data in use temporarily for quick access and primarily stores it in RAM.
What are some example of data that is saved?
Computer programs, family photos, operating systems, word-processing documents,
What is an expansion card?
Is a printed circuit board that can be inserted into an electrical connector or expansion slot on a computer motherboard, backplane, or riser card to add functionality to a computer system via the expansion bus.
What is the (ALU) and what does it do?
Contains circuitry that performs operations on data (such as addition and subtraction);
What is the processor register?
Contains data storage cells called registers.
What is the control unit and what does it do?
Contains the circuitry coordinating the machine's activities;
What is the (ENIAC)?
Electronic Numerical Integrator and Calculator.
What did integrated circuits achieve?
Enabled the development of computer systems that were cheaper, faster, smaller, and more reliable.
What is (RAM) classified as?
Ephemeral, meaning data stored in RAM is lost when the computer is powered off.
What is a workstation?
Is a single-user computer designed for technical or scientific applications.
How does Bluetooth adapters work?
Facilitate wireless communication between electronic devices.
What are some examples of secondary storage?
Floppy and hard drives, flash drives, magnetic tape, and optical discs, such as CDs and DVDs.
Where is (RAM) located?
Found in the memory slots of the motherboard.
At what speed is the processors, processing speed measured?
Gigahertz (GHz).
What are registers and where must data be stored before it can be processed?
High-speed storage areas in the CPU and data must be stored here before it can be processed.
What is (MDR) Memory data register?
Holds data that is being transferred to or from memory.
What is (AC) Accumulator?
Holds the ALU results.
What is (PC) Program counter?
Holds the address of the next program instruction to be executed.
What is (CIR) Current instruction register?
Holds the current instruction during processing.
What is (MAR) Memory address register?
Holds the memory location of data that needs to be accessed.
What is a Microprocessors?
Include thousands of integrated circuits on a single silicon chip.
How do Buses work?
Instructions are sent through the bus lines to the CPU and include how to process the data and which component to use.
What does software do with the hardware?
Instructions that can be stored and run by the physical hardware.
What happened in the third generation computers?
Integrated Circuits.
How is the history of computer generally divided?
Into five periods or generations.
How are workstations built and what are they used for?
It has a faster microprocessor, a large amount of RAM, and high-speed graphics cards. It generally performs a specific job with great expertise. Graphics, music, and engineering design departments often use this type of system.
What was kind of language did first generation computers rely on?
Machine languages, the lowest-level programming languages understood by computers.
What advanced in the fourth generation computers?
Microprocessors.
What are integrated circuits?
Miniaturized transistors that are placed on silicon chips called semiconductors.
What's another thing (GPU's) can do?
Modern GPUs fulfill a broad computational workload beyond just rendering.
What are some examples of output devices?
Monitors present the output on a screen, and printers produce hard copies on paper. Other examples of output devices include speakers, 3D printers, and projectors.
What was some benefits of the fourth generation computers?
More reliable than their predecessors, calculate in picoseconds (one trillionth of a second), use high-level languages, and are portable and economical.
What is nanotechnology?
Nanotechnology and molecular manufacturing involves the use of nanoscale (extremely small) tools and nonbiological processes to build structures, devices, and systems at the molecular level.
What does the (ROM) chips do?
Nonvolatile memory, keeping their content whether the system is on or off, and generally contain instructions for starting up the computer.
What was on of the earliest computer systems?
One of the earliest computing devices was the abacus, probably first used in China and then by the early Greek and Roman civilizations.
How many languages were developed for second-generation computers?
Over 100 computer programming languages.
What are ports?
Ports are sockets that allow cables to be plugged in without opening the system unit.
What is (RAM) sometimes referred to?
Primary or main memory.
What does a (GPU) do?
Processes huge batches of graphic data.
What kind of input and output did second generation computers rely on?
Punched cards for input and printouts for output.
What is quantum computing?
Quantum computing is the study of a non-classical model of computation.
What are some things that will help fifth generation computing?
Quantum computing, molecular technology, and nanotechnology.
What are some task the (RAM) can do?
Rendering images for graphic design, editing video or photographs, or multitasking with multiple applications open.
What replaced machine languages?
Replaced by assembly languages that specified instructions using words.
What does the (CPU) do?
Responsible for processing all information from programs run by your computer.
What is the use of a mainframe?
They also support multiple programs at the same time, making them useful to big organizations that manage and process high volumes of data.
What enables data to be transmitted without the need for physical wires?
Satellite, wireless, and Bluetooth technologies.
What is used to make web pages more accessible?
Search engines (e.g., Bing and Google) and browsers (e.g., Edge and Chrome) were developed.
What do secondary storage devices do?
Secondary storage devices hold data and information permanently.
What do modems do?
Send information over a phone line or coaxial cable, whereas a network card sends information over dedicated network cables.
What are some examples of ports?
Serial, parallel, and Universal Serial Bus (USB) ports, which are recognizable by their distinct shapes.
What did the microprocessor do for the fourth generation computer?
Significant reduction in processor size and, at the same time, a significant increase in capabilities.
How is (RAM) kept?
Split into partitions. Each partition consists of an address and its contents, all in binary form. The address uniquely identifies every location in the memory.
When did the fifth generation of computers start?
Started in the early 1980s when microprocessor chips were able to accommodate tens of millions of electronic components using ultra-large-scale integration (ULSI).
What does the hard drive do?
Storage device responsible for storing permanent and temporary data.
How does the (SSD) work?
Stores data by using static flash memory chips.
What are some examples of Input devices?
Such as keyboards, mouses, and sensors, are used to move data into computers.
What are some examples of Output devices?
Such as printers and monitors, are used to move information out of computers.
What do peripheral devices do in a computer?
Support the input and output operations of the system.
What is computer system?
System of hardware, software, networking, and human components that function together.
What was used for storage purposes?
Tapes and disks.
What purpose does register serve?
Temporary holding places for data being manipulated by the CPU.
What are peripheral devices and what do the comprise of?
The I/O unit and various units that support the input and output functions.
How fast did the integrated circuit make the third-generation computer?
The computational time was reduced from milliseconds to nanoseconds.
How is an operation performed on stored data in the main memory?
The control unit - Transfers the data from the main memory into the registers - Informs the ALU which registers hold the data - Activates the ALU - Tells the ALU which register should receive the result.
What does the fifth generation of computing support?
The development of artificial intelligence and natural language processing while using principles of robotics, neural networks, expert systems, and natural language understanding and generation.
What other developments did the fourth generation computers achieve?
The development of graphical user interfaces, the mouse, and handheld devices.
What does the (CPU) do?
The electronic circuit responsible for executing computer program instructions.
Why is the system clock needed?
The electronic components of the computer need these electric pulses in order to operate.
What generation did the (ENIAC) emerge?
The first generation and it was very heavy and had vacuum tubes.
What does the registers hold?
The inputs to the ALU and store the results?
What are some types of input devices?
The keyboard is the most common input device. Direct input devices such as pointing devices (mouse and trackball) and scanning devices (bar code readers) are much faster and have less room for error compared to the keyboard.
What happens when more pulses are sent out by the system clock and how is the instruction processed?
The more pulses sent out by the system clock, the faster the computer. One instruction gets processed per pulse.
What makes up the system unit?
The motherboard, CPU, RAM, power supply, and any other internally installed components.
What all does computer hardware include?
The physical, tangible parts or components of a computer, such as the monitor, mouse, keyboard, computer data storage, hard disk drive (HDD), graphic cards, sound cards, memory, motherboard, and so on, all of which are objects you can see and touch.
What is another function of secondary storage?
The saved content remains on the secondary storage unit even when the computer is powered down.
How is the size of the bus determined?
The size of the bus is related to the amount of data that can be transmitted at once.
How did the transistor work?
The smaller electronic components in the second generation could maintain two states, "Off" and "On," represented by the binary digits 0 and 1, respectively.
What is the function of the system clock?
The system clock sends out a pulse of electricity at regular intervals.
What is a buses or bus lines?
The wires that serve as electrical roadways, transmitting information between the CPU and other components.
How are super computers built and how are they useful?
They are built as a system of thousands of interconnected processors. Supercomputers are particularly useful in scientific and engineering applications such as weather forecasting, scientific simulations, and nuclear energy research.
What was some problems first generation computer ran into when computing? and what did they use for input
They could run one program at a time and it took a long time, sometimes weeks, to set up a different program. and used punch cards.
How does a computer use (IPOS)?
They take input, process it, and provide an output while using storage to keep intermediate and final results of the transformation of data.
What were some troubles of the integrated circuits?
They were complicated to manufacture, difficult to maintain, and required air conditioning to keep the computers cool enough to run.
How does (RAM) help the CPU?
This memory is fast and directly accessible by the CPU. Loading data from secondary to primary memory allows the CPU to operate faster.
What does the (RAM) do?
To temporarily store information created by programs and to do so in a way that makes this data immediately accessible.
What is an input device?
Translate data into a form that the computer can understand, and output devices translate information into a form that humans can understand.
How do search engines work?
Use technologies to index and tag pages so users can quickly search for resources based on keywords.
How does satellite communication transmit data?
Uses radio signals and orbiting satellites to receive and send data from one system to another.
How did user interact with third-generation computers?
Using keyboards and monitors that communicated with the other components of the hardware and operating systems.
What were some problems of (ENIAC)?
Vacuum tubes for circuitry and magnetic drums for memory, and they were often enormous in size. They consumed a great deal of electricity and were expensive to operate. They often malfunctioned because of the excessive heat they generated.
What was some problems that vacuum tubes had and how fast could they complete calculations?
Vacuum tubes were large, had limited storage capacity, were unreliable, and required a lot of maintenance. and also could complete calculations within milliseconds.
How do (GPU's) work on a motherboard?
Via an expansion slot to work almost exclusively on graphic rendering.
What is another name for the (IPOS model)?
Von Neumann architecture.
What does it mean if the processor advertise a high GHz rating?
Will likely perform faster than a similarly specified processor of the same brand and age.
What did an operating system do in a third-generation computer?
made it possible for computers to run multiple applications at the same time and to share memory and other resources.
What replaced vacuum tubes in the second generation of computers?
transistors were more reliable and economical.
