Transcript Personal Computers and Applications

Personal Computers and
Applications
Networking for Home and Small
Businesses – Chapter 1
Objectives






Purpose and use of personal computers.
Differentiate local and network applications.
Different types of computing devices and usage.
Binary Arithmetic and Character representation.
Computer System Components and Peripheral
devices and there requirements.
Install, verify, and upgrade computer hardware
components and peripherals.
Purpose and Uses of Personal
Computers







Business organizations
Home Users
Government
Education System (Schools)
Non Profit Organizations
Vehicle using GPS systems or
using Digitally tuned engines for
patrol consumption, brakes and
other systems managed by
microprocessors
E-Banking and ATM
Computers need 3 things . . .

Hardware: Work on Electronic
Signals
 Operating System: Pass User Tasks
to Hardware for Execution.
 Application Software: Specifically
generated software used by user for
doing particular task. It works on
operating systems.
Purpose and Uses of Personal
Computers

Few Application Software used in
Business & Industry (specifically build to
cope with industry specific needs)
– Medical
– Educational
– Legal

Few Application Software for General
Use (Provide basic level wide variety of
services used by wide range of people)
– Word Processor Applications
– Spreadsheets
– Simple accounting software
Types of Applications
Local – runs on only one PC also known as
Desktop Applications.
 Network – runs over the network or the
Internet

– Must have two components
 runs on a local computer (Client Applications such as
Web Browser)
 runs on a remote computer (Server Application such as
Web Server)
Types of Computing Devices

Main Frame:
– Multiple processors used for executing several user applications
together at a very high speed in a centralized environment. (work
with dumb terminals)

Servers:
– work in Client Server Architecture, used to execute several client
requests in a centralized environment. Client machines are not
dumb terminals and normally execute applications on client
machine itself and only depend for data from server. (reduce
redundancy of data).

Workstations:
– Workstations are high-powered business computers. They are
designed for executing specialized, high-end applications used in
business environment such as CAD (Computer Aided Design),
CAM (Computer Aided Manufacturing) and CAE (Computer
Aided Engineering)
Types of Computing Devices

Desktop:
– Desktops support many options and capabilities.
– Wide variety of components and Peripherals supported.
– Used to execute common generalized applications such as web
browsing, word processor, spreadsheets, email client etc..

Laptop:
– A Mobile computer work on less power and have built in mouse
and keyboard.
– Equivalent capabilities to desktop computers.
– Less support to peripherals and additional components then
desktops. (these facilities can be generated using a docking
station)

Handheld computing Devices
– Devices available with various capabilities and varieties. Few of
them are Mobile phone, Palmtop, PDA, Gaming Devices etc.
Types of Computing Devices
 Servers
 High performance computers which
provide services to many clients using
Multiple CPUs
 high speed and higher capacity RAM
 and high capacity Storage Drives.

Types of Computing Devices
 Type of Servers:
 Standalone Server:

single server unit may be available with single
processor or multiple processor.
 Rack-Mount Server

Multiple server units configured and mounted on
rack requiring less space as no separate I/O units
available.
 Blade Server

Multiple blades (Server) available on single blade
rack. Highly flexible, robust and scalable
environment.
Types of Computing Devices

Desktop personal computer (PC)
 Used to run everyday applications
–
–
–
–

Email
Internet
Word Processing
Spreadsheet
Having many I/O device connection options for
connecting printers, modem, scanners, mouse,
keyboard, monitor etc.
Types of Computing Devices
Workstation – high powered computers
 Features

• Multiple processors
• Large amounts of RAM
• High capacity drives

Types of applications
•
•
•
•

Computer Aided Design (CAD)
Computer Aided Manufacturing (CAM)
Computer Aided Engineering (CAE)
Video animation
Example: Sun System’s Silicon Graphics Workstation,
IBM’s CAE Workstation
Number Systems

Number Systems mostly used by humans and
computers:
–
–
–
–

Base 2 (Binary) Means 2 digits, 0 and 1
Base 8 (Octal) means 8 digits, 0 to 7
Base 10 (Decimal) Means 10 digits, 0 to 9
Base 16 (Hexadecimal) means 16 digits from 0 to 9 and A to F
So how do we communicate??
 Simple – Learn Conversion between Decimal, Octal and
Hexadecimal to Binary and Binary to Hexadecimal and
Octal and Decimal
 Computer Represent data in Binary.
What helps determine the speed?

Type of Media
– UTP Cable
– Fiber
– Wireless

Type of file
– Larger files require more time to download

Type of Network connection
– Bandwidth and Throughput
Determining Screen Resolution
and Speed

Measuring resolution and frequency
 Pixels – determines the resolution in number of points in
row and column on screen.
 Hertz = how fast something recycle or refreshes used to
represent the speed on processor, memory, motherboard
and other hardware components and refresh rate of
monitor.
 300 MHz = 300 million cycles/second
Purchasing Computer
Preassembled or Custom Built – which one should
you choose??
 Preassembled Advantages:

– Lower Cost
– Performs most applications

Preassembled Disadvantages:
– May lack in performance
– Fixed Components and Configurations

Custom Built Advantages:
– Components as per your requirements
– Supports higher performance applications

Custom Built Disadvantages
– Costly
Determining Appropriate Components
and Peripheral Devices

Motherboard
– main circuit board
– slots for processor, RAM, IDE and
Floppy Drives
– Expansion Slots (ISA, EISA, PCI or
Extended PCI) for NIC, sound card,
internal modems, etc.
– AGP Slot
– Additional onboard backend interfaces
for attaching various other devices such
as keyboard, mouse, printers etc.
CPU

Central Processing Unit (CPU)
– nerve center of the computer

Factors to remember when selecting your
processor
– higher speed = faster performance
– more power = more heat
– Support to OS (16 Bit, 32 Bit or 64 Bit)

Bus
– how data gets to its location (like a highway)
– faster bus = faster computer
– Front-side Bus Speed (FSB) calculated in Hertz

RAM
Random Access Memory (RAM)
– temporary storage
– stores data while it is being processed by the CPU

Why would a user need more RAM?
– Multiple applications running at the same time
– Applications are more memory intensive such as
Database or Specific Server Applications.
– Multiple CPUs
– Maximum RAM availability determined by the
motherboard
Additional Cards and Functionality

Adapter cards add additional functionality to a
computer system such as sound card, NIC,
Modem, IDE Card, Graphics Adapter Cards etc.
Optical Drives

Optical Drives
– Use of laser beams to record and read information
– CD or DVD – uses red laser
 CDs can store upto 700MB
 DVDs can store up to 8GB data.
– Blue Ray – uses blue-violet laser
 can hold up to 25GB of data.
Magnetic Storage Devices
 Magnetic
Drives
Hard Drive
– Floppy Drive
– Tape Drive
–
Additional Devices

Peripheral Devices
– Added to the computer to expand its
capabilities
– Different categories





Input (Key board, mouse, Scanners
etc)
Output (Monitor, Printers)
Storage (Flash Drive, USB Hard Disk
etc.
Networking (External Modems etc.)
Where do these devices fit??
Power Supply to your Computer
and Peripherals

Surge Protector
– Prevents damage to the computer.
– Normally have fuse for protecting from
higher voltage levels.

UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply)
– Keeps charge of internal battery
– Provides backup power without
interruption for a short period of time
– Normally give enough time to properly
shutdown computer.
Install, Verify and Upgrade
Components and Peripherals

Computer Repair Best Practices
 Turn PC off and unplug power
– Determine if the part is hot-swappable (if so, there is no
need to turn off power before adding or removing the
part)

Never open power supply or monitor
– both contain high voltages

Be aware of Electrostatic Discharge (ESD)
– transfers electricity from your body to electrical parts
– ground yourself properly
Install, Verify and Upgrade
Components and Peripherals

Take the following precautions:
– Determine if the component is hot swappable
 If in doubt, unplug it!!
– Use ESD safe environment.
– wear grounding strap on wrist.
– Remove old component
– Check the connection on the new component
 Should fit easily; if you have to force it, it probably doesn’t
belong there
– Place component in the correct slot
Install, Verify and Upgrade
Components and Peripherals

PS/2 - connects keyboard and mouse
 USB – connects many devices (PnP)
 Serial – connects modems/serial mouse etc.
 Parallel – connects printer
 VGA – connects monitors
 RJ11 – connects phone lines
 RJ45 – connects to the network