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Module 2 - Overview OF Computer Hardware AND Software

Living in the IT Era (Polytechnic University of the Philippines)

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LIVING IN THE IT ERA (Week 3) Software

Monitoring Application, Database, and
Overview of Computer Hardware and Software Operating System
User
Computer Medical staff, Administrators
- A machine that manipulates data according to a list
of instructions called a program. 2. Controlling a section of an Assembly Line
Hardware
A specially embedded system which is
developed for this purpose
Software
The machine code loaded on the
embedded system Memory
User
Other Machine, Supervisor
A computer can also be defined as an electronic
machine that accepts input (data), processes it and gives 3. Playing a game with a Computer
out results (information). A program or app (short for Hardware
application program) in memory manages the Game consoles such as Xbox and
processing. It can make use of data or information stored Playstation
in memory and remember the results of the processing Software
for later use, again in memory. The game itself
User
A computer is also a (fairly complicated) tool The game player
intended to assist the user in accomplishing information-
based tasks ranging from locating and acquiring
data/information to processing it to presenting or Types of Computers
transmitting it.
Supercomputer
In addition, it is an entertainment center allowing the Supercomputers are fast because they are actually
user to browse the web, read a book, play a video game, many computers working together.
watch a movie, etc. These devices (and the following)
are often left out of the definition of a computer because Supercomputers were introduced in the 1960's as
they are not "general purpose" computing devices, that the world's most advanced computer. These computers
is, a Kindle (tm) is used to read books, but not to create were used for complex calculations such as forecasting
a classroom presentation. They are included here weather and quantum physics. Today, supercomputers
because the lines separating such devices are becoming are one of a kind; they are fast and very advanced. The
blurry. term supercomputer is always evolving as tomorrow's
normal computers are today's supercomputer. As of May
In certain specialized instances, such as embedded 2011, Sunway TaihuLight is ranked on the TOP500 list
real-time computers (as found in your car or microwave), as the fastest supercomputer. It consists of 40,960 CPUs
it is part of a more complex tool or device. each with 256 processing cores (a quad-core has four).
Although it is energy efficient, supercomputers are still
In a sense, a computer is ultimately a simple, room-sized machines.
generic device that can be used to accomplish a wide
variety of tasks. This leads to the first two generic Mainframe
definitions provided above.
Mainframes are computers in which all the
Computer-based System processing is done centrally, and the user terminals are
- A system in which a computer is involved and called "dumb terminals" since they only input and output
consists of three major elements: Hardware, (and do not process). In modern systems, a PC or a web
Software, and User (where the user may be another app often acts as the dumb terminal.
computer system). The elements of a computer-
based system are described in the three following Mainframes are computers used mainly by large
scenarios: organizations for critical applications, typically bulk data
processing such as a census. Examples: banks, airlines,
1. Patient monitoring system insurance companies, and colleges. They support
Hardware hundreds of users simultaneously.
Electrode leads, Micro-computers,
Network platform, and a Server At SRU, the mainframe handles registration,
computer records, reports, and various Human Resource

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functions. You are much more likely to use a mainframe needed to run an operating system and a web browser.
in your professional career (today) than a Cloud applications are run on some (unknown)
supercomputer. application server in the Internet and your data is stored
on some (unknown) file server in the Internet.
Today, mainframes exist as a concept more than as
hardware. (NASA unplugs last mainframe.) This offers the potential of significant costs savings,
especially in business settings where you otherwise
Server have to have many computers, each with their own
hardware and software.
Servers are similar to mainframes in that they serve
many uses with the main difference that, usually, the
users (called clients) do much of their own processing.
The server processes are devoted to sharing files and
managing access rights.

A server is a central computer that contains

collections of data and programs. Also called a network
server, this system allows all connected users to share
and store electronic data and applications. Two
important types of servers are file servers and
application servers.

An application server hosts various applications or

programs that you can use without having to install them
directly on your system. At SRU, once you have installed
the Citrix client interface the Citrix server(s) provide
access to many applications used across campus. Web
apps, like Google Docs, work in essentially the same
way.

A file server manages your files. At SRU, the H: Workstation

(home drive) and I: (class works) drives show up on any
computer you log into as "network drives". These files Workstations are high-end, expensive computers
are not actually located on your computer's hard disk but that are made for complex procedures and are intended
appear to be so. for one user at a time. Some of the complex procedures
consist of science, math and engineering calculations
A web server is essentially a file server located and are useful for computer design and manufacturing.
somewhere in the Internet. You request files (or web Workstations are sometimes improperly named for
pages) by clicking on a (hyper)link or typing in a URL. marketing reasons. Real workstations are not usually
The file is displayed by your browser as a web page. sold in retail.
Much of the web has been developed using this client-
server model. Perhaps the first computer that might qualify as a
"workstation" was the IBM 1620.

In current terminology, a desktop personal computer

A server with clients. This (or even a terminal) connected to a server, mainframe, or
diagram could also be used for the network is often called a workstation. In addition, the line
mainframe, if the client computers separating workstations from personal computers is
were dumb terminals. blurring as PCs become more powerful and workstations
become cheaper.
Cloud Computing Personal Computer or PC
Although "the cloud" is not a single computer PC is an abbreviation for a Personal Computer, it is
system, it seems that this is a good place to discuss it. also known as a Microcomputer. Its physical
First, it is worth noting that servers are also often not a characteristics and low cost are appealing and useful for
single computing system. All of our Google queries aren't its users. The capabilities of a personal computer have
sent to a single machine on the Internet, but it acts that changed greatly since the introduction of electronic
way. This is somewhat like cloud services (in fact Google computers. By the early 1970s, people in academic or
offers cloud services). research institutions had the opportunity for single-
person use of a computer system in interactive mode for
In cloud computing, your PC acts as a client, extended durations, although these systems would still
perhaps with little more hardware and software than is have been too expensive to be owned by a single

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individual. The introduction of the microprocessor, a attempting to tap into the same market as smartphones,
single chip with all the circuitry that formerly occupied book readers and even laptops. Without the benefit of a
large cabinets, led to the proliferation of personal crystal ball, I predict that the range of hand-held devices
computers after about 1975. Early personal computers, in the future will mimic the range of laptops and netbooks
generally called microcomputers, were sold often in kit today. You will choose based on your primary use and
form and in limited volumes and were of interest mostly cost, while hoping the company you work for provides
to hobbyists and technicians. By the late 1970s, mass- you with a high-end device.
market pre-assembled computers allowed a wider range
of people to use computers, focusing more on software Microcontroller
applications and less on development of the processor
hardware. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, home Microcontrollers are mini computers that enable the
computers were developed for household use, offering user to store data and do simple commands and tasks
some personal productivity, programming and games, with little or no user interaction with the processor. These
while somewhat larger and more expensive systems single circuit devices have minimal memory and program
(although still low-cost compared with mainframes) length but can be integrated with other processors for
called workstations were aimed for office and small more complex functionality. Many such systems are
business use. known as Embedded Systems. Examples of embedded
systems include cell phones and car safety and control
Today a personal computer is an all rounded device systems. Embedded systems are limited to specific
that can be used as a productivity tool, a media server tasks, but are often part of a much more complex
and a gaming machine. The modular construction of the system.
personal computer allows components to be easily (at
least for desktop units) swapped out when broken or Hardware and Software
upgraded. Hardware

Although occasionally "PC" is used to refer to the Hardware refers to the physical elements of a
family of computers descended from the original IBM- computer. This is also sometime called the machinery or
PC, it is now typically used for any general purpose the equipment of the computer. Examples of hardware in
computing platform available (according to price) for the a computer are the keyboard, the monitor, the mouse
home market, including laptops and Apple computers. and the central processing unit. However, most of a
computer's hardware cannot be seen; in other words, it
Smartphones is not an external element of the computer, but rather an
internal one, surrounded by the computer's casing
Smartphones are hand-held computers. The current (tower). A computer's hardware is comprised of many
generation of smartphones run an amazing array of different parts, but perhaps the most important of these
applications, making them quite general purpose. Their is the motherboard. The motherboard is made up of
primary inadequacy at this time is the limitations for even more parts that power and control the computer.
directly connected I/O devices, like a printer. They have
a keyboard and touch screen for input, with only a In contrast to software, hardware is a physical entity.
screen for output. Bluetooth wireless networking (the Hardware and software are interconnected, without
same you may use for a phone headset) handles the software, the hardware of a computer would have no
problem of connecting peripherals, and the Internet, function. However, without the creation of hardware to
which can be viewed as both an input and an output perform tasks directed by software via the central
device for our purposes, handles more. processing unit, software would be useless.

The number of mature applications for smartphones Hardware is limited to specifically designed tasks
is growing rapidly (as is cloud computing). Also, "[i]n an that are, taken independently, very simple. Software
InformationWeek online survey of 1,139 business implements algorithms (problme solutions) that allow the
technology professionals, 30% of smartphone users say computer to complete much more complex tasks.
they use their devices for enterprise connectivity, and
37% either occasionally or frequently leave their laptops Software
at home in favor of their
smartphones."[InformationWeek] In all likelihood, the Software, commonly known as programs or apps,
smartphone will become the mobile platform for consists of all the instructions that tell the hardware how
business and personal use in the near future. to perform a task. These instructions come from a
software developer in the form that will be accepted by
Other devices the platform (operating system + CPU) that they are
based on. For example, a program that is designed for
We have talked about the convergence of the Windows operating system will only work for that
technologies in computing devices for years. We seem specific operating system. Compatibility of software will
to be at the cusp of change in 2011, with a plethora of vary as the design of the software and the operating
mobile devices, such as the Xoom and the iPad 2 (there system differ. Software that is designed for Windows XP
is even a game system that makes phone calls),

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may experience a compatibility issue when running - Any information (data) that comes out of a computer.
under Windows 2000 or NT. - Output devices can be computers, display screens,
speakers, and printers.
Software is capable of performing many tasks, as
opposed to hardware which can only perform Storage
mechanical tasks that they are designed for. Software - Computer data storage.
provides the means for accomplishing many different - Can save digital data.
tasks with the same basic hardware. Practical computer
- Examples: RAM, hard disks, CDs, DVDs, and
systems divide software systems into two major classes:
removable flash memory sticks.
 System software: Helps run the computer hardware - Permanent or Non-Volatile, storage devices do not
and computer system itself. System software require power to remember the data stored.
includes operating systems, device drivers, - Mass storage devices, like your hard disk, are non-
diagnostic tools and more. System software is volatile; a loss of power does most affect their ability
almost always pre-installed on your computer. to retain data. This category also includes ROM
 Application software: Allows users to accomplish (Read-Only Memory)
one or more tasks. It includes word processing, web - Temporary or Volatile Storage is more often called
browsing and almost any other task for which you “memory”. A loss of power means that any data
might install software. (Some application software is stored will be lost irretrievably. When you are using
pre-installed on most computer systems.) an application, such as a word processor, the data
(the document you are working on) is stored in RAM
Software is generally created (written) in a high-level
(Random Access Memory). If you lose power without
programming language, one that is (more or less)
readable by people. These high-level instructions are explicitly saving your work, you will likely lose data.
converted into "machine language" instructions, The data loss from your work in RAM is only "likely"
represented in binary code, before the hardware can because many applications automatically save your work
"run the code". When you install software, it is generally to permanent storage in a "temporary" file — kind of a
already in this machine language, binary, form. work in progress — to avoid losing more than, say, ten
minutes of work. No doubt you have seen such files.
Firmware They appear and disappear automatically as you work
Firmware is a very specific, low-level program for the on your permanent files. They often have names that
hardware that allows it to accomplish some specific task. start with the tilde (~) or include the string "tmp". The
Firmware programs are (relatively) permanent, i.e., files, which are stored on the (permanent) disk, are
difficult or impossible to change. From the higher-level called temporary because the application automatically
view of software, firmware is just part of the hardware, creates it when you start editing and then deletes it when
although it provides some functionality beyond that of you exit the application.
simple hardware.
Firmware is part of devices (or device components)
Processing
such as a video card, sound card, disk drive and even
the motherboard. The AMIBIOS image to the right is - Processor is the brain of a computer.
from a Baby AT Motherboard. - Also called the CPU (Central processing unit) and it
is a microchip.
- For a non-programmer, this is where all the real
Basic Operations
action is. Programs just set the stage and direct the
play. (In this off hand analogy, the play itself, in
written form, would be most like a program.)
- The processor actually performs very simple
operations like basic arithmetic and comparing two
values (but that may be like saying a stage actor just
speaks, moves and emotes).
- Despite it's apparent simplicity, the CPU does in fact
run the show, controlling all of the peripherals while
Input executing the current software commands.
- CPU itself receives input (perhaps "fetching" the
- Whatever goes into the computer. next command to execute) and generates output
- Input can take a variety of forms, from commands (perhaps the result of adding two numbers). The
you enter by keyboard to data from another CPU also has its own, very temporary, storage (the
computer (via a network connection). numbers to be added need to be stored somewhere,
- A device that feed a data into a computer, such as a as does the result while it is being sent out of the
keyboard or mouse, is called an input device. CPU).

Output

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- The CPU may also contain "level 1 cache" memory. blue. All together that is 24 bits, so we can represent a
This is like a very fast (and expensive) version of total of 224 or 16 million (approximately) colors.
RAM that allows the CPU to have things it may need
soon close at hand. Twitter allows messages of up to 140 characters
(Bytes), while SMS (Short Message Service) or cell
Data Sizes and Speeds phone texting allows up to 160 Bytes. Most text only
emails can be measured in Bytes, i.e., the emails are
Names for different sizes of data relatively small.
When choosing a new computer we come across
terms such as "1 TB hard drive" and "4 GB RAM", and to
the uninitiated, this can be somewhat disconcerting.
Data in a computer is represented in a series of bits
(binary digits) or ones and zeroes. Since the birth of
computers, bits have been the language that control the
processes that take place inside that mysterious black
box called your computer.

Bit (Binary Digit)

A bit is simply a 1 or a 0. A true or a false. It is the Bit and Byte
most basic unit of data in a computer. It's like the dots
and dashes in Morse code for a computer. It's also called
machine language.

Any data of any kind that is stored in the computer or

transmitted by the computer is ultimately made up of
bits. A program (software) written in a high-level (human
readable) language like Java or C++ is converted to
machine language (bits) before the computer can run it.

A bit can represent anything we want, perhaps yes

and no, but it has only two possible values. So, to
represent more things, we have always grouped bits into
larger chunks. The number of bits determines some
maximum number of unique combinations of bits. A Pixel: One byte each for the additive primary colors:
group of 8 bits has 256 (2 8) possible unique Red, Green & Blue
combinations. Each of those combinations can have its
own meaning that we agree upon. Word
The size of a computer "word" is variable. It is based
In the Morse code analogy, suppose we decided that upon how many bits the CPU can read at one time, and
every letter was a combination of five dots and dashes. that has changed over time. We are currently (c. 2011) in
That would provide use with 32 (25) unique code values. a transition from 32-bit systems to 64-bit systems. Our
That is enough to represent the 26 letters of the alphabet only concern with this is that a 32-bit system can directly
and 6 more, perhaps punctuation. The Chinese might support (address) at most 4 GigaBytes of RAM (2 32). To
use the same 32 codes to represent something besides use more RAM we need to "trick" the computer or get a
our alphabet, which is okay, as long as we know what 64-bit system. Oddly, most current computers are also
language we are supposed to be reading. [By the right around 4 GB of RAM, so this knowledge is of
way, Morse Code doesn't actually work that way.] immediate value in purchasing a new system. You want
a 64-bit system!
Byte
A byte is a basic unit of measurement of information KB or KiloByte
storage or transmission that consists of 8 bits. It can be One KB is 1000 Bytes, at least if you don't wear the
used to represent letters and numbers – up to 256 of title "geek" as a badge of honor and especially if your in
each. For example, a Byte containing the 8 marketing. When measuring disk space, one KB is 1024
bits 01000101 represents: bytes (210). Obviously, if you were selling a disk drive that
could hold exactly 1000 bytes, it would be to your
 the letter E in the ASCII character set, or advantage to market it is a 1KB drive.
 the number 69, since 26 + 22 + 20 = 69.
A typical word processor document, without a lot of
There are many things the same pattern of images, is likely to measure in the KB range.
bits could represent – as long as we all agree on the
representation or rules for understanding it – like part of MB or MegaByte
one pixel in an image. There are usually three parts to a
pixel, one byte for red, another for green and the third for

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A megabyte is approximately 1000KB. Technically, it Network engineers still describe network speeds in bits
is 1024KB (1024 x 1024). Again, the technical value is of per second, while your Internet browser would usually
interest primarily to geeks. measure a file download rate in bytes per second. A
lower case "b" usually means a bit, while an upper case
Most digital cameras create images that are in the "B" represents a byte. Hence, the answer to which is
MB range. An 8 MP (megapixel) camera has 8 million better 8 Mbps or 2 MBps? Is 2 MBps (which is 16 Mbps).
sensors, each representing a pixel or picture element. Using a less common, but more clear notation: which is
Each pixel, in turn uses some numbers of bits to better 8 Mbit/s or 2 MBps? Answer: 2 MBps, since that is
represent the various colors. A "true color" camera has 16 Mbit/s. (Marketing people use this confusion to their
24 bits (3B) per pixel. Assuming no compression, each advantage, if you're not sure which is intended, ask.)
image would be 24MB! (In practice, we usually do
compress the images and find them to be between two Bps (Bits per second)
and eight MB.) Known as bits per second, bps was the main way of
describing data transfer speeds several decades ago.
GB or GigaByte Bps was also known as the baud rate, therefore, a 600
A gigabyte is a unit of data storage worth baud modem was one which could transfer data at
approximately a billion bytes, meaning either 1000MB or around 600bps.
the more technical 1024MB (1024 x 1024 x 1024). More
often than not in advertising, Gigabytes are presented as Kbps (Kilobits per second)
1 billion bytes and not 1,073,741,824 (It's only off by Kilobits per second, or 1000 bits per second.
7%.). This helps to explain why a freshly formatted (Network folks didn't get caught up in the 1000 vs 1024
500GB hard drive shows up at a 450GB drive instead. problem.) Modern telephone modems operate at
Not too long ago many people were discussing RAM and 56Kbps.
even disk storage in Megabytes. These days, storage
has become so cheap that having 4-16 gigabytes of Mbps (Megabits per second)
RAM is considered the norm. 1,000,000 (million) bits per second. Often used in
describing Internet download/upload speeds, as shown
A DVD holds gigabytes of data, enough for a single above.
digital movie. So, keep in mind that storing movies on
your hard drive will take large chunks of space. Gbps (Gigabits per second)
1,000,000,000 (billion) bits per second. This term is
TB or TeraByte most commonly heard in local area networks, where the
A terabyte is 10244 and is defined as about one close proximity of machines allows for fast data transfer
trillion bytes, or 1024 gigabytes. Data centers such as rates.
those operated by Google handle thousands if not
millions of terabytes of data each day. As storage Activity
becomes cheaper and faster, terabytes are becoming a
commonly heard term. 1. Explain the functional meaning of the Four (4)
Basic Computer Operations. (20 pts)
Disk drives in in the TB range are now common. a. Input
(You can buy them at Walmart!) b. Process
c. Storage
PB or PetaByte d. Output
A petabyte is a unit of information or computer 2. How do computers measure data size and speed?
storage equal to one quadrillion bytes (10245). (5 pts)
3. Which Type of Computer do you think helped a lot
Google processes (c. 2008) about 24PB of data per in the IT world? (10 pts)
day. 4. How do software and hardware components of
computers collaborate to accomplish a task? (10
pts)
5. When is a device considered having a computer
system? (5pts)

Measurements of Data Speed

Today there are generally two ways of describing
data transfer speeds: in bits per second, or in bytes per
second. As explained above, a byte is made of 8 bits.

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