Motherboard

A motherboard(sometimes alternatively
known as the mainboard, system
board, baseboard, planar board or logic
board,[1] or colloquially, a mobo) is the
main printed circuit board (PCB) found in
general purpose microcomputers and other
expandable systems. It holds and allows
communication between many of the
crucial electronic components of a system,
such as the central processing unit (CPU)
and memory, and provides connectors for
other peripherals. Unlike a backplane, a motherboard usually contains
significant sub-systems such as the central processor, the chipset's input/output
and memory controllers, interface connectors, and other components integrated
for general purpose use.
Motherboard specifically refers to a PCB with expansion capability and as the
name suggests, this board is often referred to as the "mother" o f all components
attached to it, which often include peripherals, interface cards,
and daughtercards: sound cards, video cards, network cards, hard drives, or
other forms of persistent storage; TV tuner cards, cards providing
extra USB or FireWire slots and a variety of other custom components.
Similarly, the term mainboard is applied to devices with a single board and no
additional expansions or capability, such as controlling boards in laser printers,
televisions, washing machines and other embedded systems with limited
expansion abilities.

Bootstrapping using the Basic Input/Output System

Motherboards contain some non-volatile memory to initialize the system and
load some startup software, usually an operating system, from some external
peripheral device. Microcomputers such as the Apple II and IBM PC
used ROM chips mounted in sockets on the motherboard. At power-up, the
central processor would load its program counter with the address of the boot
ROM and start executing instructions from the ROM. These instructions
initialized and tested the system hardware, displayed system information on the
screen, performed RAM checks, and then loaded an initial program from an
external or peripheral device. If none was available, then the computer would
perform tasks from other memory stores or display an error message, depending
on the model and design of the computer and the ROM version. For example,
both the Apple II and the original IBM PC had Microsoft Cassette BASIC in
ROM and would start that if no program could be loaded from disk.
Most modern motherboard designs use a BIOS, stored in an EEPROM chip
soldered to or socketed on the motherboard, to booting an operating system.
Non-operating system boot programs are still supported on modern IBM PC-

descended machines, but nowadays it is assumed that the boot program will be a
complex operating system such as Microsoft Windows or Linux. When power is
first supplied to the motherboard, the BIOS firmware tests and configures
memory, circuitry, and peripherals. This Power-On Self Test (POST) may
include testing some of the following
things:

Central processing
unit
"CPU" redirects here. For other uses,
see CPU (disambiguation).
"Computer processor" redirects here. For
other uses, see Processor
A central processing unit (CPU) is
the electronic circuitry within
a computer that carries out
the instructions of a computer program by
performing the basic arithmetic, logical, control and input/output (I/O)
operations specified by the instructions. The computer industry has used the
term "central processing unit " at least since the early 1960s. Traditionally, the
term "CPU" refers to a processor, more specifically to its processing unit
and control unit (CU), distinguishing these core elements of a computer from
external components such as main memory and I/O circuitry.
The form, design, and implementation of CPUs have changed over the course of
their history, but their fundamental operation remains almost unchanged.
Principal components of a CPU include the arithmetic logic unit (ALU) that
performs arithmetic and logic operations, processor registers that
supply operands to the ALU and store the results of ALU operations and a
control unit that orchestrates the fetching (from memory) and execution of
instructions by directing the coordinated operations of the ALU, registers and
other components.
Most modern CPUs are microprocessors, meaning they are contained on a
single integrated circuit (IC) chip. An IC that contains a CPU may also contain
memory, peripheral interfaces, and other components of a computer; such
integrated devices are variously called microcontrollers or systems on a
chip (SoC). Some computers employ a multi-core processor, which is a single
chip containing two or more CPUs called "cores"; in that context, one can speak
of such single chips as "sockets".
\
Array processors or vector processors have multiple processors that operate in
parallel, with no unit considered central. There also exists the concept of virtual
CPUs which are an abstraction of dynamical aggregated computational
resources.

Keyboard
A keyboard is any specific mechanical, visual, or functional arrangement of the
keys, legends, or key-meaning associations (respectively) of
a computer, typewriter, or other typographic keyboard. Mechanical layout is the
placements and keys of a keyboard. Visual layout is the arrangement of
the legends (labels, markings, engravings) that appear on the keys of a
keyboard. Functional layout is the arrangement of the key-meaning
associations, determined in software, of all the keys of a keyboard.
Most computer keyboards are designed to send scancodes to the operating
system, rather than directly sending characters. From there, the series of
scancodes is converted into a character stream by keyboard layout software.
This allows a physical keyboard to be dynamically mapped to any number of
layouts without switching hardware components – merely by changing the
software that interprets the keystrokes. It is usually possible for an advanced
user to change keyboard operation, and third-party software is available to
modify or extend keyboard functionality.

A typical computer keyboard consists of sections with different types of keys.

A computer keyboard consists of alphanumeric or character keys for
typing, modifier keys for altering the functions of other keys, navigation
keys for moving the text cursor on the screen, function keys and system
command keys – such as Esc and Break – for special actions, and often
a numeric keypad to facilitate calculations.
There is some variation between different keyboard models in the mechanical
layout – i.e., how many keys there are and how they are positioned on the
keyboard. However, differences between national layouts are mostly due to
different selections and placements of symbols on the character keys.
Character keys[edit]
The core section of a keyboard consists of character keys, which can be used to
type letters and other characters. Typically, there are three rows of keys for
typing letters and punctuation, an upper row for typing digits and special

symbols, and the Space bar on the bottom row. The positioning of the character
keys is similar to the keyboard of a typewriter.
Modifier keys[edit]
Main article: Modifier key

Besides the character keys, a keyboard incorporates special keys that do nothing
by themselves but modify the functions of other keys. For example,
the ⇧ Shift key can be used to alter the output of character keys, whereas
the Ctrl (control) and Alt (alternate) keys trigger special operations when used
in concert with other keys.
Typically, a modifier key is held down while another key is struck. To facilitate
this, modifier keys usually come in pairs, one functionally identical key for each
hand, so holding a modifier key with one hand leaves the other hand free to
strike another key.
An alphanumeric key labeled with only a single letter (usually the capital form)
can generally be struck to type either a lower case or capital letter, the latter
requiring the simultaneous holding of the ⇧ Shift key. The ⇧ Shiftkey is also
used to type the upper of two symbols engraved on a given key, the lower being
typed without using

Mouse
A computer mouse with the most common features: two buttons (left and right)
and a scroll wheel, which can also act as a third button.
A computer mouse is a hand-held pointing device that detects two-
dimensional motion relative to a surface. This motion is typically translated into
the motion of a pointer on a display, which allows a smooth control of
the graphical user interface. The first public demonstration of a mouse
controlling a computer system was in 1968. Originally wired to a computer,
modern mice are often cordless, relying on short-range radio communication
with the connected system. Mice originally used a ball rolling on a surface to
detect motion, but modern mice often have optical sensors that have no moving
parts. In addition to moving a cursor, computer mice have one or more buttons
to allow operations such as selection of a menu item on a display. Mice often
also feature other elements, such as touch surfaces and "wheels", which enable
Multiple-mouse systems
Some systems allow two or more mice to be used at once as input devices. Late-
1980s era home computers such as the Amiga used this to allow computer
games with two players interacting on the same computer (Lemmings and The
Settlers for example). The same idea is sometimes used in collaborative
software, e.g. to simulate a whiteboard that multiple users can draw on without
passing a single mouse around.
Microsoft Windows, since Windows 98,
has supported multiple simultaneous
pointing devices. Because Windows only
provides a single screen cursor, using
more than one device at the same time
requires cooperation of users or
applications designed for multiple input
devices.
Multiple mice are often used in multi-
user gaming in addition to specially designed devices that provide several input
interfaces.
Windows also has full support for multiple input/mouse configurations for
multi-user environments.
Starting with Windows XP, Microsoft introduced a SDK for developing
applications that allow multiple input devices to be used at the same time with
independent cursors and independent input points.[78]
The introduction of Vista and Microsoft Surface (now known as Microsoft
PixelSense) introduced a new set of input APIs that were adopted into Windows
7, allowing for 50 points/cursors, all controlled by independent users. The new
input points provide traditional mouse input; however, they were designed with
other input technologies like touch and image in mind. They inherently offer 3D
coordinates along with pressure, size, tilt, angle, mask, and even an image
bitmap to see and recognize the input point/object on the screen.
As of 2009, Linux distributions and other operating systems that use X.Org,
such as OpenSolaris and FreeBSD, support 255 cursors/input points
through Multi-Pointer X. However, currently no window managers support
Multi-Pointer X leaving it relegated to custom software usage.
There have also been propositions of having a single operator use two mice
simultaneously as a more sophisticated means of controlling various graphics
and multimedia applications.[79]
Buttons[edit]
Main article: Mouse button
Mouse buttons are microswitches which can be pressed to select or interact with
an element of a graphical user interface, producing a distinctive clicking sound.
Since around the late 1990s, the three-button scrollmouse has become the de
facto standard. Users most commonly employ the second button to invoke a

Random-access memory
"RAM" redirects here. For the Daft Punk album, see Random Access
Memories. For other uses, see Ram (disambiguation

Random-access memory (RAM /ræm/) is a form of computer data storage that

stores data and machine code currently being used. A random-access memory
device allows data items to be read or written in almost the same amount of
time irrespective of the physical location of data inside the memory. In contrast,
with other direct-access data storage media such as hard disks, CD-RWs, DVD-
RWsand the older magnetic tapes and drum memory, the time required to read
and write data items varies significantly depending on their physical locations
on the recording medium, due to mechanical limitations such as media rotation
speeds and arm movement.
RAM contains multiplexing and demultiplexing circuitry, to connect the data
lines to the addressed storage for reading or writing the entry. Usually more
than one bit of storage is accessed by the same address, and RAM devices often
have multiple data lines and are said to be "8-bit" or "16-bit", etc. devices.
In today's technology, random-access memory takes the form of integrated
circuits. RAM is normally associated with volatile types of memory (such
as DRAM modules), where stored information is lost if power is removed,
although non-volatile RAM has also been developed.[1] Other types of non-
volatile memories exist that allow rando m access for read operations, but
either do not allow write operations or have other kinds of limitations on them.
These include most types of ROM and a type of flash memory called NOR-
Flash.
Integrated-circuit RAM chips came into the market in the early 1970s, with the
first commercially available DRAM chip, the Intel 1103,Introduced in October
1970

Monitor
In concurrent programming,
a monitor is a synchronization construct
that allows threads to have both mutual
exclusion and the abil ity to wait (block)
for a certain condition to become true.
Monitors also have a mechanism for
signaling other threads that their
condition has been met. A monitor consists of a mutex (lock) object
and condition variables. A condition variable is basically a container of threads
that are waiting for a certain condition. Monitors provide a mechanism for
threads to temporarily give up exclusive access in order to wait for some
condition to be met, before regaining exclusive access and resuming their task.
Another definition of monitor is a thread-safe class, object, or module that
wraps around a mutex in order to safely allow access to a method or variable by
more than one thread. The defining characteristic of a monitor is that its
methods are executed with mutual exclusion: At each point in time, at most one
thread may be executing any of its methods. By using one or more condition
variables it can also provide the ability for threads to wait on a certain condition
(thus using the above definition of a "monitor"). For the rest of this article, this
sense of "monitor" will be referred to as a "thread-safe object/class/module".
Monitors were invented by Per Brinch
Hansen[1] and C. A. R. Hoare and were first
implemented in Brinch Hansen's Concurrent
Pascal language.

Floppy disk
A floppy disk, also called a floppy, diskette,
or just disk, is a type of disk storage composed of a disk of thin and
flexible magnetic storagemedium, sealed in a rectangular plastic enclosure lined
with fabric that removes dust particles. Floppy disks are read and written by
a floppy disk drive (FDD).
Floppy disks, initially as 8-inch (200 mm) media[1] and later in 5¼-inch
(133 mm) and 3½-inch (90 mm) sizes, were a ubiquitous form of data storage
and exchange from the mid-1970s into the first years of the 21st century.[2] By
2006 computers were rarely manufactured with installed floppy disk drives; 3½-
inch floppy disks can be used with an external USB floppy disk drive, but USB
drives for 5¼-inch, 8-inch, and non-standard diskettes are rare to non-existent.
These formats are usually handled by older equipment.

While floppy disk drives still have some limited uses, especially with legacy
industrial computer equipment, they have been superseded by data storage
methods with much greater capacity, such as USB flash sticks, flash storage
cards, portable external hard disk drives, optical discs, and storage available
through computer networks.

CD-ROM
A CD-ROM /ˌsiːˌdiːˈrɒm/ is a pre-pressed optical compact disc which
contains data. The name is an acronym which is short for "Compact Disc Read-
Only Memory". Computers can read CD-
ROMs, but ca nnot write to CD-ROMs,
which are not writable or erasable.
During the 1990s, CD-ROMs were popularly
used to distribute data for computers
and video game consoles. Some CDs,
called enhanced CDs, hold both computer
data and audio with the latter capable of
being played on a CD player, while data
(such as software or digital video) is only
usable on a computer (such as ISO
9660[2] format PC CD-ROMs).
The CD-ROM format was developed by
Japanese company Denon in 1982. It was an extension of Compact Disc Digital
Audio, and adapted the format to hold any form of digital data, with a storage
capacity of 553 MiB.[3] CD-ROM was then introduced by Denon and Sony at a
Japanese computer show in 1984.[4] The Yellow Book is the technical
standard that defines the format of CD-ROMs. One of a set of color-bound
books that contain the technical specifications for all CD formats, the Yellow
Book, standardized by Sony and Philipsin 1983, has a capacity of 650 MiB.
Hard disk drive
A hard disk drive (HDD), hard disk, hard drive or fixed disk[b] is an
electromechanical data storage device that uses magnetic storage to store and
retrieve digital information using one or more
rigid rapidly rotating disks (platters) coated
with magnetic material. The platters are
paired with magnetic heads, usually arranged
on a moving actuator arm, which read and
write data to the platter surfaces.[2] Data is
accessed in a random-access manner,
meaning that individual blocks of data can be
stored or retrieved in any order and not
only sequentially. HDDs are a type of non-
volatile storage, retaining stored data even
when powered off.[3][4][5]
Introduced by IBM in 1956,[6] HDDs
became the dominant secondary
storage device for general-purpose
computers by the early 1960s. Continuously
improved, HDDs have maintained this position into the modern era
of servers and personal computers. More than 200 companies have produced
HDDs historically, though after extensive industry consolidation most units are
manufactured by Seagate, Toshiba, and Western Digital. HDDs dominate the
volume of storage produced (exabytes per year) for servers. Though production
is growing slowly, sales revenues and unit shipments are declining
because solid-state drives (SSDs) have higher data-transfer rates, higher areal
storage density, better reliability,[7] and much lower latency and access times.
[8][9][10][11]
The revenues for SSDs, most of which use NAND, slightly exceed those for
HDDs.[12] Though SSDs have nearly 10 times higher cost per bit, they are
replacing HDDs where speed, power consumption, small size, and durability are
important.[10][11]
The primary characteristics of an HDD are its capacity and performance.
Capacity is specified in unit prefixes corresponding to powers of 1000: a 1-
terabyte (TB) drive has a capacity of 1,000 gigabytes (GB; where 1 gigabyte = 1
billion bytes). Typically, some of an HDD's capacity is unavailable to the user
because it is used by the file system and the computer operating system, and
possibly inbuilt redundancy for error correction and recovery. Performance is
specified by the time required to move the heads to a track or cylinder (average
access time) plus the time it takes for the desired sector to move under the head
(average latency, which is a function of the physical rotational
speed in revolutions per minute), and finally the speed at which the data is
transmitted (data rate).
The two most common form factors for modern HDDs are 3.5-inch, for desktop
computers, and 2.5-inch, primarily for laptops. HDDs are connected to systems
by standard interface cables such as PATA (Parallel ATA), SATA (Serial
ATA), USB or SAS (Serial Attached SCSI) cables.

DVD

DVD (an abbreviation of "digital video disc"[5] or "digital versatile disc")[6]

[7] is a digital optical disc storage format invented and developed
by Philips and Sony in 1995. The medium can store any kind of digital data and
is widely used for software and other computer files as well as video programs
watched using DVD players. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than compact
discs while having the same dimensions.
Prerecorded DVDs are mass-produced using molding machines that physically
stamp data onto the DVD. Such discs are a form of DVD-ROM because data
can only be read and not written or erased. Blank recordable DVD discs (DVD-
R and DVD+R) can be recorded once using a DVD recorder and then function
as a DVD-ROM. Rewritable DVDs (DVD-RW, DVD+RW, and DVD-RAM)
can be recorded and erased many times.
DVDs are used in DVD-Video consumer digital video format and in DVD-
Audio consumer digital audio
format as well as for authoring
DVD discs written in a
special AVCHD format to
hold high definition material (often
in conjunction with AVCHD
format camcorders). DVDs
containing other types of
information may be referred to as
DVD data discs.

DVD recordable and rewritable[edit]

Main article: DVD recordable

A DVD burner drive for a PC

HP initially developed recordable DVD media from the need to store data for
backup and transport.[26] DVD recordables are now also used for consumer
audio and video recording. Three formats were developed: DVD-
R/RW, DVD+R/RW (plus), and DVD-RAM. DVD-R is available in two
formats, General (650 nm) and Authoring (635 nm), where Authoring discs may
be recorded with CSS encrypted video content but General discs may not.[27]

Although most DVD writers can nowadays write the DVD+R/RW and DVD-
R/RW formats (usually denoted by "DVD±RW" or the existence of both
the DVD Forum logo and the DVD+RW Alliance logo), the "plus" and the
"dash" formats use different writing specifications. Most DVD readers and
players play both kinds of discs, though older models can have trouble with the
"plus" variants.
Some first generation DVD players would cause damage to DVD±R/RW/DL
when attempting to read them.[citation needed]
The form of the spiral groove that makes up the structure of a recordable DVD
encodes unalterable identification data known as Media Identification
Code (MID). The MID contains data such as the manufacturer and model, byte
capacity, allowed data rates (also known as speed), etc.
0