Computer

What is a Computer?• A computer is an electronic device that

helps people perform different tasks.• Computers range in size, type, shape and

ability.

Where can we find computers?• Cash registers• Gas pumps• Cameras• Cars• Stereos• Toys• Etc.

Four types of Computers• There are many different types

of computers to meet our different needs. They are of different sizes, with different capabilities, for different purposes. Some are portable for ease of travel, while others are large enough to handle great amount of data and information.

1. Microcomputer

2.Mini Computers

3.Mainframe Computers

4. Supercomputers

MICROCOMPUTERS• First appeared in late

1970s. • Designed for individual

use• Used for word

processing, accounting, desktop publishing, running spreadsheets and database management applications

• Entertainment

• Apple II introduced in 1977 by Apple Computer was one of the first and most popular PC.

• In 1981, IBM PC introduced by IBM became the most popular computer choice of consumers.

Apple II PC

IBM PC

2 Classifications of Microcomputers

1. Personal Computer or PC

• Popular because it is powerful, affordable and easy to use.

• Different sizes and design- Mini tower- Desktop- iMac

2. Portable Computer• Laptops, notebooks, sub-

notebooks, tablet and personal digital assistants (PDA)

• Small and can operate in batteries

Personal Computer or PC

DESKTOP

Personal Computer or PC

MINI TOWER

Personal Computer or PC

iMAC

Portable Computers - Uses a flat-panel display technology to produce lightweight and non-bulky display screen

Laptop/Notebook• Small and portable

computer

Sub-notebook• Slightly lighter and

smaller than a notebook

• Smaller keyboard and screen

• Equivalent in capacity

Portable Computers

LAPTOP

NOTEBOOK SUBNOTEBOOK

PocketPC

HANDHELD PC

Portable ComputersPDA or Personal Digital Assistant

• Handheld device that combines computing, telephone/fax and networking features

• Typical PDA can function as a cellphone, fax sender and personal organizer

• Most PDAs began as pen-based, using a stylus rather than a keyboard for input

• Used handwriting and voice recognition features• Modern PDAs used stylus or keyboard version

PORTABLE: PDA

Portable ComputersTablet PC

• Provides full power and functionality of today’s notebook PCs

• Lightweight and long life battery• Use digital ink which allows the user to write a note on

the screen in freehand• Alan Kay of Xerox contributes the idea of tablet in 1971• Newton of Apple Computer was the first widely-sold

tablet computer

PORTABLE: TABLET

MINICOMPUTERS• Midsized computer• Lies between workstation and mainframe in

terms of size and power• Capable of multi-processing, supporting from 4

to 200 users simultaneously• Ex. IBM’s AS/400e

MINICOMPUTERS

DEC PDP-8

FLIPSTART

AS/400

MAINFRAME COMPUTER• Very large and expensive computer• Capable of supporting hundreds or even thousands of

users simultaneously• In some ways, mainframes are more powerful than

supercomputers because it can support more simultaneous programs but supercomputers can execute faster than a mainframe

• Ex. IBM 3090, Amdahl 5890

MAINFRAME COMPUTER

IBM 3090

AMDAHL 5860

IBM 7094

SUPERCOMPUTERS• Fastest type of computer• Very expensive and are used for specialized

applications that require immense amounts of mathematical calculations (weather forecasting, animated graphics, fluid dynamic calculations, nuclear energy research and petroleum exploration)

• Top 5: Cray XT4 Jaguar– Speed: 205 teraflops/sec (trillion)– Runs on LINUX, AMD x86_64 Opteron Dual Core 2600 MHz processor – The unit is stored at DOEs Oak Ridge National Laboratory and is the

primary system in the National Leadership Computing Facilitation.

• Top 4: Sun SunBlade x6420 Ranger Cr– Speed: 326 teraflops/sec (trillion)– Runs on Linux and has a AMDx86_64 Opteron Quad Core 2000Mhz of

processing power– house at the Texas Advanced Computing Center at the University of Texas Austin – Used in science research

• Top 3: IBM BlueGene/P– Speed: 450.3 teraflops/sec (trillion)– stored at the DOEs Argonne National Laboratory – operating system is CNK/SLES – helpful for the science based research

• Top 2: IBM BlueGene/L- Speed: 478.2 teraflops/sec (trillion)- 4,096 processor, used to simulate half a mouse brain - used at DOEs Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California - use in research in the form of science simulation

• Top 1: IBM Roadrunner– 1.026 quadrillion calculations per

second. The $133 million supercomputer achieved the milestone with the help of 12,960 "improved" Cell processors (yes, like those powering your PS3) and a smaller number of AMD Opteron processors

– 116,640 processor cores in total. Speed: 1.026 petaflops/sec

– housed at U.S. Department of Energys Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico

– Use LINUX as its Operating System

– DOE plans to use the computer for simulating how nuclear materials age

Laptop

Notebook

Main Frames

Terminal

CPU Case

Power Chord

Power Supply

3 Fundamental Elements of a Computer

• Work like a team to complete tasks

1. System Unit

2. Output Devices

3. Input Devices

System Unit

• The core of a computer responsible for processing and storing data and controls all computer functions

• It is where data are processed into information

• It works with peripheral devices

System Unit• System Case – a plastic and metal box that houses components such as

the motherboard, disk drives, power supply and etc.– System Case Types

1. Desktop – designed to sit horizontally2. Tower – designed to sit verticallya. Full-tower case

- used for PC servers- requires extra space for additional hard disks,

interface cards and redundant power supplyb. Midi-tower case

- usually used for high-end user PCs-require extra devices and interface cards but not asmany as a server

c. Mini-tower case- used for office or home PCs- where additional internal devices and interface cards

are limited

FULL TOWER

MIDI TOWER

MINI TOWER

Storage Devices (Memory) : 2 types of memory- Main / Primary- Secondary

Main / Primary / RAM• Closely connected

to the processor• Quickly and easily

change, volatile• Holds the programs

and data that the processor is actively working with

• Interacts with the processor millions of times per second

Types of RAM1. Dynamic RAM (DRAM) – constantly

refreshed by the CPU or it will lose its contents

2. Synchronous DRAM (SDRAM) – synchronous by the system clock and is much faster than DRAM

3. Static RAM (SRAM) – faster than any DRAM and will retain its contents w/o having to be refreshed by the CPU

4. Rambus DRAM – faster and more expensive than SDRAM and is the type of memory used with Intel’s P4 chip

DYNAMIC RAM

SDRAM

RAMBUS DRAM SRAM

Secondary• Slow compared to

main memory• Used for long-term

storage of programs and data, non-volatile

Ex. • Floppy disk• ZIP Disk• SuperDisks • HiFD Disk • Flash Disk • Memory Card• Hard disk• Optical disk• Magnetic tape

Secondary Storage1. Floppy Disk (1.44 MB) –also called as diskette or disk, is a

removable flat piece of mylar plastic package in a 3.5-inch plastic case.

8“ floppy disk (large floppy)5 ¼“ floppy disk (minifloppy)31/2” floppy disk (micro floppy)

2. ZIP Disk (100 to 250 MB) – special disks that uses their own ZIP disk drive.

3. SuperDisks (120 MB) – uses a SuperDisk Drive and can also read standard 1.44 MB floppy disk, which a ZIP drive cannot do.

4. HiFD Disk (200 MB) – uses a HiFD drive and can also read standard 1.44 MB floppy disk.

5. Flash Disk (128 MB to 16GB) – uses the USB6. Memory Card (16 MB – 2GB) – used in cameras, cellphones

8”, 5.25”, 3.5” floppy disks

8”, 5.25”, 3.5” floppy disk drives

ZIP DISK

SuperDISK

HiFD DISK

FLASH DISK MEMORY CARD

Hard Disk– are made up of thin but rigid metal platters covered

with a substance that allows data to be held in the form of magnetized spots.

• Nonremovable hard disk – also known as fixed disk, is housed in a microcomputer system unit and is used to store nearly all programs and most data files.

• Removable hard disk – or hard disk cartridges, consist of one or two platters enclosed along with read/write heads in a hard plastic case, which is inserted into a microcomputer’s cartridge drive

REMOVABLE HARD DISK

NONREMOVABLE HARD DISK

Optical Disk– A removable disk, usually 4.75” in diameter and less than 1/20 of an

inch thick, on which data is written and read through the use of laser beams.

• Compact Disk Read Only Memory (CD-ROM) –can hold up to 650 MB of 300,000 pages of text

• Compact Disk-recordable (CD-R) – can be written to only once but can be read many times

• Compact Disk-rewritable (CD-RW) – also known as erasable optical disk

• Digital Versatile disk or digital video disk, with read only memory (DVD-ROM) – a CD-style disk with extremely high capacity, able to store 4.7 – 17 GB

• Universal Media Disk (UMD) – The disc is only two and a half inches wide and weighs only .35 ounces but it still has plenty of space for material with its 1.8 gigabyte capacity.

CD-ROM / CD-ROM DRIVE

CD-R

CD-RW

DVD-ROM

UMD

• Magnetic Tape– A thin plastic tape made up of mylar film

coated with iron oxide that can be magnetized.

Other Memories used in the computer

Read Only Memory Basic Input Output System (ROM BIOS)

• A chip that provides the industry's standard program code that operates the fundamental components of the PC

• The routines that allow the setup configuration of a PC• The Power-on Self Test (POST) diagnostic tests for the PC

Complimentary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor Random Access memory

• Stores the configuration of the PC (password, disk types, amount of memory installed, current time and date). This prevents the need for reconfiguration when powering on a PC

CMOS RAM

ROM BIOS

Motherboard

Motherboard

Motherboard

Integrated Circuit

PCI Slot

ROM

LED

Capacitors

Transistor

Soundcard

TV Card

LAN Card

Video Card

Processor

CPU fan

CMOS Battery

Heat Sink

Storage Media

Memory or RAM

RAM

RAM Slots

Hard Disk

Jumper

Flash Drive

Floppy Disk

Floppy Disk Drive

Compact Disk

CD Drive

DVD Writer

Magnetic Tape

Input Devices

Fingerprint Scanner

Bar Code Reader

Keyboard

Output Devices

LCD Projector

MP3 Player

Printer

Printer Cable

Scanner

Speaker

USB Port

Wires

Network Devices

Cable Wire

UTP Cable

RJ 45

Fiber Optics

Hub

Hub

Hub

Bridge

Bridge

Bridge

Microwave Dish

Microwave Station

Repeater

Router

Satellite

Switch