Computer Hierarchy

The first generation of computers, from 1946 to about 1956, used vacuum tubes to store and process information.

The second generation of computers, from 1957 to 1963, used transistors for storing and processing information.

Third-generation computers, from 1964 to 1979, used integrated circuits for storing and processing information.

Early to middle fourth-generation computers, from 1980 to 1995, used very-large-scale integrated (VLSI) circuits to store
and process information.

Late fourth-generation computers, from 1996 to the present, use grand-scale integrated (GSI) circuits to store and process
information.

Computer Categories

Mainframe Computers

Midrange Computers

Workstations

Notebooks and Desktop Computers

Appliances

Hardware

Hardware refers to the physical equipment used for the input, processing, output and storage activities of a computer
system.

Central processing unit (CPU) manipulates the data and controls the tasks performed by the other components.

Primary storage internal to the CPU; temporarily stores data and program instructions during processing.

Secondary storage external to the CPU; stores data and programs for future use.

Input technologies accept data and instructions and convert them to a form that the computer can understand.

Output technologies present data and information in a form people can understand.

Communication technologies provide for the flow of data from external computer networks (e.g. the Internet and
intranets) to the CPU, and from the CPU to computer networks.

How the CPU Works

The Central Processing Unit

Central processing unit (CPU) performs the actual computation or number crunching inside any computer.

Microprocessor made up of millions of microscopic transistors embedded in a circuit on a silicon chip.

Control unit sequentially accesses program instructions, decodes them and controls the flow of data to and from the ALU,
the registers, the caches, primary storage, secondary storage and various output devices.

Arithmetic-logic unit (ALU) performs the mathematic calculations and makes logical comparisons

Registers are high-speed storage areas that store very small amounts of data and instructions for short periods of time

How the CPU Works

Binary form: The form in which data and instructions can be read by the CPU only 0s and 1s.

Machine instruction cycle: The cycle of computer processing, whose speed is measured in terms of the number of
instructions a chip processes per second.

Clock speed: The preset speed of the computer clock that times all chip activities, measured in megahertz and gigahertz.

Word length: The number of bits (0s and 1s) that can be processed by the CPU at any one time.

Bus width: The size of the physical paths down which the data and instructions travel as electrical impulses on a computer
chip.

Line width: The distance between transistors; the smaller the line width, the faster the chip.

Advances in Microprocessor Design

Moores Law is that microprocessor complexity would double every two years as a result of the following changes:

Increasing miniaturization of transistors.

Making the physical layout of the chips components as compact and efficient as possible.

Using materials for the chip that improve the conductivity (flow) of electricity.

Targeting the amount of basic instructions programmed into the chip.

Microprocessors & Microcontrollers

The two most common microprocessor architectures are complex instruction set computing (CISC) and reduced instruction
set computing (RISC).

Microcontrollers are computer chips, embedded in products and technologies, that usually cost less and work in lessdemanding applications than microprocessors.

Computer Memory

Two basic categories of computer memory: Primary storage and secondary storage.

Primary stores small amounts of data and information that will be immediately used by the CPU.

Secondary stores much larger amounts of data and information (an entire software program, for example) for
extended periods of time.

Memory Capacity

Bit: Short for binary digit (0s and 1s), the only data that a CPU can process.

Byte: An 8-bit string of data, needed to represent any one alphanumeric character or simple mathematical operation.

Hierarchy of Memory Capacity

Kilobyte (KB): approximately one thousand bytes.

Megabyte (MB): approximately one million bytes (1,048,576 bytes, or 1,024 x 1,024).

Gigabyte (GB): actually 1,073,741,824 bytes (1,024 x 1,024 x 1,024 bytes).

Terabyte: One trillion bytes.

Petabyte: Approximately 10 bytes.

Exabyte: Approximately 10 bytes.

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Primary Storage

Primary storage or main memory stores three types of information for very brief periods of time:

Data to be processed by the CPU;

Instructions for the CPU as to how to process the data;

Operating system programs that manage various aspects of the computers operation.

Primary storage takes place in chips mounted on the computers main circuit board, called the motherboard.

Four main types of primary storage: register, random access memory (RAM), cache memory and read-only
memory (ROM).

Main Types of Primary Storage

Registers: registers are part of the CPU with the least capacity, storing extremely limited amounts of instructions
and data only immediately before and after processing.

Random access memory (RAM): The part of primary storage that holds a software program and small amounts
of data when they are brought from secondary storage.

Cache memory: A type of primary storage where the computer can temporarily store blocks of data used more
often.

Read-only memory (ROM): Type of primary storage where certain critical instructions are safeguarded; the
storage is nonvolatile and retains the instructions when the power to the computer is turned off.

Flash memory: A form of rewritable read-only memory that is compact, portable, and requires little energy

Secondary Storage

Memory capacity that can store very large amounts of data for extended periods of time.

It is nonvolatile.

It takes much more time to retrieve data because of the electromechanical nature.

It is cheaper than primary storage.

It can take place on a variety of media

Magnetic tape: A secondary storage medium on a large open reel or in a smaller cartridge or cassette.

Sequential access: Data access in which the computer system must run through data in sequence in order to
locate a particular piece.

Magnetic disks: A form of secondary storage on a magnetized disk divided into tracks and sectors that provide
addresses for various pieces of data; also called hard disks.

Hard drives: A form of secondary storage that stores data on platters divided into concentric tracks and sectors,
which can be read by a read/write head that pivots across the rotating disks.

Direct access: Data access in which any piece of data be retrieved in a nonsequential manner by locating it using
the datas address.

Magnetic diskettes: A form of easily portable secondary storage on flexible Mylar disks; also called floppy disks.

Optical Storage Devices

Optical storage devices: A form of secondary storage in which a laser reads the surface of a reflective plastic
platter.

Compact disk, read-only memory (CD-ROM): A form of secondary storage that can be only read and not written
on.

Digital video disk (DVD): An optical storage device used to store digital video or computer data.

Fluorescent multilayer disk (FMD-ROM): An optical storage device with much greater storage capacity than
DVDs.

More Storage Options

Memory cards: Credit-card-size storage devices that can be installed in an adapter or slot in many personal
computers (i.e. memory sticks, thumb drives).

Expandable storage devices: Removable disk cartridges, used as backup storage for internal hard drives of PCs.

Enterprise Storage Systems & RAID

Enterprise storage system: An independent, external system with intelligence that includes two or more storage
devices.

Redundant arrays of independent disks (RAID): An enterprise storage system that links groups of standard hard
drives to a specialized microcontroller that coordinates the drives so they appear as a single logical drive.

Storage Area Networks (SANs)

Storage area network (SAN): An enterprise storage system architecture for building special, dedicated networks
that allow rapid and reliable access to storage devices by multiple servers.

Storage over IP: Technology that uses the Internet Protocol to transport stored data between devices within a
SAN; sometimes called IP over SCSI or iSCSI.

Network-Attached Storage

Network-attached storage (NAS) device is a special-purpose server that provides file storage to users who
access the device over a network; plug-and-play.

Input and Output Technologies

Input technologies allow people and other technologies to put data into a computer. The two main types of
input devices are:

human data-entry devices include keyboards, mouse, trackball, joystick, touchscreen, stylus and voice
recognition;

source-data automation devices input data with minimal human intervention (e.g. barcode reader).

Speed up data collection;

Reduce errors;

Gather data at the source of a transaction or other event.

Output generated by a computer can be transmitted to the user over several output devices and media.

Includes monitors, printers, plotters and voice

Multimedia Technology

Multimedia technology is the computer-based integration of text, sound, still images, animation and digitized
motion video.

Merges capabilities of computers with televisions, VCRs, CD players, DVD players, video and audio recording
equipment, music and gaming technologies.

Emerging Technologies

Grid computing involves applying the resources of many computers in a network to a single problem at the same
time.

Utility computing (also called subscription computing and on-demand computing) is when a service provider
makes computing resources and infrastructure management available to a customer as needed for a charge
based on specific usage rather than a flat rate.

Nanotechnology refers to the creation of materials, devices and systems at a scale of 1 to 100 nanometers
(billionths of a meter).