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GENERAL
Computer: Definition
1. Supercomputers
Supercomputers are extremely fast computer that can perform
trillions of instructions per second, which calculated in
floating point operations per second (FLOPS).
Because of their superiority, supercomputers are not intended
for everyday computing tasks. They are intended for
exhaustive scientific applications that require complex and
real-time processing.
2. Mainframe computers
3. Minicomputers
4. Workstation
5. Microcomputers
Examples are:
Tower model
Desktop model
Notebook computer
Laptop computer
Subnotebook computer
Hand-held computer
Palmtop
PDA
HARDWARE
Hardware: Definiton
Computer hardware refers to the physical components that make up
the computer system
1. System Unit
a. Motherboard
o Main printed circuit board in the computer
o It is into which the CPU, memory (RAM and ROM),
cards (sound, graphics, network interface, etc.)
and peripheral devices are connected
o Connects all the computer parts together
b. Hard drive
o Device for digital data; used for storing computer
data and that contains one or more hard disks
c. Heat sink
o A cooling device used to prevent the computer
from overheating
d. Power supply
o It is the computers main source of power except
for computers that can run with its own battery
life like laptops.
e. Video card
o Generates output images to a display
f. Random Access Memory
o It is a form of computer data storage
o It is a temporary storage for it loses its data
when the computer shuts down
g. Ports
o An interface between a computer to another
computer or peripheral devices
h. Network card
o Allows data to be transferred between the
computer and network
i. Central Processing Unit (CPU)
o The part of the computer which processes or
deals with the data and processes in the system
o Referred to as the heart of a computer
j. BIOS
o Runs as part of the start-up sequence when the
computer has been switched on. It contains all
the code required to control the hardware
o It is stored separately from the hard disk on a
ROM chip. This means that if the computer
crashes, the BIOS data is protected
2. Secondary Storage Devices
Secondary storage devices are a more permanent means of
storage that do not require the central processing unit to be
running in order to save its information.
a. Floppy Disks
o Often referred to as diskettes, it has been and is
still widely used to store data of small size
o They consist of a flat Mylar plastic disk that
rotates within a hard plastic casing.
o Data is stored as electromagnetic charges on a
metal oxide film coating the Mylar plastic
o The most common 3.5 inch floppy disk can store
up to a capacity of 1.44 megabytes, something
like 400 typewritten pages
b. Hard Disks
o Designed to store very high volume of data,
particularly, gigabytes of data
o Most operating systems and all materials that is
saved in the computer stored in hard disks
c. Optical disks
o Also known as the CD drive, It makes use of
light energy to store information and are very
suitable to data with relatively high capacity
o Kinds of Optical Disks:
CD-ROM: stands for compact disk read-
only memory; allows you to only listen
(read) music without altering the contents
of the CD
CD-R: stands for CD-Recordable; it can be
written on only once
CD-RW: stands for CD-Rewritable; can be
used to save data several times
DVD: stands for Digital Versatile Disk or
Digital Video Disk; they offer high capacity
storage medium with good quality and are
commonly used for movie distribution
d. Other Secondary storage devices
o Magnetic tapes
Very similar to tapes used in radio
cassette player and video recorder and
can still be found in video camcorders
Provide a very effective means for back
up purposes of large amount of data
(5GB)
The main limitation is that data stored is
in a sequential mode
o Solid State Storage Devices
Commonly known as USB disk, Pen drives,
Flash drives, etc.
They have no moving parts and data is
stored and retrieved from them in a
similar manner as it would be from
computer memory
3. Input and Output Devices
a. INPUT DEVICES: Devices used to enter data into the
computer
i. Data entry devices: Source data-entry devices
are devices that create machine-readable data
and feed it directly into the computer without
keyboard or mouse. Examples are:
Scanner
Barcode reader
Radio Frequency Identification (RFI)
Mark recognition readers
b. OUTPUT
Output devices are hardware that are used to display
objects or output data which has been processed or
has been stored in the computer.
i. Digital projectors
It is a device which connects to a computer and
used to project the video output from the
computer onto the wall or projector screen.
ii. Monitors
Monitors are output devices used to display text
and graphics produced by computer programs
and to provide a visual interface for computer
users.
Types of monitors:
Cathode-ray tube (CRT) monitor
Liquid Crystal Display (LCD)
Organic light-emitting diode (OLED)
iii. Printers
A printer is a peripheral which makes a
persistent human-readable representation of
graphics or text on paper or similar physical
media
iv. Computer Speakers
Speakers are a way for computers to make
sounds by means of digital or analog audio.
v. Speech-generating devices (SGCs)
Also known as voice output communication aids,
are electronic augmentative and alternative
communication (AAC) systems used to
supplement or replace speech or writing for
individuals with severe speech impairments,
enabling them to verbally communicate their
needs.
SOFTWARE
Software: Definition
Software is a generic term for organized collections of computer data
and instructions, often broken into two major categories: system
software that provides the basic non-task-specific functions of the
computer, and application software which is used by users to
accomplish specific tasks.
1. System Software
It is responsible for controlling, integrating, and managing the
individual hardware components of a computer system so that
other software and the users of the system see it as a
functional unit without having to be concerned with the low-
level details such as transferring data from memory to disk, or
rendering text into display
b. Language translator
c. Utility software
It is a kind of system software designed to help, analyze,
configure, optimize and maintain the computer. A single
piece of utility software is usually called a utility or tool.
Examples of which are Antivirus software, Registry
cleaners, Disk cleaners, and Disk back-up utility.
2. Application Software
Examples are:
Software Terms:
can be terminated.