Академический Документы
Профессиональный Документы
Культура Документы
Itisasnapshotofthepageas
itappearedon17Jun201714:23:40GMT.
Thecurrentpagecouldhavechangedinthemeantime.Learnmore
TheThreeMainComponentsofa
ComputerSystem
UpdatedonJune6,2017
AlfredAmuno more
Alfredisalongtimeteacherandcomputerenthusiastwhoworkswithandtroubleshootsawiderangeof
computingdevices.
ContactAuthor
Acomputersystemencompassesthreemajorcomponentsnamely,hardware,software,andhumanware.
Typically,acomputersystemismadeupofhardwareandsoftware,simplybecausetheyexistinwhatappearsto
beamorecoexistentecosystem.Thehumancomesintothepictureforthesimpleandfundamentalreasonthat
healonecanbringtheaboveecosystemintofunctionalexistence.
Abasiccomputersystemcomprisinghardware,softwareandhumanware
Eachofthecomponentsaboveheavilydependsontheothertwoinordertoenablemeaningfulproductivity.If
installedseparately,theymaybeusefultoanextent,probably,butredundantinachievingcompletecomputing.
Forexample,computerhardwarecannotoperatewithoutsoftwareandneithercansoftwareoperatewithout
hardware.Thetwocomponentsalsoneedtheinputofalivinghumanbeinginordertomaketotalsense.
Thethreecomponents,thereforeformthebasisuponwhichacomputeractuallyoperates.
Belowareillustrationsoftheaforementionedcomputercomponents:
1:ComputerHardware
Acomputerhardwarecomponentreferstoanycomputerpartthatistangible.Thatis,thecomponentcanbefelt
ortouched.Thisisunlikecomputersoftwarewhichisintangible.Examplesofcomputerhardwareinclude
Displaymonitor
Keyboard
Mouse
Motherboard
Memorymodules
Diskdrive
etc.
Usually,thecomponentslistedabovearehousedwithinthelaptopanddesktopcomputersystemunit,exceptfor
thekeyboardandmousehardwareinthelatter.
Atypicalinstallationofcomputerhardware
Probably,themostimportantpieceofhardwareinthecomputeristhemicroprocessorchipcalledthecentral
processingunit(CPU):NewermobilecomputerscomeembeddedwithaunionofCPUandgraphicsprocessing
chip(GPU)calledAcceleratedProcessingUnit,abbreviatedasAPU.
AsforyouandI,themostimportanthardwarecomponentmayactuallybethestoragedevicewithinthecomputer
wheredataisstored.
TheAMDCPUisanexampleofamicroprocessorandasshownabove,isattachedtoamotherboard
Thispieceofhardwareiscommonlyreferredtoasthebrainofthecomputer.Itsresponsibilityistotranslate
instructionsassignedtoitandwillperformallsortsofdatamanipulation/processing.
Anotherequallyimportanthardwarecomponentinthesystemunitisthediskdrive.Thisiswheredataand
informationarestoredlocallyonthecomputer.Diskdrivesareclassifiedundersecondarystorage.Therearetwo
popluartypesofdiskdrives:
Harddiskdrive(HDD)
Solidstatediskdrive(SDD)
Harddiskdrive:Aharddiskdriveismechanicalbydesignandstoresdataonmagneticmetallicplatterswhichare
readbyread/writeheads.Thismakesthistypeofdiskdriverathererraticandpronetofailureifusedbadly.
Solidstatediskdrive:Thenewersolidstatediskdrive,storesdataonflashmemorychipsandislessproneto
erraticbehaviorthatisapparentwiththeharddiskdrive.AnSSDismuchfasterandreliablecomparedtoHDDs.
Anillustrationofvarioushardwarecomponentsinsidethesystemunit
Whatcomputerplatformdoyoufindeasytouse?
Windowscomputers
Applecomputers
Vote Seeresults
TheFourFunctionsOfComputerSystems
Thefourmainfunctionsofcomputersystemsincludethefourcorereasonswhytheywerebuilt.Theyare
mainlydesignedforinputoutputfunctionswhichincludedataentry,dataprocessingandinformationoutput,
anddatastorage.
Alsoinsidethesystemunitisanotherveryimportanthardwarecomponentcalledmotherboard.
Asthewordsuggests,themotherboardislikethe'mother'withinthecomputer,providingcommunicationand
directconnectivitytoalldevices.
SampleAcermotherboard
Connectivitytocomputermotherboardcanbeinternalorexternal.
Internaldevicesthatconnecttothemotherboardinclude:
Microprocessor(CPU)
Diskdrive
Randomaccessmemory(memorymodules)
Powersupplyunit(PSU)
Externalperipheralsdevicesthatconnecttothemotherboardinclude:
Monitor
Keyboard
Mouse
Printer
AboveisApple'siMaccomputer,anexampleofasingleunitcomputerset:Itcontainsthesystemunitandmonitorbundled
together
TheFourMainCategoriesOfComputerHardwareComponents
Computerhardwarecomponentsaredividedintofourmajorcategoriesandtheyincludeinputdevices,
processingdevices...
Unlikethedesktopandsingleunitcomputerswhichhavethemouseandkeybaordasseparatedevices,thetwoareintegrated
withinthelaptopcomputer
Whichoneofthefollowingisyourpreferredpersonalcomputersetup?
Traditionaldesktopcomputerset
Singleunitdesktopcomputerset
Laptopcomputer
Tabletcomputer
Phablet
Mobilephone
Vote Seeresults
Readthearticlebelowtogetabetterpictureofthedifferentsetsandcategoriesofcomputers.
ClassificationOfComputersAccordingToSize
Thedifferenceincomputersizehasforlonginfluencedtrendsandcapabilitiesincomputing.Forexample,the
giganticsupercomputerwithmanymicroprocessorsisknowntoperformextremelycomplexcalculations,...
2:ComputerSoftware
Computersoftwarereferstotheinstructions,programs,dataandprotocolswhichrunonhardwareparts.
Softwareissubdividedintotwomajorcategories,namelysystemsoftwareandapplicationsoftware.
Computersoftwarecomponentrunninginsidethecomputer
SystemSoftware
Systemsoftware,alsoOperatingSystem(OS)issoftwarethatmanagesothersoftwareanddevicesinsidethe
computerhardware.
Inatypicalcomputersetup,theoperatingsystemislikethemotherofcomputersoftware.Itisthesoftwarethatis
installedfirstinthecomputer,followedbyapplicationandutilitysoftware.Threewellknownoperatingsystem
softwarevariantsfortraditionalcomputersincludeWindows,MacOSXandLinux.
PopularmobileoperatingsystemsoftwaretypesincludeAndroidOS,iPhoneOS,WindowsPhoneOSandFirefox
OS.
ApplicationSoftware
Applicationsoftwareissoftwaredesignedforendusers.Itisatypeofsoftwarewhichismeanttoperforma
specializedassignmentandoutputusefulinformation.
Forexample,awordprocessingapplicationthatoneusestocomposealetterorabrochureinthecomputere.g.
MicrosoftWord,isatypeofprogramorapplicationsoftware.
OtherpopularexamplesofapplicationsoftwareincludeAdobePhotoshop,CorelDrawandAutoCad.
Someapplicationsoftwarecollectionsalsocomeinpackagesthatarecommonlyknownassoftwaresuite.A
softwaresuiteservesmorethanjustoneapplicationneed.
Atypicalsuiteincludessoftwarethatcaterforwordprocessing,presentation,graphicdesignandspreadsheet:It
couldbeless,moreordifferent,butservingdifferentneeds.
ExamplesofsoftwaresuitesincludeMicrosoftOffice,OpenOfficeandiWork.
ComputersoftwareiswrittenincomputerlanguagessuchasVisualBasic,C,Java,etcbysoftwaredesigners.
Formanyyears,computersoftwareusuallywasstoredinopticaldiscsbutthatischangingfastwithmoststoragedoneinthe
cloud
WhatoperatingsystemplatformwouldyouprefertouseMOSTinfuture?
Windows
Mac
Linux
WindowsandMac
All
Vote Seeresults
3:TheHumanwareComponent
Humanwarereferstotheuserofthecomputerhardwareandsoftware.Itisabouttheindividualthatusesthe
computerforproductiveorentertainmentpurposes.
Thedesignofhumanwareoftenbeginswithunderstandingtheneedsandlimitationsoftheenduserandworking
bottomuptodesignaproductthatisultimatelyuseful.
Typically,agreatdealoftestingisdoneonthesoftwarepackagetoensurethatitsproductivityenhancestheend
usersexperience.
Theuserinteractswithhardwaretoproduceneedfuloutput.Itistheusertotypealetter,helprecordmusic,
communicateovertheairwavesandultimatelygivealldirectivestocomputerhardwareandsoftware.
Computeruser,anexampleofthehumanwarecomponent
AnalogyoftheComponentsofaComputerSystem
Inanutshell,aworkingcomputersystemiscomparabletowhathappensinthekitchenwhereyoubasicallyhave:
foodandcookwarehardware
therecipesoftware
chefhumanware
Evenafterpurchasingthefreshestgroceryandevenwithownershipofthefinestpotsandpans,youwillnothave
agoodmealwithoutagoodchef:amanorwomanwhoknowstheinsandoutsofagoodmeal,andhasthe
ultimaterecipetopreparefoodtothefinesttaste.
Bothcomputerhardwareandsoftwarearecomplementedbytheworksofthehumantoproduceafullyfunctional
computersystem.