Computer Fundamentals

(EIF 1323)

An Introduction

Salina Mohmad KDU College

Why This Course is Relevant?

Motivation
Computers have moved into every nook and cranny of our daily lives.
Education, Finance, Government, Health Care, Science, Publishing, Travel and Manufacturing, Home and Entertainment.

Facebook, youtube, e-mail, movies, blogs, games!

Motivation (cont)
Computers are engineers most important tool.
Numerical computations, design of digital systems, writing reports, CAD etc

You might be involved in creating exciting digital devices in the future.

Advanced computer architectures, electronic consumer devices, embedded systems.
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In Short
We must have the knowledge and understanding of computers and their uses. This is known as Computer Literacy.

Computer Literate

Course Structure

Topics Covered
The Internet Components of a computer Computer Security Software and the Operating System

Computer Fundamentals Computer Networks

Course Structure (cont)

Assessment:
Assignment (10%)
Labs (20%) Mid Term Exam (20%) and Final Exam (50%)

Text books: Discovering Computers 2007, Shelly, G.B., Cashman, T. J., Vermaat, M. E., Thomson Course Technology, USA.
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What is a Computer

So What is a Computer?
An electronic device which operates under the control of instructions stored in its own memory (computers brain). It can accept data, and process the data according to specific rules, produce results (information), and store the results for future use.

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So What is a Computer? (cont)

So, as long as it contains electronic devices that operates with instructions stored in its memory, and is able to accept, process and store data, it is a computer. Even if it looks like

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Data & Information

Data is a collection of unprocessed items. In computers, data are stored as 1 or 0. Information conveys meaning, and is useful to people. E.g., a digital picture. Instructions are steps to tell the computer how to perform a particular tasks.
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Information Processing Cycle

The information processing cycle consists of the following steps:Data fed into a computer (input) To be processed by a computer Producing Information (output) Text, Numbers, Images, Audio, Video Stored for further use
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Components of a Computer

Components of a Computer
A computer contains many electrical, electronic, and mechanical devices known as hardware. Hardware can be subdivided into:
Input and Output (IO) devices A System Unit Storage devices and storage media Communication devices
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(1) Input and Output Devices

Input devices hardware components for entering data and instructions into a computer.
E.g., Keyboard, Mouse, Microphone, Scanner and Digital Camera.

Output devices hardware components that conveys information to people.

E.g., Printer, Monitor, Speakers.
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Input Devices

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Output Devices

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(2) The System Unit

System unit a case that contains electronic components of a computer used for processing data. The components are all connected a circuit board known as a Motherboard.
A system unit
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The System Unit (cont)

The two main components connected to the motherboard are the processor and memory.

Motherboard

Intel Processor

Memory
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The System Unit (cont)

Processor A component that interprets and carries out instructions that operate the computer. It is also known as the Central Processing Unit or CPU.

Memory A component that stores data and also instructions for later execution. Some data stored in memory are permanent, while some are temporary.
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Food for Thought

The British library holds: 14 million books (weight about 2000 elephants)
920,000 journals and newspaper titles 3 million sound recordings (> 90 years to finish listening).

All these info. can be stored in the portable drive above

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(3a) Storage Media

Storage media hardware that stores data, instructions and information for future use.
E.g., USB flash drives, internal hard disks, CDs and portable (external) drives.
Compact Disc (CD)
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Internal Hard Disk USB Flash Drive

Storage Media (cont)

USB flash drive a portable storage device that is small, lightweight and rewritable. Could store anywhere between 128 million to 4 billion characters. Hard Disk drive provides greater storage space than USB flash drives and is rewritable. In todays standard, one could store at least 120 billion characters.
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Storage Media (cont)

Compact Disc (CD) a flat, round and portable thin metal disc sandwiched between 2 plastic coating. Some CDs could only be written once, and is known as CD-ROM (ROM = Read Only Memory), while some are rewritable (CD-RW). A CD could store around 650 million characters.
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Take a break
Find out the differences between internal and external hard drives. What is a Digital Video Disc (DVD)? How does it compare to CDs in terms of its construct and storage capacity?

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(3b) Storage Device

A storage device can record (write) and retrieve (read) data to and from a storage media respectively.
E.g., a CD rewrite capable drive (a storage device), could accept CDs (a storage media) to retrieve and write new data on blank CDs.
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Communication Devices
Communication device a hardware that enables computers to send (transmit) and receive data, instructions and information from one or more computers. Data can be transmitted via telephone lines or fibre optic links (physical links), or via mobile radio networks (wireless links).
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A Fibre Optic Cable

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Communication Devices (cont)

A widely used communication device is a modem. It has several ports to connect cables to link computers. Most modems nowadays are capable of linking computers wirelessly using radio waves.
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Pros and Cons of using Computers

Advantages of using Computers

Speed Capable of processing millions to even trillions of operations a second. Basic operations include addition, subtraction, multiplication and division; encoding and decoding data; data comparison; and counting. Reliable Modern, well built computers rarely break or fail.
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Food for Thought: Deep Blue

A computer developed to beat man at the game of chess. Defeated world champion, Gary Kasparov on 11 May, 1997.

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Food for Thought: Deep Blue (cont)

It could compute 200 million moves per second. Thats back in 1997. It is 2010 now. Deep blues technology can be considered antique. Supercomputers now are much more powerful, and could easily compute up to 1x109 moves per second. (1000 million moves/second)
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Advantages of using Computers

Consistency Once correct instructions are given, results generated will always conform to certain rules and are error free.

Storage Data amounting to an entire library could be stored or transferred in a few minutes. Communication You could link to computers around the globe!
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Disadvantages of using Computers

Environmental impact many toxic materials are used for producing computers. Improper disposal of computers will lead to environmental pollution. It is also resource hungry, as resources needed for producing a personal computer (PC) equals to that of a small car!
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Disadvantages of using Computers

Health risk the adoption of inappropriate postures while using a computer will lead to injuries to hands, wrists, neck and the back.

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Computer Network and the Internet

Computer Network
Computer network is a collection of computers and devices connected together via communication devices. It allows computers to share resources, such as hardware, software, data and information (this saves time and money!).

When a computer is connected to a network, it is considered online.

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Computer Network (cont)

Access to resources on a network is controlled by computers called servers, while computers using network resources are called clients or workstations. Compared to other computers, servers have more computing power, storage space and extended communication capabilities.
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Computer Networks (cont)

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Computer Network (cont)

Networks can be formed at:
Home, school or small businesses (small sized networks, usually connected wirelessly) Large corporations and universities (medium sized or widespread, usually connected across city, country or even the globe).

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The Internet

The Internet
The Internet is the worlds largest network; it connects millions of computers used by businesses, government agencies, educational institutions, and individuals.

> 1 billion people uses the internet to: communicate with other people, access information, shop for goods and services, perform banking and investment activities and for entertainment (games, videos, books).
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The Internet!!

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The Internet (cont)

Not all contents in the Internet is accessible to the public (e.g., government networks and research institutions). The ones that are, are grouped under a service called the world wide web (the Web for short). The Web contains billions of documents called web pages. A web page can contain texts, graphics, audio and video.
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Categories of a Computer

Categories of a Computer
Category Personal Computer Mobile Computers Game Consoles Servers Physical Size Fits on a desk Fits on your lap or hands A small box or hand held A small cabinet No. of users Usually 1 Usually 1 1-8 2 to several thousands Price range < RM 10k < RM 10k <RM 5k Several hundred to a million RM
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Categories of a Computer (cont)

Category Mainframes Physical Size No. of users Price range A small room Hundreds to Several million to a large thousands RM room

Supercomputers A large room Hundreds to Several million thousands to several billion RM

Embedded computers

Miniature

Usually 1

Embedded in the price of the product

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Personal Computers
Personal computers (PC) can perform all inputs, processing, outputs, and storage activities by itself. It contains, among many other components, a processor, memory, several input and output (IO) devices, and also storage devices. The majority of PCs uses processors with very similar architectures. Examples include computers produced by Dell, HP and Apple which uses the so called x86 compatible processors by Intel and AMD.
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Personal Computers (cont)

There are broadly two types of PCs: desktops and notebooks. A desktop is designed with its system unit, inputs and outputs, and other devices to fit on or under a desk. A more powerful version of a desktop is called a workstation. It is intended for graphics and/or computational intensive tasks.
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Desktops

PC and compatibles use the Windows operating system

Apple Macintosh uses the Macintosh operating system (Mac OS)

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Mobile Computers
A mobile computer is a PC that is small enough to be carried around. Its system unit, IOs (including its monitor) and other peripherals are all packaged as a single unit.

Examples of mobile computers include: Notebooks, Tablet PCs, and Smart Phones.
Notebooks (or laptops), have comparable performance to an average desktop, but they are more expensive.
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Mobile Computers (cont)

A tablet PC comes in all form of shapes and sizes. It differs from notebooks due to its touch sensitive monitor, which allows users to write and draw on screen, or interface with programs using a digital pen and/or using their hands. Nowadays, even notebooks have touch screen capabilities, which blurs the boundary between notebooks and tablet PCs.
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Tablet and Notebook

Notebook

Tablet

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Mobile Computers (cont)

Smart phones and hand held computers are other examples of computers that come in small form factors, but are capable of audio and video playbacks, simple document editing, capturing digital photographs, accessing the Web, and other less demanding computing tasks. Examples include the iPhone 4 smart phone and Sonys micro PC.
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Game Consoles
A well known mobile computer segment designed for video games (e.g., Sony Playstation 3). Its inputs device include hand held controllers (aka game pads) and motion sensitive devices for user interface (e.g., Nintendo Wii Nunchuck). Game consoles can also communicate with other consoles via the internet (online gaming), and be used for watching movies and for accessing the web.
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Servers
Servers controls access to hardware, software and other resources on a network (including its own resources). It also provides centralized storage for programs, data and information. Servers can support up to several thousand computers connected to it simultaneously. Users can also use a terminal to access servers. A terminal is a device with a monitor, memory and a keyboard. Servers also access information, data and programs from other servers.
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A Server

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Mainframes
A mainframe is a large, expensive and powerful computer capable of handling thousands of connected users simultaneously. Mainframes store tremendous amount of data, instructions and information. This is why major corporations use mainframes for business activities such as:
Billing millions of customers, prepare payroll for thousands of employees, and manage millions of items it their inventory.
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Mainframes (cont)
Mainframes are also used as servers. They can be accessed by servers and other mainframes for resource sharing (data, information and program execution). Like a server, mainframes can also be accessed by PCs and terminals.

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A Mainframe

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Supercomputer
Supercomputers are the most powerful computers in the planet. Some of the fastest are capable of processing > 100 trillion instructions a second. Weighing more than 100,000 KGs, they are used for solving complex and repetitive mathematical computations. Large scale simulation software used in medicine, aerospace and weather forecasting are some areas requiring the use of supercomputers.
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A Supercomputer

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Embedded Computers
An embedded computer (EC) is an electronic component found in a larger product. They can be found everywhere including:
The fridge, microwave oven and the washing machine, Digital TV and cameras, mobile phones, Car engine control module, airbag controller and antilock brakes just to name a few.
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Embedded Computers (cont)

They are usually small and have limited hardware. These computers perform various functions for products they were intended for. For example, an EC in a printer serve to monitor the amount of paper in respective trays, check toner level, prompt users if a paper jam has occurred, and so on.
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Elements of an Information System

An information system combines hardware, software, data, people and procedures to produce timely and useful information. People working in the information technology (IT) sector, develop procedures for processing data, which in turn determines how users enter data into a computer using various hardware and software. Software processes the data and directs the computer hardware to store changes in a storage media, and/or produce information for users via output devices.
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