TECHNOLOGY GUIDE 1 Computer Hardware

Technology Guide Overview

Agenda TG1.1 Introducing Hardware Components TG1.2 Strategic Hardware Issues TG1.3 Innovations in Hardware Utilization TG1.3.1 Server farms TG1.3.2 Virtualization TG1.3.3 Grid computing TG1.3.4 Utility computing TG1.3.5 Cloud computing TG1.3.6 Edge computing TG1.3.7 Autonomic computing TG1.3.8 Nanotechnology

TG1.4 The Computer Hierarchy TG1.4.1 Supercomputers TG1.4.2 Mainframe computers TG1.4.3 Midrange computers TG1.4.4 Workstations TG1.4.5 Microcomputers TG1.4.6 Computing devices TG1.5 Input and Output Technologies TG1.6 The Central Processing Unit TG1.7 Computer Memory and Storage Systems

LEARNING OBJECTIVES Identify the major hardware components of a computer system. (TG1.1) Discuss strategic issues that link hardware design to business strategy. (TG1.2) Discuss the innovations in hardware utilization. (TG1.3) Describe the hierarchy of computers according to power and their respective roles. (TG1.4) Differentiate the various types of input and output technologies and their uses. (TG1.5) Describe the design and functioning of the central processing unit, and the relationship between memory and performance. (TG1.6) Discuss the relationships between microprocessor component designs, storage systems, and performance. (TG1.7)

TG1.1 Introducing Hardware Components Hardware is the physical equipment used for the input, processing, output, and storage activities of a computer systems. It consists of the following: Central processing unit (CPU). Primary storage. Secondary storage. Input technologies. Output technologies. Communication technologies.

TG1.1 Introducing Hardware Components Central processing unit (CPU). Manipulates the data and controls the tasks performed by the other components. Primary storage. Temporarily stores data and program instructions during processing. Secondary storage. External to the CPU; stores data and programs for future use. Input technologies. Accepts 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.

TG1.2 Strategic Hardware Issues For many businesspeople the most important hardware issues are what the hardware enables, how it is advancing, and how rapidly it is advancing. In many industries, exploiting computer hardware is a key to achieving competitive advantage.

Successful hardware exploitation comes from thoughtful consideration of the following questions: How do organizations keep up with the rapid price and performance advancements in hardware? How should organizations determine the need for the new hardware infrastructures, such as server farms, virtualization, grid computing, and utility computing? Portable computers and advanced communications technologies have enabled employees to work from home or from anywhere. Will these new work styles benefit employees and the organization? How do organizations manage such new work styles?

TG1.3 Innovations in Hardware Utilization TG1.3.1 Server farms TG1.3.2 Virtualization TG1.3.3 Grid computing TG1.3.4 Utility computing TG1.3.5 Cloud computing TG1.3.6 Edge computing TG1.3.7 Autonomic computing TG1.3.8 Nanotechnology

TG1.3.1 Server farms Server farms are massive data centres which contain hundreds of thousands of networked computer to facilitate the need to manage, transmit, and store the data flowing from web-based applications for companies.

TG1.3.2 Virtualization Virtualization means that servers no longer have to be dedicated to a particular task. Server virtualization uses software-based partitions to create multiple virtual servers (called virtual machines) on a single physical server.

Many benefits accrue to organizations using virtualization, including the following: a lower number of physical servers leads to cost savings in equipment, energy, space in the data centre, cooling, personnel, and maintenance enhanced organizational agility, as virtualization enables organizations to quickly modify their systems to respond to changing demands the focus of the information technology department can shift from the technology itself to the services that the technology can provide.

TG1.3.3 Grid computing Grid computing applies the unused processing resources of many geographically dispersed computers in a network to form a virtual supercomputer. Target problems are usually scientific or technical in nature and require a great number of computer processing cycles or access to large amounts of data.

TG1.3.4 Utility computing Utility computing, is where a service provider makes unused computing resources and infrastructure management available to customers as needed. The service provider then charges the customer for specific usage rather than a flat rate. Utility computing is also called subscription computing and on-demand computing. Utility computing enables companies to efficiently meet fluctuating demands for computing power by lowering the cost of owning hardware infrastructure.

TG1.3.5 Cloud computing In cloud computing, tasks are performed by computers physically removed from the user and accessed over a network, in particular the Internet. The “cloud” is composed of the computers, the software on those computers, and the network connections among those computers. The computers in the cloud are typically located in data centres, or server farms, which can be located anywhere in the world and accessed from anywhere in the world

TG1.3.6 Edge computing Edge computing is the process by which parts of website content and processing are located close to the user to decrease response time and lower processing costs. There are three components in edge computing: the computer that you use to access a website; small, relatively inexpensive servers—called edge servers—that are located at your Internet service provider (ISP); the servers of the company whose website you are accessing.

TG1.3.7 Autonomic computing Modern IT environments are becoming more complex as the number of networked computing devices (wireline and wireless) increases and the software on these devices becomes more sophisticated. As a result, IT environments are rapidly becoming difficult for humans to adequately manage and maintain. To help resolve this problem, experts have designed autonomic systems (also known as autonomic computing) that manage themselves without direct human intervention.

TG1.3.8 Nanotechnology Nanotechnology refers to the creation of materials, devices, and systems at a scale of 1 to 100 nanometres (billionths of a metre). In the near future, still-experimental computers will be constructed on a nanotechnology scale and could be used literally anywhere.

TG1.4 The Computer Hierarchy TG1.4.1 Supercomputers TG1.4.2 Mainframe computers TG1.4.3 Midrange computers TG1.4.4 Workstations TG1.4.5 Microcomputers TG1.4.6 Computing devices

TG1.4.1 Supercomputers The term supercomputer does not refer to a specific technology. Rather, it indicates the fastest computing engines available at any given time. At the time of this writing (mid-2010), the fastest supercomputers had speeds exceeding one petaflop (one petaflop is 1,000 trillion floating point operations per second). A floating point operation is an arithmetic operation involving decimals. Supercomputers are used primarily in scientific and military work for computationally demanding tasks.

TG1.4.2 Mainframe Computers Mainframe computers are increasingly viewed as just another type of server, albeit at the high end of the performance and reliability scales, they remain a distinct class of systems differentiated by hardware and software features. Mainframes remain popular in large enterprises for extensive computing applications that are accessed by thousands of users at one time. Examples of mainframe applications are airline reservation systems, corporate payroll programs, website transaction processing systems (e.g., for Amazon and eBay), and student grade calculation and reporting.

TG1.4.3 Midrange computers Larger midrange computers, called minicomputers, are relatively small, inexpensive, and compact computers that perform the same functions as mainframe computers, but to a more limited extent. In fact, the lines between minicomputers and mainframes have blurred in both price and performance.

TG1.4.4 Workstations Computer vendors originally developed desktop engineering workstations, or workstations for short, to provide the high levels of performance demanded by engineers. Powerful desktop size computers that run computationally intensive scientific, engineering, and financial applications. Workstations provide both very high-speed calculations and high-resolution graphic displays.

TG1.4.5 Microcomputers Microcomputers—also called micros, personal computers, or PCs (Notebooks, Laptops) —are the smallest and least expensive category of general- purpose computers. It is important to point out that people frequently define a PC as a computer that uses the Microsoft Windows operating system. The major categories of microcomputers are desktops, thin clients, laptops and notebooks, ultramobile PCs, and netbooks.

TG1.4.6 Computing devices Improved computer technology has led to the development of improved, ever-smaller computing and communication devices. Technologies such as wearable computing and communication devices are now common. This section briefly looks at some of these new devices: Wearable computers Embedded computers

Wearable computers (wearable devices) are designed to be worn and used on the body. Industrial applications of wearable computers include systems for factory automation, warehouse management, and performance support, such as viewing technical manuals and diagrams while building or repairing something. Embedded computers are placed inside other products to add features and capabilities.

TG1.5 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 and source-data automation devices. Table TG1.1 describes the various input devices. The output generated by a computer can be transmitted to the user via several output devices and media. These devices include monitors, printers, plotters, and voice. Table TG1.2 describes the various output devices.

TG1.6 The Central Processing Unit The central processing unit (CPU) performs the actual computation or “number crunching” inside any computer. The CPU is a microprocessor (for example, a Nehalem chip by Intel) made up of millions of microscopic transistors embedded in a circuit on a silicon wafer or chip. Hence, microprocessors are commonly referred to as chips.

How the CPU works:

Advances in Microprocessor Design Moore’s Law. In 1965, Gordon Moore, a co-founder of Intel Corporation, predicted that microprocessor complexity would double approximately every two years. The advances predicted from Moore’s Law arise mainly from the following changes: Producing increasingly miniaturized transistors. Making the physical layout of the chip’s components as compact and efficient as possible; that is, decreasing line width. Using materials for the chip that improve the conductivity (fl ow) of electricity. Chips traditionally have been made of silicon, which is a semiconductor of electricity; that is, electrons can flow through it, but only at a certain rate. Newer materials such as gallium arsenide and silicon germanium allow even faster electron travel, although they are more expensive.

TG1.7 Computer Memory and Storage Systems Memory Capacity CPUs process only binary units—0s and 1s—which are translated through computer languages (covered in Technology Guide 2) into bits. A particular combination of bits represents a certain alphanumeric character or a simple mathematical operation. Normally, eight bits are needed to represent any one of these characters. This 8-bit string is known as a byte. The storage capacity of a computer is measured in bytes.

Kilobyte. Kilo means 1 thousand, so a kilobyte (KB) is approximately 1,000 bytes. Actually, a kilobyte is 1,024 bytes. Megabyte. Mega means 1 million, so a megabyte (MB) is approximately 1 million bytes. Most personal computers have hundreds of megabytes of RAM memory (a type of primary storage, discussed later). Gigabyte. Giga means 1 billion, so a gigabyte (GB) is approximately 1 billion bytes. The storage capacity of a hard drive (a type of secondary storage, discussed shortly) in modern personal computers is hundreds of gigabytes. Terabyte. A terabyte is approximately 1 trillion bytes. Petabyte. A petabyte is approximately 1,000 terabytes. Exabyte. An exabyte is approximately 1,000 petabytes. Zettabyte. A zettabyte is approximately 1,000 exabytes

Type of primary memory Random Access Memory Cache Memory Read-only Memory

Storage systems Primary storage Secondary storage

Primary storage. It is called “primary” because it stores small amounts of data and information that will be used immediately by the CPU. Primary storage 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 computer’s operation.

Secondary storage, which stores much larger amounts of data and information (an entire software program, for example) for extended periods of time. Secondary storage has the following characteristics: It is nonvolatile. It takes more time to retrieve data from secondary storage It is cheaper than primary storage It can take place on a variety of media The overall trends in secondary storage are toward more direct- access methods, higher capacity with lower costs, and increased portability.

Type of secondary storage Magnetic Media Magnetic tape Magnetic disks Optical Storage Devices

Magnetic tape is kept on a large open reel or in a smaller cartridge or cassette. Although this is an old technology, it remains popular because it is the cheapest storage medium, and it can handle enormous amounts of data. Magnetic disks are a form of secondary storage on a magnetized disk that is divided into tracks and sectors that provide addresses for various pieces of data. Optical storage devices do not store data via magnetism. Rather, a laser reads the surface of a reflective plastic platter. Optical disk drives are slower than magnetic hard drives, but they are less susceptible to damage from contamination and they are less fragile. Types of optical disks include compact disk read-only memory (CD-ROM) and digital video disk (DVD).

Enterprise Storage Systems An enterprise storage system is an independent, external system with intelligence that includes two or more storage devices. Enterprise storage systems provide large amounts of storage, high-performance data transfer, a high degree of availability, protection against data loss, and sophisticated management tools.

There are three major types of enterprise storage systems: Redundant arrays of independent disks Storage area networks Network-attached storage

Redundant arrays of independent disks To improve reliability and to protect the data in their enterprise storage systems, many organizations use redundant arrays of independent disks (RAID) storage products. RAID is an enterprise storage system that links groups of standard hard drives to a specialized microcontroller. The microcontroller coordinates the drives so they appear as a single logical drive, but they take advantage of the multiple physical drives by storing data redundantly, meaning data that are duplicated in multiple places. This arrangement protects against data loss due to the failure of any single drive.

Storage area networks Storage Area Network (SAN) is 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, sometimes called IP over SCSI or iSCSI, is a technology that uses the Internet protocol to transport stored data among devices within an SAN. SANs employ storage visualization software to graphically plot an entire network and allow storage administrators to monitor all networked storage devices from a single console.

Network-attached storage Network-attached Storage (NAS) device is an enterprise storage system in which a special-purpose server that provides file storage to users who access the device over a network. The NAS server is simple to install (i.e., plug-and play) and works exactly like a general-purpose file server, so no user retraining or special software is needed.

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