Linux+ Guide to Linux Certification, Second Edition Chapter 2 Preparing for Linux Installation

Linux+ Guide to Linux Certification, 2e Objectives Describe common types of hardware and their features Obtain the hardware and software information necessary to install Linux Linux+ Guide to Linux Certification, 2e

Understanding Hardware: Central Processing Units (CPUs) Core component of any computer Also known as microprocessor or processor Two main components: Arithmetic logic unit (ALU): Mathematical calculations and logic-based operations executed here Control unit (CU): Instruction code or commands loaded and carried out here Linux+ Guide to Linux Certification, 2e

Understanding Hardware: CPUs (continued) Processor architecture: Arrangement of a processor’s integral electronics Two main processor architectures: Complex Instruction Set Computer (CISC) Reduced Instruction Set Computer (RISC) Linux+ Guide to Linux Certification, 2e

Understanding Hardware: CPUs (continued) Clock speed: Internal time cycle of a processor Determines speed that processor executes commands Measured in Megahertz (MHz) A processor may require one cycle to complete a command or may be superscalar Amount of information a processor can process at one time is a major factor in clock speed Measured in binary digits (bits) The more information that can be worked on at once, the faster data can be manipulated Linux+ Guide to Linux Certification, 2e

Understanding Hardware: CPUs (continued) Cache: Temporary store of information Cache size and location affect a processor’s ability to calculate larger volumes of data Level 1 (L1) cache: Cache stored in the processor itself Level 2 (L2) cache: Cache stored in a separate computer chip Connected to processor via high speed link Level 3 (L3) cache: Cache stored on a separate computer chip Connected directly to processor Linux+ Guide to Linux Certification, 2e

Understanding Hardware: CPUs (continued) Multiple processors can work together Perform the same tasks faster Symmetric Multi-Processing (SMP): Allows OS and memory to use both processors simultaneously for any task ASymmetric Multi-Processing (ASMP): Each processor given a set of tasks to complete independently Linux+ Guide to Linux Certification, 2e

Understanding Hardware: Physical Memory Storage area for information that is directly wired through circuit boards to the processor Two main categories: Random Access Memory (RAM) Volatile memory Read Only Memory (ROM) Linux+ Guide to Linux Certification, 2e

Understanding Hardware: Physical Memory―RAM Requires constant supply of electricity to maintain stored information Directly related to computer performance Two major categories: Dynamic RAM (DRAM) Static RAM (SRAM) Linux+ Guide to Linux Certification, 2e

Understanding Hardware: Physical Memory―RAM (continued) Three main types of DRAM sticks: Single In-line Memory Modules (SIMM) No longer produced Dual In-line Memory Modules (DIMM) Small Outline Dual In-line Memory Modules (SODIMM) Used in portable notebook computers and Macintosh systems Linux+ Guide to Linux Certification, 2e

Understanding Hardware: Physical Memory―RAM (continued) Three recent DIMM technologies: Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory (SDRAM) Double Data Rate Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory (DDR SDRAM) Rambus Dynamic Random Access Memory (RDRAM) Linux+ Guide to Linux Certification, 2e

Understanding Hardware: Physical Memory―ROM Read-only Memory: Physical memory that can be read but not written to Nonvolatile Basic Input/Output System (BIOS) ROM: Stores programs used to initialize hardware components when starting computer Linux+ Guide to Linux Certification, 2e

Understanding Hardware: Physical Memory―ROM Variants Programmable Read Only Memory (PROM): Can only be written to once Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory (EPROM): Contents can be repeatedly erased and rewritten as a whole Electronically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory (EEPROM): Whole or partial contents can be repeatedly erased/rewritten Linux+ Guide to Linux Certification, 2e

Understanding Hardware: Disk Drives Most information in a computer maintained using nonvolatile media, not consisting of integrated circuits Hard disk Floppy disk CD-ROM, DVD CD-RW, DVD-RW disk Zip disk Flash Memory Linux+ Guide to Linux Certification, 2e

Understanding Hardware: Disk Drives―Hard Disk Drives Not directly wired to the processor Pass through a hard disk controller card Controls flow of information to and from the hard disk drive (HDD) Two types of controller cards: Integrated Drive Electronics (IDE) Also known as Advanced Technology Attachment (ATA) controllers Small Computer System Interface (SCSI) Linux+ Guide to Linux Certification, 2e

Understanding Hardware: Disk Drives―HDDs (continued) Table 2-1: IDE HDD configurations Linux+ Guide to Linux Certification, 2e

Understanding Hardware: Disk Drives―HDDs (continued) Partitions: Small, manageable sections of a hard drive Filesystems: Specify how data should reside on the hard disk itself A partition must be formatted with a filesystem Linux+ Guide to Linux Certification, 2e

Understanding Hardware: Disk Drives―HDDs (continued) Primary partitions: Major unique and separate HDD divisions Extended partitions: Partitions that can be further subdivided into logical drives Master Boot Record (MBR): Table of all partition information for a hard disk Stored outside of all partitions Linux+ Guide to Linux Certification, 2e

Understanding Hardware: Disk Drives―HDDs (continued) Table 2-2: Example partitioning scheme for a primary master IDE HDD Linux+ Guide to Linux Certification, 2e

Understanding Hardware: Disk Drives―Other Information Storage Devices Removable media: Information storage media that can be removed from the computer Transferable between computers Floppy disks: Store information electro-magnetically Used in floppy disk drives Zip disks: Similar to floppy disks Can store much more information Used in zip drives Linux+ Guide to Linux Certification, 2e

Linux+ Guide to Linux Certification, 2e Understanding Hardware: Disk Drives―Other Information Storage Devices (continued) DVDs and CD-ROMs: Use lasers to read reflected light pulses Greater data transfer speed Larger storage capacity More resistance to data loss than floppy disks or ZIP disks Flash memory drives: Use EEPROM chips to store information Linux+ Guide to Linux Certification, 2e

Understanding Hardware: Mainboards and Peripheral Components Bus: Pathway information takes from one hardware device to another via a mainboard Mainboard (also called a motherboard): Circuit board that connects all other hardware components together via slots or ports on the circuit board Peripheral components: Attach to the mainboard of a computer e.g., video cards, sound cards, and network interface cards (NICs) Connected via an Input/Output bus represented by different slots or ports on the mainboard Linux+ Guide to Linux Certification, 2e

Linux+ Guide to Linux Certification, 2e Understanding Hardware: Mainboards and Peripheral Components (continued) Three common slots for peripheral devices: Industry Standard Architecture (ISA): Information transfer at 8 MHz Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI): Information transfer at 33 MHz Can use Direct Memory Access (DMA) Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP): Information transfer over 66 MHz Designed for video card peripherals Linux+ Guide to Linux Certification, 2e

Linux+ Guide to Linux Certification, 2e Understanding Hardware: Mainboards and Peripheral Components (continued) Figure 2-1: Mainboard components Linux+ Guide to Linux Certification, 2e

Linux+ Guide to Linux Certification, 2e Understanding Hardware: Mainboards and Peripheral Components (continued) Other peripherals may have external connections to mainboard PS/2 COM (Serial) LPT USB IEEE1394 (Firewire) PCMCIA Linux+ Guide to Linux Certification, 2e

Linux+ Guide to Linux Certification, 2e Understanding Hardware: Mainboards and Peripheral Components (continued) PS/2 ports: Connect keyboards and mice to computers COM ports: Connect a variety of peripherals to the mainboard Serial port LPT ports: Most commonly connect printers to the mainboard Parallel ports Linux+ Guide to Linux Certification, 2e

Linux+ Guide to Linux Certification, 2e Understanding Hardware: Mainboards and Peripheral Components (continued) Universal Serial Bus (USB) port: Connects peripheral components such as mice, printers, and scanners Hot-swappable: Can be attached to the computer while it is running FireWire (IEEE1394): Hot-swappable variant of USB commonly used to connect SCSI hard disks, scanners, digital cameras, and CD-RW drives Linux+ Guide to Linux Certification, 2e

Linux+ Guide to Linux Certification, 2e Understanding Hardware: Mainboards and Peripheral Components (continued) Personal Computer Memory Card International Association (PCMCIA) ports: Allow a small card to be inserted into the computer with electronics necessary to provide certain functionality Advanced Power Management (APM): BIOS feature that shuts off power to unused peripheral devices Linux+ Guide to Linux Certification, 2e

Linux+ Guide to Linux Certification, 2e Understanding Hardware: Mainboards and Peripheral Components (continued) Interrupt Request Line (IRQ): Specifies a unique channel from a device to the CPU Input/Output (IO) address: Small working area of RAM where CPU can pass information to and receive information from a device Plug-and-Play (PnP): OS and peripheral devices that automatically assign the correct IRQ, I/O address, and DMA settings Linux+ Guide to Linux Certification, 2e

Understanding Hardware: Video Adapter Cards and Monitors Video adapter cards: Provide graphical display when connected to a monitor Commonly referred to as video cards Resolution: Total number of pixels that can be displayed on a computer video screen Color depth: Total set of colors that can be displayed on a computer video screen Linux+ Guide to Linux Certification, 2e

Understanding Hardware: Video Adapter Cards and Monitors (continued) Table 2-3: Memory requirements for screen resolution and color depths Linux+ Guide to Linux Certification, 2e

Understanding Hardware: Video Adapter Cards and Monitors (continued) Refresh rate: Rate at which information displayed on a video screen is refreshed Measured in Hertz (Hz) Two types of refresh rates: HSync (horizontal refresh) VSync (vertical refresh) Linux+ Guide to Linux Certification, 2e

Understanding Hardware: Keyboards and Mice Facilitates user input and direction Variety of ways to connect to motherboard Serial port Large circular AT 5-pin connector Small circular PS/2 6-pin connector USB connection Wireless or radio connection Check hardware components against a Hardware Compatibility List (HCL) Linux+ Guide to Linux Certification, 2e

Gathering Preinstallation Information Table 2-4: Red Hat 7.2 hardware requirements Linux+ Guide to Linux Certification, 2e

Gathering Preinstallation Information (continued) Table 2-5: Sample pre-installation checklist Linux+ Guide to Linux Certification, 2e

Gathering Preinstallation Information (continued) Table 2-5 (continued): Sample pre-installation checklist Linux+ Guide to Linux Certification, 2e

Gathering Hardware Information Tools and resources to check hardware against a preinstallation checklist: Computer manuals Windows System Information tool (if Windows already installed) Windows Device Manager (if Windows already installed) Linux+ Guide to Linux Certification, 2e

Gathering Hardware Information (continued) Figure 2-2: The Windows System Information tool Linux+ Guide to Linux Certification, 2e

Gathering Hardware Information (continued) Figure 2-3: The Windows Device Manager Linux+ Guide to Linux Certification, 2e

Gathering Hardware Information (continued) Figure 2-4: The Windows Display applet Linux+ Guide to Linux Certification, 2e

Gathering Hardware Information (continued) Figure 2-5: System Power-On Self Test (POST) Linux+ Guide to Linux Certification, 2e

Gathering Hardware Information (continued) Figure 2-6: BIOS Setup Utility Linux+ Guide to Linux Certification, 2e

Gathering Software Information Identifying system network configuration: Hostname IP address Netmask Gateway DNS servers Resolve FQDNs Linux+ Guide to Linux Certification, 2e

Gathering Software Information (continued) Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server: Server on network providing IP configuration to requesting computers If selected during installation, Linux will attempt to get IP settings from a DHCP server on the network Linux+ Guide to Linux Certification, 2e

Gathering Software Information (continued) Table 2-6: Common Linux packages Linux+ Guide to Linux Certification, 2e

Gathering Software Information (continued) Table 2-6 (continued): Common Linux packages Linux+ Guide to Linux Certification, 2e

Linux+ Guide to Linux Certification, 2e Summary Understand the hardware before an installation Allows you to make appropriate choices Verify that the installation was successful CPUs process most instructions in a computer Two CPU architectures: RISC and CISC Computer memory can be volatile (RAM) or nonvolatile (ROM) Linux+ Guide to Linux Certification, 2e

Linux+ Guide to Linux Certification, 2e Summary (continued) Most information is stored on hard disks, floppy disks, and CD-ROMs in a nonvolatile manner Two main types of hard disks: SCSI and IDE Peripheral components (video adapter cards, sound cards, mice, keyboards, NICs) attach to mainboard via an expansion slot or port Common expansion slots: ISA, PCI, and AGP Common ports: PS/2, serial, parallel, USB, FireWire, and PCMCIA Linux+ Guide to Linux Certification, 2e

Linux+ Guide to Linux Certification, 2e Summary (continued) All peripherals must have a unique IRQ and I/O address to communicate with the processor Can use DMA to bypass some processor operations Hardware information can be gathered from computer manuals, BIOS, or other OSs Can set software information at installation Linux+ Guide to Linux Certification, 2e