Business Information Systems/Management Information Systems Lecture 4: Computer Hardware

Micro chip What is a chip How has it evolved? Where is it used? Integrated Circuit Piece of silicon with printed circuit How has it evolved? Where is it used?

Block Diagram of a Digital Computer Cache Memory & Special Purpose Processors

How a computer works A computer program is a series of instructions that are meant to achieve a specific purpose For a program to be run it has to reside in the main memory. Part of the program or data can be in the secondary memory but the part being run has to be in main memory. Input is converted into output after being processed through the series of steps in a program(s).

Ways of Input (Devices) Touch Screen Pen Keyboard Electronic Mouse Optical Scanners Barcode scanners Voice Recorders Motion Sensors Heat Sensors Webcam Interactive White board Intelligent device (through a synchronization process)

Ways of Output (Devices) Video Display Print Types of printers Plotters Speaker USB Stick Intelligent device (through synchronization)

Classification of Printers “3D printing -- also known as additive manufacturing -- turns digital 3D models into solid objects by building them up in layers. The technology was first invented in the 1980s, and since that time has been used for rapid prototyping (RP). However, in the last few years, 3D printing has additionally started to evolve into a next-generation manufacturing technology that has the potential to allow the local, on-demand production of final products or parts thereof.”

Central Processing Unit Computer programs produce instructions on which a CPU has to act on Two parts Control Unit (CU) Arithmetic and Logical Unit (ALU) Registers for logical operations Processing Speed Millions of Cycles per second (MHz) Billions of Cycles per second (GHz)

Storage in a computer Bit (0/1) Byte (8 bits) Word (2 Bytes) What are the advantages of Byte (8 bits) Word (2 Bytes)

Everything can be written in binary 1  1 2  10 7  111 8  1000

Byte measures

Storage Primary Storage Cache Fast Limited Expensive Volatile High speed Very expensive

Storage Secondary Storage Slow Lots of it Cheap Permanent Examples Magnetic Disk Optical Disk Memory Stick Solid state disk

Computer Categories Category by Size/ by Portability Hand held Devices Smart Phone Tablet (Phablet) Microcomputers Personal computer Workstation Midrange Computers Network servers Minicomputers Web servers Multimedia Servers Mainframe Computers Enterprise systems Transaction processors Super computers

What device should one use? Purpose Where it is used How it is used When it is used (By whom it is used)

Mobile Device Comparison RAM Storage CPU Pixels Screen Size Weight Battery Price Brand Good Comparison Site http://www.productchart.com/smartphones/

Example of a quotation HP 655 Notebook AMD E1-1200 Dual core processor 4GB DDR3 Memory 500GB SATA Hard Disk 17” HD AntiGlare 6 Cell Battery with HP Quick Charge DVD Writer Webcam Wifi 802.11 bgn Bluetooth Windows 7 Home HDMI 1 Year Warranty Carry Case

Another Example Processor: Intel i3-3240 Processor Speed: 3.40 GHz Cache: 3M RAM: 4GB HDD: +500 GB 7200 rpm SATA DVD: ROM-RW Monitor: LCD 21" TFT Network Card: NIC-(10/100/1000) Keyboard: Standard QWERTY Mouse: USB Standard

Discussion point What hardware should you have in a headmaster’s office?