GCSE OCR 2 A451 Computing Computer systems in the modern world 2-1-1 Fundamentals of computer systems 2

Objectives Learn about the role of computers in today’s society Consider the influence of computers on your life Understand how computer technology affects everyone in modern society

The growth of computer technology In the 1980s, a few people began using a PC on their desk

The 1990s When people began surfing the web, they were using three or four computers at once one to look at the web page, one to retrieve the web page and a couple more to pass information over the Internet

And today… Today, you probably routinely use 20 or more computers simultaneously without even being aware of most of them! What computers are you using when you are At home At school In town In a car

Our world is built on computers!

Worksheet 2 Identify three different computer systems within one industry sector

The importance of computer systems Fifty years ago, very few organisations relied on computers for anything other than the payroll system Computers did not impact on the way people communicated, shopped, banked, travelled, learned, etc. Would it be possible to put the clock back?

Relying on computer systems - for food…

… for food As society changes over time, old skills become obsolete as new, more convenient ways of doing things become the norm We don’t have to hunt, fish and dig up wild roots to feed ourselves any more. If the whole food distribution system broke down, could we feed ourselves?

… for travel

… for travel Just 100 years ago, people mostly used to walk or cycle to work How do people get to work now? Are computers involved?

… for finding our way around

… for finding our way around Can you read a map? Many car drivers are totally dependent on their Sat Nav systems The captains of ships no longer navigate by the sun and the stars

… in hospitals

… in hospitals What would happen if all the computer systems in a hospital ceased to function? Would the same be true of a hospital in a remote corner of the third world?

…for monitoring the environment

…for monitoring the environment In many parts of the world computers are constantly monitoring for signs of earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, floods and other natural disasters What sort of environmental monitoring takes place in the UK? Why is this monitoring important?

…for distribution of goods and raw materials around the world

…for distribution Almost anything can be sent to different parts of the world Name some of the things that we import into the UK How are computers involved? What would happen if the computer systems were unreliable?

Reliability of computer systems When thinking about the importance of reliability in computer systems, think about what a breakdown would mean: Is it life threatening? How many people are affected? Are they merely inconvenienced, or does it threaten their livelihood in some way? Anything else?

Worksheet 3 Complete Tasks 1 and 2

Reliability measures Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF) System availability or downtime

Disaster recovery Backups Disk mirroring (RAID) Hardware sourcing/plans

Worksheet 3, Task 3 Give another example where failure of a computer system might be catastrophic, and briefly explain why