1. Chapter 3
Getting Started

2. Figure 3.1 Diagram of a typical computer system

3. Processing Hardware
The three most important components of personal computers hardware are the
Processor
Memory
Hard disk.
These three components most directly affect the computer’s price and performance.

4. Typical processor architecture

5. Figure 3.3 The machine cycle

6. Figure 3.2 Logical structure of RAM with 2N locations

7. Disk Drive

8. Disk Parameters Size # of surfaces # of heads # of cylinders
# of sectors/cylinder
# of bytes/sector
Seek time
Latency Time

9. Bus A set of connectors to carry data from one point to another
Internal Buses:
Data bus
Address bus
Control bus
External Buses:
USB, Firewire, PCMCIA

10. Figure 3.4 The software architecture of the LINUX operating system

11. Figure 3.4 The software architecture of the LINUX operating system (cont)

12. Figure 3.5 Text-based login screen on a typical LINUX computer

13. Table 3.1 Important Control Key Combinations

14. Table 3.2 Shell Configuration Files

15. Table 3.4 Useful Commands for the Beginner

16. Table 3.4 Useful Commands for the Beginner

17. Table 3.3 Sections of the LINUX Manual

18. Figure 3.6 Manual Pages first screen display for the passwd command