INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTERS

Dr. Mostafa Mohamed Elgamala

Computer Types

• Six basic categories of computers– Embedded computers (cars ,Rebots,…)– Mobile devices (smart phones…)– Personal computers (desktop or portable (labtop

or tablet)– Midrange servers (small networks)– Mainframe computers (large organizations)– Supercomputers (one program at a time)

Computer Structure1- Hardware

• Input devices– Used to input data into the computer

• Processing devices– Perform calculations and control computer’s

operation– Central processing unit (CPU) and memory

• Output devices– Present results to the user

• Storage devices– Used to store data on or access data from

storage media– Hard drives, DVD disks and drives, USB flash

drives, etc.• Communications devices– Allow users to communicate with others and to

electronically access information

– Modems, network adapters, etc.

Input

• Keyboard• Virtual keyboard• Touch pads • Scroll wheels

– Electronic pen

– Touch screen

– Mouse

– Joysticks

– Scanner

– Barcode readers

– Radio frequency identification (RFID) Reader

– Biometric Readers

– Digital cameras

– Audio input

Output

• Monitor• Plotter• Data projector• Audio output• Printers

Motherboard

CPU• Today’s CPUs contain hundreds of millions of

transistors; the number doubles about every 18 months (Moore’s Law)

• Dual-core CPU: Contain the processing components (cores) of two separate processors on a single CPU

• Quad-core CPU: Contains 4 cores

• CPU clock speed: One measurement of processing speed– Measured in megahertz (MHz) or gigahertz (GHz)– Higher CPU clock speed = more instructions

processed per second

• Word size: The amount of data that a CPU can manipulate at one time– Typically 32 or 64 bits

• Bus: An electronic path over which data can travel

Memory

• RAM ( SDRAM–DDR1-DDR2-DDR3)

• ROM

• Fans

• Heat sinks

• Expansion slots

Buses• Bus: An electronic path within a computer

over which data travels– System bus: Moves data back and forth between

the CPU and memory– Expansion buses: Connect the CPU to peripheral

(typically input and output) devices• PCI and PCI Express (PCIe) bus

• AGP bus

• Universal Serial Bus (USB)

• FireWire/IEEE 1394 (digital camera )

Ports and Connectors

– Serial

– Parallel

– Network

– Keyboard/Mouse

– Monitor (VGA, DVI, HDMI)

– Modem/Phone

– USB

– FireWire

– SCSI

– MIDI ( Musical Instrument Digital Interface)

– IrDA (Infrared Data Association)

– Game

Storage• Magnetic disks (HDD) (up to 4 tera)– Parallel ATA (PATA-advanced tech. attachments)

(100 MBs)– Serial ATA (SATA) and serial ATA II (SATA II)

(150MBs)– SCSI and the newer serial attached SCSI (SAS)

(160MBs)– Fibre Channel– External hard drives

• SDD (solid state drive)(up to 500 G) (fast – low power – long life )

• Optical disks

• Flash (60MBs) - Firewire(100MBs) – SD - MMC

• SANs

• RAID

• Taps

Future trends

• Nanotechnology• Quantum computing• Optical computer

2- Software

• Operating system (Windows – Unix – Linux)

• Application Software

QUESTIONS?