1. What is the difference between a port being “hot swapping” and a port being “plug-and-play”?

Plug-and-Play: It refers to the ability of computer systems to configure

automatically the devices when you connect them to the computer. That is, it allows us to plug in a device and use it immediately without worrying about the configuration. In other words, it allows a computer device to be connected to a computer without having to configure jumpers or provide other parameters to their drivers.

Hot swapping: It refers to the possibility to change several components of the

computer when it is turned on. To put in another way, it allows replacing components without significant interruption to the system.

2. Electricity and Ohm’s Law:

■Voltage is a measure of the force required to push electrons through a circuit. Voltage is measured in volts (V). It can also be defined as the potential difference between two points.

■Current is a measure of the number of electrons going through a circuit. Current is measured in amperes(A).

■Power is a measure of the pressure required to push electrons through a

circuit, called voltage, multiplied by the number of electrons going through that circuit, called current. The measurement is called watts (W).

■Resistance impedes the flow of current in a circuit. Resistance is measured in

ohms. Lower resistance allows more current, and therefore more power, to flow through a circuit.

3.Give a short description of these ports: colour, shape, genre, number of pins, and typical devices to attach:

USB:It is standard interface that connects peripheral devices to a computer. It

was originally designed to replace serial and parallel connections. USB devices are hot-swappable, which means that users can connect and disconnect the devices while the computer is powered on. USB connections can be found in computers, cameras, printers, scanners, storage devices, and many other electronic devices.

LAN:It is the also called an RJ-45 port, which connects a computer to a network. It is a male port. The connection speed depends on the type of network port. In other words, a LAN is used to interconnect computers in local networks such as indoorwork places, schools and homes.

Audio-out Port:It is the green port which allows the audio outputtothe

speakers.

Mic Port: It is the pink port which is designed to capturethe sound from the

microphone.

Line-in port: It is the blue port which accepts input and capture audio from

external sources such as MIDI device(e.g. a musicalkeyboard).

PS/2 portconnects a keyboard or a mouse to a computer. The PS/2 port is a

six-pin mini-DIN female connector. The connectors for the keyboard and mouse are often coloured differently. Therefore, the mouse port is green and the keyboard port is purple. However, they used to be very common, but now they are out-of-use and USB ports are the best used instead.

Game Port: This yellow 15-pin port is used to connect some games appliances such as Joysticks.Yet, this port is out-of-use in contemporary computers and USB ports are the best used instead.

Parallel: is a type of interface found on computers for connecting peripherals

Can transmit 8 bits of data at a time. This port is greater and faster than a serial port. Moreover, the bits are on row one by one. The parallel port was used in printers but today it has been replaced by USBports and other types of ports.

Serial:This 9-pin connector allows data transmission bit a bit sending a single

bit at once; by contrast, a parallel port sends several bits simultaneously. In other words, serial ports transmit 1 bit of data at a time and parallel port can transmit 8 bits of data at a time. The serial port was used in printers and modems but today it has been replaced by USBports and other types of ports.

4. Describe the two main types of RJ connectors:

RJ-45 is a physical interface used to connect cabling structured networks. It has

eight pins and it’s also commonly used in Ethernet network cable.A similar connector is the RJ-11, despite being wider.

RJ-11: This connector is mainly used to linkphone networks and, compared to RJ-45,it is smaller. The RJ-11 is used almost exclusively for modems.

5. Describe the types of USB connectors:

USB provides the most common general-purpose connection for PCs. We can find USB versions in many devices such as mice, keyboards, scanners, cameras, and printers. USB connections come in three sizes: A, B, and mini-B.

Type-A connector is the standard USB connector. It is a flat connector that

usually plugs into computer port.

Type-B connectors are six-sided connectors that are squared at the bottom and slightly slanted on top. These are used for larger devices, like printers and scanners.

Mini-B connectors are small versions of the Type-A and Type-B connectors. Are common in digital cameras and MP3 players.

6. Describe the video ports you can see in the following picture:

VGA:It provides analog output to a monitor, that is to say, it’s a port that

connects the monitor to the PC. The 15-pin VGA connector is found in many video cards, computer monitors, and some high definition television sets. On laptop computers or other small devices, a mini-VGA port is sometimes used instead of the full-sized VGA connector. S-Video: It provides analog video signals. Unlike composite video, which

carries all the video data in one signal, S-Video carries brightness and color information as two separate signals. Because of this separation, video transferred by S-Video is higher quality and has a variety of uses such as DVD players.

DVI (Digital video): It provides compressed digital output to a monitor. DVI-I provides both analog and digital signals. DVI-D provides digital signals only. In other words,it is a video interface designed to obtain the maximum possible quality in digital displays.

7. Why is the form factor important in computer cases, power supplies and fans?

The form factor is very important to choose a computer because it defines the motherboard’s size, its orientation, power supply type, location of mounting holes, number of ports on the back panel, etc. Form factors are not interchangeable. That means that ATX motherboards fit into ATX cases, and BTX motherboards fit into BTX cases.