Tech guide 1 questions

Tech Guide 1 questions

What is computer hardware and what are the major hardware components? Hardware refers to the physical equipment used for the input, processing, output and storage activities of a computer system. The components are:
Central processing unit (CPU).
Primary storage.
Secondary storage.
Input technologies.
Output technologies.
Communication technologies.

What is Moore's Law/what does it mean in relation to computers.
Moore’s Law refers to Gordon Moore’s prediction that the microprocessor complexity would double approximately every two years. As his predictions have been mostly accurate it means that computers are increasing in technology and speed and as an information processing tool they are getting better and better.

In basic terms, describe how a microprocessor functions.
A microprocessor has different parts which perform different functions:
-The Control Unit: sequentially accesses programme instructions, decodes them and controls the flow of data to and from the ALU (arithmetic-logic unit), the registers, caches, primary and secondary storage and various output devices.
-The Arithmetic-logic Unit: performs the mathematic calculations and makes logical comparisons.

What factors determine the speed of the microprocessor?
The clock speed: the preset speed of the clock that times all chip activities in megahertz and gigahertz.
Word length: is the number of binary units (bits) that the CPU can process in one machine cycle.
Bus width: is the size of the physical paths down which the data and instructions travel as electrical impulses.
Line width: is the distance between transistors.

What are the four main types of primary storage?
Registers.
Random Access Memory (RAM).
Cache Memory.
Read-only Memory.

What are the main types of secondary storage?
Magnetic Media (Magnetic tape, Sequential access, Magnetic disks).
Optical Storage Devices (Compact disk, Digital video disk, Holographic memory.
Flash Memory Devices (Memory cards, thumb drive)

How does primary storage differ from secondary storage in terms of speed cost and capacity? Primary storage stores small amounts of data and information that will be used immediately by the CPU. In Primary storage the data has to travel a shorter distance to that of secondary which means it can be processed faster. Primary storage is more expensive then secondary.

What are enterprise storage systems?
The Enterprise storage system is a independent, external system that includes two or more storage devices. They provide large amounts of storage, high performance data transfer, a high degree of availability, protection against data loss and sophisticated management tools.
Distinguish between human data input devices and source data automation. Human data input devices such and a keyboarded or mouse require a certain amount of human effort to input data. Source data automation devices input data with minimal human intervention. Eg. barcode readers.

What is one new technology that will change how we do things?
many types of security technology will be harnessed in the future and make today’s current paperwork somewhat redundant, birth certificates drivers licence etc. this will be in the form of data RID.