Basic Components and Trends

Question 1

where symbols, characters and numbers are manipulated

Answer 1

processor

Question 2

stores the address of the current (or next) instruction

Answer 2

program counter

Question 3

stores the instruction that is being (or about to be) executed

Answer 3

instruction register

Question 4

will read the instruction from the instruction register and turn other components on/off to execute the instruction

Answer 4

control unit

Question 5

performs arithmetic and logic operations, based on commands given by the control unit

Answer 5

arithmetic logic unit (ALU)

Question 6

consist of small temporary fast storage. Data comes from or gets stored here before/after being processed by the ALU

Answer 6

register

Question 7

store recently used data and instructions for quick access

Answer 7

caches

Question 8

stores data that you are actively using (like open files or programs)

Answer 8

RAM

Question 9

_______ of a processor measures how many bits it can transfer or manipulate in parallel

Answer 9

word size

Question 10

acts like a separate processor but may share some resources

Answer 10

core

Question 11

where data and program instructions are stored temporarily during processing; composed of registers, caches, and RAM; faster, expensive, volatile

Answer 11

main memory

Question 12

where programs or files are stored when they are not being used; slower and cheaper than main memory; non-volatile; examples: HDD, SSD, CD, DVD etc.

Answer 12

secondary memory

Question 13

platers with magnetic coating, actuator arm positions a read/write head; magnetic field writes 0’s and 1’s; cheap way to store lots of data

Answer 13

hard disk drive (HDD)

Question 14

uses electric circuits; faster than HDDs and last longer; more expensive and limited number of writes (endurance)

Answer 14

solid state drive (SSD)

Question 15

combine smaller SSDs with larger HDDs (move common files from HDD to SSD for speed)

Answer 15

hybrid drives

Question 16

use a laser and mirror; how light is reflected represents 0s or 1s; slower and has less capacity than a hard drive, but they are cheap and durable

Answer 16

optical drive

Question 17

64 bit processors designed to work with software compatible with older 32-bit versions

Answer 17

backwards compatibility

Question 18

computers will request and use services provided by servers; typically inexpensive

Answer 18

client

Question 18

computers will run an application and provide it to others over a network; typically more expensive

Answer 18

server

Question 18

another flavour of client/server model; every machine consumes and provides services at the same time; decentralized; each device acts as a client and a server at the same time; eg: torrenting

Answer 18

peer-to-peer

Question 19

5 drivers of technology

Answer 19

moore’s law; law of mass digital storage; metcalfe’s law; declining communication costs; creation of technology standards

Question 20

the number of transistors on a single chip doubles every 2 years; means processing power and computing power doubles every 2 years

Answer 20

moore’s law

Question 21

amount of digital information is doubling every year; storage capacity is growing exponentially; cheaper to store more data

drivers of technology

Answer 21

law of mass digital storage

Question 22

the financial value of a network grows exponentially as more members are added

Answer 22

metcalfe’s law

Question 23

communication costs going down means there's more reliance on it to conduct business | Drivers of technology

Answer 23

declining communication costs

Question 24

common language for interoperability, consistency, and quality; enables competition and reduces costs

Answer 24

creation of technology standards

Question 25

can be used to improve hard drive performance; involves using multiple hard drives together to achieve improvements in reliability, availability, performance, and capacity

Answer 25

RAID

Question 26

where we split a file into small blocks, and store some on one hard drive and some on another; increased performance since more data can be read simultaneously; decreased reliability since if one HDD fails, all files become corrupted

Answer 26

RAID 0 (disk striping)

Question 27

when the same data is stored on multiple disks; increased reliability and read performance since there are multiple copies; decreased capacity

Answer 27

RAID 1 (disk mirroring)

Question 28

a single bit added to the end of a binary string; used to detect errors with RAID; odd/even parity: adds 1s at the end to make number of 1s odd/even

Answer 28

parity bit

Question 29

group of computers linked together to share data or resources

Answer 29

network

Question 30

connect devices by sharing data with all devices

Answer 30

hubs

Question 31

split the network into 2 segments and receiving data can only cross if it is intended for a device on the other side

Answer 31

bridge

Question 32

can send data only to the intended recipient

Answer 32

switch

Question 33

connect multiple networks together

Answer 33

router

Question 34

converts data from your ISP into a format your computer can understand

Answer 34

modem

Question 35

prevents outsides from obtaining unauthorized access to your network

Answer 35

firewall

Question 36

using a network of computers to mimic a supercomputer; works because processors are idle for most of the time; tasks can be broken down into smaller, independent subtasks that can be run on multiple processors simultaneously; does not always work

Answer 36

grid computing

Question 37

creating a virtual version that acts like the actual version of something; like making one device look like many; many like one; one to one

Answer 37

virtualization

Question 38

accessing a shared pool of resources (either hardware or software) through the internet

Answer 38

cloud computing

Question 39

states that organizations pay beyond the initial purchase price of an asset and that there are various other costs that go into operating or maintaining it

Answer 39

total cost of ownership (TCO)

Question 40

are things the company is explicitly paying for, like paying for hardware, software, internet, support, training

Answer 40

direct costs

Question 41

are things the company is implicitly paying for due to lost productivity, like downtime, poorly trained users and staff, user mistakes, using a computer for non-business purposes, etc.

Answer 41

indirect costs