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Computer Engineering > Computers Unit Test > Flashcards

Computers Unit Test Flashcards

1
Q

What is a computer cabinet?

A

Where all internal components are stored and organized.

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2
Q

Make sure the ________ of the motherboard will fit into the cabinet.

A

layout

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3
Q

What are the two main types of computer cases?

A

AT and ATX

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4
Q

What does the power supply do?

A

Converts 120V AC from the wall outlet to 12 VDC and 5 VDC for the components inside the computer.

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5
Q

You need to make sure the power supply can provide enough ______ _____ for the components inside.

A

total wattage

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6
Q

Usually, a _______ W power supply should suffice.

A

500

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7
Q

If there is a good video card, then your power supply should be ______ W.

A

700

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8
Q

If the _______ is the heart, the _______ is both the skeleton and circulatory system.

A

PSU; Mother Board

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9
Q

What does PSU stand for?

A

Power Supply Unit

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10
Q

Motherboards include a BIOS stored where?

A

In an EEPROM chip on the board.

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11
Q

What does the BIOS do?

A

Initializes and tests the hardware and bootstraps the operating system.

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12
Q

Where are the BIOS settings stored?

A

The CMOS.

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13
Q

What is the CMOS?

A

An onboard, battery powered semiconductor chip inside computers that stores information.

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14
Q

What does UEFI stand for?

A

Unified Extensible Firmware Interface.

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15
Q

UEFI supports drive sizes up to __________ _______, and the BIOS only supports ____ ___________.

A

9 zettabytes; 2.2 terabytes.

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16
Q

UEFI offers security like “Secure Boot”, which prevents the computer from booting from ————– applications.

A

unauthorized/unsigned

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17
Q

UEFI runs in ____ or ______ bit mode.

A

32 or 64

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18
Q

What are the three main components of the CPU?

A

Memory/Storage, Control Unit, ALU (Arithmetic Logic Unit).

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19
Q

What is the system clock?

A

The control for a CPU’s steps or functions.

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20
Q

A system clock is a _____ crystal on the motherboard.

A

Quartz

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21
Q

On a system clock, for a 3GHz clock, there are _______ _______ ticks or functions a second.

A

3 billion

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22
Q

What do buses do?

A

Move information around the motherboard.

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23
Q

What are the three types of buses?

A

Control, Address, Data

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24
Q

What does the data bus do?

A

It moves data or instructions.

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25
Q

The width of the data bus determines what?

A

The speed in which the data moves (in combination with the system clock).

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26
Q

Width is measured in ______.

A

Bits

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27
Q

What can the width be?

A

8, 16, 32, or 64 bits.

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28
Q

What does the address bus do?

A

It identifies the source or destination of data.

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29
Q

What does the bus width of an address bus determine?

A

The memory capacity of the system.

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30
Q

What does the control bus do?

A

Control and timing information (i.e. memory read/write signal, interrupt request, clock signals).

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31
Q

What is a system bus?

A

A parallel or serial bus that combine the functions of the three buses, sharing wires to transfer information.

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32
Q

What are expansion slots?

A

A connector where you can add improved functionality to your computer.

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33
Q

What are the four types of expansion slots?

A

PCI-Express x16
PCI-Express x1
AGP
PCI

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34
Q

What is a video card?

A

An expansion card that provides improved graphics to the monitor.

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35
Q

What can a video card include?

A
  • VGA, DVI, HDMI, and DisplayPort outputs
  • On-board processing
  • 2D and 3D graphics
  • Memory
36
Q

Are hard drives volatile or non-volatile?

A

Non-volatile

37
Q

What type of storage is a Hard Drive?

A

Magnetic

38
Q

On a hard drive, each bit is defined by the _________ _______ of a specific part of the disc.

A

Magnetic Orientation

39
Q

When we write to the disc of a hard drive, a strong ____ ____ physically aligns the magnetic material.

A

Magnetic field

40
Q

What year was the first magnetic storage of information?

A

1888

41
Q

The first magnetic storage of information was on ________

A

wires

42
Q

When were tape recorders developed? (the year)

A

1928

43
Q

What company invented the hard drive and in what year?

A

IBM; 1954

44
Q

How much did the first hard drive cost, and how much data could it store?

A

$50 000; 5MB

45
Q

While the _______ byte production is still increasing worldwide, the ______ _____ ______ shipped is declining.

A

HDD; number of units

46
Q

What are the three types of hard drive connectors?

A

IDE, SCSI, SATA

47
Q

Data organization can be done through either ____________ or __________ __________.

A

Partitioning; File Systems

48
Q

How does partitioning work?

A

Hard drives can be divided into two or more partitions, which can help with data organization or multiple OS using the same computer.

49
Q

What do file systems do?

A

File systems define how data is stored on a drive.

50
Q

What does FAT stand for?

A

File Allocation Table

51
Q

Is NTFS similar to FAT?

A

Yes, it is basically the FAT of modern builds, as it is able to handle A LOT more data.

52
Q

What is the file system for MacOS?

A

APFS

53
Q

What is the file system for Android & PC?

A

NTFS

54
Q

What is the file system for Linux?

A

Ext4

55
Q

What is the unit of measure for spin speed?

A

RPM - revolutions per minute

56
Q

What is the unit of measure for capacity?

A

TB - terabytes

57
Q

What is the unit of measure for read/write speed?

A
  • MB/s (megabytes per second)
58
Q

What are the limitations of hard drives?

A

Moving parts = finite lifetime, because there is vulnerability to destruction. + + the actuator arm can only be in one place at a time.

59
Q

What is RAM?

A

Volatile solid state memory.

60
Q

What are solid state drives

A

Long term storage with no moving parts, with greater durability and less power consumption.

61
Q

What type of storage is an SSD?

A

Flash

62
Q

Is RAM faster than an SSD?

A

Yes, a thousand times faster.

63
Q

______________ are a critical aspect of safe computing.

A

Backups

64
Q

_______ _______ and _______ _______ ensure that the short life of the hard drive doesn’t need to cause significant problems.

A

Cloud storage; network drives

65
Q

What do lasers read and where?

A

They read bits from the surface of CDs and DVDs.

66
Q

How do rewritable disks work?

A

They use crystalline material that can change in form due to heat (crystal vs. amorphous).

High power laser: Amorphous = 0
Low power laser: Crystal = 1

67
Q

What are the advantages of optical?

A

Durable, waterproof, cheap, write protected.

68
Q

Where is the OS loaded?

A

Onto the hard drive.

69
Q

What is the difference between Hard Drives and RAM?

A

HDDS are for storage of all of the information and applications that a computer may need.
RAM is the working memory that contains the things on while the computer is working on at that time.

70
Q

What composes the RAM?

A

The RAM is composed of densely packed transistors and capacitors, where each bit is stored in a capacitor.
Reading or writing the bit requires transistors.

71
Q

How is DRAM rewritten?

A

Thousands of times per second, the memory controller reads the contents of each bit, and then re-writes them.

72
Q

How does a static RAM work?

A

Static RAM has a flip-flop composed of extra transistors. That means it never needs to be refreshed, as long as power isn’t interrupted.

73
Q

What is the memory area built into the CPU?

A

CPU cache

74
Q

What is ROM?

A

Read Only Memory; non-volatile

75
Q

What does ROM do?

A

Reserved for the information needed to load the computer operating system (BIOS stuff)

76
Q

How is the physical basis of ROM a changing field?

A

The ROM has been based on EEPROM (electrically erasable ROM) technology, but flash memory is replacing this now.

77
Q

How does storing a bit work?

A

Bits are stored in memory cells as a small amount of electricity.

78
Q

What is the unit of measure for HDD and SSD?

A

Latency - the time it takes from request to bit.

79
Q

What do device drivers do?

A

They control the interaction between the OS and add-on devices (i.e. printers, keyboards, etc.)

80
Q

To load the OS, what devices do we need?

A

CPU, Northbridge, Southbridge, RAM, Hard Drive, Optical Drive, and more!

81
Q

What does the BIOS do?

A
  • Give you the tools needed to install the OS for the first time.
  • Supervise the process that must occur to load the OS each time.
  • Supervise communications between basic components and the CPU.
82
Q

What is a hardware/software combination referred to as?

A

Firmware

83
Q

Who patented the BIOS and in what year?

A

IBM in 1981

84
Q

What does POST stand for?

A

Power On Self Test

85
Q

What does POST do?

A
  • Takes place right after you power on.
  • Contains diagnostic routines for initializing the hardware
  • Makes sure all the components are in check, and will project an error if otherwise.
86
Q

How does the Bootstrap loader work?

A

After POST and the Boot Sequence, the bootstrap loader is loaded from the ROM to the Memory to load the OS.

Computer Engineering (4 decks)

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