Part 2: Computer Systems Flashcards by Totoro Totoro

A______ is a machine that uses electronic
components and instructions to the components
to perform:
a. Calculations
b. Repetitive and complex procedures
c. Process text
d. Manipulate data and signals

computer

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_____ has evolved from huge,
room sized electronic calculators developed
with military funding during World War II to
palm sized machines.

Computer technology

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The basic hardware of a computer composes
the computer’s architecture, and includes:
a.
b.

Electronic circuits

Microchips, processors

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The basic hardware of a computer composes
the computer’s architecture, and includes:
c.
d.

Random Access Memory (RAM)
Read
Only Memory (ROM)

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The basic hardware of a computer composes
the computer’s architecture, and includes:
e.

Graphic and sound cards

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These are attached to a component
called a motherboard, a square or
rectangular board with circuits into which
are plugged the main electronics of the
computer.

Computer Hardware

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Devices that may be inside the computer case
but are not part of the architecture include:
a.
b.

Main storage device (which is usually an
internal hard drive)
Cooling system

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Devices that may be inside the computer case
but are not part of the architecture include:
c.
d.

Modem.

Ethernet connectors

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Devices that may be inside the computer case
but are not part of the architecture include:
e.
f.

Optical drives

Universal Serial Bus (USB) connectors

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Devices that may be inside the computer case
but are not part of the architecture include:
g.

Multi format media card readers

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Devices attached or linked to a computer
that are______ to the main computer
box are part of the system’s hardware:

peripheral

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Parts of a computer hardware (Peripheral)

a. Input and output devices - including the
keyboard, touch screen, mouse, printer, and fax
b. Storage components - such as external hard
drives, thumb drives, floppy drives, tape drives,
sound systems (earphones, microphones,
speakers, subwoofers)
c. Computer monitor

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The group of required and optional hardware
items that are linked together to make up a
computer system is called a ______.

configuration

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A thin, flat sheet made of a
firm, nonconducting material on which the
internal components printed circuits, chips,
slots, and so on of the computer are mounted.

motherboard

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Electric conducting lines are etched or soldered

onto the bottom of the ____

motherboard

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3 types of computer memories

Random Access Memory
Read Only Memory
Cache

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Refers to working memory used for primary

storage.

Random Access Memory (RAM)

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Also known as main memory

Random Access Memory (RAM)

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Can be
accessed, used, changed, and written on
repeatedly.

Random Access Memory (RAM)

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Is the work area available to the CPU for

all processing applications.

Random Access Memory (RAM)

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When a user clicks on a program icon, the
computer loads all or part of the program into
_____ where it can be accessed very quickly.

RAM

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RAM is called _______because
everything in RAM unloads (is lost) when the
computer is turned off.

volatile memory

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Its contents are erased whenever the
power to the computer is turned off and made
ready for new programs when the computer is
turned on again.

RAM

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It is a form of permanent storage on the

computer.

Read Only Memory (ROM)

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It carries instructions that allow the computer to be booted (started), and other essential machine instructions.

Read Only Memory (ROM)

Data and programs in _____ can only be read by the | computer, and cannot be erased or altered by users.

ROM

______generally contains the programs, called firmware, used by the control unit of the CPU to oversee computer functions.

ROM

______storage is not erased when the computer is | turned off.

ROM

A smaller form of RAM.

Cache

Its purpose is to speed up processing by storing frequently called items in a small, rapid access memory location.

Cache

Prior to its development all information had to be fetched from the hard drive, and then stored in RAM.

Cache

Keeping information that will be used frequently in ______ greatly reduces the amount of time needed to move data around among the memory locations.

cache

It is a relatively inexpensive way to increase the | speed of the computer.

cache

These devices allow the computer to receive | information from the outside world.

Input Devices

The most common input devices are the | __and ____.

keyboard | mouse

Others commonly seen on nursing workstations include the touch screen, light pen, voice, and scanner.

Input Devices

A_____ is actually both an input and | output device combined.

touch screen is

A____is a device attached to the computer that has special software that allows the computer to sense when the light pen is focused on a particular part of the screen.

light pen

Some devices are used for security and can detect users’ fingerprints, retinal prints, voiceprints, or other personally unique physical characteristics that identify users who have clearance to use the system.

Input Devices

___ placed on a patient’s body provide input into the computerized physiologic monitors.

electrodes

oximetry device placed on a patient’s finger uses ____ to detect impulses which are sent to a computer and then interpreted as oxygen levels in the blood.

light waves

These devices allow the computer to report its | results to the external

Output Devices

Defined as any equipment that translates the computer information into something readable by people or other machines world.

Output Devices

The most obvious output devices are the | ___and __.

monitor (display screen) | printer

____ are output devices recording and displaying heart rhythm patterns, and initiating alarms when certain conditions are met.

Heart monitors

______ output include both images on a screen and fluids infused into the patient’s body.

Volumetric infusion pumps

It is a peripheral that has very high speed and | high density.

Hard Drive

It is a very fast means of storing and retrieving data as well as having a large storage capacity in comparison with the other types of storage.

Hard Drive

Is the main storage device of a | computer.

hard drive

____ drives are not portable; they are | plugged directly into the motherboard.

Internal hard

In 1990 most personal computers came with | about ___megabytes.

500

In 2014, most personal computers are sold with | about a ___ of storage.

terabyte (1k GB)

On the biggest computers, storage is measured in ____, which is an almost unimaginably huge number.

petabytes (1M GB)

A form of a small, removable hard drive that is inserted into the USB port of the computer.

USB Flash Drive

Names for USB flash drive (4)

pen drive, jump drive thistle drive pocket drive.

Can store so much data in a package so much smaller than a CD or DVD, the convenience makes it worth the slightly higher price to many users.

USB Flash Drive

Include Compact Disks (CDs), Digital Versatile | Disks (DVDs), and Blu Ray.

Optical Media

___and ___are rigid disks that hold a higher density of information and have higher speed.

CD ROMs | DVDs

Until the late 1990s, CD ROMs were strictly input devices, CD ROMs were designed to store sound and data, and held about ___ megabytes of information and large laser writers were required to store data on them.

737

As technology advanced and people wanted to store motion pictures on computer readable media, ____were developed and they held approximately 4.3 gigabytes of information, which will handle a regular 2 hour movie

DVDs

Media moved to the even higher storage capacity of____ which store approximately 27 gigabytes of information or the equivalent of a 2 hour high definition movie.

Blu Ray discs

___ Blu Ray discs can store 54 gigabytes or 4.5 hours of high definition motion picture media.

Double layer

An extension of the online storage service | offered by individual vendors.

Cloud Storage

Data stored in the “Cloud” is still stored on | commercial computers called ____

servers.

Physically, enormous numbers of servers that store data are located in buildings, many warehouse sized

Data Centers.

Is far more secure and reliable | than a personal hard drive or backup drives.

Cloud storage

4 Major types of Computers

Supercomputers Mainframe Computers Microcomputers Handheld Computers

The largest type of computer.

Supercomputers

First developed by Seymour Cray in 1972.

Supercomputers

A _____ is a computational oriented computer specially designed for scientific applications requiring a gigantic amount of calculations which, to be useful, must be processed at superfast speeds.

supercomputer

Are used primarily in such work as defense and weaponry, weather forecasting, advanced engineering and physics, and other mathematically intensive scientific research applications and are huge and expensive.

Supercomputers

The most common fast, large, and expensive type of computer used in large businesses (including hospitals and other large healthcare facilities) for processing, storing, and retrieving data.

Mainframe Computers

It is a large multiuser central computer that meets the computing needs large and medium sized public and private organizations.

Mainframe Computers

Are used for processing the large amount of repetitive calculations involved in handling billing, payroll, inventory control, and business operations computing.

Mainframe Computers

The machines and software that process transactions in high volume businesses are known as _____.

transaction processing systems (TPS)

Transaction processing systems (TPS) are

Mainframe Computers

Always have very high processing speeds (calculated in millions of processes per second, or MIPS, or in floating point operations per second, or FLOPS)

Mainframe Computers

While mainframe computers provide critical service to the healthcare industry, much smaller computers are also an essential part of healthcare computing systems these are called

Microcomputers (PCs)

Are also found in educational and research settings, where they are used to conduct a multitude of special educational and scientific functions.

Microcomputers (PCs)

____ can serve as stand alone workstations and can be linked to a network system to increase their capabilities.

Desktops

Desktops are

Microcomputers (PCs)

These computers on carts are often referred to | as ____ or _______

“WOWs” for workstation on wheels | “COWs” for computer on wheels

Small, special function computers, although a few “full function” handheld computers were introduced in the late 1990s.

Handheld Computers

More popular handheld computers are the palm sized computers, including _____ which are the smallest of the handheld computers.

personal digital assistants (PDAs),

Is a very small special function handheld computer which provides calendar, contacts, and note taking functions, and may provide word processing, spreadsheet, and a variety of other functions.

personal digital assistant (PDA)

``` The three most common platforms for Handheld computers are the Apple Corporation’s __and ____using the iOS operating system, smartphones, and tablets using the _____operating system (owned by Google Corporation), and the _____operating system for smartphones and tablets from Microsoft Corporation. ```

iPhone iPad Android Windows

____among various hardware | devices cannot be assumed.

Communication

Different computers have different ____, hardware ______, and different storage ______.

architectures configurations schemes

The size of a variety of computer functions and components is measured by how many bytes they can handle or store at one time.

Bits and Bytes

The _____ is an important factor in | the amount of work a computer can handle.

size of memory

____is another key measure in | the power of a computer.

Large main memory

_____ has also become an important variable in computer power and thus in advertising the power of computers.

Cache

Another important selling point of a computer is the _____ that is installed in the box.

size of the hard drive

The first hard drives sold for microcomputers in the 1970s were ____ ____ that stored about 1,500 kilobytes.

external deviceS

By 2014, most home and laptop computers were advertised with 1 to 2 _____hard drives.

terabyte

``` There are four types of cycles, or operations of a CPU, include: (1) (2) (3) (4) ```

Fetch Decode Execute Store

The CPU speed is measured in _____ which is called the clock speed of the computer.

cycles per | second

One million cycles per second is called_____

1 megahertz (MHz).

A billion cycles per second is called ___

1 gigahertz

Is a set of cooperative interconnected computers for the purpose of information interchange.

Network

The networks of greatest interest_______, ________), and the ___, which is a network of networks.

``` include local area networks (LANs) ``` wide area networks (WANs) Internet

For a computer to participate on a network, it must have at least two pieces of hardware: a. b.

Network adapter or network interface card (NIC) Communication medium (cabling) considering Distance, amount of data transferred, how often is the transfer and availability.