1

Chapter no.1 Basics of Information Technology

Information Technology:
Information technology (IT) is the use of any computers, storage, networking and
other physical devices, infrastructure and processes to create, process, store,
secure and exchange all forms of electronic data.

ICT(Information and communication Technology)

ICT Stands for "Information and Communication Technologies." ICT refers to
technologies that provide access to information through telecommunications.
It is similar to Information Technology (IT), but focuses primarily on
communication technologies. This includes the Internet, wireless networks, cell
phones, and other communication mediums.
In the past few decades, information and communication technologies have
provided society with a vast array of new communication capabilities. For
example, people can communicate in real-time with others in different countries
using technologies such as instant messaging, voice over IP (VoIP), and video-
conferencing. Social networking websites like Facebook allow users from all
over the world to remain in contact and communicate on a regular basis.
Modern information and communication technologies have created a "global
village," in which people can communicate with others across the world as if
they were living next door. For this reason, ICT is often studied in the context of
how modern communication technologies affect society.

Data:Data is any character, text, word, number or raw facts.

Eg. Marks obtained by students in an examination.

Information:
Information is data that has been processed in such a way as to be meaningful to
the person who receives it. it is anything that is communicated.
 2

Eg. Average marks, Grade derived from Students marks.

Important Concepts Used Under IT

1)Computer:
Computer is an electronic device that is designed to work with data and
Information. The term computer is derived from the Latin term ‘computare’, this
means to calculate.
Computer is an advanced electronic device that takes raw data as input from the
user and processes these data under the control of set of instructions (called
program) and gives the result (output) and saves output for the future use. It can
process both numerical and non-numerical (arithmetic and logical) calculations.

2)Computer System:
Definition: Is a collection of entities(hardware,software and liveware) that are
designed to receive, process, manage and present information in a meaningful
format.
 3

3)Architecture of Computer:
It refers to how a computer system is designed and how it works.Computer
system has three basic units that help the computer to perform operations, which
are given below:
1. Input Unit
2. Output Unit
3. CPU

Block Diagram of a Computer

I)Input Unit
Input unit connects the external environment with internal computer system. It
provides data and instructions to the computer system. Commonly used input
devices are keyboard, mouse, magnetic tape etc.
And Modern input devices are barcode reader, MICR(Magnetic ink character
reader),Optical character readers(OCR), Touch screens
 4

Input unit performs following tasks:

Accept the data and instructions from the outside environment.
Convert it into machine language.
Supply the converted data to computer system.

II)CPU
It is Central Processing Unit of the computer. The control unit and ALU are
together known as CPU. CPU is the brain of computer system. It performs
following tasks:
It performs all operations.
It takes all decisions.
It controls all the units of computer.

a)Control Unit
It controls all other units of the computer. It controls the flow of data and
instructions to and from the storage unit to ALU. Thus it is also known as
central nervous system(Back bone) of the computer.
The control unit provides the necessary timing and control signals to all the
operations on the computer. It controls the flow of data between the CPU,
memory and peripherals. It also controls the entire operation of a computer. It
obtains the instructions from the program stored in the main memory, interprets
the instructions and issues the signals, which cause the other units of the system
to execute them. So, it is considered as a central nervous system of a computer
that provides status, control and timing signals necessary for the operation of
other parts of CPU, memory and I/O devices. The main functions of control units
are given below: It performs the data processing operations with the aid of
program prepared by the user and send control signals to various parts of the
computer system. It gives commands to transfer data from the input devices to
the memory to an arithmetic logic unit. It also transfers the results from ALU to
the memory and then to the output devices. It stores a program in the memory. It
fetches the required instruction from the main storage and decode each
instruction and hence execute them in sequence.
b)Arithmetic Logic Unit
This is the area of CPU where various computing functions are performed on
data. The ALU performs arithmetic operations such as addition, subtraction,
 5

multiplication and division and logical operation such as comparison AND, OR

and Exclusive OR. The result of an operation is stored in Accumulator or in some
register. The main functions of ALU are as follow: It accepts operands from
registers. It performs arithmetic and logic operations. It returns a result to register
or a memory. The logical operations of ALU give the computer the decision-
making ability.
C)Memory Unit
This unit is also called internal storage unit. The data and instructions, which are
entered through an input unit must be stored on the computer before the actual
processing starts. The result produces by the computer after processing is also
kept somewhere before passed to the output units. If intermediate results are
produced during processing, it should be stored in somewhere in memory. The
storage unit of a computer performs all these needs. In brief, the specific
functions performed by the storage unit are as follow: It stored data and
instructions, which are entered through input devices. It stores an intermediate
result of processing. It stores the final result of processing before these results are
passed to an output device.
There are 2 types of memory:
i. Primary Memory : It communicates directly with CPU and is called as
main memory. It enables the computer to store, at least temporarily data
and instruction. It is mainly used to hold data and instructions and as
well as the intermediate result of processing which the computer system
is currently working on. Primary memory is volatile, that is, it lose its
content when power supply is off. The Random access memory (RAM)
is an example of a primary to main memory.

Primary Memory further divided into 2 types

1)RAM(Random Access Memory):
o It is also called as read write memory or the main memory or
the primary memory.
o The programs and data that the CPU requires during execution of a
program are stored in this memory.
o It is a volatile memory as the data loses when the power is turned off.
2)ROM(Read only memory):
 Stores crucial information essential to operate the system, like the
program essential to boot the computer.
 6

 It is not volatile.
 Always retains its data.
 Content are stored at the time of manufacturing.
 Used in embedded systems or where the programming needs no
change.

ii. Secondary Memory:

Auxiliary storage is also known as secondary storage. It is the memory that
supplements the main memory. These are a nonvolatile memory. It is mainly
used to transfer data to program from one computer to another computer.
There is high capacity storage devices used to store data and program
permanently. These are also used as backup devices which allows to store the
valuable information as backup on which you are working on. The examples
of secondary memory are Magnetic Disk, Optical disk, Hard Disk, Pen
drive, flash drive etc.

III)Output Unit
The output unit is formed by the output devices attached to the computer.
Output devices are used to present result produced by the computer to the
users. The output from the computer is in the form electric signals, which is
then converted into human understandable form into human readable form.
The examples of output devices are the monitor, printer and speaker. The main
functions of the output unit are as follow: Accepts the result produced by the
computer which is in electric binary signals. It then converts the result into
human readable form. Finally, it supplied the converted results to the outside
word.eg. monitors, screens, display, printers, speakers, projectors, plotters
etc.
4)Units of memory:
Memory unit is the amount of data that can be stored in the storage unit. This
storage capacity is expressed in terms of Bytes.
 7

The following table explains the main memory storage units −

S.No. Unit & Description

Bit (Binary Digit)

1 A binary digit is logical 0 and 1 representing a passive or an
active state of a component in an electric circuit.

Nibble
2
A group of 4 bits is called nibble.

Byte
3 A group of 8 bits is called byte. A byte is the smallest unit,
which can represent a data item or a character.

Word
A computer word, like a byte, is a group of fixed number of
bits processed as a unit, which varies from computer to
computer but is fixed for each computer.
4
The length of a computer word is called word-size or word
length. It may be as small as 8 bits or may be as long as 96
bits. A computer stores the information in the form of
computer words.

The following table lists some higher storage units −

S.No. Unit & Description

Kilobyte (KB)
1
1 KB = 1024 Bytes

Megabyte (MB)
2
1 MB = 1024 KB

GigaByte (GB)
3
1 GB = 1024 MB
 8

TeraByte (TB)
4
1 TB = 1024 GB

PetaByte (PB)
5
1 PB = 1024 TB

ExaByte(EB)
6
1EB=1024 PetaBytes

5)Concept of Hardware and Software:

Hardware:
Hardware represents the physical and tangible components of a computer, i.e.
the components that can be seen and touched.
Examples of Hardware are the following −
Input devices − keyboard, mouse, etc.
Output devices − printer, monitor, etc.
Secondary storage devices − Hard disk, CD, DVD, etc.
Internal components − CPU, motherboard, RAM, etc.
Software:
Software is a set of programs, which is designed to perform a well-defined
function. A program is a sequence of instructions written to solve a particular
problem.
Categories of software:
1)Open Source software:
Free and open-source software" (FOSS) is an umbrella term for software that
is simultaneously considered both Free software and open-source software.
FOSS (free and open-source software) allows the user to inspect the source
code and provides a high level of control of the software's functions compared
to proprietary software.
there is absolutely no ownership such as copyright, trademark, or patent.
Software in the public domain can be modified, distributed, or sold even
without any attribution by anyone.
 9

e.g. Linux, MySQL, Libreoffice etc.

Closed Source software:

Proprietary software, also known as closed-source software, is a non-
free computer software for which the software's publisher or another person
retains intellectual propertyrights—usually copyright of the source code,but
sometimes patent rights.
e.g. Windows operating systems, Tally,Netprotector etc.

Open Source Software Closed Source Software

1)Refers to the software which uses the code
freely available on the Internet. The code can
be copied, modified or deleted by other users
and organizations.
2) No cost need to be paid for free software.
1)Refers the software which uses the
proprietary and closely guarded code. Only
the original authors of software can access,
copy, and alter that software.
2) Need to purchase the original copy of
software from the owner.

3) Eg. GNU Linux, PostgreSQL, OpenOffice etc 3) Microsoft OS, Ms Office, Oracle etc

There are two types of software based on Utility −

1.System Software
2.Application Software

System Software
The system software is a collection of programs designed to operate, control,
and extend the processing capabilities of the computer itself. System software
is generally prepared by the computer manufacturers. These software products
comprise of programs written in low-level languages, which interact with the
hardware at a very basic level. System software serves as the interface
between the hardware and the end users.
Some examples of system software are Operating System, Compilers,
Interpreter, Assemblers, etc.
What is Operating System?
The Operating System is a program with the following features −
 10

 An operating system is a program that acts as an interface between the

software and the computer hardware.
 It is an integrated set of specialized programs used to manage overall
resources and operations of the computer.
 It is a specialized software that controls and monitors the execution of all
other programs that reside in the computer, including application
programs and other system software.

Operating system for single user or Personal Computer:

1)DOS:
DOS (Disk Operating System) is an operating system that runs from a hard
disk drive. The term can also refer to a particular family of disk operating
systems, most commonly MS-DOS(Microsoft Disk Operating System).
Disk operating system is also used to describe several very similar command
line disk operating systems. PC-DOS (Personal Computer Disk Operating
System) was the first widely-installed disk operating system used in personal
computers running on Intel 8086 16-bit processors. It was developed for IBM
by Microsoft Corporation, which also produced its own almost identical
version called MS-DOS.
These early operating systems did not multitask, as they were only able to run
one program at a time. The command line interface(command prompt), in
which a user has to type in commands, required the user to remember
commands to run programs or do other operating system tasks, making it
difficult for novices to use. For example, typing the command "cd
\directory_name" changed the current working directory to the named
directory and typing the command "dir" listed the files in the current directory.
2)WINDOWS
Windows OS, computer operating system (OS) developed by Microsoft
Corporation to run personal computers (PCs). Featuring the first graphical
user interface (GUI) for IBM-compatible PCs, the Windows OS soon
dominated the PC market. Approximately 90 percent of PCs run some version
of Windows.
The first version of Windows, released in 1985, was simply a GUI offered as
an extension of Microsoft’s existing disk operating system, or MS-DOS.
Based in part on licensed concepts that Apple Inc. had used for its Macintosh
System Software, Windows for the first time allowed DOS users to visually
 11

navigate a virtual desktop, opening graphical “windows” displaying the

contents of electronic folders and files with the click of a mouse button, rather
than typing commands and directory paths at a text prompt.
3)MAC OS:
The Macintosh Operating System (Mac OS) is an operating system (OS)
designed by Apple Inc in 1984.It is designed for Apple Computer’s Macintosh
line of personal computers and workstations. A popular feature of its latest
version, Mac OS X , is a desktop interface with some 3-D appearance
characteristics. OS X has a modular design intended to make it easier to add
new features to the operating system in the future. It runs UNIX applications
as well as older Mac applications.
Mac OS comes with Apple Computer's iMac and Power Macintosh line of
computers. different versions of MAC OS are Macintosh 128k, Mac OS 7,
Mac OS X and Mac Mountain Lion.
Chrome OS
Chrome OS is a Linux kernel-based operating system designed by Google. It
is derived from the free software Chromium OS and uses the Google
Chrome web browser as its principal user interface. As a result, Chrome OS
primarily supports web applications
Unix
Unix is a family of multitasking, multiuser computer operating systems that
derive from the original AT&T Unix, development starting in the 1970s at
the Bell Labs research center by Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, and others.
Linux
Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on
the Linux kernel, An operating system kernel first released on September 17,
1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution.
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system
software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many
Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software
Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU
software, causing some controversy.[15][16]
OS for Mobile phones:
 12

Application Software
Application software products are designed to satisfy a particular need of a
particular environment. All software applications prepared in the computer lab
can come under the category of Application software.
Application software may consist of a single program, such as Microsoft's
notepad for writing and editing a simple text. It may also consist of a
collection of programs, often called a software package, which work together
to accomplish a task, such as a spreadsheet package.
Examples of Application software are the following −
 Payroll Software
 Student Record Software
 Inventory Management Software
 Income Tax Software
 Railways Reservation Software
 Microsoft Office Suite Software
 Microsoft Word
 Microsoft Excel
 Microsoft PowerPoint

Internet
 It is a global network connecting millions of computers world wide. It is often called
network of networks.
 Its main job is to move computerized information from one place to other.
 Various uses of Internet electronic mail, chatting, any type of travel bookings,
banking, online shopping, learning etc.
 Because of internet a person sitting at home can be connected anyone worldwide.
Internet has made the world a global village.
History of Internet

?????

Protocols
 13

A protocol is a standard set of rules that allow electronic devices to communicate with each
other. Network protocols include mechanisms for devices to identify and make connections with
each other, as well as formatting rules that specify how data is packaged into sent and received
messages.

Examples of Protocols

1)TCP/IP –(Transmission control protocol Internet Protocol)

In TCP data is broken down into small packets and then sent to the destination. However, IP is
making sure packets are transmitted to the right address. IP addresses packets route them and
show different nodes and network Unless it reaches its right destination.

2) DNS - The Domain Name Systems (DNS) is the phonebook of the Internet. Humans access
information online through domain names, like timesofindia.com, espn.com etc. Web browsers
interact through Internet Protocol (IP) addresses. Domain Name Ssystem translates domain
names to IP addresses so browsers can load Internet resources.

Each device connected to the Internet has a unique IP address which other machines use to find
the device. DNS servers eliminate the need for humans to memorize long IP addresses such as
192.168.1.1

3) DHCP- DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) is a network management protocol used
to dynamically assign an Internet Protocol (IP) address(IP address) to any device, or a computer,
on a network so they can communicate using IP.
4) FTP – (File transfer protocol ) It is basically used for transferring files to different
networks easily. There may be a mass of files such as text files, multimedia files, etc.
5) HTTP- HTTP is based on client and server model. HTTP is used for making a connection
between the web client and web server. HTTP shows information in web pages.
6) IMAP and SMTP- (Internet Message Access Protocol and Simple Mail Transfer Protocol)
SMTP & IMAP are the two main protocols that allow you to send and receive emails respectively.

Simple Message Transfer Protocol (SMTP) is what your email client (e.g. Gmail,rediff,yahoo etc.)
uses to send your email messages to your email server. Next, SMTP is also used by the email
server to send your message to the mailbox of your recipient’s email server.

From there, the recipient’s email client can fetch your message
using Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP) and put it in their inbox, where they can access it.
It maintains a copy of all email on server. We can sort or filter emails.

7) IRC- (Internet Relay chat) this protocol is used for Internet chat and other communications.
Specially text communications Eg. chat groups where people all over the world can chat its like
open discussion.
 14

8) POP3 – (Post Office Protocol3) It is a standard mail protocol used to receive emails from a
remote server to a local email client. POP3 allows you to download email messages on your local
computer and read them even when you are offline.

IT Enabled Services
They are also called web enabled services or remote services or tele-working.

Information Technology that enables the business by improving the quality of service is IT enabled
services. The outcome of an IT enabled service is in the two forms:

 Direct Improved Service

 Indirect Benefits.
Examples of IT enabled services are

1. Call centers – these are the help centers for consumer for after sales services, or call
centers in banking industries who provide online banking services like blocking a
debit/credit card etc.

2. Electronic Publishing – E-Publishing is a not Electronic or Digital publishing like E-books ,

Magazines,its a digital catalogue or library well as making information available through
online services.

3. Medical Transcriptions - Medical transcription, also known as MT, is an allied health

profession dealing with the process of transcribing voice-recorded medical reports that are
dictated by physicians, nurses and other healthcare practitioners. Medical reports can be
voice files, notes taken during a lecture, or other spoken material.

4. Data center - It is a facility composed of networked computers and storage that businesses
or other organizations use to organize, process, store and disseminate large amounts of
data.

5. GIS Mapping - A geographic information system (GIS) is a system designed to capture,

store, manipulate, analyze, manage, and present all types of geographical data.

6. Enterprise resource planning (ERP) is business process management software that

allows an organization to use a system of integrated applications to manage the business
and automate many back office functions related to technology, services and human
resources.

7. Knowledge Management & archiving - It is the process of creating, sharing, using and
managing the knowledge and information of an organisation
 15

Operating Systems for Mobile Phones

1) Android - September 20th, 2008 was the date when Google released the first Android OS
by the name of ‘Astro’. After sometime next upgraded versions ‘Bender’ and ‘Cupcake’
were also released. Google then adopted the trend of naming Android versions after any
dessert or a sweet in alphabetical order. The other releases are Donut, Éclair, Froyo,
Gingerbread, Honeycomb, Ice Cream Sandwich and Jelly Bean. Marshmallow (Android
6.0) is so far the latest Android version from Google. Since the platform is not closed like
iOS, there are too many great Android apps built by developers.
Just after stepping into the smartphone and tablets market Android gained immense
popularity due to its beautiful appearance and efficient working. Many new features were
introduced which played a significant role in Android’s success. Google Play is an official
app market that contains millions of different apps for Android devices. Samsung, HTC,
Motorola and many other top manufacturers are using Android in their devices.

2) Asha – Nokia on Thursday announced its US$99 Asha 501 mobile device, which was
powered by a refreshed Asha operating system (OS) featuring software capabilities from
Smarterphone. Nokia also claims the phone has a battery standby time of up to 48 days.

3) iOS - was introduced in 29th June 2007 when the first iPhone was developed. Since
then iOS has been under gone many upgrades and currently the latest one is the iOS
____. Apple has still not allowed any other manufacturer to lay hands on its operating
system. Unlike Android, Apple has more concentrated on the performance along with
appearance. Overall it is very user-friendly and is one of the best mobile operating systems
in the world. So far iOS has been used in all iPhones, iPod & iPad.

4) Blackberry OS- is the property of RIM (Research In Motion) and was first released in
1999. RIM has developed this operating system for its Blackberry line of smartphones.
Blackberry is much different from other operating systems. The interface style, as well as
the Smartphone design, is also different having a trackball for moving on the menu and a
qwerty keyboard. Like Apple, Blackberry OS is a close source OS It is a very reliable OS
and is immune to almost all the viruses.

Some of the smartphones operating on Blackberry OS are Blackberry Bold, Blackberry

Curve, Blackberry Torch and Blackberry 8520.

5) Windows Phone – Windows Mobile is a discontinued family of mobile operating

systems developed by Microsoft for smartphones and Pocket PCs. Windows 10 Mobile is
 16

a mobile operating system developed by Microsoft. First released in 2015, it is a successor

to Windows Phone 8.1, but was marketed by Microsoft as being an edition of
its PC operating system Windows 10.[6][7]

Extra Notes on difficult words:

Roku device allows you to watch free and paid video content on your TV via the Internet. TV
and Movie streaming services like Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, Sling TV, YouTube and more are loaded
on the Rokusimilar to how apps are loaded onto a smartphone.

QWERTY keyboard

Arrangement of Characters

The arrangement of characters on a QWERTY keyboard was designed in 1868 by Christopher

Sholes, the inventor of the typewriter. According to popular myth, Sholes arranged the keys in their
odd fashion to prevent jamming on mechanical typewriters by separating commonly used letter
combinations. However, there is no evidence to suppor this assertion, except that the arrangement
does, in fact, inhibit fast typing.

New Keyboards

With the emergence of ball-head electric typewriters and computer keyboards, on which jamming
is not an issue, new keyboards designed for speed typing have been invented. The best-known is
called a Dvorak keyboard. Despite their more rational designs, these new keyboards have not
received wide acceptance.
 17

The Evolution of Linux

Unix raised important questions for developers, but it also remained proprietary in its
earliest iterations. The next chapter of its history is thus the story of how developers
worked within and against it to create free and open-source alternatives.

Open-Source Experiments

Richard Stallman was a central figure among the developers who were inspired to create
non-proprietary alternatives to Unix. While working at MIT’s Artificial Intelligence
Laboratory, he initiated work on the GNU project (recursive for “GNU’s not Unix!”),
eventually leaving the Lab in 1984 so he could distribute GNU components as free
software. The GNU kernel, known as GNU HURD, became the focus of the Free Software
Foundation (FSF), founded in 1985 and currently headed by Stallman.

Meanwhile, another developer was at work on a free alternative to Unix: Finnish

undergraduate Linus Torvalds. After becoming frustrated with licensure for MINIX,
Torvalds announced to a MINIX user group on August 25, 1991 that he was developing his
own operating system, which resembled MINIX. Though initially developed on MINIX using
the GNU C compiler, the Linux kernel quickly became a unique project with a core of
developers who released version 1.0 of the kernel with Torvalds in 1994.

Torvalds had been using GNU code, including the GNU C Compiler, with his kernel, and it
remains true that many Linux distributions draw on GNU components. Stallman has
lobbied to expand the term “Linux” to “GNU/Linux,” which he argues would capture both
the role of the GNU project in Linux’s development and the underlying ideals that fostered
the GNU project and the Linux kernel. Today, “Linux” is often used to indicate both the
presence of the Linux kernel and GNU elements. At the same time, embedded systems on
many handheld devices and smartphones often use the Linux kernel with few to no GNU
components.