Arch Note Two 1

THE COMPUTER SYSTEM

A system is whole compounded of several parts or members, a set of interacting or
interdependent components forming an integrated whole A system is defined as a
collection of elements integrated together to achieve a particular objective or a
collection of component elements that work together to perform a definite task. Most
systems share common characteristics, including:
i. Structure, defined by components and their composition;
ii. Behavior, which involves inputs, processing and outputs of material, energy,
information, or data;
iii Interconnectivity: the various parts of a system have functional as well as
structural relationships to each other.
There are so many systems which may include a natural system which we naturally seen
in nature ( the circulatory , elementary systems which are necessary for the natural
functions of plants and animal, the family systems etc), artificial systems which are
created, used and maintained by human beings (system of government, system of
education etc)
A computer system is therefore, is a collection of integrated components for the purpose
of procedure automation. These procedures include that of data processing and other
forms of operation that has definite and predetermined procedures. A system could
equally be a process or a transformation process
The computer system is made up of three components. These components are:
1 The Computer Hardware:- Which refers to the electrical, electromagnetic and
mechanical parts of the computer
2 The Computer Software:- Which refers to the collection of instructions that
.controls the activities of the computer
3 The Computer humanware:- which refers to the personnel involved in computing.
Some authorities ignored the third component. This is as a result of the belief that no
system can actually be brought to being without the human elements or and as an
artificial system it is natural to be built. Used and maintained by human being. But we
deem it fit to include it in our text for purely academic purpose and not in bid to support
or disregard any authority.
THE COMPUTER HUMANWARE
The computer humanware refers to the human personnel involved in computing. These
are the people that bring about the computer itself, make it work as desired or work with
it. There are five classes of personnel involved in computing, these are
1 The System Analyst:- The computer analyst is the personnel responsible for
investigating a system with a view to recommending on its computerization. He is
invited by the management of the system at the onset of computerization or system
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upgrade. At the end his investigations, he gives his reports to the managing
specifying the hardware, the software and the personnel requirements of the new
system if it were to be computerized. A system Analyst is knowledgeable enough
to know what is available and achievable in the computing world so as to enable
him to make feasible recommendations.
A systems analyst may:
i. Plan a system flow from the ground up.
ii. Interact with customers to learn and document requirements that are then
used to produce business requirements documents.
iii. Write technical requirements from a critical phase.
iv. Interact with designers to understand software limitations.
v. Help programmers during system development, ex: provide use cases,
flowcharts or even Database design.
vi. Perform system testing.
vii. Deploy the completed system.
viii. Document requirements or contribute to user manuals.
ix. Whenever a development process is conducted, the system analyst is
responsible for designing components and providing that information to the
developer.
2 The Computer Engineer or computer hardware engeneer:- The Computer
Engineer designs, constructs, and maintains the various computer hardware
components. He works with the hardware requirement specifications specified by
the analyst. He installs and maintains the various components of the hardware for
the system. He integrates several fields of electrical engineering and computer
science required to develop computer systems.
Computer engineers usually have training in electronic engineering, software
design, and hardware-software integration instead of only software engineering or
electronic engineering. Computer engineers are involved in many hardware and
software aspects of computing, from the design of individual microprocessors,
personal computers, and supercomputers, to circuit design and design of
peripherals. This field of engineering not only focuses on how computer systems
themselves work, but also how they integrate into the larger picture
3 The Programmer Or Computer Software Engineer:- The programmer designs,
writes, codes, tests, debugs, implement and maintains the computer programme
necessary to drive the hardware. He starts his work with the software requirement
specifications of the Analyst and works to meet these specifications. He is the
maker of the software. He works with any of the various programming languages
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Programmers work in many settings, including corporate information technology
departments, big software companies, and small service firms. Many professional
programmers also work for consulting companies at client' sites as contractors.
4 The Operator:- The operator is an expert in his own field who only uses the
computer to accomplish his task. The entire computer system is designed for him
and with him in mind. The computer system does his work or assists him in doing
his work. Particularly he is the end user of the computer system whose activities
within his own system is automated.
Ideally the development of the computer system starts wit h his commissioning
and ends with his satisfaction. He determines when he needs computerization,
commissions the analyst to start is work and determines the continuity or
otherwise of computerization
5 The Instructor:-The instructor is a member of either the Engineering or
programming team. He instructs on the use of the computer and particularly the
new system developed and is responsible for passing the computer knowledge
from a generation to generation..
Computer instructors are responsible for training individuals on the correct and
effective use of various computer programs or systems used for business or
personal use. This career requires a combination of computer skills plus excellent
communication skills and people skills to help those that have little or no computer
experience learn how to use the various programs. Most computer instructors offer
training on basic programs for business such as work processing, spreadsheets,
databases and even some basic graphic design or web page design. Generally
classes are offered based on the needs of the clients or students, which may mean
having several different levels from basics to advanced.
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THE COMPUTER HARDWARE
The computer hardware refers to all the electrical, electromagnetic and mechanical parts
of the computer. It is the fixes part of the computer parts that can be seen, felt and
touched. The computer hardware is made of four functional components. These are
1 The input units
2 The central processing unit
3 The output unit
4 The Auxiliary Memory
Some authorities have the functional components as three merging the input unit and
output unit together to form what is called I/O devices or peripherals.

1 The Input Unit / Device: -

The input unit is the device used in transferring data and instruction from the outside
environment into the central processing unit for processing. It is any peripheral (piece
of computer hardware equipment) used to provide data and control signals to an
information processing system such as a computer or other information appliance It is
the first unit through which the operator of the computer interacts with the system. They
are used to send data and instruction (commands) to the processing unit.
Many input devices can be classified according to:
a) Modality of input (e.g. mechanical motion, audio, visual, etc.)
b) The input is discrete (e.g. key presses) or continuous (e.g. a mouse's position,
though digitized into a discrete quantity, is fast enough to be considered
continuous)
c) The number of degrees of freedom involved (e.g. two-dimensional traditional
mice, or three-dimensional navigators designed for CAD applications)
Examples of input unit are:
1. The Keyboard II. The Mouse III. The Scanner:
IV. Tracker Ball V. Touch Pad VI. A touchscreen
VII. Stylus VIII Joystick: -
Other input devices include a light pen, a microphone(for voice input) a web cam a
digital camera etc.
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2 The Central Processing Unit
The Central Processing Unit is a single most powerful component of the computer
hardware. It is the logical circuit where all computer operations and controls are
performed. (Please differentiate from system unit). It is microscopic circuitry that serves
as the main information processor in a computer. A CPU is generally a single
microprocessor made from a wafer of semi conducting material, usually silicon, with
millions of electrical components on its surface. On a higher level, the CPU is actually
a number of interconnected processing unit that are each responsible for one aspect of
the CPU’s function Standard CPUs contain processing units that interprets and
implement software instructions, perform calculations and comparisons, make logical
decisions (determining if a statement is true or false based on the rules of Boolean
algebra), temporarily store information for use by another of the CPU’s processing
units, keep track of the current step in the execution of the program, and allow the CPU
to communicate with the rest of the computer. The CPU determines all the
functionalities, the speed and the power of the computer system. The central processing
Unit is made up of three constituents. These are:
1 The Arithmetic And Logic Unit:- This unit is responsible for all the activities of
processing that the computer does. It performs the arithmetic operations (i.e. +,-,
X and ). It also performs the logical operation (i.e. AND, OR and NOT) as well
as other data comparisms. It takes instructions from the control unit on what to do
at any point in time. The ALU is a fundamental building block of the central
processing unit (CPU) of a computer, and even the simplest microprocessors
contain one for purposes such as maintaining timers.
II The control Unit:- This unit is responsible for all the controls and supervision in
the computer operations. It acts as the overall manager of the hardware. It control
the flow of instructions to all the hardware components, the flow of data from the
input unit to the ALU as well as the flow of result from the ALU to either the
output unit or secondary memory. Control Unit Co-ordinates the input and output
devices of a computer system. It fetches the code of all of the instructions in the
microprograms. it directs the operation of the other units by providing timing and
control signals
III The internal Memory Unit:- This unit holds the data and instructions while the
computer is working on it. It also holds intermediate data elements. The internal
memory or system memory is divided into two portions these are:
i. The Read Only Memory (ROM) which is the part of the internal memory
that is accessible only by the system. The content of ROM is determined
during the manufacturing of the system by the manufacturer and cannot be
re-written or change by the user. The content is non-volatile i.e. it stays even
when the system is powered down.
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ii The Random Access Memory: This is the part of the internal memory, that
is accessible to the user. It is the part of the memory where the users
instructions and data are held. The content of RAM is determined by the user
at any point in time. Its content is volatile i.e. it is erased whenever the system
is switched off either intentionally or as a result of power surge or
fluctuation.

3. The Output Units

The output device is the device through which the computer makes its results of
operation (information) available to the user in the form he/she understands. It is any
piece of computer hardware equipment used to communicate the results of data
processing carried out by an information processing system (such as a computer) to the
outside world. There are various output devices among which are:
1 The monitor Or Visual Display Unit (VDU).- The V.D.U. or monitor is a T.V
or screen like medium through which the data and information are displayed for
the user. The monitors have various sizes and color. Today the V.D.U. is the
commonest output device. The size of a monitor is measured diagonally.
ii The Printer:- the printer is a device through which the user gets a hard copy or
printed copy of information. There are basically two types of printer: the impact
printer which prints by a physical contact between the print head and the paper
and a non- impact (the Laser and ink) printer which prints without a physical
contact between the print head and paper.
iii. The plotter :The plotter is similar to a printer in functional The only difference
is that the; letter allows for printing on a larger sheet and therefore useful for a
large image printing. It is used in printing architectural and engineering designs.
iv. The speech Synthesizer. This is a device that tends to read out information and
messages from, the computer. This is mostly used with speakers and
microphones by sight impaired computer users
v. The Speakers
vi. Computer Project Presentation (CPP) devices:- These are projection devices
that are attached to the computer and are used for displaying and presenting
information to a group of people. They are used alongside presentation software
packages and are common in educational institutions.
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4. Secondary Memory:
The secondary memory or auxiliary memory is any memory device that is used for back
up of data, information and instruction. Unlike the primary memory, it does not hold
data when the data is in use. Whenever data from the secondary memory is needed, it is
read into the primary memory. It is usually a very large memory device.
The examples of secondary memory include:
i. The floppy disks ii the hard disk
iii. The zip tape iv. The CDROM
v. The VCD vi. The Zigma tape
vii The magnetic drum viii. The Magnetic tape etc

Measuring The Capacity Of The Storage Device.

In the measuring the capacity of memory devices there is need for an established unit
of measurement.
The BIT is the minimum representation of data and information. It is composed of the
BInary digiTs, (0and 1).
The Byte is the minimum unit of measure of information. It is made up of eight binary
digits (8BITS), and it corresponds to one character representation or one basic
instruction in most of the systems using the extended ASCII (American Standard Code
for Information Interchange) coding system.
A Nibble is equivalent to ½ byte or 4 bits.
Alongside these units there are some prefixes used to denote sizes. These prefixes are
‘;
KILO = 210 = 1024
MEGA = 220 = 1024 X 1020 = 1,048,576
GIGA = 230 = 1024 X 1024 X 1024 = 1,073,741,824
TERA = 240 = 1024 X 1024 X 1024 X 1024 = 1,099,511,627,776