Elements of a Computer system

The computer system works starting with the data entered by the user, then the
computer processes the data and produce the output. A computer system is composed of
hardware and software.
1. People – Are the most important part of the Information System Technology. It is the
people
or the end user like you and me, who will operate, input the data, and use the
resulting information to our personal and business lives to be productive and make
effective decisions. The end user is a person who uses a computer or network
service.
2. Procedure - Are the set of guidelines and rules to follow when using hardware, software
applications, and data. The procedures are usually written and well documented
in manuals that are included in the most software packages. Software and
hardware manufactures provide written documentation for their products, so
that user may be able to learn and minimize their productivity once the have
mastered the equipment and the software.
3. Software – or programs are instructions that tell the computer how it should do its work.
The main purpose of a program is to process the data (raw facts) into usable
information. For example, in the company, the invoicing program would give
step-by-step instructions to the computer as to the number of items the
company has sold, price of each product, and add them so that they would know
the total sales for the transaction.

Software has two kinds:

a. System software – like windows, Linux, Mac OS X
b. Application software – like MS word, Adobe photoshop, AutoCAD

4. Hardware – Is the physical equipment that implements the data processing so that useful
Information may come as result. Your typical computer hardware would include
a mouse, a keyboard, a monitor, printer, CPU, speakers, and other devices that
may be included in a computer hardware setup. Hardware needs software for it
to run smoothly and do its specified task.

Components of computer as follows:

a. Input/output units – mouse, Keyboard, monitor, etc.
b. Memory unit or storage device, two types are:
 Random Access Memory (RAM)
 Read Only Memory (ROM)
 c. Central Processing Unit (CPU)
d. Communication devices

 Input Units – Convert data and instructions into electronics form for input into the
computer.
For example: keyboard, mouse, camera, scanner, microphone, graphics tablet,
OCR reader, and touch screen.
 Output units – converts electronic data produced by the computer system and display them
in a form that the user can understand. For example: monitor, printer,
speakers, headphones.
 Central Processing Unit – is the primary component of a computer that acts as its “control
center.”
 Memory Unit – is where the programs and data are stored. For example: hard disc
drive(HDD)
, CD drives, Flash drives, DVD drives, SD card.
 Communication Devices - Are components that connect the computer to the internet and
Other external devices. For example: modem, network card, Wi-fi.

5. Data – include text, numbers, sound, images, and video that are still unprocessed. These are
The facts and facet of records that we input into the computer and then once
processed may yield the desired information. Data exist in many forms, like
numbers, text, image, or information written on paper or bytes stored in electronic
memory.

6. Connectivity – Aside from the five information system technology components, another
Important element of computer is connectivity allows the computer to
access and share data and information that are available somewhere else.
This connectivity usually means an Internet connection. An internet
connections comes in many forms such as the telephone line, through
wireless connection, or through cable. Connectivity will enhance the users’
capability and usefulness of their information system technology. And to be
a competitive user, so that one may be effective in his particular workplace
or home application.
Categories of Computer Hardware

Objectives

• Describe the computer hardware.

• Identify the input and output devices.

The Computer Hardware

Hardware is the physical equipment which includes the input devices, central processing unit,
and output devices.

The input devices are used to input data into the computer.

The central processing unit or CPU or microprocessor is the brain of the computer. It is stored
inside the computer case placed in a slot within the motherboard together with the other
components such as:

1. Motherboard containing the CPU, CPU fan/heatsink, memory card or RAM, BIOS, ROM,
CMOS, coin cell battery, north bridge interface, south bridge interface, I/O system, and
connectors for back panel, power supply, Serial ATA, ATA disk drive, slots for PCI, ISA, AGP,
and peripheral component interconnect

2. Power supply

3. Case fan, power cable, and SATA cable 4. LAN card

5. Graphics/Video/Sound card

6. Hard disk drive

7. Optical drive or CD/DVD-ROM drive

8. Ports and wires

Motherboard where
the CPU, RAM, HDD, SDD,
and other components are housed
The output devices allow the user to see the result of the data that has been processed.

Storage devices are used to store the data. Storage devices may either be internally installed in
the CPU case or removable.

1. Hard drive

2. Compact Disk Read Only Memory or CD ROM

3. DVD

4. Flash Drive

Computer memory that stores data are:

1. Random access memory or RAM which is the main memory

2. Read only memory or ROM which is a memory on which data have been
prerecorded. ROM preserves its contents even when the computer is turned
off. An example of ROM is the system startup.

Input Devices
The most common input devices are the mouse and keyboard. Input devices allow people to
interact with a computer. They allow users to input selected data into the computer for
processing. Other input devices may include the scanner, which acquire text or graphics by
scanning. The web camera is another input device that captures video and images into the
computer for storage or for viewing by other people. Joystick and gamepad are input devices
for computer gaming. Today, digital and video camera are also used as input devices.

Mouse

The mouse acts as the pointing device that you can use to choose programs and files to open,
functions to activate, to determine a typing or drawing starting point, function selection, and to
scroll pages up or down.
Keyboard

The keyboard is a computer input device modeled from the keys of a typewriter. It is an
arrangement of keys or button where characters are printed. The characters consist of letters,
number or signs, and each one is represented by a specific key. Other special keys or
combination of keys also have a corresponding function. The keyboard allows one to input
texts, numbers, special characters, and other functions into the computer.

Scanner

The image scanner is a computer input device that scans and copies images, objects, texts,
handwriting, and converts them as a digital image. Printed pictures, especially those from the
precomputer home era, can now be scanned, modified, saved, and printed.

Graphics Input Devices

many ways to produce and interact with screen graphics. Aside from the mouse, the following
are some other common devices that allow the user to interact with screen graphics. A
digitizing tablet allows you to create your own images. This device has a special stylus that you
can use to draw or trace images, which are then converted to digital data that can be processed
by the computer.

Web Camera

The web camera or webcam is an input device that functions like a digital and video camera. It
allows one to place images into the computer. It may be built-in or may be attached to the
computer unit. Webcam can be used for video conferencing with friends, relatives, or business
associates allowing the participants to see each other.

Game Pad

The game pad, also called joy pad or control pad functions as handheld game controller for
computer games. It has buttons corresponding to some of the fingers which give one better
control of the characters being played in a computer game.

Joystick

The joystick is a computer input device used as a control device that pivots around so that one
could move in any direction. It is usually used in video games involving flight control for
airplanes and other aircraft. Joystick has also found use in controlling machines such as cranes,
unmanned submarines, trucks, and some medical surgical operations.

Trackball

A variation on the mouse is the trackball. You may have used trackball to play a video game.
The trackball is like an upside-down mouse where you roll the ball directly with your fingers.
The popularity of the trackball surged with the advent of laptop computers, when traveling
users found themselves without a flat surface on which to roll the traditional mouse. a

Microphone

A microphone is an input device connected to the computer to the sound card via microphone
port. The microphone can be used as voice recorder, VoIP, computer gaming, online chatting,
and recording of songs and musical instruments.

Output Devices
The monitor, printer, and the speakers are the most commonly used output devices of most
desktop computers. The monitor functions like a television where you can view and see the
current encoded data or processed information. The printer allows users to have a hard or
printed copy of the desired data or information available inside the computer. Modern
microcomputers require speakers to appreciate novies, music, graphic presentation, and even
computer alerts.

Monitor

The monitor is an output device that functions as a visual display unit for images, text, or
graphics generated by the computer. The two kinds of monitors are the modern, flat panel
Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) which occupies less space; and the older and bulkier Cathode Ray
Tube (CRT) model.

Printer

Printer is a computer output device that produces a permanent or hard copy human readable
text and/or graphics of documents stored in the computer. There are four kinds of printers:

1. Dot matrix Printer is a computer printer that prints by hammering or striking an ink-soaked
cloth ribbon against a paper. It functions just like the typewriter, and the advantage of this type
of printer is that it can easily create carbon copies because of the impact action of the printing
process and the cost per page of printing is relatively cheap. -
2. Laser Jet Printer - is a computer printer that produces high quality prints of text or graphics
on plain paper. Color and black and white printing are available in this type of printer. Laser Jet
printers have faster speeds than dot matrix and inkjet printers. Printing in laser is based on the
principle of photocopiers.

3. Ink Jet Printer is a computer printer most common for general use at home or at the office.
The prices of printers of this kind have significantly gone down and it allows one to print high
quality output both in color and in black and white. It could be used in many kinds of medium
aside from printer operates by propelling different sizes of very small and precise droplets onto
a paper or other media. -

paper. This amount of ink

4. Plotter is a printing device that operates by moving a set of four pens in different colors over
a paper surface and can also have shading features. Most plotters are used in printing
computer-aided designs of houses, buildings, mechanical equipment, electrical and
electronic designs, landscape and interior designs, maps, bar charts, engineering drawings,
and even two- or threedimensional illustrations.

Voice Output

Speech synthesis is the process of enabling machines to talk to people. Machine voices are not
real human voices but a product of voice synthesizers which are also called voice output
devices or audio response units. They convert data in main storage to vocalized sounds
understandable to humans. An example is when you start your car and a voice tells you
"systems activated."

Music Output

Music is created by a sound card installed internally in the computer and attached to speakers.
With the appropriate software, the computer can produce the sound of an orchestra or a rock
band.

Computer Graphics

Computer graphics can also be found in education, computer art, science, sports, business, etc.
For example, TV commercials or movies that use computer-produced animated graphics.
Storage Devices

There are many available removable storage devices that are commonly used due to
their movability. One can simply bring this data or information in the portable memory and
work in another place, as long as there is an available computer with a software that is capable
of reading data.

Floppy Disk

1. Floppy Disk

is a small capacity magnetic storage device inside a plastic case accessible by a floppy
disk drive. It comes in 3 1/2 inch size and a capacity of 1.44 MB (Megabyte). Today, few
computers have floppy disk drive and few users are using this storage.

2. Optical Disc

Optical Media or optical discs are storage media that use laser technology to store data
onto a circular plastic or metallic disc. The data in the disc are accessed by the use of an
Optical Disk Drive (ODD).

There are two most common optical discs available today -- they are the Compact Disc (CD) and
the Digital Versatile Disc (DVD).

 Compact Disc, also commonly known as the CD, is the most widely used optical disc
with a standard capacity of around 700 MB (megabytes).

There are three types of CD: the CD-ROMS, CDRs and the Rewritable CD.

 CD-ROMS (Compact Disc-Read Only Memory) are CDs with pre-installed data such as
music, movies, and programs. Data or information inside the CD could not be altered
and are only available for access or reading. They are read by an optical disk drive or a
CD drive.

 CD-R or Compact Disk Recordable is a CD where one can store or write data I stays there
permanently. This Co using a CD writer and once written into the CD, is also known as
the "write once" CD. CDR is used to store data such as music, movies, word processing
and spreadsheet files, and other data for future access.
 CD-RW also known as Re-writable CD, is a CD where in data stored inside can be altered,
erased, and then saved again. These are versatile discs since they can be used as
temporary storage for work in progress.

 Blu-ray is a high definition, high capacity data and video storage device. Blue laser is
used to read and write to the disk that is why it is called blu-ray.

 Digital Versatile Disc (DVD) is better than CDs in terms of capacity, it looks like a CD but
has a capacity of 4.7 GB, which is 17 times the capacity of a CD. DVDS can be accessed
by the use of a DVD drive; most DVD drives can also read CDs. Like the CDs, DVDs have
also DVD-ROM, DVD Recordable, and DVD Rewritable.

 DVD-ROM is DVD-Read Only Memory which is used extensively to distribute movies,

since a full length movie can be stored in one DVD. The music and video quality is a lot
better compared to CD-ROMs and is comparable to those we view on wide screen
theaters. Today's DVDs are also used to distribute computer programs and music videos.
Data stored in the DVD-ROM cannot be changed. It can only be read or played.

 DVD Recordable has two formats, the DVD-R and DVD+R; these are competing
recording formats for DVD, although recent players and recorders can view and write on
both format. Users can only write or record once into the DVD, and data is now
permanently stored into the DVD.

 DVD Rewritable or DVD-RW is DVD in which stored data can be altered, erased and re-
stored into the DVD. This is a versatile DVD especially "projects in progress" so that
future insertions and alteration may be possible.

 Mini CD and Mini DVD are CDs and DVDs in a smaller size format also known as the 3-
inch CDs or DVDs. They function just like the standard CDs and DVDs but of smaller
capacity but have the advantage of being small. They also come in CDROM, CD-R, and
CD-Writable; or DVD-ROM, DVD-R, and DVD-Writable.

3. High Capacity Optical Media

Blu-Ray Disc (BD) is a new generation optical disc, with the same dimension and look as
a DVD or CD, but has a high capacity. Blu-Ray still uses laser technology but of a different
wavelength than the one used for a CD and a DVD, which is called blue laser (real color
of ray is violet), hence the name. A Blu-Ray Disc can store 25 to 50 GB of data which is
between 5 and 10 times compared to a DVD. The use of BD is in high definition video.
Blu-Ray Disc can be read with a Blu-Ray player. Blu-Rays in Mini Discs are also available,
same size as that of a mini DVD or CD. BD also comes in BD-ROM, BD-Recordable, and
BD-Rewritable.
External DVD Drives

The advent use of smaller and compact mobile computers such as the subnotebooks
and netbooks, which do not have CD or DVD drives, has paved the way in the use of
external DVD drives. DVD drives can be connected to the CPU using a USB connector
and the Windows program and other operating systems automatically recognize the
drives and can be used immediately. Current external drives can read CDs and DVDs and
can write or record data to recordable CDs and DVDs.

Hard Disks

Almost all personal computers use the hard disk as the main storage where data and
programs are saved, retrieved, modified, then stored again for future use. It is directly
connected to the motherboard by a data cable. Hard disks are also used in laptop
computers but of a smaller size.

Hard disk is a non-volatile storage device which is an essential computer system

hardware, personal desktop, laptop, and even server computers. Non-volatile means
stored data and information remain even when the computer power is turned off. The
term hard disk was used to differentiate it from the soft floppy disk. The hard disk has
significantly a lot of storage space and processes and write) data faster.

Hard disk has magnetized disks inside, stacked one after another, where recorded by
magnetizing. Magnetic storage technology has the advantage of being easily erased and
written on, and it can remember or store magnetic information for a very long time. A
hard disk has a spindle that holds several circular non-magnetic disks called platters,
usually made of aluminum or glass. The platters are then coated with a thin layer of
magnetic material. A platter requires a read/write head that flies very close to the
plate's magnetic surface, which functions as the reader and writer of data or
information on the magnetized surface. The disk is constantly Spinning at high speeds
and have to wait for the drive heads to align to the correct position to read or write
data.
2nd Grading Topic

External System Unit

How computer system works
System Case

The computer system case is the enclosure for all the interior component computer. The
function of the system case is to hold all the components to and protect the sensitive electronic
parts of the computer hardware. It has drives and connection on the external part of the case
to connect to other and peripherals. The computer case is also called the system case or com
chassis. Computer case may be made from steel, electrogalvanized, or alum and they are made
in different sizes.

Components of a System Case

1. Drive bay – Is a standard size area for adding hardware to a computer. Most drive bays
are fixed to the inside of a case, but some can be removed.

2. Power supply – Is an electronic device that supplies electric energy to the computer.

3. Ports – refer to the female part of connection that are used to connect a monitor,
webcam, speakers, or other peripheral devices.

4. Connector – is a wire that joins electrical circuits together. It can be a male (with pins) or
female (with holes).
The Internal System Unit
The computer is a collection of different devices connected to a central processing unit
(CPU). The CPU houses and connects most of the components that make up a computer
system.

The microprocessor and the memory units are the two most important parts of
the internal system. The microprocessor is the one that controls and processes data to
information. It is usually placed in a support electronic board also known as the
motherboard. The microprocessor is encased and shielded in order to be protected. It is
also cooled because it tends to produce heat, therefore, in most cases a fan and a heat
sink are attached to a microprocessor.

The random access memory or RAM is inserted or placed in a slot on the

motherboard. The RAM is the primary storage for data and program that are currently
being processed RAM is oftentimes referred to as the temporary storage because its
contents are lost when electrical power to the computer is turned off.

Inside the CPU is also an important memory component known as the hard disk.
Hard disk is used to store most of the programs, data, and information in the computer
Hard disk has a big storage capacity and stored data are not lost even when the power is
turned off

The CPU may also include other storage devices such as floppy disk drive and
optical disk drive, CD, or DVD drive. The CD drive is where most programs are installed
and data may be placed into the computer as well. It is also used to play music and
videos in VCD or DVD format.