Chapter

3
Computer Hardware

McGraw-Hill/Irwin Copyright © 2011 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
 Learning Objectives

• Understand the history and evolution of

computer hardware.
• Identify the major types and uses of
microcomputer, midrange, and
mainframe computer systems.
• Outline the major technologies and uses
of computer peripherals for input, output,
and storage.

3-2
 Learning Objectives

• Identify and give examples of the

components and functions of a computer
system.
• Identify the computer systems and
peripherals you would acquire or
recommend for a business of your choice,
and explain the reasons for your selection.

3-3
 Early Computing

• 1880s
– Punched cards turned sensors On or Off
• 1946
– ENIAC
– First Digital computer - programmable
– Used vacuum tubes
– Would fill room 39 ft by 39 ft
• Late 1950s
– Transistors replaced vacuum tubes
– Smaller, faster, cooler

3-4
 Waves of Computing

• First Generation - Prior to 1950

– Vacuum tubes
• Second Generation - Late 1950s
– Transistors & integrated circuits – Jack Kilby
– 200,000 to 250,000 calculations per second
• Third Generation - Mid-1960s
– Integrated circuitry and miniaturization
• Fourth Generation - 1971
– Further miniaturization
– Multiprogramming and virtual storage
• Fifth Generation - 1980s
– Millions of calculations per second 3-5
 Age of Microcomputers

• 1975
– MITS introduced ALTAIR 8800.
• 1977
– Commodore and Radio Shack
• 1979
– Apple computer, fastest selling
– Steve Jobs & Steve Wozniak
• 1982
– IBM introduced the PC
– Changed the market

3-6
 Information Appliances

• Hand-held microcomputer devices

• Known as personal digital assistants (PDAs)
– Web-enabled
– Touch screens, handwriting recognition, keypads
– Access email or the Web
– Exchange data with desktop PCs or servers
– Latest entrant is the BlackBerry
• PDAs include
– Video-game consoles
– Cellular and PCS phones
– Telephone-based home email appliances
• iPhone 4 3-7
 Midrange Systems

• High-end network servers

– Large-scale processing of business applications
• Not as powerful as mainframes
– Less expensive to buy, operate, and maintain
• Often used to manage
– Large Internet websites
– Corporate intranets and extranets
– Integrated, enterprise-wide applications
• Used as front-end servers
– Assist mainframes with telecommunications and
networks
3-8
 Mainframe Computer Systems

• Large, fast, powerful computer systems

– Large primary storage capacity
– High transaction processing
– Handles complex computations
• Widely used as superservers for…
– Large client/server networks
– High-volume Internet websites
• Becoming popular computing platform for…
– Electronic commerce applications
– Data mining and warehousing

3-9
 Supercomputer Systems

• Extremely powerful systems

– Scientific, engineering, and business applications
– Massive numeric computations
• Markets include…
– Government research agencies
– Large universities
– Major corporations
• Uses parallel processing
– Billions to trillions of operations per second
• (gigaflops and teraflops)
– Costs $5 to $50 million
3-10
 Storage Capacity Measurement

• Kilobyte (KB): one thousand bytes

• Megabyte (MB): one million bytes
• Gigabyte (GB): one billion bytes
• Terabyte (TB): one trillion bytes
• Petabyte (PB): one quadrillion bytes

3-11
 Types of Semiconductor Memory

• Random Access Memory (RAM)

– Most widely used primary storage medium
– Volatile memory
– Read/write memory
• Read-Only Memory (ROM)
– Permanent storage
– Can be read, but not overwritten
– Frequently used programs burnt into chips
during manufacturing process
– Called firmware
• Flash Drive 3-12
 RAID Storage

• Redundant Arrays of Independent Disks

– Arrays of hard disk drives
– Virtually unlimited online storage
– 6 to more than 100 small hard disk drives in a
single unit
– Data are accessed in parallel over multiple
paths from many disks
– Redundant storage of data on several disks
provides fault-tolerant capacity
– Storage area networks can interconnect many
RAID units

3-13
 Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)

• One of the newest and fastest growing

storage technologies
– System for tagging and identifying moving objects
• Merchandise, postal packages, casino chips, pets
– Tag 1 inch square
– Chips half the size of a grain of sand
• Passive chips derive power from reader signal
• Active chips are self-powered
• Privacy Issues

3-14
 Predictions for the Future

• Biological memories
• Health remedies
• Longer life spans
• Virtual activities
• Memory recall

3-15