Managing Information Technology

6th Edition
CHAPTER 2
COMPUTER HARDWARE

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 Building Blocks of Information Technology

Hardware Software Network Data

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EVOLUTION OF COMPUTER SYSTEMS

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 EVOLUTION OF COMPUTER SYSTEMS

• First Generation of Computers

– Vacuum Tubes
– Magnetic Drum Memories

First Generation
(1946-1959)

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 EVOLUTION OF COMPUTER SYSTEMS

• Second Generation of Computers

– Transistors
– Magnetic Core Memories

First Generation Second Generation

(1946-1959) (1959-1964)

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 EVOLUTION OF COMPUTER SYSTEMS

• Third Generation of Computers

– Integrated Circuits
– Semiconductor Memories
– Operating System

First Generation Second Generation Third Generation

(1946-1959) (1959-1964) (1964-late 1970s)

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 EVOLUTION OF COMPUTER SYSTEMS

• Fourth Generation of Computers

– Large-Scale Integration (LSI) and Very-Large-Scale
Integration (VLSI) Circuits
– Communication Between Computers
– Multiple Processors in a Single Machine

First Generation Second Generation Third Generation Fourth Generation

(1946-1959) (1959-1964) (1964-late 1970s) (1980s-present)

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 EVOLUTION OF COMPUTER SYSTEMS

• Minicomputers
– Same Technologies as Third and Fourth
Generations
– Smaller Machine Size
– Smaller Business and Scientific Applications

First Generation Second Generation Third Generation Fourth Generation Minicomputers

(1946-1959) (1959-1964) (1964-late 1970s) (1980s-present) (1970s-present)

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 EVOLUTION OF COMPUTER SYSTEMS

• Microcomputers

– Microprocessors
– Single-User Systems

First Generation Second Generation Third Generation Fourth Generation Minicomputers Microcomputers
(1946-1959) (1959-1964) (1964-late 1970s) (1980s-present) (1970s-present) (late 1970s-present)

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BASIC COMPONENTS OF
COMPUTER SYSTEMS

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 BASIC COMPONENTS OF
COMPUTER SYSTEMS

• All computers made up of

the same set of six building
blocks: input, output,
memory, arithmetic/logic
unit, control unit, and files
• Control unit and
arithmetic/logical unit
together known as the
central processing unit
(CPU) 11
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 BASIC COMPONENTS OF
COMPUTER SYSTEMS
Input
• Device(s) needed to
enter data into the
computer for it to use
in its computations

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 BASIC COMPONENTS OF
COMPUTER SYSTEMS
Input
• Terminal
– Simpler than a PC
– Designed strictly for input and output
– Has keyboard and screen
– Does not have a processor
– Connected to computer with telecommunication
line
– Allows user to key data directly into computer

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 BASIC COMPONENTS OF
COMPUTER SYSTEMS
Input
• Common input methods
– Keyboard: input entered by user through keystrokes
– Disk drive: data on disk read into memory
– Magnetic ink character recognition (MICR): used to
process bank checks
– Bar code labeling: scans bar codes on packages or
products, and reads into computer

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 BASIC COMPONENTS OF
COMPUTER SYSTEMS
Input
• Common input methods (cont’d)
– Optical character recognition (OCR): directly scans
typed, printed, or handwritten material
– Imaging: inputs digital form of documents and
photos

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 BASIC COMPONENTS OF
COMPUTER SYSTEMS
Output
• Device(s) needed to
produce results in a
usable format

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 BASIC COMPONENTS OF
COMPUTER SYSTEMS
Output
• Common output methods
– Video display unit: displays output on a screen
– Disk drive: output written to disk for retrieval later
– Printer: output to paper using various types of
printers

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 BASIC COMPONENTS OF
COMPUTER SYSTEMS
Output
• Common output methods
– Computer output microfilm (COM): microfilm
generated for archive copies in small space
– Voice response units: computer recognizes input,
generates verbal response messages

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 BASIC COMPONENTS OF
COMPUTER SYSTEMS
Memory
• Referred to as main
memory or primary
memory
• All data flows to and
from memory

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 BASIC COMPONENTS OF
COMPUTER SYSTEMS
Memory
• Divided into cells
– Each has a unique address
– Can only store limited amount of data
• Byte: stores one character of data
• Word: stores two or more characters of data

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 BASIC COMPONENTS OF
COMPUTER SYSTEMS
Memory

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 BASIC COMPONENTS OF
COMPUTER SYSTEMS
Memory
• Each memory cell is a set of circuits
• Each circuit is on or off (represented by 1 or 0)
• Each circuit corresponds to a bit (binary digit)
• Most computers – 8 bits (circuits) represents a
character (byte)
• 2 common bit coding schemes used today:
– ASCII
– EBCDIC
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 BASIC COMPONENTS OF
COMPUTER SYSTEMS
Memory

.
.
.

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 BASIC COMPONENTS OF
COMPUTER SYSTEMS
Arithmetic/logic unit
• Carries out:
– Mathematical
operations (addition,
subtraction,
multiplication,
division)
– Logical operations
(number
comparisons)
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 BASIC COMPONENTS OF
COMPUTER SYSTEMS
Arithmetic/logic unit
• Consists of VLSI circuits on a silicon chip
• Can perform up to billions of operations per
second
• Numbers are taken from memory as input and
results are stored in memory as output

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 BASIC COMPONENTS OF
COMPUTER SYSTEMS
Computer files
• File devices used to
store vast quantities
of data

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 BASIC COMPONENTS OF
COMPUTER SYSTEMS
Computer files
• Main memory is limited, volatile, and
expensive
• File devices, or secondary memory, are used to
store additional data that is nonvolatile
• Main disadvantage is the relatively slow speed
• File storage devices:
– Magnetic tape drives, disk drives, floppy drives
– Optical CD or DVD drives
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 BASIC COMPONENTS OF
COMPUTER SYSTEMS
Computer files
• Sequential Access Files
– Records are stored in sequence according to file’s
control key
– Usually stored on magnetic tape
• Direct Access Files
– Records can be accessed immediately, without
regard to physical location
– Stored on Direct Access Storage Devices (DASD)

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 BASIC COMPONENTS OF
COMPUTER SYSTEMS
Computer files
• Types of DASDs:
– Fixed (hard) drives
– Optical disk storage
• CD-ROM
• CD-R
• CD-RW
• DVD-ROM
• DVD-R
• DVD-RW

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 BASIC COMPONENTS OF
COMPUTER SYSTEMS
Computer files
• Types of DASDs:
– Removable drives
• Floppy drives
• Zip drives
• Keychain drives

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 BASIC COMPONENTS OF
COMPUTER SYSTEMS
Control unit
• Controls the other
five components of
the computer system

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 BASIC COMPONENTS OF
COMPUTER SYSTEMS
Control unit
• Used to take advantage of speed and capacity
of other components
• List of operations, called a program, tells the
control unit what to do
• These operations are read from memory,
interpreted, and carried out one at a time
(stored-program concept)

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 STORED-PROGRAM CONCEPT
• Program
– A list of what is to be done for an application
– Each step or operation is called an instruction
• Machine language
– Form of a program that can be understood by a
specific computer model
– Consists of operation code and addresses

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 STORED-PROGRAM CONCEPT
• Measure of computer power
– Millions of instructions per second (MIPS)
– Millions of floating point operations per second
(MFLOPS)
– Benchmarking involves running a set of real jobs
on various machines to compare speed

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 STORED-PROGRAM CONCEPT
Benchmarking

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EXTENSIONS TO THE BASIC MODEL
Cache memory
• High-speed, high-cost storage
• Used as intermediary between control unit and
main memory
• Compensates for speed mismatches built into the
computer system

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EXTENSIONS TO THE BASIC MODEL
Cache memory
• Locality of reference
– If a piece of data is used, there is a high probability
that a nearby piece of data will be used shortly
thereafter
• Data reuse
– Data is retained in cache until it has not been recently
referenced

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EXTENSIONS TO THE BASIC MODEL
Multiprocessor systems
• Systems that contain more than one processor
• Dual-processor vs. dual-core
– Dual-processor systems contain two physically
separate processors in the same box
– Dual-core systems contain two complete
processors manufactured as part of a single chip

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EXTENSIONS TO THE BASIC MODEL
Multiprocessor systems
• Symmetric multiprocessor (SMP)
– All processors are identical and work independently
of each other
• Parallel processor (PP)
– Multiple processors work on separate pieces of the
same program
• Massively parallel processor (MPP)
– Machines with a large number of parallel processors

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 TYPES OF COMPUTER SYSTEMS
Microcomputers
• Also called personal computers or PCs
• Can generally be carried or moved by one person
and only have one keyboard and display unit
• Examples:
– Desktop PC
– Laptop or notebook
– Handheld or palmtop
– Tablet PC

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 TYPES OF COMPUTER SYSTEMS
Microcomputers

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 TYPES OF COMPUTER SYSTEMS
Microcomputers
• Two major types of microcomputers
– IBM-compatible PCs
– Apple microcomputers
• Have been put to a myriad of uses
– Record-keeping
– Word processing
– Games
– Presentations
– Programming

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 TYPES OF COMPUTER SYSTEMS
Midrange systems
• Broadest category of computer systems
• Workstations
– More powerful microcomputers
– Success due to development of the reduced instruction set
computing (RISC) chip
• Minicomputers
– Similar to mainframe systems, but less powerful and less
expensive
– Used for departmental computers, office automation, and
servers

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 TYPES OF COMPUTER SYSTEMS
Midrange systems
• Subcategories
– Low-end midrange systems
• Essentially high-powered PCs
• Typically built on Intel Pentium, Celeron, or Xeon processors
or AMD Opteron processors
• Often run Windows Server
– High-end midrange systems
• Powered by RISC processors or top-of-the-line Intel or AMD
processors
• Usually run Linux or some variation of UNIX

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 TYPES OF COMPUTER SYSTEMS
Midrange systems
• Subcategories (cont’d)
– Similar to minicomputers
• Better input/output capabilities than workstations
• Easy-to-use commercial applications software
• Legacy systems, but those that remain have
incorporated RISC processors and UNIX

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 TYPES OF COMPUTER SYSTEMS
Mainframe computers
• The heart of the computer systems for most major
corporations and government agencies
• Major strength is versatility in applications
– Online and batch processing
– Standard business applications
– Engineering and scientific applications
– Network control
– Systems development
– Web serving

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 TYPES OF COMPUTER SYSTEMS
Mainframe computers

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 TYPES OF COMPUTER SYSTEMS
Supercomputers
• Serve as “number-crunchers”
• Handle problems generated by research scientists
• High-end supercomputers located in government
research laboratories and major universities
• Fastest supercomputer (IBM Blue Gene/L)
incorporates 65,536 processors and can achieve
performance of 280.6 teraflops

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TYPES OF COMPUTER SYSTEMS

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Publishing as Prentice Hall

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