Syllabus Focus: Unit 1 Module 2 Content 10

Specific Objective 10: describe the interrelationship between the components in an Information
Technology System;
Content: Relationship between the components: hardware, software,network, user.

Interrelationship Between the Components of a Computer System

Components of a Computer System

 Hardware System
 Software System—Operating System Software and Application Software
 Network System

A computer is an electronic machine that performs input, processing, storing, and output
according to programmed instructions to carry out specific tasks. Formerly, computers were used
primarily to do arithmetic computations, hence the term, computer. Consider the primitive form
of a computer, a calculator. You input the numbers and the arithmetic operation you need the
calculator to perform, for example, “3+5=”, and then the calculator processes the arithmetic
expression by adding 3 and 5, stores the result of 8, and outputs the result onto the display area.

The modern computer operates in a similar fashion. Input to a computer can be sent through the
keyboard or mouse. The computer then processes the input, stores the result, and displays the
result via the monitor, speaker, printer, or other output devices. For example, when you request
for a web page by typing in its URL (Uniform Resource Locator), "http://www.icarnegie.com", the
computer processes your input by fetching the requested page over the Internet. It then displays
the fetched page on your monitor as output.

In general, a computer system can be decomposed into the hardware system, the software
system, and the network system. Each of these subsystems will be discussed in more detail in
subsequent units of this course. The figure below illustrates the major subsystems in a computer
system with some examples.

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Figure 1 Components of a computer system

Let us now look at each subsystem and their main functionality.

Hardware System

The hardware system consists of external and internal physical components that enable a
computer to accept input, process the input, store data, and produce outputs.

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The figures below show some external hardware components of a computer.

Figure 2  Hardware components

The diagram below indicates the hardware components inside the system unit. Each of these
components plays an essential role in the operation of a computer system.

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Figure 3  Components inside the system unit

Hardware components provide the physical interface to a computer system. However, they
cannot function without instructions to operate them. These instructions are software programs.

Software System—Operating System Software and Application Software

The two different types of software programs are (1) operating system software and (2)
application software. The diagram below illustrates the levels of interaction among users,
application software, operating system software, and the hardware system.

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Figure 4 Interaction among hardware system, operating system software, application software,
and users

The operating system software serves as the interface between application software and the
hardware components. And, the application software interfaces with the users of the computer
system.

Operating system software provides instructions to hardware system components. Examples of

operating systems are the Microsoft Windows operating system and the Macintosh operating
system. When an input is entered, the operating system program provides instructions to send the
input to appropriate hardware components for processing. Then, it provides instructions for the
result to be sent to the appropriate output device. For example, when a user types using a
keyboard, the Microsoft Windows operating system takes the input sent through the keyboard
and displays the typed letters on the monitor.

Application software provides instructions that enable the user to perform specific tasks such as
creating presentations, composing written documents, and editing images. Examples of
application software programs are Microsoft Word and Notepad. Application software
instructions are handled by the operating system. For instance, when you open a file using
Microsoft Word, first the application provides the user-interface for you to specify which file
you want to open (for example, the menu bar). Once you have selected the file, the application
notifies the operating system that a certain file is needed. The operating system then requests for
the file from the hard drive of the computer. You can view the application software currently on
your computer by clicking on the Start button and select Programs. If you are reading this page
online, then you are probably using the Internet Explorer or Netscape web browser program.

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Network System

The worldwide system of computer networks is the Internet, a network of networks. Via the
Internet, computers on the network can access other computers on the network. The Internet
allows data to be moved from one computer to another.

The network system manages how data is transferred from one computer to another and how
different components of a network system work together. The diagram below illustrates the
network components needed for a computer to communicate to other computer via the Internet.

Figure 5 Network connection components

A network interface card (NIC) sends data from a computer over a network, and collects
incoming data sent by other computers. A modem is a device that enables data from a computer
to be transmitted via phone lines or television cable lines to reach other computers on the
Internet. In addition to these hardware network components, a computer also needs an Internet
service provider such as America Online to enable its connection to the Internet. Application
software such as Web browsers (for example, Internet Explorer and Netscape) and electronic
mail (for example, Outlook and Netscape Mail) also enhance the usefulness of a network system.

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