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Computer
Hardware
Section 1

Hardware

Outline
 Introduction
 The CPU
 ALU, CU, IAS
 Input Devices
 Output Devices
 Primary memory
 RAM and ROM
 Secondary Storage devices
 Types of Computers
 Micro, Mini, Mainframe and Super

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Introduction
Hardware
DEFINITION: The physical components of the computer system.

Different hardware can be categorised as follows:

 Input Devices– Devices used to provide data and control
signals to a computer
 Processing Devices – carry out the calculations and
instructions required for the system to function
 Storage Devices – where data and information is stored.
 Output Devices – allow the system to transfer/display data
Input Central Processing Output
Devices Unit (CPU) Devices

Backing Storage
Devices

Identification of hardware Hardware

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CPU
CU, ALU, IAS

 Thisis the part of the computer where processing

(searching and sorting of data, calculating and
decision-making) goes on.
Three main components of the CPU:
Control unit
 Coordinates the input and output data
 Sends electrical signals to input and output devices
(peripherals)
Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU)
 Responsible for making calculations in the computer
 Deals with logical operations in the computer

Immediate access store (IAS)

 Responsible for data storage during processing

Standard input devices Input Devices

 Keyboard: A very common, general purpose, input device that
allows text (abc…), numbers (123…) and symbols (%$@...) to be
entered into a computer. Examples of different keyboards are:
 QWERTY keyboard/alphanumeric keyboard
 Numeric keypad (such as those in ATMs)
 PIN pad (found on electronic door locks, or when paying with a credit
card)
 Pointing devices (Mouse, Touch pad, Tracker ball): These devices
are used to move an on-screen pointer or cursor (usually an
arrow). They are commonly used with graphical user interfaces
(GUIs)
 Mouse: A pointing device found on most PCs. Sensors on the bottom
of the mouse detect when the mouse is moved. Data about this
movement is sent to the computer.
 Touchpad / Trackpad: pointing device found on most laptops. Used
instead of a mouse since it takes up less space. The user moves a
finger across the touch pad and this movement data is sent to the
computer.
 Trackball / Tracker Ball: This pointing device is not moved about like a
mouse, instead it has a large ball that the user spins. Data about
which direction the ball is spun is passed to the computer. Tracker balls
are often used by people with limited movement (disabled) or by
the very young since they are easier to use than a mouse.

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Specialised input device Input Devices

 Scanner: captures images or text from the source which are then
converted into a digital form that can be stored on the disk.
These images can be edited before they are printed.
 Joystick: Used mainly for playing games. The user moves the
joystick left/right, forward/back and data about these
movements are sent to the computer.
 Light pen: Light pen is a pointing device similar to a pen. It is used
to select a displayed menu item or draw pictures on the monitor
screen.
 Microphone: An input device that converts sound into a signal
that can be fed into a computer.
 Touch screen: A touch screen is an alternative to a separate
pointing device. With a touch screen the user selects items on the
screen by touching the surface
 Web camera: A device that captures images or video.
 Digitiser: also known as Tablet or Graphics Tablet as it converts
graphics and pictorial data into binary inputs. A graphic tablet as
digitizer is used for fine works of drawing and image manipulation
applications.

Input Devices
Specialised input devices
 Optical Mark Reader (OMR): a special type of optical scanner used to
recognize the type of mark made. It is used where one out of a few
alternatives is to be selected and marked. It is specially used for
checking the answer sheets of examinations having multiple choice
questions.
 Magnetic Ink Character Reader (MICR): generally used in banks as
there are large number of cheques to be processed every day. The
bank's code number and cheque number are printed on the cheques
with a special type of ink that contains particles of magnetic material
that are machine readable.
 Optical Character Reader (OCR): scans the text optically, character
by character, converts them into a machine readable code, and
stores the text on the system memory.
 Barcode reader: for reading bar coded data (data in the form of light
and dark lines). Bar coded data is generally used in labelling goods,
numbering the books, etc. It may be a handheld scanner or may be
embedded in a stationary scanner.
 Magnetic stripe reader :The stripe allows this data to be input to a
computer system faster and more accurately than by typing it in. A
magnetic strip/stripe reader is used to read the data from the stripe.
This is usually done by ‘swiping’ the card through a slot on the reader.
 Smart cards: Data can be stored in this memory and read back using
a ‘chip’ reader. Many types of card use this
system: id cards, phone cards, credit cards, door security cards, etc.

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Automatic Methods-sensors
Input Devices
 Sensors are input devices that record data about
the physical environment around it.
 Sensors send data to a microprocessor
(computer). They do not make judgements,
decisions or control any output devices.
 Sensors feed control systems with data needed in
order to give the rightful output.
 In this regard, sensors are input devices
 Sensors are used extensively in monitoring /
measuring / data logging systems, and also
in computer control systems.

Monitor, Speaker, plotter, projector

Output Devices
 A monitor or screen: is an output device that can display
graphics and text and video. It forms images from tiny dots,
called pixels that are arranged in a rectangular form. The
sharpness of the image depends upon the number of pixels.
It is also called the Visual Display Unit (VDU). Monitor display
types are:
 Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) Monitor
 Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) Monitor
 Consumes less power compared to CRT
 Light in weight (Portable) compared to CRT
 Light-Emitting Diode (LED) Monitor

 Other output devices:

 Speaker/headphone: Computers can output music, voices
and many other complicated sounds using speakers.
 Plotter: uses a pen to draw the computer output onto the
paper
 Multimedia projector: Digital projectors are used in situations
when a very large viewing area is required, for example
during presentations, for advertising, or in your home
for watching movies.

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Output Devices
Printers
 Printer is an output device, which is used to print information on paper. There are two
types of printers : Impact printers and non-impact printers

Impact Printers
 Impact printers print the characters by striking them on the ribbon, which is then pressed
on the paper
 Characteristics of Impact Printers:
 Produce multipart stationery (multiple copies of the same document at the same
time)
 Produce low quality printout
 Cheaper to purchase
 Generally noisy
 Examples of impact printers are:
 Dot Matrix Printer
 Daisy Wheel

Non-Impact Printers
 Non-impact printers print the characters without using the ribbon. Produces printout with
a non-striking mechanism
 Characteristics of Non-impact Printers
 Faster in operation than impact printers (high printing speed)
 They produce high quality printout
 Expensive to purchase
 These printers are of two types:
 Laser Printers
 Inkjet Printers

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Storing data
Computer memory

When we talk about ‘storing’ data, we mean putting the data in a known place.
We can later come back to that place and get our data back again.

‘Writing’ data or ‘saving’ data are other ways of saying ‘storing’ data.

‘Reading’ data, ‘retrieving’ data or ‘opening’ a file are ways of saying that we
are getting our data back from its storage location.

Computer memory is where data and programs are stored. Form of computer
memory are : cache, buffer, virtual memory, primary memory and secondary
memory
 Cache: a very high speed semiconductor memory which is used to hold those
parts of data and program which are most frequently used by the CPU. The
advantages of cache memory are as follows:
 Cache memory is faster than main memory.
 It consumes less access time as compared to main memory.
 It stores the program that can be executed within a short period of time.
 It stores data for temporary use.

 Buffer: is used to compensate for difference in speed between two processes

that exchange or use data. Buffer is a temporary storage area in which items
are placed while waiting to be transferred from an input device or to an
output device. For example a printer has a buffer memory.

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Storing data
Primary vs Secondary memory

 Main memory (sometimes known as internal memory or primary

storage). It includes both RAM and ROM.
 Secondary memory: This type of memory is also known as external
memory. Backing storage is usually non-volatile, so it is generally used
to store data for a long time. The contents of secondary memories
are first transferred to the main memory, and then the CPU can
access it. For example, Hard disk, CD-ROM, DVD, etc.

Primary memory Secondary memory

Closer to the CPU Far from the CPU

Accessing data from primary memory Accessing data is much slower

is faster
Expensive to buy per unit storage Cheaper to buy per unit storage

Less storage capacity More storage capacity

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Data storage units

Bits BITS and BYTES
 Computers store and process data using binary
numbers.
 A bit is the smallest amount of storage. It is a
single unit in binary, which stands for binary digit. It
is either a 0 or 1
 Computer memory is measured in bytes.
 1 byte = 8 bits.
 1 byte can store 1 character.
 The eight bit binary code in this byte below
represents the letter A
1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0

 Every character (for e.g. A, a, &, ?, +) on the

keyboard has got its own binary representation

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Data storage units

Bits BITS and BYTES
 Memory unit is the amount of data that can be
stored in the storage unit. This storage capacity is
expressed in terms of Bytes.
Unit Number of bytes Equivalent denary value
1 kilobyte (1 KB) 1 KB = 1024 Bytes 1 024
1 megabyte (1 MB) 1 MB = 1024 KB 1 048 576
1 gigabyte (1 GB) 1 GB = 1024 MB 1 073 741 824
1 terabyte (1 TB) 1 TB = 1024 GB 1 099 511 627 776
1 petabyte (1 PB) 1 PB = 1024 TB 1 125 899 906 842 624

Note: 1024 × 1024 = 1 048 576 and so on. Which means 1MB= 1024
KB

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Primary memory
RAM vs ROM

RAM (Random Access Memory) ROM (Read Only Memory)

Stores currently active programs Stores certain fixed routines such

and their data as the bootup routines

Volatile: when the computer is Non-volatile: when the computer

switched off the contents are lost is switched off, the contents are
(Temporary) not lost (Permanent)
The contents of RAM can be The contents of ROM cannot be
changed or deleted deleted or changed.

Variations of ROM
• PROM (Programmable Read Only Memory): can be modified only once by a
user. Thereafter, It can be programmed only once and is not erasable.
• EPROM (Erasable and Programmable Read Only Memory):can be erased by
exposing it to ultra-violet light.
• EEPROM (Electrically Erasable and Programmable Read Only
Memory): programmed and erased electrically. It can be erased and
reprogrammed about ten thousand times

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Secondary Storage Devices

Storage device: the hardware that saves (writes) or reads the data
from storage medium e.g. hard disk drive, CD/DVD drive, card
reader, USB port etc

Storage medium: The device that actually holds the

data (‘media’ is the plural).e.g. memory stick, CD/DVD,
magnetic tape, external hard disk, hard disk, memory card etc

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Secondary Storage Devices

 Magnetic media
 Fixed Hard disk- Available on all computers and is the main
method used for data storage. Used to store OS and
working data
 External Hard disk- Like fixed hard disks but are usually
connected via USB. Used as backup systems to prevent loss
of data
 Magnetic tapes- 1TB + : large volumes of data
 Optical media
 CD-700MB: Audio and small amounts of data
 DVD-4.7GB: Standard definition movies and data
 Blu-ray disk- (25 GB – 128 GB): HD video and large amounts
of data
 Solid State media
 memory stick- saving and transferring documents
 Memory card- Used in Smart phones, digital cameras, MP3
players etc

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Types of computers

Computers are classified according to:

 Physical size
 Purchasing price (cost)
 Storage capacity
 Processing speed/CPU speed
 Purpose of use
 Number of concurrent users
The types of computers are:
 Super computers
 Mainframecomputers
 Minicomputers
 microcomputers

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Types of computers

Physical size Purchasing cost Processing Number of concurrent

speed users
Microcomput Smallest Cheapest Least powerful Operates as a
er standalone computer
Mini Bigger More expensive More powerful It can support up to
Computer compared to compared to compared to 400 users at a time
microcomput microcomputer microcomputer
er
Mainframe Huge More expensive More powerful Can support 100-1000
compared to compared to users at a time
mini computers minicomputer
Super Big Most expensive Most powerful Can support 1000+
computer users connected at a
time

Purpose of use
Microcomputer: used by individuals to run end user applications (home or office use)
Minicomputer: used in medium sized organisations to run commercial applications. Used
as a server computer
Mainframe: used in large organisations like banks, insurance companies for bulk data
processing
Super computers: used in areas that require sophisticated calculations e.g. scientific
simulations, nuclear science

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