Chapter 2 CSC134: SYSTEM UNIT COMPONENT

Salam, today again I want to post about what I have learn and understand in Chapter 2 of CSC134 subject.
In this chapter 2, it discuss about system unit component of computer.  The system unit itself is a case that contains electronic component of the computer used to process data.   The inside of the system unit on a desktop personal computer includes:

• drive bay(s)
• power supply
• sound card
• video card
• processor
• memory

The 'motherboard' is the main circuit board of the system unit.  A computer chip contain integrated circuits.  The processor, also called the central processing unit (CPU), interprets & carries out the basic instructions that operate a computer.  The control unit is the component of the processor that directs & coordinates most of the operations in the computer.  The arithmetic logic unit (ALU) performs arithmetic, comparison & other operations.

In this chapter 2, I also learned 2 types of memory; volatile memory and nonvolatile memory.
Memory consist of electronic components that store instuctionss waiting to be executed by the processor, data needed by those instructions, and the results of processing the data.  Memory store 3 basic categories of item; 1)  the operating system & other system software. 2)  application programs.   3) data being processed & the resulting information. 

• Volatile memory:  Loses its containts when power is turned off.  Example:  RAM.
• Nonvolatile memory:  Does not lose contents when power is removed.  Examples:  ROM, flash memory &  CMOS.

I also learned about port & connectors.  A port is the point at which a peripheral attaches to or communicates with a system unit (sometimes reffered to as a jack).  A USB port can connect up to 127 diffefent peripheral together with a single connector.  Type of ports are:

• firewire port
• bluetooth port
• SCSI port
• eSATA port
• IrDA port
• serial port
• MIDI port

A connector joins a cable to a port.  On a notebook computer, the ports are on the back, front, and/or sides.  The port types are:

• audio in
• cable tv
• HDMI port
• serial
• speaker
• USB
• Network
• monitor
• firewire
• mouse

In addition, a bluetooth port adapter converts a USB port into a Bluetooth port.  Buses allow the various device both inside & attached to the system unit to communicate with each other. There are 2 types of Buses; 1)  Data bus,  2)  Address bus.