Siddharth Jhatakia

9a
 INDEX
• Hardware (Introduction)
• Types of Hardware
• Motherboard
• Central Processing Unit
• Random Access Memory
• Basic Input Output System
• Power Supply
• Video Display Controller
• Computer Bus
• CD-ROM Drive
• Floppy Disk
• Zip Drive
• Hard Disk
 Introduction of Hardware

Computer hardware equals the collection of physical

elements that comprise a computer system. Computer
hardware refers to the physical parts or components of a
computer such as monitor, keyboard, hard drive disk,
mouse, printers, graphic cards, sound cards, memory,
motherboard and chips, etc all of which are physical
objects that you can actually touch. In contrast, software
is untouchable. Software exists as ideas, application,
concepts, and symbols, but it has no substance. A
combination of hardware and software forms a usable
computing system.
 Types of Hardware

• Mother board • Computer bus

• Central processing unit • CD-Rom drive
• Random access memory • Floppy disk
• Basic input output system • Zip drive
• Power supply • Hard disk
• Video display controller
 Motherboard

A motherboard (sometimes alternatively known as the mainboard,

system board, planar board or logic board,[1] or colloquially, a
mobo) is a printed circuit board (PCB) found in all modern
computers which holds many of the crucial components of the
system, such as the central processing unit (CPU) and memory, and
provides connectors for other peripherals.

Motherboard specifically refers to a PCB with expansion capability -

the board is the "mother" of all components attached to it, which
often include sound cards, video cards, network cards, hard drives
or other forms of persistent storage, TV tuner cards, cards providing
extra USB or Firewire slots, and a variety of other custom
components. (The term mainboard is applied to devices with a
single board and no additional expansions or capability - in modern
terms this would include controlling boards in televisions, washing
machines and other embedded systems, which are not true
motherboards.)
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 Central Processing Unit (CPU)

A central processing unit (CPU), also referred to as a central processor unit is the
hardware within a computer system or smartphone which carries out the instructions
of a computer program by performing the basic arithmetical, logical, and input/output
operations of the system. The term has been in use in the computer industry at least
since the early 1960s The form, design, and implementation of CPUs have changed
over the course of their history, but their fundamental operation remains much the
same.

On large machines, CPUs require one or more printed circuit boards. On

personal computers and small workstations, the CPU is housed in a single
silicon chip called a microprocessor. Since the 1970s the microprocessor class of
CPUs has almost completely overtaken all other CPU implementations. Modern
CPUs are large scale integrated circuits in packages typically less than four
centimeters square, with hundreds of connecting pins.

Two typical components of a CPU are the arithmetic logic unit (ALU), which performs
arithmetic and logical operations, and the control unit (CU), which extracts
instructions from memory and decodes and executes them, calling on the ALU when
necessary.
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 Random Access Memory (RAM)

Random-access memory (RAM) is a form of computer data storage. A random-

access device allows stored data to be accessed in very nearly the same amount of
time for any storage location, so data can be accessed quickly in any random order.
In contrast, other data storage media such as hard disks, CDs, DVDs and
magnetic tape, as well as early primary memory types such as drum memory, read
and write data only in a predetermined order, consecutively, because of mechanical
design limitations. Therefore the time to access a given data location varies
significantly depending on its physical location.

Today, random-access memory takes the form of integrated circuits. Strictly

speaking, modern types of DRAM are not random access, as data is read in bursts,
although the name DRAM / RAM has stuck. However, many types of SRAM, ROM,
OTP, and NOR flash are still random access even in a strict sense. RAM is often
associated with volatile types of memory (such as DRAM memory modules), where
its stored information is lost if the power is removed. Many other types of non-volatile
memory are RAM as well, including most types of ROM and a type of flash memory
called NOR-Flash. The first RAM modules to come into the market were created in
1951 and were sold until the late 1960s and early 1970s.
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 Basic Input Output System (BIOS)

Basic Input/Output System (BIOS), also known as the system BIOS or ROM BIOS
(pron.: /ˈbaɪ.oʊs/), is a de facto standard defining a firmware interface.[1] The name
originated from the Basic Input Output System used in the CP/M operating system
(released in 1976). The BIOS software is built into the PC, and is the first software run
by a PC when powered on. The fundamental purposes of the BIOS are to initialize
and test the system hardware components, and to load an operating system or other
program from a mass memory device. The BIOS provides a consistent way for
application programs and operating systems to interact with the keyboard, display,
and other input/output devices. Variations in the system hardware are hidden by the
BIOS from programs that use BIOS services instead of directly accessing the
hardware.

The BIOS of the original IBM PC/XT had no interactive user interface. Error messages
were displayed on the screen, or coded series of sounds were generated to signal
errors. Options on the PC and XT were set by switches and jumpers on the main
board and on peripheral cards. Modern Wintel-compatible computers provide a setup
routine, accessed at system power-up by a particular key sequence. The user can
configure hardware options using the keyboard and video display.
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Power Supply supplies electrical energy to an output load or group of loads.A power
supply unit (PSU) converts mains AC to low-voltage regulated DC power for the
internal components of a computer. Modern personal computers universally use a
switched-mode power supply. Some power supplies have a manual selector for input
voltage, while others automatically adapt to the supply voltage.
 Video Display Controller

A Video Display Controller or VDC is an integrated circuit which is the main

component in a video signal generator, a device responsible for the production of a
TV video signal in a computing or game system. Some VDCs also generate an
Audio signal, but in that case it's not their main function.

VDCs were most often used in the old home-computers of the 80s, but also in some
early video game systems.

The VDC is always the main component of the video signal generator logic, but
sometimes there are also other supporting chips used, such as RAM to hold the pixel
data, ROM to hold character fonts, or perhaps some discrete logic such as
shift registers were necessary to build a complete system. In any case, it's the VDC's
responsibility to generate the timing of the necessary video signals, such as the
horizontal and vertical synchronisation signals, and the blanking interval signal.

Most often the VDC chip is completely integrated in the logic of the main computer
system, (its video RAM appears in the memory map of the main CPU), but
sometimes it functions as a coprocessor that can manipulate the video RAM contents
independently
 Computer Bus

In computer architecture, a bus is a subsystem that transfers data

between components inside a computer, or between computers.
Early computer buses were parallel electrical wires with multiple
connections, but the term is now used for any physical arrangement
that provides the same logical functionality as a parallel
electrical bus. Modern computer buses can use both parallel and
bit serial connections, and can be wired in either a multidrop
(electrical parallel) or daisy chain topology, or connected by
switched hubs, as in the case of USB.
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 CD-ROM Drive

A drive that is connected to a computer and on which a CD-ROM can

be `played'. It contains data accessible by a computer
 Floppy Disk

A floppy disk, or diskette, is a disk storage medium composed of a disk of thin and
flexible magnetic storage medium, sealed in a rectangular plastic carrier lined with
fabric that removes dust particles. They are read and written by a floppy disk drive
(FDD).

Floppy disks, initially as 8-inch (200 mm) media and later in 5.25-inch (133 mm) and 3.5-
inch (90 mm) sizes, were a ubiquitous form of data storage and exchange from the
mid-1970s well into the first decade of the 21st century.[1]

By 2010, computer motherboards were rarely manufactured with floppy drive support; 3
1⁄2" floppies could be used as an external USB drive, but 5 1⁄4", 8", and non-standard
drives could only be handled by old equipment.

While floppy disk drives still have some limited uses, especially with legacy industrial
computer equipment, they have been superseded by data storage methods with
much greater capacity, such as USB flash drives, portable external hard disk drives,
optical discs, memory cards, and computer networks.
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 Zip Drive

The Zip drive is a medium-capacity removable disk storage system that was
introduced by Iomega in late 1994. Originally, Zip disks launched with
capacities of 100 MB, but later versions increased this to first 250 MB and
then 750 MB.

The format became the most popular of the super-floppy type products which
filled a niche in the late 1990s portable storage market. However it was
never popular enough to replace the 3.5-inch floppy disk nor could ever
match the storage size available on rewritable CDs and later
rewritable DVDs. USB flash drives ultimately proved to be the better
rewritable storage medium among the general public due to the near
ubiquity of USB ports on personal computers and soon after because of the
far greater storage sizes offered.
Zip drives fell out of favor for mass portable storage during the early 2000s. The
Zip brand later covered internal and external CD writers known as Zip-650
or Zip-CD, which had no relation to the Zip drive.
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 Hard Disk

A magnetic disk on which you can store computer data. The term hard is used
to distinguish it from a soft, or floppy, disk. Hard disks hold more data and
are faster than floppy disks. A hard disk, for example, can store anywhere
from 10 to more than 100 gigabytes, whereas most floppies have a
maximum storage capacity of 1.4 megabytes.

A single hard disk usually consists of several platters. Each platter requires two
read/write heads, one for each side. All the read/write heads are attached to
a single access arm so that they cannot move independently. Each platter
has the same number of tracks, and a track location that cuts across all
platters is called a cylinder. For example, a typical 84 megabyte hard disk
for a PC might have two platters (four sides) and 1,053 cylinders.
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