The main components of the system unit. The main components of the system unit

In this article, we will look at what is the system unit.

Go!

So, all the components of the computer system unit can be divided into two categories.

First of them, includes something without which the PC will not work at all:

• Frame.
• HDD.
• CPU.
• Power Supply.
• Motherboard.
• Cooling system.
• RAM.

• Video card.
• Optical disc drive (CD, DVD, Blu Ray).
• Card reader.
• TV-map.
• Audio card.
• Satellite map.

The main components that make up the system

Frame. Designed for compact arrangement and fixation of all other PC components. Sometimes they come with a built-in power supply. Several standards (ATX) have been released that describe the allowable sizes of motherboards and power supplies that can be installed in these cases. May have built-in ports:

USB.
Audio (miniJack).
eSATA.
IEEE 1394.

HDD. This is a non-volatile memory device for storing information. For PCs, hard drives are almost always used, form factor 3.5 ?? and a rotation speed of 7200 rpm. There are three types of hard drives:

• HDD. The noisiest, but the cheapest. In terms of write / read speed in third place. In the event of a failure, the data can be recovered. Afraid of shock loads. The resource is practically unlimited.
• SSD. Silent, not afraid of bumps and falls, the highest possible speed. If it breaks, the data cannot be recovered. The resource is limited. The most expensive.
• H-HDD. A rare variety of hard drives. This is a hybrid of the above two models. Main memory on HDD + 1.5-2% of the total volume on SSD.

You can install several hard drives in one system unit. Some motherboards allow you to form RAID arrays from them.

CPU. A set of integrated circuits located on one module. All computational processes take place in it.
The performance of the PC depends on the speed of the processor. All modern processors are multi-core. Everyone has Cash. This is a kind of RAM of the processor. It is divided into three levels - L1, L2, L3.

Power Supply. It is selected taking into account the case, motherboard and power. It has a certain number of connectors for connecting the components of the system unit.

Motherboard. A device for interfacing all PC components. Its choice determines the type of processor and RAM. Almost all motherboards have integrated audio and video cards. Their capabilities are more than enough for watching movies, listening to music and even for simple games. The motherboard configuration is characterized by:

USB3.0 and 2.0 port controllers
PCI Express ports and PSI ports.
Network Controller.
Channels for connecting devices with SATA interface.
Number of slots for RAM modules.

Cooling system. Cooler and radiator. The minimum quantity in one system unit is 2 pcs. One is mounted on the processor, the second on the power supply. 96% of the noise of the system unit is produced by coolers of the cooling system. Some processors are sold immediately, with a cooler and a heatsink, in which case they have a prefix in the name "BOX". There is a rare water cooling system. It is 3-3.5 times more expensive, but it works silently.

RAM. This is a set of chips that store the data necessary for the operation of the PC at the current moment. Installed in special sockets on the motherboard. On some boards, you can install immediately up to 4 planks. It is very important that all modules are from one party. The clock frequency (speed of information exchange with the processor) and the amount of RAM directly affect the performance of the PC. When the system unit is turned off, all data from the RAM is deleted.

Secondary elements that make up the system unit

From the entire list of the second part, it is highly desirable to have a video card and a drive in the system unit, and the rest are less important:

video card, needed for games and work with complex video editing programs. It is installed on all productive computers, but for the average user, for whom social networks, Skype and the like are primarily important, it is generally not important. But without installing a video card, the main processor of the computer must be with an integrated graphics core.

Optical disc drive. Of the three types:

• CD drive. Outdated standard.
• DVD drive. The most common option.
• Blu-ray drive. More perfect look. But quite expensive.

The remaining components of the system unit do not play a significant role for the average user, and have a narrow specialization. For example:

Card reader. A device that allows you to connect memory cards to the system unit.

Audio card, required for 7.1 surround sound effect.

TV card(TV tuner), allows you to watch and record TV programs.

satellite map, processes the signal received by the satellite dish.

Now you fully know what the system unit of a computer consists of and you can easily give exact definition for any of the components: video card, processor, hard disk, RAM and so on.

In this article, we will consider in detail what elements a personal computer consists of, how it all looks, what function it performs. This article is more suitable for beginners, but more experienced users will surely find something for themselves.

First of all, let's define a computer:

Personal computer, PC (from the English personal computer, PC) or PC (personal electronic computer)- a desktop micro-computer having the performance characteristics of a household appliance and universal functionality.

Initially, the computer was created as a computing machine, but the PC is also used for other purposes - as a means of accessing information networks and as a platform for multimedia and computer games.

A typical personal computer that you have at home or at work consists of the following parts:

• System unit;
• Monitor;
• Information input devices;
• Additional or peripheral devices (printer, scanner, webcam, etc.);

System unit

The main component of any computer is the system unit. System blocks come in different types, both in design and size. Horizontal and vertical.

The system unit contains all the components of a modern computer, in fact, thanks to which the computer works.

The main elements of the system unit:

• Frame;
• Power Supply;
• Motherboard;
• CPU;
• RAM;
• Video card;
• Sound card;
• HDD;
• Drive (optical drive);
• Cooling system;

All elements are closely related to each other and work as a whole.

Let's look at each element in more detail.

Frame

The case of the system unit is the outer shell of the system unit of a personal computer, which protects the internal elements from physical impact. The case is of great importance for the stable operation of the computer. For example, a well-thought-out cooling system inside the case, a guarantee of stable computer operation and a guarantee against overheating.

Power Supply

In order for all the elements of the system unit to work, we need a power supply. As the name implies, the power supply supplies power to all components of the system unit. At the moment, the most popular power supplies in terms of power: 450, 500 and 600 W. On powerful computers, which include gaming, more powerful power supplies are installed.

Motherboard

The motherboard is a complex multi-layer printed circuit and the largest board of the system unit. The main task of the motherboard is to connect all the elements into one computing system.

CPU

The processor on the motherboard is responsible for all computing operations and information processing. No matter how trite it may sound, but the better and newer (respectively more expensive) the processor, the faster and in greater volume it will perform operations. However, the most powerful processor does not guarantee fast computer performance, while the rest of the system unit components are very outdated.

RAM

Random access memory or RAM is a random access memory. It is intended for temporary and quickly accessible data storage, for transfer to the processor for processing. For example, running programs in the background or hidden mode, clipboard, etc. The more RAM installed on the computer, the faster you can expect.

video card

Video card - just like the motherboard, a complex multi-layer printed circuit board is inserted into a connector on the motherboard. A video card can be either built-in (integrated) or external, as a separate board. The main function of a video card is to form and display an image on a computer screen. The power of the integrated video card is often enough only to use office applications and "surf" the Internet.

Sound card

Sound card - processing and outputting sound to the computer speakers. There are times when the built-in sound card fails or the user is not satisfied with the sound quality of the songs, then an external sound card is installed.

HDD

A hard disk or hard disk drive is a storage device designed to store information. It is on the hard drive that all your data is stored and the operating system Windows (Linux) is installed. SSD drives are gaining popularity these days.

Drive

Now disks are becoming less and less popular, USB flash drives have come to replace them. But there are times when a disk drive, or as it is also called an "optical drive", is simply necessary. When you need something to read the disk, install Windows or drivers on your computer.

Cooling system

The cooling system is a system of fans that is used to remove warm air from the components of the system unit and supply cold air from the external environment.

Article continued:

Computer device. What does computer consist of. Part 2. Peripherals.

The system unit is intended for use as part of a personal computer and a monitor, input devices and peripheral devices are already connected to it. The architecture of the system unit is modular, which allows, if necessary, to reconfigure the computer to add or strengthen components. Outwardly, all system units are similar, the main difference is their design and filling.

A case with a power supply installed in it.

On the front panel of the case is the "Power" button, which is designed to turn the computer on and off. This button does not disconnect the system unit from AC power, but only sends a signal to the motherboard. Software errors can cause the computer to stop responding to a single press of the "Power" button, that is, "freeze". In this case, press and hold this button for more than 4s. When this button is pressed once, when the operating system is running, active applications are closed and the work is completed.
Most units have a "Reset" button, which also serves to restart the computer in the event of an operating system freeze. In addition, the front panel has a power-on indicator (lits when power is applied), a hard disk access indicator (lits when accessing the HDD or optical drive), as well as the front panels of the FDD (floppy disk drive) and optical drive.
The installed power supply provides the conversion of alternating current of the 220V power supply network into direct current, which is necessary to power all computer components. Power supplies installed in computers may have different power ratings (300, 350, 400W or more), depending on the configuration of the computer. In any case, the power reserve should be enough not only to power the devices included with the purchase, but also for those that you can add later. When installing components with increased power consumption, you should consult with specialists.
In order to avoid damage to the system unit or its parts due to unstable power supply, it is recommended to connect the computer through a surge protector, which suppresses short-term power surges, or through an uninterruptible power supply, which ensures the operation of the computer for some time even when completely disconnected from the electrical networks.

Motherboard.

The most important part of the system unit is the motherboard. It is used to install and combine various components into one. On the system board are microcircuits that form the so-called "chipset". It is he who determines its main characteristics. There are many special connectors on the motherboard in which components are installed. Very often, manufacturers immediately integrate such devices as a video adapter, network adapter, sound adapter, FireWire adapter, WiFi, etc. on the motherboard.

CPU.

It's no secret that computer performance depends on many factors and the correct selection of components, but first of all it depends on the processing power of the installed processor. Computers are most often equipped with Intel® or AMD® processors.
Modern processors have increased heat dissipation and are always supplied with a cooling system (radiator + fan). Through software tools, you can control the temperature of the processor and change the fan speed.

RAM.

RAM or RAM is designed to store program code and intermediate results of calculations. It is volatile, that is, when the power is turned off, all information contained in it disappears. Depending on the model of the motherboard, a completely different amount of modules can be installed. To increase the amount of RAM, most motherboards have additional slots. The type of installed modules depends on the model of the motherboard. Installing modules of an incompatible type can damage your computer. To avoid this, we recommend that you increase the RAM in service centers that provide computer assistance and computer repair services.

Video adapter.

The video adapter is used to display the image on the monitor. In addition, it is he who is engaged in the processing of three-dimensional graphics. The performance of 3D applications (first of all, games) depends mainly on the type of video adapter installed. Depending on the computer model, it can be integrated (installed directly on the system board) or made as a separate board installed in PCI Express slots. Some computer models are equipped with both types of video adapters.

Sound adapter.

Serves to form an audio signal and output sound to acoustic systems (speakers or headphones). Depending on the computer model, it is possible to connect different sets of acoustics: from a simple stereo system consisting of two speakers to multi-channel sets (5.1 or 7.1) used to create a home theater.

Hard disk ("hard drive").

A hard drive or hard disk drive is a device for storing programs and data. Depending on the model of the purchased computer, they may differ in volume and connection interface. The volume of the drive can be from 80 to 500 or more GB. The controller interface can be Parallel ATA (ATA100/133) and/or Serial ATA (I or II).

Optical drive.

An optical drive is used to read and write optical discs. Depending on the computer model, CD-ROM (for reading CDs), DVD-ROM (for reading CDs and DVDs), Combo DVD/CD-RW (for reading CDs and DVDs and burning CDs), DVD -RW (For reading and writing all types of discs).

Floppy Disk Drive (FDD).

In some computer models, if necessary, a 3.5 "FDD drive is installed. However, recently it has been used less and less and in many models it may be missing or replaced with a card reader - a device for reading information from flash cards of various types.

TV tuner.

In some models of multimedia computers, a TV tuner may be installed, a device designed to receive a television broadcast signal and display a video image on a monitor. Details on its connection and use can be found in the user manual for the TV tuner.

Other devices.

Depending on the model of the purchased computer, in addition to the above required devices, the system unit may include other devices. These include the IEEE-1394 (FireWire) interface designed to connect high-speed external devices (external storage devices, DV-camera, etc.). Some computer models may have a modem installed - a device designed to exchange information between remote computers via telephone lines.

Dear friends, in today's lesson we will consider the components of a computer in order to firmly know and, most importantly, understand the principle of interaction between these components.

It is these constituent components that are inside the block that are collectively called the system block. The rest of the devices, such as the monitor, peripherals, mouse, are external components or devices. Moreover, each of the components performs its specific function, for example, the monitor is designed to display information on the display, the keyboard - to enter information, the printer - to print information on paper, displayed on the computer display.

I believe that each user wants to understand his computer technology himself, namely, independently carry out preventive work of his computer, have an idea about the structure of the computer, and also quickly find and fix faults that caused a malfunction. After all, the ability to understand the computer itself begins precisely with the very purchase of a computer, since the user must decide on the functional purpose of his computer. When buying a computer, you need to clearly define what you need it for?

The selection of a computer directly depends on the choice of the configuration of the components. It is possible to buy the first computer that comes along that is "stuffed" with high configuration requirements that will not match the work you do on it, while you will, of course, pay a high price for it. Why, you ask? After all, the easiest way is to have at least the slightest idea about the computer, having sufficiently studied its components, requirements, as well as the selection of system elements for the absence of conflicts in the computer.

Well, it's time to move on to the study of these very components of the computer. Well, if you are interested in the history of the creation of a computer, then you.

- is the central part of the computer, which includes the power supply and components that ensure the functioning of the computer.

1. - provides electrical power to all components of the system unit. It is worth noting that at the time of writing this lesson, 450, 550 and 750 W power supplies are being produced. For example, it is advisable to use 1500 W power supplies in servers. When buying a power supply, first of all, it is necessary to take into account the requirements that apply to the video card. If the power supply matches the parameters of the video card, then the power distribution occurs evenly for other elements of the system.

2. - is considered the "basis" of the computer, since it is the motherboard that unifies and functions all the components of the computer. Also called the motherboard is also called the system board or the main board. Such coordinated work is provided thanks to the chipset, which mainly consists of two microcircuits, which are called the north and south bridges. So, I propose to consider these two microcircuits.

The North Bridge is called the system controller, which contains elements of logic to ensure the interconnection and functioning of the main components of the computer (video card, memory modules).

Southbridge - called a peripheral controller, which serves as a kind of input-output device for connecting additional composite components. For example, the keyboard is provided by a southbridge connection to the system. Therefore, when you choose a computer for yourself, it is advisable to find out on what basis the motherboard was made of the chipset. Currently, chipsets are produced by such large companies as Nvidia, ATI/AMD, Intel, SiS. I.e chipset on the motherboard should be made by a more well-known company. The figure shows a view of the motherboard.

Motherboard sizes vary. There is such a thing as a board form factor, which determines not only the dimensions of the main board, but also the configuration of the location of elements, connectors on the board. Based on the form factor of the main board, the system unit case is selected.

As you can see, the board contains various types of connectors and slots for connecting, for example, external, additional devices (starting with a flash drive and ending with a printer, scanner). In addition, there are pins on the board for connecting various buttons, such as power, reset, microphone, displaying indicators.

It should also be noted that there is a ROM chip on the motherboard or, as it is also called, the basic input-output system BIOS(Basic Input Output System). The BIOS is considered the foundation for managing and interacting with all elements of the system unit. In other words, the process of starting a computer and ensuring interaction with external devices occurs due to certain settings that are pre-installed in the system itself.

For example, in the BIOS, we can set the prohibition of reading and recognizing flash drives, optical drives, and also completely change the boot order of the operating system. Moreover, the BIOS itself can start even if there is no hard disk in the system unit. There is also such a thing as "zeroing the BIOS", what does this mean? I answer you that resetting the BIOS is a return of the system to its original settings. To reset, just remove the battery from the motherboard for 10-15 minutes. There is only one battery on the board, I think you will find it, you will not be mistaken.
3. - is the main part of the computer, we can say that it is the "brain" of the computer, which performs calculations and information processing. The processor is characterized by two parameters:

1. Bit depth - the amount of information processed by the processor at one time.

2. Speed ​​- the frequency with which this processing occurs. Currently, two, three, four processors are widely used to increase these parameters. For example, in a dual-core processor, there are two processors that are located on the same chip.

4. Video card - serves as a kind of link for connecting the monitor to the motherboard. The main purpose of a video card in a computer is to process graphic information. Another video card is called a graphics editor. Currently, video card manufacturers are the American company Nvidia (also known as GeForce) and the Canadian ATI Technologies. Video cards from ATI Technologies are also called Radeon. Next, consider the main parts of the graphics adapter:

1. Graphic processor - a processor whose main task is to ensure the performance of all kinds of calculations in order to display the given graphic information on the display.

2. Video controller - provides the formation and transmission of data from video memory to a digital-to-analog converter (DAC).

3. Video memory - serves as a cache memory, where the images displayed on the display are temporarily stored.

4. Digital-to-analog converter (DAC) - the main task is to convert the digital signals of the video card into analog.

5. Video - (read-only memory) - is a microcircuit that stores certain rules and algorithms to ensure operation and interaction with other elements of the board.

6. Radiators are a cooling system that removes heat from the video processor, video memory in order to ensure the specified temperature regime on the elements of the video card.

5. RAM modules (random access memory) - are boards with microcircuits placed on them. The main task of RAM is to temporarily store data for the processor. In other words, RAM is responsible for processing processor commands. RAM modules can be placed on the board depending on the configuration of the motherboard.

The speed of RAM is represented by the frequency of its bus. There are the following types of RAM: SDRAM, DDR2, DDR3.

RAM modules are installed in special slots on the motherboard called slots.

In addition, it should be noted that the main characteristic of RAM is the processing speed and volume. The amount of RAM when buying a computer must correspond depending on the purpose of this computer, as well as on the installed operating system. If the computer does not have enough RAM, then when you run resource-intensive applications, the computer's performance will decrease significantly, because the computer will turn to .

6. Winchester (Hard Drive) is a device that stores all our data. Compared to RAM, data on a hard drive is stored permanently, even after the computer is restarted or turned off. By design, a hard drive is a small board on which microcircuits are located, as well as one or more plates that rotate at high speed and an engine that ensures the rotation of the plates. differs in high reliability, durability and not high cost.

There is also another type of storage device - it is an SSD (solid state drive), which differs from a hard drive in that it has no moving parts. This type of device has low energy consumption, small dimensions compared to hard drives, and no noise. But the cost of such devices for storing information is much higher than the cost of hard drives, and they fail much more often.

We list the main characteristics of storage devices:

1. Data storage capacity - this parameter determines the amount of information that can fit on the disk.

2. Spindle speed - represents the number of revolutions made by the plate in one minute. The characteristic determines such parameters as reliability, performance. It should be noted that in stationary computers, the spindle speed is up to 15,000 rpm. If you are buying a laptop, then I recommend that you pay attention to the spindle speed (the lower the better) in order to ensure that you work at the computer without noise and vibration.

3. Interconnection with the main board - implies a way to connect to the main board. The first hard drives were connected using the PATA interface. At present, it is becoming more and more popular SATA interface.

7. - designed to combine several computers with each other using cables (twisted pair) in order to exchange data.

8. optical drive(CD-ROM, DVD-RW) The purpose of the drive is to read and write data, depending on the configuration of the drive itself. Information is recorded on a CD in the form of tracks that have depressions (called pits) and gaps (called lands). The data is read by a laser.

It should also be noted that there is a so-called optical media Blue ray Disc (which means blue ray in translation). It differs from previous media in that writing and reading is carried out by a blue laser, as well as the possibility of increasing the amount of recorded information.

9. Other devices- here you can list such devices that are designed to perform additional tasks (webcam, TV tuner, microphone, etc.)
This concludes this lesson, I hope the information in this lesson was useful for you and you learned what components your computer consists of! See you in the next lesson!

What components does a laptop consist of, you will learn in this video

What is computer technology? What are its different types? For examples of computer hardware and peripherals, read this article.

By definition, different parts of a computer are part of its hardware. Computer hardware includes the central processing unit, motherboard, microchips, and computer peripherals such as I/O and storage devices that have been added to a computer to enhance its performance. Here is an overview of different types of computer hardware with photos.

Computer components

Here is a list of the main components of a computer along with a list of multimedia devices, network hardware components, and computer peripherals. Together they form a set of computer hardware components.

Main Components

System bus: It is a subsystem that transmits data within a computer. A computer bus provides a logical connection between various computer peripherals. The processors use the control bus to communicate with other devices in the computer. The address bus is used to specify a physical address. The processor, when determining the location of memory, reads or writes on the address bus. The values ​​it needs to read or write are sent to the data bus. Thus, the data bus delivers the processed data. A parallel bus is capable of carrying multiple data in parallel, while a serial bus transmits data in bit form. The internal bus connects the computer's internal components to the motherboard, while the external bus connects external peripherals to the motherboard.

• AGP: Accelerated graphics port, for short, is the attachment point for the video card to the computer motherboard.
• HyperTransport: It is a low latency computer bus that uses high bandwidth and operates in a bidirectional manner.
• PCI:(Component Interconnect - the interaction of peripheral components) refers to the computer's bus connection of peripheral devices to the motherboard.
• PCI Express: This is a computer card interface format.
• USB:(Universal Serial Bus - universal serial bus), acts as an interface to a computer. USB is the most popular device for connecting external devices.
• Quick Path: Also known as the common system interface, QuickPath is a point-to-point interconnect processor that is in close competition with HyperTransport.
• SerialATA: It is a computer bus that allows data to be transferred between storage devices and the motherboard.
• Serial Attached SCSI: This is a point-to-point serial interface. Provides data transfer from storage devices such as hard drives.

It is a set of logical machines that can execute computer programs. The fundamental function of a processor is the execution of a sequence of stored instructions known as programs. During its first step of operation, the processor retrieves instructions from program memory. This stage is known as the "loading" stage. In the "decode" stage, the processor breaks the instructions into parts, and then executes them. During the fourth stage of writeback, the processor writes the results of the processed instructions to memory.

It is attached to the CPU and is used to lower its temperature. Fans in the computer case help maintain a constant airflow, thereby cooling the computer components.

Firmware: It is a computer program that is embedded in a hardware device. It's somewhere between hardware and software. Being part of a computer program, it is similar to software, but at the same time it is closely related to hardware and makes it close to hardware components.

It is the central printed circuit board, PCB for short, that forms the complex electronic system of a computer. The motherboard provides the computer system with all the electrical connections, basic circuitry, and components necessary for it to function.

This component is responsible for supplying power to the computer. It converts AC power from the mains into low voltage DC for the computer's internal components.

Random access memory, abbreviated as RAM, is the physical memory of a computer. It is used to store running programs and is attached to the motherboard.

This is a computer expansion board that allows audio signals to be input and output to and from the computer. Sound cards enable multimedia applications to work with audio components.

A video adapter, also known as a video card, is a hardware component that generates and displays images on a display.

Storage controllers: They are located on the motherboard or on expansion cards. Storage controllers include controllers for hard drives, CD-ROMs, and other devices.

media devices

Devices such as CDs, DVDs, Blu-rays, and flash drives are some of the most popular removable storage media that can store digital data. Tape drives and floppy disks are obsolete. Hard drives and solid state drives are used for internal storage.

CD: Known as CD, Digital Data Storage Device. Standard CDs can store about 80 minutes of audio. The CD-ROM contains data that is readable and cannot be changed. CD-ROMs are used to distribute computer programs and multimedia applications. CD burning uses an optical drive that uses laser light or electromagnetic waves to read and write data to discs.

Digital Versatile Disc: commonly known as digital video disc and abbreviated as DVD, the digital versatile disk is one of the very popular storage media. With physical dimensions similar to a CD, DVDs can store six times more data than CDs. The DVD-ROM drive is used to read data from a DVD. DVD RW is used to read and write data to DVD. DVD-RAM discs allow you to record information on them multiple times. HD DVD is a high density optical disc format.

Disc Array Controller: Disk array controller, it manages physical drives and represents them on the computer as logical units. It almost always implements hardware RAID, thus it is sometimes referred to as a RAID controller. It also provides additional disk cache.

It is a disk made of a thin magnetic data carrier covered with a plastic shell. With the advent of optical storage devices, floppy disks have become obsolete.

Tape drive: This storage device reads and writes data stored on magnetic tape. Tape drives have storage capacities ranging from a few megabytes to several gigabytes. They are mainly used for archival data storage.

It is a non-volatile storage device that stores digital data on a magnetic surface. It is used for medium term data storage.

Solid State Drive: abbreviated SSD, also known as a solid state drive. This storage device uses solid state memory to store persistent data. It can replace a hard drive in many applications, but costs significantly more.

This is the optical format of the disc storage medium. It gets its name from the blue laser that is used to read and write such discs. Due to the short wavelength, Blu-ray discs can store large amounts of data. BD-ROM drive is used to read data from Blu-ray discs, BD-ROM can be used for both reading and writing.

Better known as flash drive. It is a small, removable and rewritable storage device with storage capacities ranging from 64 MB to 64 GB. Due to their high capacity, durability and compact design, they have gained immense popularity in modern times.

The medium capacity floppy disk drive for information storage, developed by Iomega in 1994, had a capacity of about 100 MB, later versions increased the storage capacity to 250 MB, and then 750 MB. The format became the most popular product that filled the portable storage niche in the late 1990s. However, it was never popular enough to replace 3.5-inch floppy disks and could not match the storage size available on rewritable CDs and later rewritable DVDs. Flash drives eventually proved to be the best rewritable media among the general public due to the almost ubiquitous use of USB ports on personal computers, and the large size of Zip drives soon fell out of favor for mass portable storage in the early 2000s.

Network hardware and components

Here is a brief overview of some of the pieces of hardware that make it possible for a computer to be part of a network.

Network Card: It is one of the most important pieces of hardware as it allows a computer to communicate with other computers over a network. It serves as a network carrier and provides the computer with a MAC address system. A network card is also known as a network adapter, LAN (Local area network) card, or NIC (Network Interface Card).

Modem: This device is used for dial-up connections. It demodulates analog signals to decode digital carrier information and modulates analog signals to encode transmitted information.

Routers are not exactly a piece of equipment. Rather, they are devices that are used to interconnect multiple wired and wireless computer networks.

Computer Peripherals

Besides the hardware components of a computer, there are many external devices that are equally important to its functioning. Keyboard, mouse and monitor are the main input and output devices. Joysticks, game controllers, and other pointing devices are commonly used for gaming applications on a computer. Headphones, speakers, microphones, and webcams are widely used to run multimedia applications. Let's look at some examples of these peripherals.

It is an input device whose design is derived from the typewriter. The keyboard consists of several keys installed in a certain way. Each key acts as an electronic switch, producing a letter, number, or symbol entered into a word processor or performing a specific computer operation.

display: Known as a monitor, it is an electrical device that displays images resulting from the video output from a computer.

A computer mouse is a pointing device that detects two-dimensional movement. Mouse movement is translated into pointer movement on the computer display, allowing the user to graphically control the user interface.

This is a pointing device that contains a cursor along with a ball with rotation sensors. Trackballs have found use in special purpose workstations and video games.

They consist of a pair of small speakers that can be held close to the ears. They can be connected to an audio frequency source such as an amplifier or CD player.

This is an acoustic transducer that converts sound signals into electrical ones. Typically, microphones are made up of a diaphragm that vibrates in response to sound. The vibrations are translated into electrical signals.

This peripheral produces paper copies of electronic documents. It is attached to the computer with a peripheral cable or a USB cable. The printer is often produced in combination with a scanner, which serves as a copying tool.

It is a peripheral device that can scan images, handwriting, or objects and convert them into digital images.

This is an input device that is used in video games or entertainment systems to provide input to a video game, typically to control an object or character in a game.

Speaker: External computer speakers that allow computer users to listen to audio files.

A webcam is a small camera that is widely used during video conferencing and instant messaging. They are digital cameras that can upload images to a web server.

It was an introduction to the different kinds of computer hardware. With the development of computer technology, we can look forward to the development of many other hardware components that translate technology into action!