Computing End of year Revision Document

 An input device is something that puts information into a computer. An

example of this is a
keyboard.
 An output device is
something that displays
or takes data out of the
computer. An example
of this is a computer
screen.
 A USB is both an input
and an output device
because it can store
information from the
computer on itself and
information can be
taken from it.
 A printer is an output device.
 The purpose of a computer is to process, store and transmit information.
 A file is a discrete block of information or computer code.
 Under the computer code files are executable files, .exe. These make the
computer perform one or more actions.
 Binaries, .bin. Binary code is the language of a computer, 0 and 1. Binary
code is also an executable file.
 All the other files are used for storing information that can be processed
by a program like Word or Excel.
 Some different types of storage are RAM, ROM, disc drives including
USB, solid state drives, EPROM, Flash drives, optical discs, tape, SAN.
 A computing system is made up of: an input device, a CPU, RAM,
storage and an output device.
 The Computer Misuse act of 1990 stated that anyone who breaks into
someone’s computer without permission is committing a crime.
 Cache memory is storage placed near the CPU so it can be accessed
quickly.
 Cache memory is placed anywhere it can help speed up computer
operations.
 ROM- Read only memory. This means it has a certain set of instructions
burnt into the chip. ROM is permanent. If the system is turned off, the
data stored inside the chip is not lost.
 RAM- Random access memory. RAM is volatile. This means that when
the system is turned off everything stored on the RAM is lost. RAM is
storage. It is often very quick to write information to RAM and read
information from it. RAM can be used by the CPU.

 HTML stands for Hypertext mark-up language. This is the language that
can be used to create web pages.
 Computer code is a set of instructions that are performed by the
computer.


 LAN – Local Area Network. A good example of LAN might be a network

inside an office building or inside a
school.
 WAN – Wide Area Network. A good
example of WAN is the internet.
 You need networking equipment to set up a LAN. However it is generally
cheaper to setup and maintain than
a WAN.
 Setting up a whole wide world WAN
is very expensive, you need lots of
specialist equipment like huge
lengths of cable, satellites and radio
transmitters. It is also very expensive
to maintain.
 A computer needs a NIC or Network
Interface card which can either be
wireless or wired.
 A wireless access point enables a
computer to connect wirelessly to a
Network.
 A wired network uses an Ethernet or CAT5 cable to connect to the
Network.
 However, if you want to connect it to another computer to form a LAN
you need some equipment including some of the following:
 Wireless access points
 Routers
 Switches
 Network Interface Cards (NIC)
 Transmission media
 A wireless access point is a piece of networking hardware that lets a
device connect to a LAN by using Wi-Fi.
 A router looks at a data packet and looks at the receiving IP address and
then sends the packet to that IP address. Routers are like Post offices.
 IP – Internet protocol. In IP every device connected to the internet has
an IP address. An example of an IP address is 192.168.0.1
 Switches create a network by connecting all the computers together and
deciding where the data will go within the network.
 A Network Interface Card (NIC) is built into your PC and plugs into the
motherboard.
 Transmission media is just a fancy way of saying cables and wireless.
  There are lots of cables in computing but the main ones are:
 Ethernet
 Coaxial
 Fibre Optic
 A wireless network is a network composed of wireless access points
connected to the network. A wireless network still has cables.
Networks Positive Negative
Bus It’s cheaper and used for a The network is slow
smaller number of computers.
Used for small businesses.
Ring Faster movement of files and If one computer breaks the
data used for small businesses rest don’t work
Mesh If one pc breaks the rest don’t Expensive ,uses a lot of space
stop working. Same speed or
faster than a ring network.
Star Faster movement of data, less If people try to transfer files to
cables, all stored in one place. the server at the same time
the files will only move as fast
as the server goes. Expensive
choice.

 Latency – a measure of how long it takes data to travel through a

network.
 Ethernet signal degradation – using long cables means the signal decays
over a long distance
 Bandwidth-imagine bandwidth as a pipe of fixed diameter. The pipe can
only handle a certain amount of data at a time or in this case the
bandwidth. If the bandwidth is limited then it will take longer for data to
be passed around a network.
 Thick walls, wet dogs and metal objects can absorb radio waves and thus
degrade the performance and bandwidth of a wireless network.
 Other wireless
networks can
interfere with
the radio
waves,
degrading the
network.
 Magnetic storage media and devices store data in the form of tiny
magnetised dots. These dots are created, read and erased using
magnetic fields created by very tiny electromagnets. In the case of
magnetic tape the dots are arranged along the length of a ling plastic
strip which has been coated with a magnetisable layer (audio and video
tapes use a similar technology). In the case of magnetic discs (floppy disc
or hard drive), the dots are arranged in circles on the surface of a plastic,
metal or glass disc that has a magnetisable coating.
 On a computer system an example of an input device is a keyboard. An
example of an output device is a monitor. Finally, an example of storage
is a USB memory stick.
 4 means of storage are: A USB memory stick
 A hard drive
 SD Cards
 CD-ROM disc
 A WAP or Wireless access point is required to connect to a network
wirelessly. WAPs are usually built into the broadband router. A WAP is a
hardware device on a local area network (LAN) that allows wireless
capable devices and wired networks to connect through a wireless
standard, including Wi-Fi or Bluetooth.
 A router can form a LAN by connecting devices within a building. It also
makes it possible to connect different networks together. Homes and
businesses use a router to connect to the internet.
 A hub broadcasts data to all devices on a network. This can use a lot of
bandwidth as it results in unnecessary data being sent-not all computers
might need to receive the data. A hub would be useful to link up a few
game consoles for a local multiplayer game using a wired LAN.
 A switch performs a similar role to a hub but is more powerful. It stores
MAC addresses of devices on a network and filters data packets to see
which devices have asked for them. This makes a switch more efficient
when demand is high. If, for example, a game involved lots of data being
passed between machines, then a switch could reduce the amount
of latency.