CHAPTER TWO

Organization of
Computer System

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 System:
 A group of components that work together to attain a
common goal.
 Computer system:
 Composed of Hardware and Software Components.

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 Hardware:
 A physical or tangible part of computer system.
 i.e. components that can be touched and seen.

 Software:
 A logical or intangible part of computer system.
 A set of instructions given to the computer in the form of
programs or procedures in order to accomplish any
specified task.
 A program is a sequence of instructions written to solve a
particular problem.

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RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE

 hardware & software share special relationship.

 both hardware and software are complementary to
each other.
 If hardware is the 'heart' of a computer system, then
software is its 'soul'.
 The computer without software constitutes just the
hardware only or is just like a dead machine.
 So, without software, the hardware is merely a set of
electronic gear with no capability of problem solving.
 Both hardware and software are necessary for a
computer to do useful job.

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 HARDWARE COMPONENTS

 The hardware components of the computer system can

be divided into four major categories:
1. Input Unit Central Processing Unit

2. Processing Unit Control Unit Arithmetic Logical

(CU) Unit (ALU)

3. Storage Unit
Registers

4. Output Unit
Input
Unit Primary Memory Output
Unit
Random Access Read Only Memory
Memory (RAM) (ROM)

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Secondary Storage Unit
CONT..

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 1. INPUT UNIT
 It accepts instructions and data from the user and
communicates them to the computer.
 its basic task is to gather the data and convert it
into the form that the computer can understand.
 makes link between user and computer.

 constitutes various Input Devices; such as:

 Keyboard
 Pointing devices
 Scanner
 Microphone
 Digital camera
 Bar Code Reader
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 KEYBOARD
 the most common data entry or input device.
 the first input device developed for the PC.
 allow data entry into a computer system by pressing
a set of keys.
 converts letters, numbers and other characters
into electrical signals that are machine readable
by the computer’s processor.

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 POINTING DEVICES

 Pointing devices are used:

 to point objects on the desktop
 to control the position of the cursor on the screen.
 to communicate with the computer by pointing to locations on
the monitor screen

 Some of the common pointing devices are:

 Mouse
 Joy Stick

 Light pen

 Track Ball

 Touchpad

 Touch Screen
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 CONT…
Mouse:
 It is a small, handy pointing device; containing usually
two buttons.
 Primary button (Left button)
 Secondary button (Right Button)
 and a scrolling button in the middle

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 CONT…
 Mouse contains a rolling ball at its base which senses
the movement of mouse and sends corresponding
signals to CPU when the mouse buttons are pressed.

 Mouse can be used to control the position of cursor

on screen;
 but it cannot be used to enter text into the computer.

 Basic operations of mouse:

 Selection (Single click)
 Giving Commands (Double click)
 Dragging Objects (By pressing mouse button)
 Dropping Objects (By releasing mouse button)

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 CONT…
Joystick:
 Its function is similar to that of a mouse.

 It is mainly used:
 in Computer Aided Designing(CAD)
 playing computer games.

 It is a stick having a spherical ball

at its both lower and upper ends.
 The lower spherical ball moves in

a socket.
 The joystick can be moved in all four

directions.
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 CONT…
Light Pen:
 It is used to select a displayed menu item or draw
pictures on the monitor screen.
 It consists of a photocell and an optical system placed in a
small tube.
 When the tip of a light pen is moved over the monitor screen
and pen button is pressed, its photocell sensing element
detects the screen location and sends the corresponding
signal to the CPU.

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 CONT…
Track Ball:
 mostly used in notebook or laptop computer, instead of
a mouse.
 This is a ball which is half inserted and by moving
fingers on ball, pointer can be moved.

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 SCANNER
 It is used when some information is available on a paper
and it is to be transferred to the hard disc of the
computer for further manipulation.
 It captures images from the source which are then
converted into the digital form that can be stored on
the disc.

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 MICROPHONE
 used to input sound or voice data that is then stored
in digital form.
 used for various applications like adding sound to a
multimedia presentation or for mixing music.
 without microphones, computers would not have sound
data in them.

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 DIGITAL CAMERAS
 Digital cameras are photoelectrical devices that enter
image data to computers.

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 BAR CODE READER
 It is a device used for reading bar coded data (data in form
of light and dark lines).
 It scans a bar code image, converts it into an alphanumeric
value which is then fed to the computer to which bar code
reader is connected.

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 2. PROCESSING UNIT
 it is commonly known as CPU.
 considered as the brain of the computer.

 it is the computing part of the computer system.

 CPU performs all types of data processing operations

 It is also responsible for activating and controlling

the operations of other units of a computer system.
 It stores data, intermediate results and instructions.

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 CONT…
 Components of CPU:
1. Control Unit (CU)
2. Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU)
3. Register
 The three subcomponents work together to provide the
operational capabilities of the computer.

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 CONT…
1. Control Unit

 It controls the operations of all parts of computer but

does not carry out any actual data processing operations.
 It does not process or store data.

 It fetches the program instruction from the primary

storage unit, interprets them, and ensures correct
execution of the program.

 It directs the instructions in the form of electronic

signals, to the rest of the computer components (input
unit, ALU, memory and output unit).
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 CONT…
2. Arithmetic Logic Unit

 It performs all Arithmetic (+, -, *, / ) and Logical operations

(comparing, selecting, matching and merging) of data
 And also it controls the speed of those operations.
 All complex operations are done by making repetitive use
of above operations.

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 CONT…
 CU and ALU are separate from memory, and known as
Processor.

 Processors used in Microcomputers are known as

Microprocessors.

 The Processor executes the given instructions and

manipulates data into information.

 It is the expensive part of the computer.

 Processor and other components necessary to make

the computer to function are housed in a main circuit
board called the Mother Board or the System
Board.
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 CONT…
3. Registers
 They are special purpose, high speed temporary units.
 They hold various types of information such as data,
instructions, addresses and the intermediate results
of calculations.
 they hold the information that the CPU is currently
working on.
 Registers can be thought as CPU’s working memory.

 As soon as a particular instruction or piece of data is

processed, the next instruction immediately replaces it,
and the information that results from the processing is
returned to main memory.
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 3. STORAGE /MEMORY UNIT
 It is used for storing data and instructions for future
use and references.
 It supplies the stored information to the other units
of computer when required.

 It also provides space for:

 storing data and instructions,
 intermediate results
 the final results.
 has two types:
1. Primary (main) memory
2. Secondary memory.

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 1. PRIMARY (MAIN) MEMORY
 It holds only those data and instructions on which
computer is currently working.
 Processor directly stores and retrieves information
from it.
 It has limited capacity

 It is volatile; data is lost in case power is switched off.

 A computer cannot run without primary memory.

 It is divided into two subcategories:

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

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 CONT…
 RAM:
 It is read & write memory which stores data until the
machine is working.
 As soon as the machine is switched off, data is erased. i.e.
it is volatile.
 Data in the RAM can be accessed randomly.
 RAM is small, both in terms of its physical size and in
the amount of data it can hold

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 CONT…
 ROM:
 The processor can only read, but cannot write on it.
 Information stored in this memory can be used only for
reading purpose and it cannot be modified.
 The information is stored permanently in such memories
during manufacture.
 It is non-volatile
 ROM is also called as BIOS (Basic Input Output System).
 All types of ROM are called FIRMWARE.
 Firmware is a software built into the Hardware

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 2. SECONDARY MEMORY
 Also known as external/ backup memory.
 used for storing data/information permanently for
future use/reference.
 They are non-volatile; data is permanently stored even
if power is switched off.
 CPU does not access directly these memories instead
they are accessed via input-output routines.
 Contents of secondary memories are first transferred
to main memory, and then CPU can access it.
 Computer may run without secondary memory.
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 CONT…
 Example: Hard disks, Magnetic Taps, CD-ROM, DVD,
Floppy Disks, Removable Flash Disk, etc.

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 CONT…
 Hard Disks :
 They are also called as Non-removable disk or Rigid Disk
fixed inside the computer.
 They can contain more volume of data.
 They are available in many sizes such as:
 40GB, 80GB, 120GB, 160GB, 320GB, 500GB, 640GB, even more.


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 CONT…
 The following terms are used to denote the capacity of
the memory
 Bit - Binary digit – Either 0 or 1 – Smallest unit of
measurement.
 Byte – Group of 8 Bits
 The memory capacity is generally expressed in multiples
of Byte.
 Kilo Byte (KB); 1 KB =210= 1024 Bytes
 Mega Byte (MB); 1 MB = 220=1024 KB
 Giga Byte (GB); 1 GB =230= 1024 MB
 Tera Byte (TB); 1 TB =240= 1024 GB
 Peta Byte (PB) ; 1 PB =250= 1024 TB
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 4. OUTPUT UNIT
 The job of an output unit is just the reverse of that
of an input unit.

 It supplies the information obtained as a result of

data processing to the outside world.

 Output unit communicates the result to the user.

 The devices are used to receive the results from

the CPU after processing, then they translate the
information processed by the computer into a form
that humans can understand.

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 FORMS OF OUTPUT
 There are two outputs which can be easily understood
and used by human beings.

1. Hard copy output

 The physical form of output.
 Any printed information is called hard copy output.

2. Soft copy output:

 The electronic version of an output which usually resides
in computer memory and/or on disk.
 Any information displayed on the screen is called softcopy
output.

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 OUTPUT DEVICES
Monitor:
➢ It is also called as Display devices

➢ It is a soft copy output devices.

➢ It displays information in the human readable form.

Flat panel display

Cathode-ray tube (CRT)

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 CONT…

Projector:
 It provides a temporary softcopy output.

 It is used to project information from a computer on to

a large screen.
 It can be simultaneously viewed by a large group of
people.

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 CONT…

Printer:
 also called as Hardcopy output devices.

 used to print information on paper.

Dot-matrix printer

Laser printer 37
 CONT…
Plotter:
 it is also a hard copy output.

 It produces high quality color graphics output by

using pens for creating images.
 It is used to draw high resolution charts, graphs,
maps, and other line based diagrams.
 It also helps to draw maps from stored data.

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 CONT…

Speakers:
 They are sound producing output devices.

 They are used in multimedia systems.

 They are ideal for virtual classrooms, together with

display.

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 SOFTWARE COMPONENTS

Types of software:
1. System Software
2. Application Software

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 1. SYSTEM SOFTWARE
 It is also called the Boss of the computer.
 It manages the computer’s basic operations,

 Allows the computer to run applications software and

the user to interact with the computer.
 System software tells the computer

 how to interpret data and instructions;

 how to communicate with peripheral equipments
like mouse, keyboard, printers etc;
 how to use the hardware in general.
 It controls and coordinates the computer hardware
 It acts as intermediate between the user and the
hardware. 41
 CONT…

 Depending up on the functionality, the System Software

can be further divided in to two:

A. System Management Programs

B. System Development Programs

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 A. SYSTEM MANAGEMENT PROGRAMS

 mainly deal with the managerial functions of the

computer system as a whole, to check whether the
computer is properly functioning or not.

 includes an integrated system of programs that

manages the operation of the processor and storage
resources and also control input/output.

 Classified into three types:

i. Operating Systems
ii. Device Drivers
iii. Utility Programs

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 CONT…
i. Operating System (OS)
 it is system software containing a set of programs called the
supervisor that manage the basic operations of a
computer.
 Flexibility of the computer usage depends on OS.
 Without the OS loaded into the computer, all hardware
and other software are useless.
 When the computer is switched on the OS is automatically
loaded into the main memory or RAM of the computer.
 This process of loading the OS into the RAM of the
computer is called Booting the computer.
 Examples: MS-DOS, Ms-Windows 98/2000, UNIX, LINUX
etc.
 OS performs the following basic tasks such as:
 Recognizing input from keyboard
 Sending output to the display screen

 Keeping track of files and directories on a disk 44

 Controlling peripheral devices.
 CONT…

ii. Device Drivers

 Each and every device (input or output) connected to the
computer requires relevant software, which makes the
device to communicate or interact with the CPU.
 The software that makes the devices to communicate or
interact with the CPU is called the device driver.
 The device drivers for commonly used device may be
available along with the OS itself.
 The device drivers for the optional devices used with the
computers may be supplied by the device manufacturer.
 Without these device drivers any device connected to the
computer is useless and cannot be used.

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 CONT…

iii. Utility Programs

 They are generally used to support, enhance or expand
existing programs in a computer system.
 Examples
 Backup
 to duplicate the data or information for safety.
 Data Recovery
 to restore data that is physically damaged or corrupted.
 Virus Protection
 antivirus software which will eliminate viruses from affected files
or protect files from being infected from viruses.
 Data Compression
 to compress huge files and save memory storage.

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 B. SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS
 used by the programmers to develop new programs.

 associated with the development of computer

programs.
 The program developer needs certain tools to build
software which include an appropriate computer
language, translators, linker and loader.

 These (program development) tools allow programmers

to write and construct programs that the OS can
execute.
 Example: C++, COBOL, FORTRAN, Java

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 2. APPLICATION SOFTWARE
 It is designed to solve a specific problems (of the user)

 It is developed to do user specific tasks, such as word

processing, spreadsheet and database management.

 It is a set of related programs designed to carry out

certain tasks that fulfill users’ specific needs.

 It is developed using the language software.

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 CONT…
Basically, there are four categories of application software.
1. Productivity Software:
 The purpose of this software is to make the users more
productive at performing general tasks.
 Example: word processing, spread sheets, presentation, database
managers, accounting etc.
2. Home / Personal software:
 The purpose of this software is mainly for domestic and personal
use.
 Example: cook books, medical guide, gardening, etc.
3. Education / Reference software:
 The purpose of this software is mainly to learn any subject or to
refer for additional information.
 Example: Encyclopedia, Dictionaries, (CBT), etc.
4. Entertainment software:
 The purpose of this software is for entertainment and time
passing.
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 Example: games.
END!

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