Fundamentals of

Business Information Systems

Chapter 2
Hardware and Software

Ref: Pages 87 – 115, e-Book

 Computer hardware must be carefully selected
to meet the evolving needs of the organisation
and its supporting information system

The computer hardware industry and users are

implementing green computing designs and
products (Ex. Page 68,e-Book)

Systems and application software are critical in

helping individuals and organisations achieve
Principles their goals

Organisations should not develop proprietary

application software unless doing so will meet
a compelling business need that can provide a
competitive advantage

Organisations should choose a programming

language whose functional characteristics are
appropriate for the task at hand, considering
the skills and experience of the programming
staff

The software industry continues to undergo

constant change; users need to be aware of
recent trends and issues to be effective in their
business and personal life
Hardware for
Processing

• Each computer
processes its
input through
one or more
central
processing unit
and primary
storage
Central Processing Unit
(CPU)
Consists of three associated elements:
• The arithmetic/logic unit (ALU) performs mathematical
calculations and makes logical comparisons
• The control unit sequentially accesses program instructions,
decodes them, and coordinates the flow of data in and out
of the ALU, registers, primary and secondary storage, and
various output devices
• Registers are high-speed storage areas used to temporarily
hold small units of program instructions and data
immediately before, during and after execution by the CPU
Computer Memory

RAM – Random Access Memory

Temporary Memory/ROM – Read Only
Memory
Hard disk - Permanent / Additional
memory
Primary Storage

• Primary storage or main memory

provides the CPU with a working storage
area for program instructions and data
• The chief feature of main memory is that
it rapidly provides the data and
instructions to the CPU
• Main memory devices contain thousands
of circuits imprinted on a silicon chip.
Each circuit is either conducting
electrical current (on) or not (off), known
as Binary Digits, or Bits
• Data is stored in memory as a
combination of on or off circuit states,
with each character being represented by
8 bits
 The amount of data that
companies store digitally is
increasing at a rate of close
to 100 percent per year!

Secondary storage, also

called permanent storage,
Secondary allows organisations to
store large amounts of
Storage data and instructions more
permanently than main
memory allows

Compared with main memory,

secondary storage offers the
advantages of non-volatility,
greater capacity and greater
economy
Secondary
Storage Devices
• Magnetic tape
• Magnetic disk
• RAID (redundant array of
independent/inexpensive
disks)
• Virtual Tape
• Optical Discs
• Digital Versatile Disc
• Holographic Disc
• Memory Cards (including
Flash memory)
 Data Input

• Input often requires transferring

human-readable data, such as a sales
order, into the computer system
• ‘Human-readable’ means data that
people can read and understand. A
sheet of paper containing inventory
figures is an example of human-
readable data
• Machine-readable data, such as a bar
code, can be understood and read by
computer devices
• Getting data into the computer system
is a two-stage process:
human-readable data is converted into
a machine-readable form through data
entry
• transferring the machine-readable data
into the system is data input
Input Devices 1

• Keyboard and Mouse

• Speech-Recognition Technology -
enables a computer equipped with
a source of audio input such as a
microphone to interpret human
speech as an means of providing
data or instructions to the
computer
• Digital Cameras
• Terminals
Input Devices 2

• Scanning Devices
• Optical Data Readers – optical
mark recognition (OMR) such as
that used on a multi choice exam
to detect a mark on a page, and
optical character recognition
(OCR) to ‘read’ handwritten (or
typed) characters
• Magnetic Ink Character
Recognition (MICR) Devices – used
to read ‘magnetic ink’, found at
the bottom of bank cheques
Input Devices 3

• Magnetic Stripe Card such

as a credit card – input is by
swiping the card through a
reader
• Point-of-Sale Devices - for
example, a bar code reader
• Automated Teller Machine
(ATM) Devices – special-
purpose input/output
devices that bank customers
use to perform withdrawals
and other transactions with
their bank accounts
Input Devices 4

• Pen Input Devices – data can be input

by touching a screen with a pen input
device, on a tablet PC for instance
• Touch-Sensitive Screens
• Radio Frequency Identification – a
reader sends a radio signal which is
picked up and returned by a tag; the
reader recognises and identifies the
tag. London’s Oyster card uses RFID
technology to let public transport
passengers pay their fare. Passengers
top up their card with funds and a
reader in the station takes payment
off the built-in chip
Output Devices 1

• Display Monitors - the display monitor is a device

similar to a TV screen that displays output from
the computer
• Liquid Crystal Displays (LCDs) – LCD displays are
flat displays that use liquid crystals to form
characters and graphic images on a backlit screen
• Organic Light-Emitting Diodes – used in small
electronic devices. OLEDs use the same base
technology as LCDs, with one key difference:
whereas LCD screens contain a fluorescent
backlight and the LCD acts as a shutter to
selectively block that light, OLEDs directly emit
light
Output Devices 2

• Printers and Plotters – paper

output remains one of the most
popular and useful forms of
output
• Digital Audio Player – an mp3
player or iPod
• Computer-Based Navigation
Systems – GPS systems are
becoming more popular with
drivers
• Eyebud Screens and 3D
printers are specialised output
devices
 In-Class Assessment
Classify the following devices into: Input, Output, Input/Output, Storage

Device Category Device Category

Mouse External Hard Drive
Keyboard Graphics Card (GPU)
Monitor Game Controller
Printer Network Interface Card (NIC)
Touchscreen Plotter
Scanner Trackpad
Webcam CD-ROM Drive
Speakers Projector
Microphone Barcode Reader
Hard Disk Drive (HDD) Fingerprint Scanner
Solid-State Drive Smartphone (as a connected
(SSD) device)
USB Flash Drive Ethernet Port
 Types of Computer
System 1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wm3w9cv2H
Bs

• Handheld Computer – also known as

pocket PCs, or PDAs these are
extremely mobile, multi-function
devices
• Smartphone – when a handheld
computer can also be used to make
phone calls, it is a smartphone (note
there is no agreed definition on how
‘smart’ a phone has to be, before it
is a smartphone)
• Portable Computers – laptops and
tablet PCs
• Thin Client – low cost, these have
limited capabilities and perform only
essential applications, so they
remain ‘thin’ in terms of the client
applications they include
 Types of Computer
System 2

• Desktop PC – the traditional view or what a

computer looks like
• Workstation – more powerful than a
Desktop PC, but essentially look the same
• Server – used by many users to perform a
specific task, typically these have large
memory and storage capacities, along with
fast and efficient communications abilities.
A web server handles Internet traffic
An Internet caching server stores web
sites
An enterprise server stores and provides
access to programs that meet the needs of
an entire organisation
A file server stores and coordinates
program and data files
An email server sends and receives e-mails
 Types of Computer
System 3
• Mainframe Computers – a large, powerful
computer shared by dozens or even hundreds of
concurrent users connected to the machine over
a network. Must be kept in a data centre with
specially controlled temperature, humidity, and
dust levels. The role of the mainframe changing
to be a large information-processing and data-
storage utility for an organisation - running jobs
too large for other computers, storing files and
databases too large to be stored elsewhere, and
storing backups of files and databases created
elsewhere
• Supercomputers – the most powerful
computers with the fastest processing speed
and highest performance, these are special-
purpose machines designed for applications that
require extensive and rapid computational
capabilities
Software

• Software consists of
computer programs that
control the workings of
computer hardware
• A computer program is a
sequence of instructions for
the computer
• The two types of software
are System Software and
Application Software
 Systems software, or an operating
system (OS), is a set of programs that
controls the computer hardware and
acts as an interface with applications

Most business people don’t really care

about operating systems – as long as
the system is easy to use and useful,

System
they are happy

software It still is useful for managers to know a

little about what system software
does, so they can make an informed
choice when choosing the OS the
business should use

Ease of use, cost and security are just

some of the things managers should be
concerned with
System Software
Tasks 1
• Get input from the keyboard
or another input device
• Retrieve data from disks
• Store data on disks
• Display information on a
monitor or printer
• Provide a user interface. Two
common types are:

Graphical User Interface (such

as Windows)
Command-Based Interface
where commands must be typed
at a prompt
System Software Tasks 2

• Memory Management
• Processing Tasks
• Networking Capability
• Access to System Resources and Security
• File Management
Common Operating Systems

• Microsoft Windows – around 90% of all PCs run

Microsoft operating software, the various
versions and editions of Windows
• Apple Computer Operating Systems –
especially popular in the fields of publishing,
education, graphic arts, music, movies and
media
• Linux (or ‘GNU Linux’) – Linux is open-source
software, which means it is free and anyone
can see program code (although most users
would not want to)
Workgroup Operating Systems

THESE WINDOWS UNIX – A NETWARE – A RED HAT

SUPPORT HIGH SERVER – POWERFUL OS NETWORK OS LINUX – A
END NETWORK PERFORMS A DESIGNED FOR LINUX
USAGE, DATA- HOST OF TASKS MINICOMPUTER NETWORK
STORAGE THAT ARE S (AN
REQUIREMENTS VITAL FOR OBSOLETE
, AND DATA- WEBSITES AND TERM MEANING
PROCESSING CORPORATE A COMPUTER
SPEEDS WEB SLIGHTLY LESS
APPLICATION POWERFUL
THAN A
MAINFRAME)
MAC OS X
SERVER – A
SERVER OS
FROM APPLE
COMPUTERS
 • New mainframe computers provide the
computing and storage capacity to meet
massive data-processing requirements and
offer high performance and excellent
system availability, strong security and
scalability

Enterprise • A wide range of application software has

been developed to run in the mainframe
Operating environment, making it possible to
purchase software to address almost any

Systems business problem

• Enterprise operating systems are for these
mainframes:
• z/OS – an OS from IBM which makes it
easier and less expensive for users to run
large mainframe computers
• MPE/iX, HP-UX and Linux
 These OS are also called embedded
operating systems because they are
typically embedded within a device –
a phone, digital camera, TV, etc.

Mobile OS Palm OS

Windows Embedded &

Windows Mobile
 Application software, or
Applications, give people,
workgroups and the entire
enterprise the ability to solve
problems and perform specific tasks

Application When you need the computer to do

something, you use one or more
Software application programs

Users are more concerned about

application software than system
software
 A company can develop a one-of-a-
kind program for a specific application

Overview This Proprietary software is not in

the public domain – you can’t walk
into a shop an buy it
of
Application Alternatively, a company can purchase
an existing software program called
Software off-the-shelf software because it can
literally be purchased ‘off the shelf’ in
a shop

Off-the-shelf software is cheaper and

often more reliable than proprietary
software, but it may not meet
company needs exactly
 Word Processing

Spreadsheet Analysis

Common
Database Applications
Applications
Graphics Programs

Software Suites and

Integrated Software
Packages – such as Sun
Microsystems’s StarOffice
and MS Office
 Both OS and A programming
application language provides
software are instructions to the
written in coding computer system so
schemes called that it can perform
programming a processing
Programming languages activity

Languages
IS professionals work with Programming
programming languages, involves translating
which are sets of what a user wants
keywords, symbols, and
rules for constructing
to accomplish into a
statements by which code that the
people can communicate computer can
instructions to be understand and
executed by a computer
execute
 Copyrights and
Software Bugs
Licenses

Software
issues and Open-Source
Software
Shareware,
Freeware, and Public
Domain Software
trends
Software Upgrades – Global Software
when software Support – can
companies stop adequate support be
supporting older provided for users all
software versions or locations?
releases, some
customers feel forced
to upgrade to the
newer software.
software
 Hardware: machinery that
assists in the input, processing,
storage,and output activities
of an information system

Hardware components: central

processing unit (CPU), input
Summary and output devices,
communications devices,
primary storage devices and
secondary storage devices

Examples of secondary storage

devices: magnetic tapes and
disks, DVDs, memory cards,
etc.
Summary (continued)

• Examples of input devices: keyboards, mice,

voice-recognition devices, terminals, scanning
devices and touch-sensitive screens
• Examples of output devices: display monitors,
liquid crystal displays (LCDs), printers and
plotters
• Computers can be classified as either special-
purpose or general-purpose
• Computer system types: handheld computers,
portable computers, desktop computers,
workstations, servers, etc.
In-Class Activity

Refer to In-Class Activity No. 2 posted in

Moodle.
Summary (continued)

• Computer programs: sequences of instructions

for the computer
• Systems software: coordinates the activities of
hardware and programs
• Applications software: helps users solve
particular problems
• Operating system (OS): set of computer
programs that controls the computer hardware
and acts as an interface with application
programs
Summary (continued)

• Graphical user interface (GUI): user interface

that uses icons and menus displayed on screen
to send commands to the computer system
• Command-based interface: users types
commands at a prompt
• Programming languages: allow humans to
communicate instructions to be executed by a
computer