1 TechnicalQuestions

Whatisacomputer? Acomputerisanelectronicdevicethroughwhichwecansavedataandretrievedata.Itis commonlyknownastheArithmeticalLogicalUnit. WhatisaUSBcable? USBcableisadeviceusedtoconnectexternaldevicestothecomputer,e.g.,printers,scanners etc. WhatisServer? Ininformationtechnology,aserverisacomputerprogramthatprovidesservicesto othercomputerprograms(andtheirusers)inthesameorothercomputers.The computerthataserverprogramrunsinisalsofrequentlyreferredtoasaserver(though itmaybeusedforotherpurposesaswell). WhatisBIOS? BIOS(basicinput/outputsystem)istheprogramapersonalcomputer'smicroprocessor usestogetthecomputersystemstartedafteryouturniton.Italsomanagesdataflow betweenthecomputer'soperatingsystemandattacheddevicessuchastheharddisk, videoadapter,keyboard,mouse,andprinter. WhatisaUSBHub? AUSBHUBisaportthroughwhichwecanconnectmultipleUSBdevicestothecomputerat thesametime. Whatisamotherboard? Itisthemaincircuitboardofacomputer.Alsoknownasmainboard/systemboard. WhatisRAM? RAM(randomaccessmemory)istheplaceinacomputerwheretheoperatingsystem, Applicationprogramsanddataincurrentusearekeptsothattheycanbequickly reachedbythecomputer'sprocessor.RAMismuchfastertoreadfromandwriteto thantheotherkindsofstorageinacomputer,theharddisk,floppydisk,andCDROM. However,thedatainRAMstaysthereonlyaslongasyourcomputerisrunning.When youturnthecomputeroff,RAMlosesitsdata.Whenyouturnyourcomputeronagain, youroperatingsystemandotherfilesareonceagainloadedintoRAM,usuallyfrom yourharddisk.

WhatisROM? ROMis"builtin"computermemorycontainingdatathatnormallycanonlyberead, notwrittento.ROMcontainstheprogrammingthatallowsyourcomputertobe "bootedup"orregeneratedeachtimeyouturniton.Unlikeacomputer'srandomaccess memory(RAM),thedatainROMisnotlostwhenthecomputerpoweristurnedoff. TheROMissustainedbyasmalllonglifebatteryinyourcomputer. WhatisanOS? Anoperatingsystem(sometimesabbreviatedas"OS")istheprogramthat,afterbeing initiallyloadedintothecomputerbyabootprogram,managesalltheotherprogramsin acomputer.Theotherprogramsarecalledapplicationsorapplicationprograms.The applicationprogramsmakeuseoftheoperatingsystembymakingrequestsforservices throughadefinedapplicationprograminterface(API).Inaddition,userscaninteract directlywiththeoperatingsystemthroughauserinterfacesuchasacommand languageoragraphicaluserinterface(GUI). Whatisthemeaningofbootingup? Toboot(asaverb;also"tobootup")acomputeristoloadanoperatingsystemintothe computer'smainmemoryorrandomaccessmemory(RAM).Oncetheoperating systemisloaded(and,forexample,onaPC,youseetheinitialWindowsorMacdesktop screen),it'sreadyforuserstorunapplications. Whatarethebasicstepstobeperformedifthecomputerdoesnotpoweron? Firstly,checkifthepowercableisconnectedtothewalljack,thencheckifthepowerbuttonis OnontheCPUornotandwhetherthelightsareOnontheCPU.Ifeverythingisfineandyetthe computerdoesnotpoweronthentrytopluginthepowercableinadifferentwalljack. Whatisinternet? Internetisapubliclyandworldwideaccessablenetworkof computer's.E.g.,Yahoo,Gmail,Hotmail. Electronicmail(email) Worldwideweb(www) Chat InternetNews FileTransferProtocol(FTP) Telnet

InternetSecurity Whydoweneedsecurity? Protectvitalinformationwhilestillallowingaccesstothosewhoneedittradesecrets,medical recordsetc. Providesauthenticationandaccesscontrolforresources Guaranteeavailabilityofresources Commonsecurityattacksandtheircountermeasures Findingawayintothenetwork Firewalls Exploitingsoftwarebugs,bufferoverflows IntrusionDetectionSystems TCPhijacking IPSec Packetsniffing Encryption Socialproblems Education Whatisintranet? Intranetisasecuredandprivatecommunicationbetweenthenetworkofcomputer's. DomainNaming DomainName(example.Microsoft.com) Topleveldomain(com) Secondleveldomain(microsoft.com) Subdomain(example.Microsoft.com) WhatisCDROM? CDROMisadeviceusedtoreadthedatasavedontheCD.

WhatisaCDWriter?

4 CDWriterisusedtoreadandwritethedatatoandfromtheCD. Whatisasoundcard? Asoundcardisadeviceinbuildonthemotherboard.Ithelpsintheoutputofsoundtotheaudio devicesandinputofsoundfromthemicrophone. WhatisaVideoCaptureCard? Itisplacedinsideacomputercase,usedtoputvideointoacomputer,requiresavideo source,eitheravideocamera/videorecorder. WhatisaCPU? Itisthecentralprocessingunit.Itdeterminestheprocessingpowerofthecomputer.Doesallof themathematics,mainlyaddition.Doesallthelogicalcomparisonsofvalues.Directstheflow ofdatainacomputer.Controlstheoperationofthepartsofthecomputer.ThespeedofCPUsis measuredinhertzs.MostcomputershaveaCPUthatcandomorethan400Mhz.CPUisabrain ofacomputer,consisitingof Arithmeticandlogicunit(ALU):performsarithmeticcalculations(addition,subtraction...)and logicaldecisions. ControlUnit(CU):decodeseachmachineinstructionandsendssignaltoothercomponentsfor carryingouttheinstruction. Anintegratedcircuit(IC)thatisafullcentralprocessingunitiscalledamicroprocessor. CPUspeed:(M:Mega=10^6,Hz=1/sec); WhatisaMemory? Alargecollectionsofcircuits,eachcapableofstoringbit Cells(words):manageableunits;typicalsizeis8bits(1byte),somemachinesare16bits(2byte) andsome are32bitsor64bits Byte(8bits) KB(kilobyte,10^3=2^10bytes) MB(Megabyte,10^6=2^20bytes) GB(Gigabyte,10^9=2^30bytes) Computermemoryiscomparabletoacollectionofnumberedmailboxes.Toidentifyindividual cellsinamachine'smainmemory,eachcellisassignedauniquename,calleditsaddress Theorganizationofbytesizememorycell MostSignificantBit(MSB)LeastSignificantBit(LSB) RolesofComputersinaNetwork DatabaseServer MailServer FaxServer FileandPrintServer DirectoryServicesServer Whatareexpansionslots? Expansionsslotsappearonthemotherboard.Theyaresocketsintowhichadaptersare

5 connected. WhatisaBay? Abayisaspaceinsidethecomputercasewhereaharddrive,floppydriveorCDROMdrive sits. WhatisaNetwork? Anetworkistheinterconnectionofcomputersforthesharingofinformationandresources. WhatisaUTPcable? UnshieldedTwistedPair.lowfrequencytransmissionmedium,lowcost,smallsize,andeaseof installation,limiteddistance,usuallylessthan100meters,themostpopularandisgenerallythe bestoptionforschoolnetworks. WhatisaFileServer? AFileserverisahighcapacitycomputerthatprovidesvariousresourcestothenetwork. Theheartofanetwork.Controlthecommunicationofinformationbetweenthenodesona network.NeedaveryfastcomputerwithalargeamountofRAMandstoragespace,afast networkinterfacecard,andatapebackupdevice. WhatisaWorkstation? Acomputerinanetworkiscalledworkstationorclient. WhatisaNetworkInterfacecard? NICprovidesthelinkbetweenyourcomputerandyournetwork.providethephysical connectionbetweenthenetworkandtheworkstation,mostareinternal,withthecardfittinginto anexpansionslotinsidethecomputer,somebuildonthemotherboard.Threecommonnetwork interfaceconnections:Ethernetcards,LocalTalkconnectors,TokenRingcards.Youcan identifytheNICintheDeviceManageronaWindowscomputer. Theexternalportwhereyouplugthecableintothecomputerslookslikealargephone connector. TheconnectorattheendofthecableisreferredtoasRJ45forEthernet. What'sthedifferencebetweenaHub,aSwitchandaRouter? Ahubistypicallytheleastexpensive,leastintelligent,andleastcomplicatedofthe three.Itsjobisverysimple:anythingthatcomesinoneportissentouttotheothers. That'sit.Everycomputerconnectedtothehub"sees"everythingthateveryother computeronthehubsees.Thehubitselfisblissfullyignorantofthedatabeing transmitted.Foryears,simplehubshavebeenquickandeasywaystoconnect computersinsmallnetworks. Aswitchdoesessentiallywhatahubdoesbutmoreefficiently.Bypayingattentionto thetrafficthatcomesacrossit,itcan"learn"whereparticularaddressesare.For example,ifitseestrafficfrommachineAcominginonport2,itnowknowsthat machineAisconnectedtothatportandthattraffictomachineAneedstoonlybesent tothatportandnotanyoftheothers.Thenetresultofusingaswitchoverahubisthat mostofthenetworktrafficonlygoeswhereitneedstoratherthantoeveryport.Onbusy

6 networksthiscanmakethenetworksignificantlyfaster. Arouteristhesmartestandmostcomplicatedofthebunch.Routerscomeinallshapes andsizesfromthesmallfourport broadbandroutersthatareverypopularrightnowto thelargeindustrialstrengthdevicesthatdrivetheinternetitself.Asimplewaytothink ofarouterisasacomputerthatcanbeprogrammedtounderstand,possibly manipulate,androutethedataitsbeingaskedtohandle.Forexample,broadband routersincludetheabilityto"hide"computersbehindatypeoffirewallwhichinvolves slightlymodifyingthepacketsofnetworktrafficastheytraversethedevice.Allrouters includesomekindofuserinterfaceforconfiguringhowtherouterwilltreattraffic.The reallylargeroutersincludetheequivalentofafullblown programminglanguageto WhatisNetworkCables? TypesofCables TwistedPair10BaseT Coaxial FibreOptics 10Base2,10Base5 Unshielded(UTP) Shielded(STP) ThinNet ThickNet WhatisNetworkSecurity? Differentrightsfordifferentusers,suchasadministrators,teachers,staff,andstudents Accessprivileges:read,write,execute,ornoaccess,Passwords,Backup,VirusProtection, UPS(Uninterruptiblepowersupply) WhatisaPort? Aconnectionpointforacable. WhyisSecurityofdatainacomputeressential? Computerscanstorebothpublicandprivatedata.Youensurethatwhatisstoredon yourcomputerissecureyoucanuseapasswordtoprotectthematerial.Usernamesand passwordscanalsoprotecttheinformationstoredonacomputer.WhenusingtheInternet,one shouldusecautionwhengivingoutpersonalinformation. Whatisacomputersoftware? Computersoftwareprovidesinstructionthattellthecomputerhowtooperate.Softwarearealso calledPrograms. WhatarethedifferenttypesofSoftware? SystemSoftware:Usedbythecomputertoaccomplishatask.controlstheinternalfunctionof

7 thecomputer,controlsotherdevicesconnectedtotheCPU. ApplicationSoftware:Usedbypeopletoaccomplishaspecifictask.Commonkindsof ApplicationSoftwareare:WordProcessorsoftware,Databasesoftware,Spreadsheet software,Games,WebPageBrowsers. WhatarethedifferenttypesofNetwork? Anetworkcanbedividedinto3typesdependingupontheareaitcovers: a)LAN: LocalAreaNetwork.Lanisaconfigurationwhereallthecomputersareincloseproximityto oneanother. LanconnectioniscreatedwhenaFastAccesscustomerplugsthemodemintothecomputer. Lanmayserveasfewastwoorthreeusersorasmanyasthousandsofusers. b)MAN:MetropolitanAreaNetwork.Itisanetworkofcomputer'sthatcoversalargerarea. c)WAN:AWANcomputernetworkisanetworkthatspansarelativelylargegeographicalarea. AWANconsistsoftwoormorelocalareanetworks(LANs) Computersconnectedtoawideareanetworkareoftenconnectedthroughpublicnetworks,such asthetelephonesystem. ComponentOverview Thereareseveralcomponentsrequiredtonetworkwithothercomputers. Someofthecomponentsare: ClientSoftware>192.168.1.254(IPAddress)>ServerSoftware NetworkInterfacecardCable NetworkComponents Tocommunicatewithothercomputersonanetwork,thefollowingcomponentsmustbepresent: OperatingSystemthatsupportsnetworking. Aphysicalconnectiontothenetwork. AClient AServer Operatingsystems Windows98FirstandSecondEdition WindowsME WindowsNT Windows2000 WindowsXP Linux NetworkOperatingsystems WindowsNTServer Windows2000Server WindowsServer2003 LinuxServer

8 WhatisaModem? Cannotsenddigitalsignaldirectlytotelephoneline Sendingend:Modulatethecomputer'sdigitalsignalintoanalogsignalandtransmits Receivingend:DEModulatetheanalogsignalbackintodigitalform. DSLAMDigitalsubscriberlineaccessmodule(centralofficeADSLmodempool) WhatisaTCP/IP? TCP/IP(TransmissionControlProtocol/InternetProtocol)isthebasiccommunication languageorprotocoloftheInternet.Itcanalsobeusedasacommunicationsprotocol inaprivatenetwork(eitheranintranetoranextranet).Whenyouaresetupwithdirect accesstotheInternet,yourcomputerisprovidedwithacopyoftheTCP/IPprogram justaseveryothercomputerthatyoumaysendmessagestoorgetinformationfrom alsohasacopyofTCP/IP.TheIPcanbeIPv4orIPv6(vbeingversion). IPaddresscanbeidentifiedinthenumericfashionof(foreg)192.168.1.254 Applicationlayer TransportLayer InternetLayer NetworkInterfaceLayer HowBridgesWork BridgesworkattheMediaAccessControlSublayeroftheOSImodel Routingtableisbuilttorecordthesegmentno.ofaddress Ifdestinationaddressisinthesamesegmentasthesourceaddress,stoptransmit Otherwise,forwardtotheothersegment BridgesandRouters Bridgesforwardeverythingtheydon'trecognize Routeselectthebestpath Routersarelayer3deviceswhichrecognizenetworkaddress Bridgesarelayer2deviceswhichlookattheMACsublayernodeaddress WhatisStartupRepair? StartupRepairisaWindowsVistarecoverytoolthatcanfixcertainproblems,suchas missingordamagedsystemfiles,thatmightpreventWindowsfromstartingcorrectly.When yourunStartupRepair,itscansyourcomputerfortheproblemandthentriestofixitsoyour computercanstartcorrectly. StartupRepairislocatedontheSystemRecoveryOptionsmenu,whichisontheWindows Vistainstallationdisc.Ifyourcomputermanufacturerhaspreinstalledrecoveryoptions,Startup Repairmightalsobeinstalledonyourharddisk.IfyourcomputerdoesnotincludeStartup Repair,yourcomputermanufacturermighthavecustomizedorreplacedthetool.Checkthe informationthatcamewithyourcomputerorgotothemanufacturer'swebsite. Whatisaprimarymemory? Programmesanddataarestoredinthesamememory.

9 Thecomputercanonlyperformoneinstructionatatime. Sixlogicalunitsineverycomputer: 1.Inputunit:obtainsinformationfrominputdevices(keyboardmouse) 2.Outputunit:outputinformation(toscreen,toprinter,tocontrolotherdevices) 3.Memoryunit:rapidaccess,lowcapacity,storesinputinformations ROM(Readonlymemory):CMOS,EPROM RAM(RandomAccessMemory):SRAM,DRAM,SIMM,DIMM 4.Arithmeticandlogicunit(ALU)partofCPU Performsarithmeticcalculations(addition,subtraction...)andlogicaldecisions 5.Controlunit(CU)partofCPU Supervisesandcoordinatestheothersectionsofthecomputer 6.Secondarystorageunit Cheap,longterm,highcapacitystorage Storesinactiveprogramms AddressingGuidelines TheFirstNumberintheNetworkIDcannotbe127 TheHostIDcannotbeall255s TheHostIDcannotbeallZeros heHostIDmustbeUniquetotheLocalNetworkID Client/ServerComputingontheInternet WebServer(HTTP) Simplemailtransferprotocol(SMTP) Domainnameserving(DNS)utility Filetransferprotocol(FTP) Networknewstranferprotocol(NNTP) Internetprotocol HTTPHyperTextTransferProtocol FTPFileTransferProtocol SMTPSimpleMailTransferProtocol HTMLHyperTextMarkupLanguage DHTMLDynamicHyperTextMarkupLanguage Firewall Afirewallhasonepointofaccessintothenetwork.Thiscanbebadorgood. Canbehardwareorsoftware WinXP&MacOSXhavebuiltinandthirdpartyfirewalls Whatisabus? busisasubsystemthattransfersdatabetweencomputercomponentsinsideacomputeror betweencomputers.Eachbusdefinesitssetofconnectorstophysicallyplugdevices,cardsor cablestogether. ComputerComponents:

10 Computersaremadeofthefollowingbasiccomponents: Casewithhardwareinside: PowerSupplyThepowersupplycomeswiththecase,butthiscomponentismentioned separatelysincetherearevarioustypesofpowersupplies.Theoneyoushouldgetdependson therequirementsofyoursystem.Thiswillbediscussedinmoredetaillater MotherboardThisiswherethecorecomponentsofyourcomputerresidewhicharelisted below.Alsothesupportcardsforvideo,sound,networkingandmorearemountedintothis board. MicroprocessorThisisthebrainofyourcomputer.Itperformscommandsandinstructions andcontrolstheoperationofthecomputer. MemoryTheRAMinyoursystemismountedonthemotherboard.Thisismemorythatmust bepoweredontoretainitscontents. DrivecontrollersThedrivecontrollerscontroltheinterfaceofyoursystemtoyourhard drives.Thecontrollersletyourharddrivesworkbycontrollingtheiroperation.Onmost systems,theyareincludedonthemotherboard,howeveryoumayaddadditionalcontrollersfor fasterorothertypesofdrives. Harddiskdrive(s)Thisiswhereyourfilesarepermanentlystoredonyourcomputer.Also, normally,youroperatingsystemisinstalledhere. CDROMdrive(s)Thisisnormallyareadonlydrivewherefilesarepermanentlystored. Therearenowread/writeCDROMdrivesthatusespecialsoftwaretoallowuserstoreadfrom andwritetothesedrives. Floppydrive(s)Afloppyisasmalldiskstoragedevicethattodaytypicallyhasabout1.4 Megabytesofmemorycapacity. OtherpossiblefilestoragedevicesincludeDVDdevices,Tapebackupdevices,andsomeothers. MonitorThisdevicewhichoperateslikeaTVsetletstheuserseehowthecomputeris respondingtotheircommands. KeyboardThisiswheretheuserenterstextcommandsintothecomputer. MouseApointandclickinterfaceforenteringcommandswhichworkswellingraphical environments.

MainComponentsandStructureoftheCentralProcessingUnit WhatdoestheCPUdo? Carriesoutinstructionsandtellstherestofthecomputersystemwhattodo.Thisisdonebythe ControlunitoftheCPUwhichsendscommandsignalstotheothercomponentsofthesystem. Performsarithmeticcalculationsanddatamanipulation,eg.comparisons,sorting,combining, etc.Thecomputer'scalculatorisapartoftheCPUknownastheArithmeticlogicunit. Holdsdataandinstructionswhichareincurrentuse.ThesearekeptintheMainStoreor

11 Memory. Tounderstandhowthewholesystemworks,considerthediagramshownbelow.Thisdiagram showsthebasiccomponentsofageneralisedCPU.AnactualCPUmayhavethesecomponents, orotherwithdifferentnamesthatprovidethesamefunctions.

WhatistheOSImodel? TheOSI,orOpenSystemInterconnection,modeldefinesanetworkingframeworkfor implementingprotocolsinsevenlayers.Controlispassedfromonelayertothenext, startingattheapplicationlayerinonestation,andproceedingtothebottomlayer,over thechanneltothenextstationandbackupthehierarchy. WhatarethedifferentlayersoftheOSIModel? Layer7:Theapplicationlayer...Thisisthelayeratwhichcommunicationpartners areidentified,qualityofserviceisidentified,userauthenticationandprivacyare considered,andanyconstraintsondatasyntaxareidentified.(Thislayerisnotthe applicationitself,althoughsomeapplicationsmayperformapplicationlayerfunctions.) Layer6:Thepresentationlayer...Thisisalayer,usuallypartofanoperatingsystem, thatconvertsincomingandoutgoingdatafromonepresentationformattoanother(for example,fromatextstreamintoapopupwindowwiththenewlyarrivedtext). Sometimescalledthesyntaxlayer. Layer5:Thesessionlayer...Thislayersetsup,coordinates,andterminates conversations,exchanges,anddialogsbetweentheapplicationsateachend.Itdeals withsessionandconnectioncoordination.

12 Layer4:Thetransportlayer...Thislayermanagestheendtoend control(for example,determiningwhetherallpacketshavearrived)anderrorchecking. Itensures completedatatransfer. Layer3:Thenetworklayer...Thislayerhandlestheroutingofthedata(sendingitin therightdirectiontotherightdestinationonoutgoingtransmissionsandreceiving incomingtransmissionsatthepacketlevel).Thenetworklayerdoesroutingand forwarding. Layer2:Thedatalink layer...Thislayerprovidessynchronizationforthephysical levelanddoesbitstuffing forstringsof1'sinexcessof5.Itfurnishestransmission protocolknowledgeandmanagement. Layer1:Thephysicallayer...Thislayerconveysthebitstreamthroughthenetworkat theelectricalandmechanicallevel.Itprovidesthehardwaremeansofsendingand receivingdataonacarrier.