Computer Hardware Basics

Introduction

Physical circuity and component are known as the hardware of computers here in this article we will discuss the computer fundamentals hardware(basic of hardware) or main categories of computer hardware where you will learn the basic computer hardware knowledge and

Getting Started

The computer is a programmable finite state machine that can perform precise arithmetic and logic operations. A programmable finite state machine is one that can take on only one of a fixed range of values. A list of instructions can be submitted to the computer in the form of a program.

A collection of related programs is called software and the physical circuity and components of computers are knowns as the hardware.

Hardware can be categorized into five categories of computer hardware.

1. Input Unit
2. ALU
3. Control Unit
4. Memory
5. Output Unit

Categories of hardware components

Input Unit

The input unit is the device used to enter data and constructions into the computer. Some inputs devices of a computer are keyboard, mouse, joystick, light pen, etc.

Arithmetic Logic Unit(ALU)

ALU full form in computer is Arithmetic Logic Unit, in computing, an arithmetic logic unit is a combinational digital circuit that performs arithmetic and bitwise operations on integer binary numbers. This is in contrast to a floating-point unit, which operates on floating-point numbers.

The arithmetic operations include addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. The logical operations include boolean functions such as AND, OR, and NOT.

Part Of Arithmetic Logic Unit

1. Input and Output Access to Controller (Central Processing Unit).
2. Main Memory or Random-Access Memory (RAM)
3. Input and Output Devices.

Control Unit

The control unit coordinates the activities of the various components of a computer. The ALU and control unit together comprise the central processing unit(CPU). The CPU control unit is called microprocessors. The speed of a computer depends on the clock frequency of the microprocessor.

Memory

Memory refers to the processes that are used to acquire, store, retain, and later retrieve information. There are three major processes involved in memory: encoding, storage, and retrieval.

The computer’s memory is constructed out of semiconducting material and stores information in binary form. Binary information is composed of two symbols the is 0 and 1 called binary digits(bits).

A collection of 8 bits is called a byte. The units are arranged in a sequence and are identified by numbers called addresses.

Types of memory

There are 6 types of computer memory, for details about the computer memory visit my article various types of memory on the computer.

1. Registers
2. Internal cache
3. External cache
4. Main memory
5. Secondary memory

Output Unit

The information generated by computer is displayed uing an output device. Some example of output devices of computers are, Monitor, Printer, plotters etc.

Summary

In the above, we learned the computer hardware basics. i hope you got the basic computer hardware knowledge and enjoyed it a lot.

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