A floppy disk or a diskette is a round flat removable piece of plastic plate coated with a Ferric Oxide layer, and

encased in a protective plastic cover, called the disk jacket. The Ferric Oxide layer is capable of holding a magnetic field. capacities range from a few hundred megabytes to many gigabytes. The speed of a hard drive is measured in terms of average access time, the speed at which the hard drive finds data. The average access time is measured in milliseconds (1/1000 of a second). Magnetic Tape Magnetic tapes are similar to audiotapes and store data in a serial manner (i.e. data is stored one after the other on the tape). Digital Versatile Discs (DVD)

Data Hierarchy Data in storage can be organized into a hierarchy of categories. Character : a single letter, number or a special character. Field : Typically, a sequence of characters. Record : Collection of related fields File : Collection of related records Databases : Collection of interrelated files. light-emitting diode (LED) digital signal processing (DSP) Optical character recognition (OCR) visual display unit or VDU. The quality of a computer monitor is based on the following properties: Resolution: Resolution is the number of pixels, which the screen can display. A pixel is the picture element and refers to the smallest area of the screen that the computer can change. The number of colours it can display (dependent on the computer as well) Radiation output. CRT monitor A cathode-ray tube

Larger monitors with high resolution are used for specialised application such as desktop publishing and CAD. Main differences of LCDs as compared with CRT monitors are : 1

 Take s very little space Small energy consumption Sharp pictures No flicker or geometric distortion Fairly expensive Limited viewing angle Slower response time . Some examples of utility software are Norton Utilities and Download Accelerator. POST= Power on self test BIOS= Basic input output system Software Evaluation

Software evaluation is the process of checking the software for suitability for the required function. The major steps involved in software evaluation are: Identify clearly the problem or application for which the software is required. Inspect the manual or instructions supplied with the software. o Is the manual clearly written? o Does it explain the main functions of the software? o Does it provide examples? Input/Output Interfaces o Do the input and output of the software meet your requirements? Test the system with your own data sets to see its performance. Reliability o Is the system consistent? - Does it give consistent answers to similar or the same problems? User Friendliness o User interface is easy to use. o Error messages are clear. o Time periods to wait between successive screens are acceptable. Adaptability: To what extent the original problem be has to be modified without affecting the functionality of the software. A device connected to a network is called a node.

Advantages of Networks Networks offer several advantages over stand along systems. Some of these advantages are listed below: 2

 Sharing of peripheral devices: Expensive resources can be shared by connecting them to the network. Sharing of programs and data: Some programs may be expensive, and it may not be possible to purchase multiple copies. Such programs can be shared over a network. Better communications: Networks can be used to establish communication such as email. Access to databases: Users can access numerous databases by making them available on the network. Common Network Elements The different types of components that you can find in a network are: Servers: Computers that provide shared resources to the network users Clients: Computers that access shared network resources provided by the users Communication Media: The media through which data is being transmitted. Network Operating system: Software that manages the activities of a network Shared resources: Any service or resource made available for use by the members of the network. Modem: used to connect a computer to another computer over phone lines. Hub: Switch: An enhanced version of the hub. Typically a switch can distribute the communication load so all the computers connected to the switch can communicate effectively. The physical layout of a network is called its Topology. The basic network topologies are star, ring, and bus. Star Topology In a star network all computers and other communications devices are connected to a central point such as a hub, file server or a host computer. Ring Topology In a ring network all communications devices are connected in a continuous ring. Messages are passed around the ring until they reach the right destination. Bus Topology In a bus network communications devices are connected to a common channel. There is no central computer and the communications devices transmit messages to the other devices. All these different media types can

be grouped into two categories: guided media and radiated media. The Guided media are those in which the data flows through physical media and the radiated media are those in which the data is broadcast through the air. Communication Media Guided Media Twisted-pair wire A twisted-pair wire consists of two insulated copper wires, twisted around each other and covered in another layer of plastic insulation Coaxial cable A Coaxial cable consists of insulated copper wire wrapped in a metal shield, which is then wrapped in an outer external cover. Often many coaxial cables are bundled together. Fiber-Optical Cable: consists of hundreds of thin glass wires that transmit pulsation beams of light. Radiated Media Radio Transmission: Radio transmission use the same basic principle as standard radio Transmission Infrared Transmission: Infrared transmission uses low-frequency light wave, below the visible spectrum, to transmit data through the air. Infrared transmitters are seldom used to transmit data to and from portable or handheld computers. Microwave Transmission: Microwave is a high-frequency beam with short wave length. Microwave can be transmitted over a direct line-of-sight path between any two points. Satellite Transmission: In satellite transmission, singles are transmitted to a satellite 500 to 22,000 miles is space. One disadvantage of satellite transmission is the delay that occurs in transmission, which is known as the propagation delay. In a network data can be transmitted in two different ways, serial transmission and in parallel transmission. Serial Data Transmission: Bits are transmitted sequentially, one after the other. Parallel Data Transmission: Bits are transmitted through separate channels simultaneously. The standard unit of measure used to specify the speed of the data flow through a network is bits per second (bps). Network Interface Card (NIC) 4

 Types of Networks There are two primary types of networks. Local Area Networks (LAN) Wide Area Networks (WAN): WAN is a communications network that has no geographical limit. A WAN may span hundreds or thousands of miles. In general, a WAN is made up of a number of interconnected LANs. WANs can use either analog (telephone lines) or digital signals or a combination of both. Local area networks are of two types: client server and peer-to-peer. A Client server LAN consists of devices that provide services called servers, and devices that request services from servers, called clients. Typically servers are the devices that manage shared devices such as printers. In a peer-to-peer LAN there is no server, instead all devices communicate directly with each other. Peer-to-peer networks are also called workgroups. In a peer-to-peer network there is no hierarchy among the computers. Typically the number of computers in a peer-to-peer network would be less than 10. A backbone network is a network that connects many networks in a single site. Router: A router is a special device that enables the connection of two or more networks so that the computers in different networks can communicate with each other. Bridge: A Bridge is an interface that enables similar networks to communicate. Gateway: A Gateway is an interface that enables dissimilar networks to communicate. A network protocol is an agreement on how to converse. The four most commonly used network protocols are TCP/IP, IPX/SPX, X.25 and SNA. Each protocol performs essentially the same functions, but each protocol is incompatible with others unless there is a special device to translate between them. TCP/IP protocol uses 3 different types of addressing to move data between computers: physical, logical and port addresses. The physical addresses (MAC addresses) are utilized to

move data within a single LAN, logical addresses (IP addresses) are used to move data from one LAN to another LAN across the network and the port address is used to transmit data to the intended application. The International network information centre (InterNIC) assigns to companies blocks of IP addresses based on the size of their networks. Computer Virus A computer virus is a program or piece of code designed to hide in the background and to perform one or more of the following activities Replicate itself Attach to other programs or instructions Perform unintended actions A program needs not to perform outright damage in order to be called a Virus. Currently there are more than 14,000 known viruses. The first common computer virus, called Brain virus, was written in 1986 by two brothers in Pakistan. The majority of viruses are written by hackers. Some of the known viruses and their effects are given below. SCOLD.A : Send simple e-mails. CAP : One effect of CAP is that all documents are saved in the Word DOC format, regardless of the format you choose. For example, if a document is saved as an RTF file, the extension of the document will become RTF but internally the file is still a DOC. Nimda : Nimda is a complex virus with a mass mailing worm component which spreads itself in attachments named README.EXE. Blaster : Every 17th day of each month, the virus checks for existence of "c:\minny.log" file. If the file does not exist, the virus appends several commands to the end of the "c:\autoexec.bat". These commands attempt to remove everything from "C:", "D:", "E:" and "F:" drives when the system is restarted. Jerusalem : This is one of the oldest and most common viruses around. It will infect both .EXE and .COM files. Jerusalem activates on every Friday the 13th, deleting programs run on that day. 30 minutes after an infected program is run, the virus will also cause a general slowdown of the computer and make a part of the screen scroll up two lines. Arab : The virus counts programs being executed on an infected system. When the counter exceeds 256 the virus makes the hard disk unbootable Bin Laden : This virus does not have a destructive effect. After starting, it sometimes displays a message.

Some of the main reasons for writing viruses are; Hacking To prevent copying software Revenge : Employees may plant Time Bombs in programs Fraud : Viruses may allow access to an otherwise secure system Political and terrorist motives Commercial sabotage : Damage the reputation of a competitor Warfare : Incorporate a virus to an enemys computer.

Virus Symptoms Some of the symptoms that a computer will show up when infected with a virus are listed below. Programs take long time to load than normal. Computer's hard drive constantly runs out of free space. The floppy disk drive or hard drive runs when you are not using it. New files keep appearing on the system and you don not know where they came from. Strange sounds or beeping noises come from the computer or keyboard. Strange graphics are displayed on your computer monitor. Files have strange names you do not recognize. Unable to access the hard drive when booting from the floppy drive. Program sizes keep changing. Conventional memory is less than it used to be and you cannot explain it. Programs act erratically." A virus comprises of four general components The replicator (or engine): replicates the virus. The safeguard : prevents the detection and the removal of the virus The trigger monitor : Monitors for a specific condition to deliver payload. These specific conditions may be the arrival of a particular date, time, keyboard stroke, etc. The payload : the action it does apart from propagation. This action may be an amusing action or malicious action resulting in distraction from the current work or destruction of data. Main Phases of Virus Activity The main phases a virus generally follows are; Gains access to the system Lies dormant Propagates Virus is triggered by some event Virus Action There are three main types of viruses

 Boot Virus File Virus(Parasitic Virus) Macro Virus Macro Virus A macro is a collection of application specific instructions coded to automate some manual process such as formatting a word document. Macro Viruses are either complete macros or macro segments embedded as parts of legitimate macros. They may come straight from the software manufacturers original disks. Once a computer is infected with a macro virus the following actions may result. Unusual messages Unknown macros listed in macros list Save data in unintended formats Lost data How to Protect a Computer from Computer Viruses There are many ways of preventing a computer from virus attack. Some of these precautions are listed below. Verbal Warning Use of anti-virus software Avoiding the use of unchecked disks Avoiding the use of unauthorized or unchecked software Write protecting all standard software Use only CD-ROM versions of software whenever possible Using firewalls Anti-virus software contains anti-virus scanners, which look for viruses. These anti-virus scanners work by searching for fingerprints: short patterns, usually 16 bytes, recognized to exist in virus programs. There are two types of virus scanners; On-access scanners: automatically check the hard disk and diskette each time the system starts up. On-demand scanners: Executes only on users demand and can be scheduled to run at various times Trojan Horse A program that performs unsolicited actions. However, they do not replicate and neither do 8

they attach to other programs. Internet The Internet grew out of a United States Department of Defense project, the ARPANET (Advanced Research Project Agency Network) started in late 1960s. Its main objective was to provide network links between universities, research organizations and remote computer centers. a nongovernmental international volunteer organization called the Internet Society (ISOC) controls the standards and the future of the Internet. On the Internet information is available mainly through three mediums: the World Wide Web (WWW), Usenet News (News) and Electronic Mail (e-mail). Types of resource available on the Internet. Different types of resources are available on the Internet. Some of the common types of information available on the Internet are: Different types of information such as text, sounds, pictures, and short movie clips. Information at all levels -- storybooks and games for children, university course materials, business information, fine art, and lots of things that are just plain fun. Actual business information -- including electronic shopping malls. Games that you can play alone or with other people all over the world. Programs to help you find the information that you want. What is an URL? To understand how a singe page is kept distinct from millions of other pages available on the web, you should learn to recognize its URL (short for Uniform Resource Locator). Every page on the Web can by uniquely identified by using its URL. An URL is simply a collection of text segments that identifies an item in a computer network. You can retrieve a page by typing its URL in the Location field of the browser and pressing Enter (or by using Open Page... in the File menu). Here is an example of a typical URL: Computer Fundamentals Faculty of Information Technology-University of Moratuwa http://www.ucsc.cmb.ac.lk/centre/csc/index.htm

Within the URL text are components that specify the protocol (the format that Netscape can expect the information to be in), the server (the computer that holds the item), and the path name of the item. Component Meaning The protocol e.g. http: A colon follows the protocol. Many Internet pages use http (short for HyperText Transfer Protocol). You might also come across ftp (another way used to transfer files), news (the protocol used by the Usenet news groups), and Gopher (a protocol that was briefly popular, but then supplanted by Netscape-type products). The server e.g. //www.ucsc.cmb.ac.lk The server identifies the computer system that stores the information you see. Each server on the Internet has a unique address. You can often tell what country the server is in by its address. The server name is preceded by two slashes. The path name e.g. /centre/csc/index.htm The path name identifies the location of an item on the server. Each segment of a path name is preceded by a single slash. This path name usually tells you the name of the file containing the page, as well as the names of the folders and sub-folders that store the file. For example, in this URL the index.html page is stored in the csc folder that is stored in the centre folder (Refer to Page number49) If you try to go to a page that is not there, or you have typed in an incorrect URL for a page, then you will receive a message saying that the file was missing. This is called "Error 404 File not found" If you have typed the name of the server incorrect, or the server machine is not currently working then you will see a different message, possibly like "Error 204 DNS Name Lookup Failure." There are two standard picture formats used in the Web, JPG and GIF. JPG, or jpeg, files are normally used for pictures and GIF files are normally used for graphics and drawings.

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 The Internet also contains brief videos that you can see, stored as QuickTime (Macintosh) or AVI (IBM compatible) format movies. They have to be brief, because each movie takes up large amount of storage space. Browsers are often referred to as "client software." Client Any computer linked to Internet and capable of receiving information from a server. Domain The top-level identifier for a particular Internet server (e.g., yahoo.com). Domains are of various types and they are categorized by one or more extensions. Users often can learn much about an Internet site by studying its domain name.(Plese read page number 51 of GIT book) FTP The abbreviation for File Transfer Protocol, a method of transferring files from one computer to another via the Internet. Some Internet sites specialize in just this kind of transfer. Users can sign on to this type of server and copy files to their own computers. FTP servers usually require user Ids and passwords, or may allow you to log on via "anonymous ftp." HyperText Markup Language. The computer "language" of the World Wide Web, comprised of the coding, or tags, that indicate how text and images are to be displayed, as well as how documents and files are to be linked. HTML was developed at the European Particle Physics Laboratory in Switzerland, known by its French acronym CERN. HTTP HyperText Transfer Protocol. The basic computer rules and language that allow for the linking and transferring of Web pages and graphics. Modem A modem converts digital signals from your computer into audible tones that can be transmitted over regular analog phone lines. This conversion process is called Modulation. The modem on the other end then transfers those same audible tones back (or Demodulates) into its original digital signals.

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A proxy server is a computer that provides access to the Internet. proxy server may also have a firewall An automated Web Site that uses advanced searching software to locate other Web Sites and Internet files based on search criteria entered by the user is called a Search Engine. Engine. Examples of such sites include Alta Vista, HotBot, Infoseek, and Lycos, Server A computer directly linked to the Internet that holds files ready for downloading by a "client" machine, such as a home PC is called a Server. Downloaded files are either viewed or copied by the client using "client software," such as a Web browser. URL Uniform Resource Locator. The standard "address" format used by a server and the specific files that make up the document or Web Site. Web Site URLs always start "http://". World Wide Web That part of the Internet operating under the HTTP protocol and using the HTML language. It is usually referred to simply as "the Web." The Web is differentiated from Gopher and other text-only protocols by its "Graphic User Interface" (GUI) that allows the joining of text and images on individual Web pages. However, like the earlier Gopher Protocol, it is a menudriven system for retrieving and accessing information.

E-Mail
The standard protocol used for sending Internet e-mail is called SMTP, short for Simple Mail Transfer Protocol. It works in conjunction with POP servers. POP stands for Post Office Protocol. When you send an e-mail message, your computer routes it to an SMTP server. The server looks at the e-mail address (similar to the address on an envelope), then forwards it to the recipient's mail server, where it is stored until the addressee retrieves it. You 12

can send e-mail anywhere in the world to anyone who has an e-mail address. Remember, almost all Internet service providers and all major online services offer at least one e-mail address with every account. The top-level domain=TLD (Refer to E-Mail)

Data Structures Bits, Bytes, Nibbles and Word Length Nibble A nibble is a group of FOUR bits. This gives a maximum number of 16 possible 4 different values. 2 = 16 (2 to the power of the number of bits) EBCDIC (Extended Binary Coded Decimal Interchange Code)

Please Read GIT BOOK Page number 73 for Boolean Algebra and Logic Gates.
Automatic Teller Machine (ATM) Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) A computer will not be useful without making a computer system. A computer system is a combination of six elements: 1. Hardware basic electronic and electro -mechanical parts in a computer 2. Software instruction to hardware 3. Data and Info rmation data as input and information as processed data 4. Procedures or instructions guidelines to use software and hardware 5. People Those Operating the computer system 6. Communication connection between computers to share data and information Generally computer hardware can be divided into five categories: (1) input devices, (2) processors, (3) storage devices, (4) output devices, and (5) communications. Please Read Chapter 1 Page number 25 of 1. 2. 3. The CPU consists three main parts: Control Unit Arithmetic/logic unit (ALU). Registers Control Unit and ALU are connected by a kind of electronic roadway called a bus

Registers:
Registers store very small amounts of data and instructions for short periods of time. They hold various types of information such as data, instructions, memory addresses and the intermediate results of calcula tions. Essentially, they hold the data and

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instructions that the CPU is currently working with and they can be thought of as being the CPU's workspace. As soon as a particular instruction or piece of data is finished with, the next ones immediately replace it and information that results from

CPU Control Unit

Arithmetic/Logic Unit Bus

Memory
BUS Registers 27 the processing is returned to main memory. Data and instructions do not go into either the Arithmetic/Logic Unit (ALU) or the Control Unit (CU). The ALU works on the data held in the registers acting on the instructions that are also held there.

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

The The The The The

Basic Operations of a Computer

input Function : accepts data or instructions by way of input storage function : stores data and instructions processing function : processes data as required by the user output function : gives results in the form of output control function : controls all operations inside the computer

The storage unit performs the following major functions: It stores all data and instructions before and after processing. It stores intermediate results of processing The flow of information within the computer can be described as follows All information that the computer possesses must be entered via the Input function (except in special cases where some of the computers information may be permanently contained within the machine) Depending on the type of information, it may be used either to instruct the computer what to do (instructions) or it may be used as data in arithmetic or logical operations (data). As an instruction, the information tells the computer where the next information is stored or what to do with the next packet of information obtained. As data, it will be routed to the Arithmetic/Logic function for processing and back to await its next use. All instructions and data are placed in the memory (storage) Instructions and data are processed sequentially as required by the stored program and the intermediate/final results are returned to storage. The output function displays the results of the internal processing of information when called upon by the control function.

Please read chapter 1 page number 33 in order to get knowledge about the VON Neumann Architecture.
Main memory of the computer and it stores three type of information for

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very brief periods of time: Data to be processed by the CPU Instructions for the CPU as to how to process the data Operating System programs that include instructions for computer how to function (details can be found in Section 1.3) There are four main types of primary storage: Registers Random Access Memory (RAM) Read-Only Memory (ROM). Cache Memory

A computer-based information system involves six interdependent components: hardware (machines), software (instructions or programs), people (programmers, managers, or users), procedures (rules), data and information. There are number of types of information systems corresponding to various levels of management. The three traditional levels of management are 1) Lower or Operational Management 2) Middle or Tactical Management 3) Upper or Top or Strategic Management 1) Transaction Processing Systems (TPS) = Data Processing Systems (DPS). 2) Management Information Systems (MIS) 3) Decision Support Systems (DSS) 4) Executive Information Systems 5) Expert Systems (ES) Management uses several basic types of information systems:

=(EIS) Executive Support System (ESS).

SDLC is also known as Classic Life

Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC) Cycle Model, Linear Sequential Model or Water Fall Model. Following are the different phases of the SDLC: 1. Problem Definition 2. Feasibility Study 3. System Analysis 4. System Design 5. Software Development 6. Testing 7. Implementation 8. Maintenance During design, the analyst:

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Draws a model of the new system, using data flow diagrams (DFD) and entity-relationship (ER) diagrams. Devises formats for all the reports that the system will generate. Develops a method for collecting and/or inputting data. Defines the detailed data requirements with a data dictionary. Writes program specifications. Specifies control techniques for the systems outputs, database, and inputs. Problems in Systems Development The following are generally recognized as possible problems in systems development: Estimating cost and time Selecting a project team Capturing user requirements Using standards Choosing design approaches Coding programs Testing programs Maintaining systems

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