: : : 1,2/14

Personal computer hardware Motherboard Removable media devices Secondary storage Sound card Input and output peripherals

A personal computer is made up of multiple physical components of computer hardware, upon which can be installed a system software called operating system and a multitude of software applications to perform the operator's desired functions. Though a PC comes in many different forms, a typical personal computer consists of a case or chassis in a tower shape (desktop), containing components such as a motherboard. Motherboard The motherboard is the main component inside the case. It is a large rectangular board with integrated circuitry that connects the rest of the parts of the computer including the CPU, the RAM, the disk drives (CD, DVD, hard disk, or any others) as well as any peripherals connected via the ports or the expansion slots. Components directly attached to the motherboard include: The central processing unit (CPU) performs most of the calculations which enable a computer to function, and is sometimes referred to as the "brain" of the computer. It is usually cooled by a heat sink and fan. The chip set mediates communication between the CPU and the other components of the system, including main memory. RAM (Random Access Memory) stores all running processes (applications) and the current running OS. The BIOS includes boot firmware and power management. The Basic Input Output System tasks are handled by operating system drivers. Internal Buses connect the CPU to various internal components and to expansion cards for graphics and sound. Current The north bridge memory controller, for RAM and PCI Express PCI Express, for expansion cards such as graphics and physics processors, and high-end network interfaces PCI, for other expansion cards SATA, for disk drives Obsolete ATA (superseded by SATA) AGP (superseded by PCI Express) VLB VESA Local Bus (superseded by AGP) ISA (expansion card slot format obsolete in PCs, but still used in industrial computers) External Bus Controllers support ports for external peripherals. These ports may be controlled directly by the south bridge I/O controller or based on expansion cards attached to the motherboard through the PCI bus. USB FireWire eSATA SCSI

Removable media devices

CD (compact disc) - the most common type of removable media, suitable for music and data. CD-ROM Drive - a device used for reading data from a CD. CD Writer - a device used for both reading and writing data to and from a CD. DVD (digital versatile disc) - a popular type of removable media that is the same dimensions as a CD but stores up to 12 times as much information. It is the most common way of transferring digital video, and is popular for data storage. DVD-ROM Drive - a device used for reading data from a DVD. DVD Writer - a device used for both reading and writing data to and from a DVD. DVD-RAM Drive - a device used for rapid writing and reading of data from a special type of DVD. Blu-ray Disc - a high-density optical disc format for data and high-definition video. Can store 70 times as much information as a CD. BD-ROM Drive - a device used for reading data from a Blu-ray disc. BD Writer - a device used for both reading and writing data to and from a Blu-ray disc. HD DVD - a discontinued competitor to the Blu-ray format. Floppy disk - an outdated storage device consisting of a thin disk of a flexible magnetic storage medium. Used today mainly for loading RAID drivers. Iomega Zip drive - an outdated medium-capacity removable disk storage system, first introduced by Iomega in 1994. USB flash drive - a flash memory data storage device integrated with a USB interface, typically small, lightweight, removable, and rewritable. Capacities vary, from hundreds of megabytes (in the same ballpark as CDs) to tens of gigabytes (surpassing, at great expense, Blu-ray discs). Tape drive - a device that reads and writes data on a magnetic tape, used for long term storage and backups.

Secondary storage Hardware that keeps data inside the computer for later use and remains persistent even when the computer has no power. Hard disk - for medium-term storage of data. Solid-state drive - a device similar to hard disk, but containing no moving parts and stores data in a digital format. RAID array controller - a device to manage several internal or external hard disks and optionally some peripherals in order to achieve performance or reliability improvement in what is called a RAID array. Sound card Enables the computer to output sound to audio devices, as well as accept input from a microphone. Most modern computers have sound cards built-in to the motherboard, though it is common for a user to install a separate sound card as an upgrade. Most sound cards, either built-in or added, have surround sound capabilities. Input and output peripherals Peripheral Input and output devices are typically housed externally to the main computer chassis. The following are either standard or very common to many computer systems.

Input Keyboard - a device to input text and characters by depressing buttons (referred to as keys). Pointing devices Mouse - a pointing device that detects two dimensional motion relative to its supporting surface. Optical Mouse - uses light to determine mouse motion. Trackball - a pointing device consisting of an exposed protruding ball housed in a socket that detects rotation about two axes. Touchscreen - senses the user pressing directly on the display Gaming devices Joystick - a control device that consists of a handheld stick that pivots around one end, to detect angles in two or three dimensions. Game pad - a hand held game controller that relies on the digits (especially thumbs) to provide input. Game controller - a specific type of controller specialized for certain gaming purposes. Image, Video input devices Image scanner - a device that provides input by analyzing images, printed text, handwriting, or an object. Web cam - a low resolution video camera used to provide visual input that can be easily transferred over the internet. Audio input devices Microphone - an acoustic sensor that provides input by converting sound into electrical signals. Output Printer - a device that produces a permanent human-readable text of graphic document. Speakers - typically a pair of devices (2 channels) which convert electrical signals into audio. Headphones - for a single user hearing the audio. Monitor - an electronic visual display with textual and graphical information from the computer. CRT - (Cathode Ray Tube) display LCD - (Liquid Crystal Display) as of 2010, it is the primary visual display for personal computers.

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 Internet Protocol Services provided by IP Reliability

Internet Protocol The Internet Protocol (IP) is the method or protocol by which data is sent from one computer to another on the Internet. Each computer (known as a host) on the Internet has at least one IP address that uniquely identifies it from all other computers on the Internet. When you send or receive data (for example, an e-mail note or a Web page), the message gets divided into little chunks called packets. Each of these packets contains both the sender's Internet address and the receiver's address. Any packet is sent first to a gateway computer that understands a small part of the Internet. The gateway computer reads the destination address and forwards the packet to an adjacent gateway that in turn reads the destination address and so forth across the Internet until one gateway recognizes the packet as belonging to a computer within its immediate neighborhood or domain. That gateway then forwards the packet directly to the computer whose address is specified. Because a message is divided into a number of packets, each packet can, if necessary, be sent by a different route across the Internet. Packets can arrive in a different order than the order they were sent in. The Internet Protocol just delivers them. It's up to another protocol, the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) to put them back in the right order. IP is a connectionless protocol, which means that there is no continuing connection between the end points that are communicating. Each packet that travels through the Internet is treated as an independent unit of data without any relation to any other unit of data. (The reason the packets do get put in the right order is because of TCP, the connection-oriented protocol that keeps track of the packet sequence in a message.) In the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) communication model, IP is in layer 3, the Networking Layer. The most widely used version of IP today is Internet Protocol Version 4 (IPv4). However, IP Version 6 (IPv6) is also beginning to be supported. IPv6 provides for much longer addresses and therefore for the possibility of many more Internet users. IPv6 includes the capabilities of IPv4 and any server that can support IPv6 packets can also support IPv4 packets.

The Internet Protocol (IP) is the principal communications protocol used for relaying datagrams (packets) across an internetwork using the Internet Protocol Suite. Responsible for routing packets across network boundaries, it is the primary protocol that establishes the Internet. IP is the primary protocol in the Internet Layer of the Internet Protocol Suite and has the task of delivering datagrams from the source host to the destination host solely based on their addresses. For this purpose, IP defines addressing methods and structures for datagram encapsulation. Historically, IP was the connectionless datagram service in the original Transmission Control Program introduced by Vint Cerf and Bob Kahn in 1974, the other being the connection-oriented Transmission Control Protocol (TCP). The Internet Protocol Suite is therefore often referred to as TCP/IP. The first major version of IP, now referred to as Internet Protocol Version 4 (IPv4) is the dominant protocol of the Internet, although the successor, Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPv6) is in active, growing deployment worldwide.

Services provided by IP The Internet Protocol is responsible for addressing hosts and routing datagrams (packets) from a source host to the destination host across one or more IP networks. For this purpose the Internet Protocol defines an addressing system that has two functions. Addresses identify hosts and provide a logical location service. Each packet is tagged with a header that contains the meta-data for the purpose of delivery. This process of tagging is also called encapsulation. IP is a connectionless protocol and does not need circuit setup prior to transmission.

Reliability The design principles of the Internet protocols assume that the network infrastructure is inherently unreliable at any single network element or transmission medium and that it is dynamic in terms of availability of links and nodes. No central monitoring or performance measurement facility exists that tracks or maintains the state of the network. For the benefit of reducing network complexity, the intelligence in the network is purposely mostly located in the end nodes of each data transmission, cf. end-to-end principle. Routers in the transmission path simply forward packets to the next known local gateway matching the routing prefix for the destination address. As a consequence of this design, the Internet Protocol only provides best effort delivery and its service can also be characterized as unreliable. In network architectural language it is a connection-less protocol, in contrast to so-called connection-oriented modes of transmission. The lack of reliability allows any of the following fault events to occur: data corruption lost data packets duplicate arrival out-of-order packet delivery; meaning, if packet 'A' is sent before packet 'B', packet 'B' may arrive before packet 'A'. Since routing is dynamic and there is no memory in the network about the path of prior packets, it is possible that the first packet sent takes a longer path to its destination.

The only assistance that the Internet Protocol provides in Version 4 (IPv4) is to ensure that the IP packet header is error-free through computation of a checksum at the routing nodes. This has the side-effect of discarding packets with bad headers on the spot. In this case no notification is required to be sent to either end node, although a facility exists in the Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) to do so. IPv6, on the other hand, has abandoned the use of IP header checksums for the benefit of rapid forwarding through routing elements in the network. The resolution or correction of any of these reliability issues is the responsibility of an upper layer protocol. For example, to ensure in-order delivery the upper layer may have to cache data until it can be passed to the application. In addition to issues of reliability, this dynamic nature and the diversity of the Internet and its components provide no guarantee that any particular path is actually capable of, or suitable for, performing the data transmission requested, even if the path is available and reliable. One of the technical constraints is the size of data packets allowed on a given link. An application must assure that it uses proper transmission characteristics. Some of this responsibility lies also in the upper layer protocols between application and IP. Facilities exist to examine the maximum transmission unit (MTU) size of the local link, as well as for the entire projected path to the destination when using IPv6. The IPv4 internetworking layer has the capability to automatically fragment the original datagram into smaller units for transmission. In this case, IP does provide re-ordering of fragments delivered out-of-order.[1] Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) is an example of a protocol that will adjust its segment size to be smaller than the MTU. User Datagram Protocol (UDP) and Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) disregard MTU size thereby forcing IP to fragment oversized datagrams.[2]

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 Web design Website design

Web design is a broad term used to encompass the way that content (usually hypertext or hypermedia) that are delivered to an end-user through the World Wide Web, using a Web browser or other Web-enabled software is displayed. The intent of web design is to create a website a collection of online content including documents and applications that reside on a Web server/servers. The website may include text, images, sounds and other content, and may be interactive. Web design involves the structure of the website including the information architecture (navigation schemes and naming conventions), the layout or the pages (wireframes or page schematics are created to show consistent placement of items including functional features), and the conceptual design with branding. All websites should begin with a clear strategy so that it is apparent what they are trying to achieve. The strategy then enables the design to fullfill defined goals.

Such elements as text, bit-mapped images (GIFs, JPEGs) and forms can be placed on the page using HTML/XHTML/XML tags. Displaying more complex media (vector graphics, animations, videos, sounds) requires plug-ins such as Adobe Flash, QuickTime, Java run-time environment, etc. Plug-ins are also embedded into web page by using HTML/XHTML tags. Improvements in browsers' compliance with W3C standards prompted a widespread acceptance and usage of XHTML/XML in conjunction with Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) to position and manipulate web page elements and objects. Latest standards and proposals aim at leading to browsers' ability to deliver a wide variety of content and accessibility options to the client possibly without employing plug-ins. Typically Web pages are classified as static or dynamic: Static pages don t change content and layout with every request unless a human (web master/programmer) manually updates the page. A simple HTML page is an example of static content. Dynamic pages adapt their content and/or appearance depending on end-user s input/interaction or changes in the computing environment (user, time, database modifications, etc.) Content can be changed on the client side (end-user's computer) by using client-side scripting languages (JavaScript, JScript, Actionscript, etc.) to alter DOM elements (DHTML). Dynamic content is often compiled on the server utilizing server-side scripting languages (Perl, PHP, ASP, JSP, ColdFusion, etc.). Both approaches are usually used in complex applications.

With growing specialization in the information technology field there is a strong tendency to distinguish between web design and Web development. Web design is a kind of graphic design intended for the development and styling of objects of the Internet's information environment to provide them with high-end consumer features and aesthetic qualities. This definition separates Web design from web programming, emphasizing the functional features of a web site, as well as positioning web design as a kind of graphic design.[1] The process of designing web pages, web sites, web applications or multimedia for the Web may utilize multiple disciplines, such as animation, authoring, communication design, corporate identity, graphic design, humancomputer interaction, information architecture, interaction design, marketing, photography, search engine optimization and typography. Markup languages (such as HTML, XHTML and XML) Style sheet languages (such as CSS and XSL) Client-side scripting (such as JavaScript) Server-side scripting (such as PHP and ASP) Database technologies (such as MySQL and PostgreSQL) Multimedia technologies (such as Flash and Silverlight)

Web pages and websites can be static pages, or can be programmed to be dynamic pages that automatically adapt content or visual appearance depending on a variety of factors, such as input from the end-user, input from the Webmaster or changes in the computing environment (such as the site's associated database having been modified).

Website design Web design is different than traditional print publishing. Every website is an information display container, just as a book is a container; and every web page is like the page in a book. However the end size and shape of the web page is not known to the Web Designer, whereas the print designer will know exactly what size paper he will be printing on. [4] For the typical web sites, the basic aspects of design are: The content: the substance, and information on the site should be relevant to the site and should target the area of the public that the website is concerned with. The usability: the site should be user-friendly, with the interface and navigation simple and reliable. The appearance: the graphics and text should include a single style that flows throughout, to show consistency. The style should be professional, appealing and relevant. The structure: of the web site as a whole.

A web site typically consists of text, images, animation and /or video. The first page of a web site is known as the Home page or Index Page. Some web sites use what is commonly called a Splash Page. Splash pages might include a welcome message, language or region selection, or disclaimer, however search engines, in general, favor web sites that don't do this which has caused these types of pages to fall out of favor. Each web page within a web site is a file which has its own URL. After each web page is created, they are typically linked together using a navigation menu composed of hyperlinks. Once a web site is completed, it must be published or uploaded in order to be viewable to the public over the internet. This may be done using an FTP client.

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Programming language Definitions Elements Syntax

Programming language A programming language is an artificial language designed to express computations that can be performed by a machine, particularly a computer. Programming languages can be used to create programs that control the behavior of a machine, to express algorithms precisely, or as a mode of human communication. Many programming languages have some form of written specification of their syntax (form) and semantics (meaning). Some languages are defined by a specification document. For example, the C programming language is specified by an ISO Standard. Other languages, such as Perl, have a dominant implementation that is used as a reference. The earliest programming languages predate the invention of the computer, and were used to direct the behavior of machines such as Jacquard looms and player pianos. Thousands of different programming languages have been created, mainly in the computer field, with many more being created every year. Most programming languages describe computation in an imperative style, i.e., as a sequence of commands, although some languages, such as those that support functional programming or logic programming, use alternative forms of description.

Definitions A programming language is a notation for writing programs, which are specifications of a computation or algorithm.[1] Some, but not all, authors restrict the term "programming language" to those languages that can express all possible algorithms.[1][2] Traits often considered important for what constitutes a programming language include: Function and target: A computer programming language is a language[3] used to write computer programs, which involve a computer performing some kind of computation[4] or algorithm and possibly control external devices such as printers, disk drives, robots,[5] and so on. For example PostScript programs are frequently created by another program to control a computer printer or display. More generally, a programming language may describe computation on some, possibly abstract, machine. It is generally accepted that a complete specification for a programming language includes a description, possibly idealized, of a machine or processor for that language.[6] In most practical contexts, a programming language involves a computer; consequently programming languages are usually defined and studied this way.[7] Programming languages differ from natural languages in that natural languages are only used for interaction between people, while programming languages also allow humans to communicate instructions to machines. Abstractions: Programming languages usually contain abstractions for defining and manipulating data structures or controlling the flow of execution. The practical necessity that a programming language support adequate abstractions is expressed by the abstraction principle;[8] this principle is sometimes formulated as recommendation to the programmer to make proper use of such abstractions.[9] Expressive power: The theory of computation classifies languages by the computations they are capable of expressing. All Turing complete languages can implement the same set of algorithms. ANSI/ISO SQL and Charity are examples of languages that are not Turing complete, yet often called programming languages.[10][11] Markup languages like XML, HTML or troff, which define structured data, are not generally considered programming languages.[12][13][14] Programming languages may, however, share the syntax with markup languages if a computational semantics is defined. XSLT, for example, is a Turing complete XML dialect.[15][16][17] Moreover, LaTeX, which is mostly used for structuring documents, also contains a Turing complete subset.[18][19] The term computer language is sometimes used interchangeably with programming language.[20] However, the usage of both terms varies among authors, including the exact scope of each. One usage describes programming languages as a subset of computer languages.[21] In this vein, languages used in computing that have a different goal than expressing computer programs are generically designated computer languages. For instance, markup languages are sometimes referred to as computer languages to emphasize that they are not meant to be used for programming.[22] Another usage regards programming languages as theoretical constructs for programming abstract machines, and computer languages as the subset thereof that runs on physical computers, which have finite hardware resources.[23] John C. Reynolds emphasizes that formal specification languages are just as much programming languages as are the languages intended for execution. He also argues that textual and even graphical input formats that affect the behavior of a computer are programming languages, despite the fact they are commonly not Turing-complete, and remarks that ignorance of programming language concepts is the reason for many flaws in input formats.[24]

Elements All programming languages have some primitive building blocks for the description of data and the processes or transformations applied to them (like the addition of two numbers or the selection of an item from a collection). These primitives are defined by syntactic and semantic rules which describe their structure and meaning respectively. Syntax A programming language's surface form is known as its syntax. Most programming languages are purely textual; they use sequences of text including words, numbers, and punctuation, much like written natural languages. On the other hand, there are some programming languages which are more graphical in nature, using visual relationships between symbols to specify a program. The syntax of a language describes the possible combinations of symbols that form a syntactically correct program. The meaning given to a combination of symbols is handled by semantics (either formal or hard-coded in a reference implementation). Since most languages are textual, this article discusses textual syntax.

This grammar specifies the following: * an expression is either an atom or a list; * an atom is either a number or a symbol; * a number is an unbroken sequence of one or more decimal digits, optionally preceded by a plus or minus sign; * a symbol is a letter followed by zero or more of any characters (excluding whitespace); and * a list is a matched pair of parentheses, with zero or more expressions inside it. The following are examples of well-formed token sequences in this grammar: '12345', '()', '(a b c232 (1))' Not all syntactically correct programs are semantically correct. Many syntactically correct programs are nonetheless ill-formed, per the language's rules; and may (depending on the language specification and the soundness of the implementation) result in an error on translation or execution. In some cases, such programs may exhibit undefined behavior. Even when a program is well-defined within a language, it may still have a meaning that is not intended by the person who wrote it. Using natural language as an example, it may not be possible to assign a meaning to a grammatically correct sentence or the sentence may be false: * "Colorless green ideas sleep furiously." is grammatically well-formed but has no generally accepted meaning. * "John is a married bachelor." is grammatically well-formed but expresses a meaning that cannot be true.

Object-oriented programming (OOP) is a programming paradigm that uses "objects" data structures consisting of data fields and methods together with their interactions to design applications and computer programs. Programming techniques may include features such as data abstraction, encapsulation, modularity, polymorphism, and inheritance. Many modern programming languages now support OOP. Overview An object is a discrete bundle of functions and procedures, often relating to a particular real-world concept such as a bank account holder, a hockey player, or a bulldozer. Other pieces of software can access the object only by calling its functions and procedures that have been allowed to be called by outsiders. A large number of software engineers agree that isolating objects in this way makes their software easier to manage and keep track of. However, a significant number of engineers feel the reverse may be true: that software becomes more complex to maintain and document, or even to engineer from the start. The conditions under which OOP prevails over alternative techniques (and vice-versa) often remain unstated by either party, however, making rational discussion of the topic difficult, and often leading to heated debates[citation needed] over the matter. Object-oriented programming has roots that can be traced to the 1960s. As hardware and software became increasingly complex, manageability often became a concern. Researchers studied ways to maintain software quality and developed object-oriented programming in part to address common problems by strongly emphasizing discrete, reusable units of programming logic[citation needed]. The technology focuses on data rather than processes, with programs composed of selfsufficient modules ("classes"), each instance of which ("objects") contains all the information needed to manipulate its own data structure ("members"). This is in contrast to the existing modular programming that had been dominant for many years that focused on the function of a module, rather than specifically the data, but equally provided for code reuse, and self-sufficient reusable units of programming logic, enabling collaboration through the use of linked modules (subroutines). This more conventional approach, which still persists, tends to consider data and behavior separately. An object-oriented program may thus be viewed as a collection of interacting objects, as opposed to the conventional model, in which a program is seen as a list of tasks (subroutines) to perform. In OOP, each object is capable of receiving messages, processing data, and sending messages to other objects. Each object can be viewed as an independent 'machine' with a distinct role or responsibility. The actions (or "methods") on these objects are closely associated with the object. For example, OOP data structures tend to 'carry their own operators around with them' (or at least "inherit" them from a similar object or class). In the conventional model, the data and operations on the data don't have a tight, formal association.

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A computer network Connection method Wired technologies Wireless technologies Network topology Types of networks based on physical scope Basic hardware components

A computer network, often simply referred to as a network, is a collection of computers and devices interconnected by communications channels that facilitate communications among users and allows users to share resources. Networks may be classified according to a wide variety of characteristics. Introduction A computer network allows sharing of resources and information among interconnected devices. In the 1960s, the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) started funding the design of the Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET) for the United States Department of Defense. It was the first computer network in the world. Development of the network began in 1969, based on designs developed during the 1960s. Purpose Computer networks can be used for a variety of purposes: Facilitating communications. Using a network, people can communicate efficiently and easily via email, instant messaging, chat rooms, telephone, video telephone calls, and video conferencing. Sharing hardware. In a networked environment, each computer on a network may access and use hardware resources on the network, such as printing a document on a shared network printer. Sharing files, data, and information. In a network environment, authorized user may access data and information stored on other computers on the network. The capability of providing access to data and information on shared storage devices is an important feature of many networks. Sharing software. Users connected to a network may run application programs on remote computers. Information preservation. Security. Speed up.

Connection method Computer networks can be classified according to the hardware and software technology that is used to interconnect the individual devices in the network, such as optical fiber, Ethernet, wireless LAN, HomePNA, power line communication or G.hn. Ethernet as it is defined by IEEE 802 utilizes various standards and mediums that enable communication between devices. Frequently deployed devices include hubs, switches, bridges, or routers. Wireless LAN technology is designed to connect devices without wiring. These devices use radio waves or infrared signals as a transmission medium. ITU-T G.hn technology uses existing home wiring (coaxial cable, phone lines and power lines) to create a high-speed (up to 1 Gigabit/s) local area network. Wired technologies Twisted pair wire is the most widely used medium for telecommunication. Twisted-pair cabling consist of copper wires that are twisted into pairs. Ordinary telephone wires consist of two insulated copper wires twisted into pairs. Computer networking cabling consist of 4 pairs of copper cabling that can be utilized for both voice and data transmission. The use of two wires twisted together helps to reduce crosstalk and electromagnetic induction. The transmission speed ranges from 2 million bits per second to 100 million bits per second. Twisted pair cabling comes in two forms which are Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP) and Shielded twisted-pair (STP) which are rated in categories which are manufactured in different increments for various scenarios. Coaxial cable is widely used for cable television systems, office buildings, and other worksites for local area networks. The cables consist of copper or aluminum wire wrapped with insulating layer typically of a flexible material with a high dielectric constant, all of which are surrounded by a conductive layer. The layers of insulation help minimize interference and distortion. Transmission speed range from 200 million to more than 500 million bits per second. Optical fiber cable consists of one or more filaments of glass fiber wrapped in protective layers. It transmits light which can travel over extended distances. Fiber-optic cables are not affected by electromagnetic radiation. Transmission speed may reach trillions of bits per second. The transmission speed of fiber optics is hundreds of times faster than for coaxial cables and thousands of times faster than a twisted-pair wire

Wireless technologies Terrestrial microwave Terrestrial microwaves use Earth-based transmitter and receiver. The equipment look similar to satellite dishes. Terrestrial microwaves use low-gigahertz range, which limits all communications to line-of-sight. Path between relay stations spaced approx, 30 miles apart. Microwave antennas are usually placed on top of buildings, towers, hills, and mountain peaks. Communications satellites The satellites use microwave radio as their telecommunications medium which are not deflected by the Earth's atmosphere. The satellites are stationed in space, typically 22,000 miles (for geosynchronous satellites) above the equator. These Earth-orbiting systems are capable of receiving and relaying voice, data, and TV signals. Cellular and PCS systems Use several radio communications technologies. The systems are divided to different geographic areas. Each area has a low-power transmitter or radio relay antenna device to relay calls from one area to the next area. Wireless LANs Wireless local area network use a high-frequency radio technology similar to digital cellular and a low-frequency radio technology. Wireless LANs use spread spectrum technology to enable communication between multiple devices in a limited area. An example of open-standards wireless radio-wave technology is IEEE. Infrared communication , which can transmit signals between devices within small distances not more than 10 meters peer to peer or ( face to face ) without any body in the line of transmitting.

Network topology Computer networks may be classified according to the network topology upon which the network is based, such as bus network, star network, ring network, mesh network. Network topology is the coordination by which devices in the network are arranged in their logical relations to one another, independent of physical arrangement. Even if networked computers are physically placed in a linear arrangement and are connected to a hub, the network has a star topology, rather than a bus topology. In this regard the visual and operational characteristics of a network are distinct. Networks may be classified based on the method of data used to convey the data, these include digital and analog networks.

Types of networks based on physical scope Local area network A local area network (LAN) is a network that connects computers and devices in a limited geographical area such as home, school, computer laboratory, office building, or closely positioned group of buildings. Each computer or device on the network is a node. Current wired LANs are most likely to be based on Ethernet technology, although new standards like ITU-T G.hn also provide a way to create a wired LAN using existing home wires (coaxial cables, phone lines and power lines).[2] Typical library network, in a branching tree topology and controlled access to resources All interconnected devices must understand the network layer (layer 3), because they are handling multiple subnets (the different colors). Those inside the library, which have only 10/100 Mbit/s Ethernet connections to the user device and a Gigabit Ethernet connection to the central router, could be called "layer 3 switches" because they only have Ethernet interfaces and must understand IP. It would be more correct to call them access routers, where the router at the top is a distribution router that connects to the Internet and academic networks' customer access routers. The defining characteristics of LANs, in contrast to WANs (Wide Area Networks), include their higher data transfer rates, smaller geographic range, and no need for leased telecommunication lines. Current Ethernet or other IEEE 802.3 LAN technologies operate at speeds up to 10 Gbit/s. This is the data transfer rate. IEEE has projects investigating the standardization of 40 and 100 Gbit/s

Personal area network A personal area network (PAN) is a computer network used for communication among computer and different information technological devices close to one person. Some examples of devices that are used in a PAN are personal computers, printers, fax machines, telephones, PDAs, scanners, and even video game consoles. A PAN may include wired and wireless devices. The reach of a PAN typically extends to 10 meters.[4] A wired PAN is usually constructed with USB and Firewire connections while technologies such as Bluetooth and infrared communication typically form a wireless PAN. Home area network A home area network (HAN) is a residential LAN which is used for communication between digital devices typically deployed in the home, usually a small number of personal computers and accessories, such as printers and mobile computing devices. An important function is the sharing of Internet access, often a broadband service through a CATV or Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) provider. It can also be referred to as an office area network (OAN).

Wide area network A wide area network (WAN) is a computer network that covers a large geographic area such as a city, country, or spans even intercontinental distances, using a communications channel that combines many types of media such as telephone lines, cables, and air waves. A WAN often uses transmission facilities provided by common carriers, such as telephone companies. WAN technologies generally function at the lower three layers of the OSI reference model: the physical layer, the data link layer, and the network layer. Campus network A campus network is a computer network made up of an interconnection of local area networks (LAN's) within a limited geographical area. The networking equipments (switches, routers) and transmission media (optical fiber, copper plant, Cat5 cabling etc.) are almost entirely owned (by the campus tenant / owner: an enterprise, university, government etc.). In the case of a university campus-based campus network, the network is likely to link a variety of campus buildings including; academic departments, the university library and student residence halls.

Metropolitan area network A Metropolitan area network is a large computer network that usually spans a city or a large campus. Enterprise private network An enterprise private network is a network build by an enterprise to interconnect various company sites, e.g., production sites, head offices, remote offices, shops, in order to share computer resources. Virtual private network A virtual private network (VPN) is a computer network in which some of the links between nodes are carried by open connections or virtual circuits in some larger network (e.g., the Internet) instead of by physical wires. The data link layer protocols of the virtual network are said to be tunneled through the larger network when this is the case. One common application is secure communications through the public Internet, but a VPN need not have explicit security features, such as authentication or content encryption. VPNs, for example, can be used to separate the traffic of different user communities over an underlying network with strong security features. VPN may have best-effort performance, or may have a defined service level agreement (SLA) between the VPN customer and the VPN service provider. Generally, a VPN has a topology more complex than point-to-point.

Internetwork An internetwork is the connection of two or more private computer networks via a common routing technology (OSI Layer 3) using routers. The Internet is an aggregation of many internetworks, hence its name was shortened to Internet. Backbone network A Backbone network (BBN) A backbone network or network backbone is part of a computer network infrastructure that interconnects various pieces of network, providing a path for the exchange of information between different LANs or subnetworks.[1][2] A backbone can tie together diverse networks in the same building, in different buildings in a campus environment, or over wide areas. Normally, the backbone's capacity is greater than the networks connected to it. A large corporation that has many locations may have a backbone network that ties all of the locations together, for example, if a server cluster needs to be accessed by different departments of a company that are located at different geographical locations. The pieces of the network connections (for example: ethernet, wireless) that bring these departments together is often mentioned as network backbone. Network congestion is often taken into consideration while designing backbones. Backbone networks should not be confused with the Internet backbone.

Global Area Network A Global Area Network (GAN) is a network used for supporting mobile communications across an arbitrary number of wireless LANs, satellite coverage areas, etc. The key challenge in mobile communications is handing off the user communications from one local coverage area to the next. In IEEE Project 802, this involves a succession of terrestrial wireless LANs Internet The Internet is a global system of interconnected governmental, academic, corporate, public, and private computer networks. It is based on the networking technologies of the Internet Protocol Suite. It is the successor of the Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET) developed by DARPA of the United States Department of Defense. The Internet is also the communications backbone underlying the World Wide Web (WWW). Participants in the Internet use a diverse array of methods of several hundred documented, and often standardized, protocols compatible with the Internet Protocol Suite and an addressing system (IP addresses) administered by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority and address registries. Service providers and large enterprises exchange information about the reachability of their address spaces through the Border Gateway Protocol (BGP), forming a redundant worldwide mesh of transmission paths. Intranets and extranets Intranets and extranets are parts or extensions of a computer network, usually a local area network. An intranet is a set of networks, using the Internet Protocol and IP-based tools such as web browsers and file transfer applications, that is under the control of a single administrative entity. That administrative entity closes the intranet to all but specific, authorized users. Most commonly, an intranet is the internal network of an organization. A large intranet will typically have at least one web server to provide users with organizational information. An extranet is a network that is limited in scope to a single organization or entity and also has limited connections to the networks of one or more other usually, but not necessarily, trusted organizations or entities a company's customers may be given access to some part of its intranet while at the same time the customers may not be considered trusted from a security standpoint. Technically, an extranet may also be categorized as a CAN, MAN, WAN, or other type of network, although an extranet cannot consist of a single LAN; it must have at least one connection with an external network.

Overlay network

An overlay network is a virtual computer network that is built on top of another network. Nodes in the overlay are connected by virtual or logical links, each of which corresponds to a path, perhaps through many physical links, in the underlying network. A sample overlay network: IP over SONET over Optical For example, many peer-to-peer networks are overlay networks because they are organized as nodes of a virtual system of links run on top of the Internet. The Internet was initially built as an overlay on the telephone network .[6] Overlay networks have been around since the invention of networking when computer systems were connected over telephone lines using modem, before any data network existed. Nowadays the Internet is the basis for many overlaid networks that can be constructed to permit routing of messages to destinations specified by an IP address. For example, distributed hash tables can be used to route messages to a node having a specific logical address, whose IP address is known in advance. Overlay networks have also been proposed as a way to improve Internet routing, such as through quality of service guarantees to achieve higher-quality streaming media. Previous proposals such as IntServ, DiffServ, and IP Multicast have not seen wide acceptance largely because they require modification of all routers in the network.[citation needed] On the other hand, an overlay network can be incrementally deployed on end-hosts running the overlay protocol software, without cooperation from Internet service providers. The overlay has no control over how packets are routed in the underlying network between two overlay nodes, but it can control, for example, the sequence of overlay nodes a message traverses before reaching its destination. For example, Akamai Technologies manages an overlay network that provides reliable, efficient content delivery (a kind of multicast). Academic research includes End System Multicast and Overcast for multicast; RON (Resilient Overlay Network) for resilient routing; and OverQoS for quality of service guarantees, among others. A backbone network or network backbone is a part of computer network infrastructure that interconnects various pieces of network, providing a path for the exchange of information between different LANs or subnetworks.[1][2] A backbone can tie together diverse networks in the same building, in different buildings in a campus environment, or over wide areas. Normally, the backbone's capacity is greater than the networks connected to it.

Basic hardware components All networks are made up of basic hardware building blocks to interconnect network nodes, such as Network Interface Cards (NICs), Bridges, Hubs, Switches, and Routers. In addition, some method of connecting these building blocks is required, usually in the form of galvanic cable (most commonly Category 5 cable). Less common are microwave links (as in IEEE 802.12) or optical cable ("optical fiber"). Network interface cards A network card, network adapter, or NIC (network interface card) is a piece of computer hardware designed to allow computers to communicate over a computer network. It provides physical access to a networking medium and often provides a low-level addressing system through the use of MAC addresses. Each network interface card has its unique id. This is written on a chip which is mounted on the card. Repeaters A repeater is an electronic device that receives a signal, cleans it of unnecessary noise, regenerates it, and retransmits it at a higher power level, or to the other side of an obstruction, so that the signal can cover longer distances without degradation. In most twisted pair Ethernet configurations, repeaters are required for cable that runs longer than 100 meters. Repeaters work on the Physical Layer of the OSI model. Hubs A network hub contains multiple ports. When a packet arrives at one port, it is copied unmodified to all ports of the hub for transmission. The destination address in the frame is not changed to a broadcast address. It works on the Physical Layer of the OSI model..

Bridges A network bridge connects multiple network segments at the data link layer (layer 2) of the OSI model. Bridges broadcast to all ports except the port on which the broadcast was received. However, bridges do not promiscuously copy traffic to all ports, as hubs do, but learn which MAC addresses are reachable through specific ports. Once the bridge associates a port and an address, it will send traffic for that address to that port only. Bridges learn the association of ports and addresses by examining the source address of frames that it sees on various ports. Once a frame arrives through a port, its source address is stored and the bridge assumes that MAC address is associated with that port. The first time that a previously unknown destination address is seen, the bridge will forward the frame to all ports other than the one on which the frame arrived. Bridges come in three basic types: Local bridges: Directly connect local area networks (LANs) Remote bridges: Can be used to create a wide area network (WAN) link between LANs. Remote bridges, where the connecting link is slower than the end networks, largely have been replaced with routers. Wireless bridges: Can be used to join LANs or connect remote stations to LANs. Switches A network switch is a device that forwards and filters OSI layer 2 datagrams (chunks of data communication) between ports (connected cables) based on the MAC addresses in the packets.[8] A switch is distinct from a hub in that it only forwards the frames to the ports involved in the communication rather than all ports connected. A switch breaks the collision domain but represents itself as a broadcast domain. Switches make forwarding decisions of frames on the basis of MAC addresses. A switch normally has numerous ports, facilitating a star topology for devices, and cascading additional switches.[9] Some switches are capable of routing based on Layer 3 addressing or additional logical levels; these are called multi-layer switches. The term switch is used loosely in marketing to encompass devices including routers and bridges, as well as devices that may distribute traffic on load or by application content (e.g., a Web URL identifier).

Routers A router is an internetworking device that forwards packets between networks by processing information found in the datagram or packet (Internet protocol information from Layer 3 of the OSI Model). In many situations, this information is processed in conjunction with the routing table (also known as forwarding table). Routers use routing tables to determine what interface to forward packets (this can include the "null" also known as the "black hole" interface because data can go into it, however, no further processing is done for said data). Firewalls Firewalls are the most important aspect of a network with respect to security. A firewalled system does not need every interaction or data transfer monitored by a human, as automated processes can be set up to assist in rejecting access requests from unsafe sources, and allowing actions from recognized ones. The vital role firewalls play in network security grows in parallel with the constant increase in 'cyber' attacks for the purpose of stealing/corrupting data, planting viruses, etc.

: : : 13-14/14

 QUIZ

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1. The most common Operating System (OS) for small computers is Microsoft Windows MacIntosh Microsoft Word 2. The two parts of a computer are Zip Drive and CD Monitor and Keyboard Hardware and Software 3. The Central Processor Unit (CPU) is a Place where your files live. Main chip on the computer that makes everything go. Space where your computer does its processing. 4. What does RAM stand for? Removing A Mistake Reading Accessible Memory Random Access Memory 5. Disk space is the Place where the computer does the processing. Box that holds the guts of the computer. Place where your files live. 6. A Mega = 1 Million 10 Million 100 Thousand 7. A byte stores enough information for one File Keystroke (e.g.:'d') Word (e.g.:"boy") 8. If you had a 1 Mb text file, how many keystrokes would you have? It depends on how many words you have. 1 Million 10 Million 9. What else do we measure in Megabytes (MB)? RAM Disk Space Both 10. MegaHertz (Mhz) measures Sound Speed Space

1. The tail of the mouse should always point towards your body. True False 2. To select a menu, put the pointer over a picture part of an icon and click. True False 3. The mouse connected to Windows computers has two buttons. True False 4. Documents is the folder where you put files and folders that you want to delete or erase. True False 5. The three basic kinds of files for the computer are application, document and system files. True False 6. All windows have these elements in common: title bars, resize boxes and close boxes. True False 7. In almost all cases, scroll bars are on the left side and the bottom edge of a window. True False 8. Three mouse scrolling tactics are line by line, using the elevator and one screenfull at a time. True False 9. The only three ways to view a directory window is by icon view, list view and file view. True False 10. In order to change views, you need to know how to use menus. True False

1. What do you call the space where the computer does its processing? CPU RAM OS 2. What is it called when you remove some information from a file or remove a file from the disk? Save Edit Delete 3. What kind of a file is the kind that we care about most (memos, letters, pictures, etc.)? Application File Document Files System Files 4. Using the desktop metaphore, what is the hard drive (and other kinds of storage media like floppy disks)? File Cabinet Application Files Desktop 5. What do you do to get rid of a window that you've opened? Delete Trash Close 6. What do you do when you make changes to a document? Drag Click Edit 7. What menu command do you use to give a file a name and a place to live? Save Save As Creating A File 8. What is the cool technical name for devices that hold files and folders? Documents Folders Volumes 9. Where do you move icons when you want to get rid of or delete them? Recycle Bin or Trash Document Files Folders 10. What part of your computer do you use most to edit word processing documents? Modifier Keys Keyboard Mouse

11. What do we call those small, pictorial representations of objects we see on the desktop? Icons List View File menu 12. What can we create, rename and move around that allows us to sort out and organize our files? Resize Box System Files Directories or Folders 13. What do we call it when you "loose" all the work you've done since the last time you saved? Crash Close Recycle Bin 14. What do we call pressing the mouse button twice in rapid succession? Double Click Right Click Click 15. What do we call keys that change the meaning of what you type? Keyboard Modifier Keys Disk Space 16. What view in a windows arranges the icons (often by name, but you can sort in other ways) and shows more information about them? Menu List View Icon View 17. What do we call the main chip of the computer that makes everything go or the box that holds the guts of the computer? CPU Megabytes Operating System 18. What part of a window that allows you to move through documents? Mouse Keyboard Scroll Bar 19. What menu command allows you to go back to a document you've already worked on? Save Open Save As 20. What is a synonym for "Opening" a program application? Delete Drag Launch

21. What is the name of the most widely used operating system for personal computers? Macintosh UNIX Windows 22. Which way should the "tail" of the mouse point when you use it? To the right Away from your body Toward the ground 23. What do we call the part of the screen you can click on which displays a list of commands? A Menu Some Documents The Computer 24. What do we call the basic software that allows your computer to work? File Cabinet System Files Application Files 25. What do we call moving an object on screen with the mouse? Double Click Click Press and Drag

http://www.funtrivia.com/crossword/play.cfm?gid=1609 http://www.catawba.k12.nc.us/pages/its/blalock/summerschool01/crossword.htm

http://cuip.uchicago.edu/wit/2000/curriculum/homeroommodules/compBasics/CBT erminology.htm