IT 2101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Floppy Disk, Computer Hardware, Hard Disk Drive

• School: KSU
• Department: Information Technology
• Course: IT 2101
• Professor: Robbie Hackworth

Document Summary

So computers perform four basic functions: input, processing, output and storage. In order to perform these functions, computer hardware and computer software must work together. Together, the combination of hardware and software are referred to as the computing platform. How does my computer think?": the core components of a computer are the processor, memory, and hard disk. The processor or cpu is the main brain of your computer. The processor does everything from handling characters that you"re typing to making aliens come alive in a game. The speed of the processor typically measured in gigahertz= ghz essentially determines how quickly your computer can think. Newer multiple core processors basically contain multiple brains on a single chip providing a dramatic increase in computing power. As your computer thinks it uses your computer"s memory called ram as a scratch pad. This short term memory remembers the programs that are running, files you"ve opened and basically everything that"s on your screen.