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116 Chapter 4 Hardware, Software, and Mobile Systems

Fast-forward to today. Smartphones have substantial processing power, the ability to con-
nect to networks, internal memory, and virtual keyboards and can interconnect with other
devices. Now a “phone” is essentially a powerful piece of computing hardware. Computing
hardware is also being integrated into other devices such as watches, glasses, TVs, cars, and
even toothbrushes.
Computer hardware consists of electronic components and related gadgetry that input,
process, output, and store data according to instructions encoded in computer programs or
software. All hardware today has more or less the same components, at least to the level that is
important to us. We’ll begin with those components, and then we’ll quickly survey basic types
of computers.

Hardware Components

Over the course of your career, Every computer has a central processing unit (CPU), which is sometimes called “the brain” of
application software, hardware, the computer. Although the design of the CPU has nothing in common with the anatomy of ani-
and firmware will change, mal brains, this description is helpful because the CPU does have the “smarts” of the machine.
sometimes rapidly. The Guide on
pages 152–153 challenges you to The CPU selects instructions, processes them, performs arithmetic and logical comparisons,
choose a strategy for addressing and stores results of operations in memory. Some computers have two or more CPUs. A com-
this change. puter with two CPUs is called a dual-processor computer. Quad-processor computers have
four CPUs. Some high-end computers have 16 or more CPUs.
CPUs vary in speed, function, and cost. Hardware vendors such as Intel, Advanced Micro
Devices, and National Semiconductor continually improve CPU speed and capabilities while
reducing CPU costs (as discussed under Moore’s Law in Chapter 1). Whether you or your de-
partment needs the latest, greatest CPU depends on the nature of your work.
The CPU works in conjunction with main memory. The CPU reads data and instructions
from memory and then stores the results of computations in main memory. Main memory is
sometimes called RAM, for random access memory.
All computers include storage hardware, which is used to save data and programs.
Magnetic disks (also called hard disks) are the most common storage device. Solid-state storage
(aka an SSD drive) is much faster than a hard drive and gaining in popularity, but it is several
times more expensive. USB flash drives are small, portable solid-state storage devices that can
be used to back up data and transfer it from one computer to another. Optical disks such as CDs
and DVDs also are popular portable storage media.

Types of Hardware

Figure 4-1 lists the basic types of hardware. Personal computers (PCs) are classic comput-
ing devices that are used by individuals. In the past, PCs were the primary computer used in
business. Today, they are gradually being supplanted by tablets and other mobile devices. The
Mac Pro is an example of a modern PC. Apple brought tablets (sometimes called slates) to

Hardware Type Example (s)

Personal Computer (PC) Apple Mac Pro
Including desktops and laptops
Tablet iPad, Microsoft Surface, Google
Including e-book readers Nexus, Kindle Fire
Smartphone Samsung Galaxy, iPhone
Server Dell PowerEdge 12G Server
Figure 4-1 Server Farm Racks of servers (Figure 4-2)
Basic Types of Hardware