Types of Computers
Information on PCs
PCs (Personal Computer) nowadays are used every day by people at home or businesses. A personal computer can be used for many things such as word processing, pictures, music, videos, games, research, internet, programming and accounting. The main operating system for PCs are mostly Microsoft, the newest one being Windows 7.
Servers
A server is a computer system that can run other programs at the same time. It serves the network to other computer users and can also send information and results to and from your computer. The difference between a PC and a Server is that the operating system servers are generally more powerful than a PC.
Mainframes
Mainframes are like supercomputers as they can send a huge amount of data and transactions in a short amount of time. They are a giant server used by data banks with a massive processing power. They are mostly used by businesses and corporations so they can send and process channels of data through the system.
Embedded Systems
Embedded Systems are computer systems that are inside appliances and electrical technology. MP3 players, DVD players, printers, game consoles and digital cameras all have embedded systems inside. Many household appliances have embedded systems in them too such as dishwashers, microwave ovens and washing machines. They are used in many aspects of modern day life.
Desktop PCs have components which include disk drives, motherboard, Central Processing Unit (CPU) and Expansion slots, Power supplies and Input/output devices.
A disk drive can read and write data by rotating the disk very fast with one or more heads. There are many different types of disk drives such as hard disks, floppy disks and optical drives. Floppy disks are portable and can be removed from the floppy disk. A hard disk is a magnetic disk that can store computer data. The main difference between a floppy disk and a hard disk is that most floppies are 1.4 megabits whilst the hard disk can store up to 100 gigabits. Optical disks are a storage disk that has its data read and written back by lasers.
The Motherboard is a circuit board which controls many things. It provides components and connectors so that the system can connect through other parts of the computer. The Motherboard includes the floppy drive connector, fan connectors, backup battery and super chips. There are Motherboard connectors that can be a 34 pin and 40 pin, these connections are for IDE (Integrated Drive Electronics), HDD (Hard Disk Drive) and optical drives.
CPU (Central Processing Unit) acts like a calculator and processes program instructions that come from the ROM (Read Only Memory) and the hard drive e.g. Intel IS, AMD.