A chipset is a group of integrated circuits, or chips, that are designed to work together, and are usually marketed as a single product.
chipset
BIOS
BIOS in part refers to the firmware code run by a PC when first powered on, which is a type of boot loader. The primary function of the BIOS is to identify and initialize system component hardware (such as the video display card, hard disk, and floppy disk) and some other hardware devices. This is to prepare the machine into a known low capability state, so other software programs stored on various media can be loaded, executed, and given control of the PC. This process is known as booting, or booting up, which is short for bootstrapping. Among other classes of computers, the generic terms boot monitor, boot loader or boot ROM were commonly used. Some Sun and Macintosh PowerPC computers used Open Firmware for this purpose. There are a few alternatives for Legacy BIOS in the x86 world: Extensible Firmware Interface, Open Firmware (used on the OLPC XO-1) and coreboot.
The BIOSes of IBM PC class machines can also be said to be a coded program embedded on a chip that recognizes and controls various devices that make up x86 personal computers, and provides a small library of basic Input/Output functions that can be called to operate and control the peripherals such as the keyboard, primitive (800 x 600) display functions and so forth. Computers designed to run Windows ME or Windows 2000, or later, supersede this basic monitor functionality by taking over direct control of the interrupt table and replacing the monitor routines with faster and more robust low-level modules that, unlike the BIOS function set, are re-entrant. Various BIOS functions in ROM were left in control in earlier Windows versions, and the BIOS only comes into play today in the alternate shell CMD.exe, or if the machine is booted into a legacy DOS version.
The term first appeared in the CP/M operating system, describing the part of CP/M loaded during boot time that interfaced directly with the hardware (CP/M machines usually had a simple boot loader in ROM, and nothing else). Most versions of DOS have a file called "IBMBIO.COM" or "IO.SYS" that is analogous to the CP/M disk BIOS.
motherboard
A motherboard is the central or primary printed circuit board (PCB) making up a complex electronic system, such as a modern computer or laptop. It is also known as a mainboard, baseboard, system board, planar board, or, on Apple computers, a logic board, and is sometimes abbreviated casually as mobo.
Most motherboards produced today are designed for so-called IBM-compatible computers, which held over 96% of the global personal computer market in 2005.Motherboards for IBM-compatible computers are specifically covered in the PC motherboard article.
A motherboard, like a backplane, provides the electrical connections by which the other components of the system communicate, but unlike a backplane also contains the central processing unit and other subsystems such as real time clock, and some peripheral interfaces.
A typical desktop computer is built with the microprocessor, main memory, and other essential components on the motherboard. Other components such as external storage, controllers for video display and sound, and peripheral devices are typically attached to the motherboard via edge connectors and cables, although in modern computers it is increasingly common to integrate these "peripherals" into the motherboard.
All of the basic circuitry and components required for a computer to function are onboard the motherboard or are connected with a cable. The most important component on a motherboard is the chipset. It often consists of two components or chips known as the Northbridge and Southbridge, though they may also be integrated into a single component. These chips determine, to an extent, the features and capabilities of the motherboard.
microprocessor
A microprocessor incorporates most or all of the functions of a central processing unit (CPU) on a single integrated circuit (IC). The first microprocessors emerged in the early 1970s and were used for electronic calculators, using BCD arithmetic on 4-bit words. Other embedded uses of 4 and 8-bit microprocessors, such as terminals, printers, various kinds of automation etc, followed rather quickly. Affordable 8-bit microprocessors with 16-bit addressing also led to the first general purpose microcomputers in the mid-1970s.
Computer processors were for a long period constructed out of small and medium-scale ICs containing the equivalent of a few to a few hundred transistors. The integration of the whole CPU onto a single VLSI chip therefore greatly reduced the cost of processing capacity. From their humble beginnings, continued increases in microprocessor capacity have rendered other forms of computers almost completely obsolete (see history of computing hardware), with one or more microprocessor as processing element in everything from the smallest embedded systems and handheld devices to the largest mainframes and supercomputers.
Since the early 1970s, the increase in capacity of microprocessors has been known to generally follow Moore's Law, which suggests that the complexity of an integrated circuit, with respect to minimum component cost, doubles every 18 months. In the late 1990s, heat generation (TDP), due to current leakage and other factors, emerged as a leading developmental constraint.
Servers and clients communicate
Servers and clients communicate
- Your computer (client hardware) is running a web browser such as Internet Explorer (client software).
- When you want to surf the web, your browser connects to a remote server and requests a web page.
- The remote server (server hardware) runs web server software (server software).
- The web server sends the web page to your computer's web browser.
- Your web browser displays the page.
server
server
All computers on the Internet (a wide area network, or WAN) can be lumped into two groups: servers and clients. In a network, clients and servers communicate with one another.
A server is the common source that :
- Provides shared services (for example, network security measures) with other machines
AND
- Manages resources (for example, one printer many people use) in a network.
The term server is often used to describe the hardware (computer), but the term also refers to the software (application) running on the computer. Many servers are dedicated, meaning they only perform specific tasks.
For example,
- An email server is a computer that has software running on it allowing it to "serve" email-related services.
- A web server has software running on it that allows it to "serve" web-related services.
Clients
Clients
Remember, all computers on the Internet (a wide area network, or WAN) can be lumped into two groups: servers and clients, which communicate with one another.
Independent computers connected to a server are called clients. Most likely, your home or office computer does not provide services to other computers. Therefore, it is a client.
Clients run multiple client software applications that perform specific functions.
For example,
- An email application such as Microsoft Outlook is client software.
- Your web browser (such as Internet Explorer or Netscape) is client software.
iPod mini
The iPod mini is a digital audio player designed and marketed by Apple Inc. It was the midrange model in Apple's iPod product line. It was announced on
The iPod mini retained the touch-sensitive scroll wheel of the third generation iPod; however, instead of the four touch buttons located above the wheel, the buttons were made mechanical beneath the wheel itself—hence the name click wheel. To use one of the four buttons, the user must physically push the edge of the wheel inward over one of the four labels. Like its predecessors, the wheel was developed for Apple by Synaptics. The click wheel is now also used in the fourth, fifth and sixth generation iPods and the iPod nano, from first generation through to third; however, in the nano and 5G iPods onwards, the click wheel is developed by Apple.
Above the wheel is a monochrome LCD that displays a menu or information about the selected track. Newer-generation iPods have since adopted color displays.
Nanocomputer
(Inside the Nanocomputer)
Nanocomputer is the logical name for a computer smaller than the microcomputer, which is smaller than the minicomputer. (The minicomputer is called "mini" because it was a lot smaller than the original (mainframe) computers.) More technically, it is a computer whose fundamental parts are no bigger than a few nanometers. For comparison, the smallest part of current state-of-the-art microprocessors measures 45 nm as of
There are several ways nanocomputers might be built, using mechanical, electronic, biochemical, or quantum technology. It is unlikely that nanocomputers will be made out of semiconductor transistors (Microelectronic components that are at the core of all modern electronic devices), as they seem to perform significantly less well when shrunk to sizes under 100 nanometers.
iPod Nano
The iPod Nano is a portable media player designed and marketed by Apple Inc (as iPod nano). It is the midrange model in Apple's iPod family. The first generation was introduced in 2005. It uses flash memory, like the iPod shuffle, but with a Miniaturized version of the display screen and "click wheel" found on the iPod Classic. The model has been updated twice since its introduction. Shortly after release, the iPod Nano became the highest-selling MP3 player in history, besting its sibling, the iPod Mini.
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