Basic hardware familiarization

Basic Hardware
Familiarization
By: Prof. Ganesh Ingle

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2
Chapter Contents
Section A: Personal Computer Basics
Section B: Microprocessors and Memory
Section C: Storage Devices
Section D: Input and Output Devices
Section E: Hardware Security

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SECTION A
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Personal Computer Basics
Personal Computer Systems
Desktop and Portable Computers
Home, Media, Game, and Small Business
Systems
Buying Computer System Components

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5
Desktop and Portable Computers
The term form factor
refers to the size and
dimensions of a
component, such as a
system board or
system unit
A desktop computer fits
on a desk and runs on
power from an
electrical wall outlet

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6
A portable computer is a small, lightweight personal
computer
A notebook computer (also referred to as a laptop),
is a small, lightweight portable computer that opens
like a clamshell to reveal a screen and keyboard
A tablet computer is a portable computing device
featuring a touch-sensitive screen that can be used
as a writing or drawing pad
An ultra-mobile PC (UMPC) is a small form factor
tablet computer designed to run most of the
software available for larger portable computers

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7

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Home, Media, Game,
and Small Business Systems
A home computer system offers a hardware
platform with adequate, but not super-charged
support for most computer applications
A Media Center PC officially uses Windows Media
Center Edition operating system
Some of the most cutting-edge computers are
designed for gaming
Computers marketed for small business
applications tend to be middle-of-the-line models
pared down to essentials

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9
Buying Computer
System Components
Decide how your computer will be used, and
how much you want to spend
Decide on a platform (Mac, PC, Linux)
Look at ads in computer magazines and at
computer/electronic stores
Understand the computer jargon
Expect to pay anywhere from a few hundred
to several thousand dollars

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10
Buying Computer
System Components
Instead of buying a new computer, you might
consider upgrading

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SECTION B
11
Microprocessors and Memory
Microprocessor Basics
Today’s Microprocessors
Random Access Memory
Read-only Memory
EEPROM

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12
Microprocessor Basics
A microprocessor is an integrated circuit
designed to process instructions
– ALU
– Registers
– Control unit
– Instruction set

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Front side bus
– HyperTransport
Microprocessor clock
– Megahertz
– Gigahertz
Word size
Cache
– Level 1 cache (L1)
– Level 2 cache (L2)
CISC vs. RISC
technology

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Serial processing
– Pipelining
Parallel processing
Dual core processor
Hyper-Threading Technology

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15
Today’s Microprocessors

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Random Access Memory
Random Access Memory is a temporary
holding area for data, application program
instructions, and the operating system

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Microscopic capacitors hold the bits that
represent data
Most RAM is volatile
– Requires electrical power to hold data

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RAM capacity is expressed in megabytes or
gigabytes
Personal computers typically feature between
256MB and 2GB of RAM
An area of the hard disk, called virtual
memory, can be used if an application runs
out of allocated RAM

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RAM speed is often expressed in
nanoseconds or megahertz
SDRAM is fast and relatively inexpensive
– DDR
RDRAM is more expensive, and usually
found in high-performance workstations

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Read-Only Memory
ROM is a type of memory circuitry that holds
the computer’s startup routine
– Permanent and non-volatile
The ROM BIOS tells the computer how to
access the hard disk, find the operating
system, and load it into RAM

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EEPROM
Electrically Erasable
Programmable Read-
Only Memory
More permanent than
RAM, and less
permanent than ROM
Requires no power to
hold data

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SECTION C
22
Storage Devices
Storage Basics
Magnetic Disk and Tape Technology
CD and DVD Technology
Solid State Storage
Storage Wrap-up

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Storage Basics
A storage medium contains data
A storage device records and retrieves data
from a storage medium
– Data gets copied from a storage device into
RAM, where it waits to be processed
– Processed data is held temporarily in RAM
before it is copied to a storage medium

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24
Magnetic Disk and
Tape Technology
Magnetic storage stores data by magnetizing
microscopic particles on the disk or tape
surface

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Magnetic Disk and
Tape Technology
Hard disk platters and read-
write heads are sealed inside
the drive case or cartridge to
screen out dust and other
contaminants.

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A controller positions the disk and read-write
heads to locate data
– SATA
– Ultra ATA
– EIDE
– SCSI
Not as durable as many other storage
technologies
– Head crash
Magnetic Disk and
Tape Technology

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Magnetic Disk and
Tape Technology
A floppy disk is a round piece of flexible Mylar
plastic covered with a thin layer of magnetic
oxide and sealed inside a protective casing
A tape drive is a device that reads data from and
writes data to a long stream of recordable media
similar to the tapes used in audio cassettes
A tape is a sequential storage
medium

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CD and DVD Technology
Optical storage stores data as microscopic
light and dark spots on the disk surface
– CD and DVD storage technologies

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29
Today’s DVD drives typically have 16X
speeds for a data transfer rate of 177.28
Mbps
Three categories of
optical technologies
– Read-only (ROM)
– Recordable (R)
– Rewritable (RW)

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CD-DA
DVD-Video
CD-ROM
DVD-ROM
CD-R
DVD+R or DVD-R
CD-RW
DVD+RW or DVD-RW

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Solid State Storage
Solid state storage technology stores data in
an erasable, rewritable circuitry
Non-volatile
Card reader may be required
to read data on solid state
storage

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Solid State Storage
 A USB flash drive is a
portable storage device that
plugs directly into a
computer’s USB port using
a built-in connector
 A U3 drive is a special type
of USB flash drive that is
preconfigured to autoplay
when it is inserted into a
computer

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Storage Wrap-up
Most desktop computers have
several drive bays, some
accessible from outside the
case, and others—designed for
hard disk drives—without any
external access. Empty drive
bays are typically hidden from
view with a face plate.

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SECTION D
36
Input and Output Devices
Basic Input Devices
Display Devices
Printers
Installing Peripheral Devices

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Basic Input Devices
Keyboard
Pointing device
– Pointing stick
– Trackpad
– Trackball
– Joystick
Touch screen

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Display Devices
A CRT display device
uses a bulky glass tube
An LCD manipulates
light within a layer of
liquid crystal cells
Plasma screen
technology illuminates
lights arranged in a
panel-like screen

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Display Devices
Viewable image size
Dot pitch
Viewing angle width
Refresh rate
Color depth
Resolution
– VGA, SVGA, XGA, SXGA, UXGA, and WUXGA

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Display Devices
Graphics circuitry generates the signals for
displaying an image on the screen
– Integrated graphics
– Graphics card
– Graphics processing
unit (GPU)

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Printers
An ink-jet printer has a nozzle-like print head
that sprays ink onto paper
A laser printer works like a photocopier

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Printers
Laser printers are a popular
technology when high-volume
output or good-quality printouts
are required.

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Printers
Dot matrix printers produce characters and
graphics by using a grid of fine wires
– The wires strike a ribbon and the paper

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Printers
Printer features
– Resolution
– Print speed
– Duty cycle
– Operating costs
– Duplex capability
– Memory
– Networkability

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Installing Peripheral Devices
The data bus moves data within the
computer
Expansion cards are small circuit boards that
give the computer additional capabilities
– Expansion slot
• ISA
• PCI
• AGP
– PCMCIA slot
• PC card

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An expansion card simply slides
into an expansion slot and is
secured with a small screw. Before
you open the case, make sure you
unplug the computer and ground
yourself—that’s technical jargon
for releasing static electricity by
using a special grounding wristband
or by touching both hands to a metal
object.

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An expansion port
passes data in and out
of a computer or
peripheral device
Peripheral device may
include the Plug and
Play feature, or require
a device driver

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SECTION E
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Hardware Security
Anti-theft Devices
Surge Protection and Battery Backup
Basic Maintenance
Troubleshooting and Repair

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Surge Protection
and Battery Backup
A power surge is a sudden increase or spike in
electrical energy, affecting the current that flows to
electrical outlets
A surge strip is a device that contains electrical
outlets protected by circuitry that blocks surges and
spikes
A UPS is a device that not only provides surge
protection, but also furnishes your computer with
battery backup power during a power outage

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Surge Protection
and Battery Backup

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Basic Maintenance
Computer component failures can be caused
by manufacturing defects and other
circumstances beyond your control
Keep the keyboard clean
Clean your computer screen on a regular
basis
Keep the area clean around your computer
Make sure fans are free of dust

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Basic Maintenance
Carefully use a Q-tip and a can
of compressed air or a vacuum
cleaner to remove dust and
debris from your keyboard.

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Troubleshooting and Repair
There are several telltale signs that your
computer is in trouble
– Failure to power up
– Loud beep
– Blue screen of death
Help and Support Center
Safe Mode

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Troubleshooting and Repair

2
Thank you
Image Source
searchenterpriseai.techtarget.com
wikipedia

Basic Hardware
Familiarization
Reference Notes
By: Prof. Ganesh Ingle

2
The Computer Continuum3-60
Computer Hardware
Components
In this lecture:
– How did the computer become known as the
stored-program computer?
• Do they all have the same characteristics?
– Memory on chips and memory on magnetic
media, how do they differ?
– What do you look for when comparing memory
devices?
– How is information moved around within the
computer?

2
The Computer Continuum 3-61
Basic Concepts of
Computer Hardware
 This model of the typical digital computer is often called the
von Neumann computer.
– Programs and data are stored in the
same memory: primary memory.
– The computer can only perform one
CPU
(Central Processing Unit)
Input
Units
Output
Units
Primary Memory

2
Basic Concepts of
Computer Hardware
Input/Output (I/O): Refers to the process of
getting information into and out of the
computer.
– Input: Those parts of the computer receiving
information to programs.
– Output: Those parts of the computer that provide
results of computation to the person using the
computer.

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Sources of Data
for the Computer
Two types of data stored within a
computer:
– Original data or information: Data
being introduced to a computing system
for the first time.
• Computers can deal directly with printed text,
pictures, sound, and other common types of
information.
– Previously stored data or information:
Data that has already been processed by
a computer and is being stored for later
use.

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Input Devices
Input hardware: Those that deal with original
data.
– Keyboard
– Mouse
– Voice recognition hardware
– Scanner
– Digital camera
We won’t say much more about the input
devices that deal with original data here
– See book for more information

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Input Devices
Common Basic Technologies for Storing
Binary Information:
– Electronic
– Magnetic
– Optical

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Input Devices
Electronic Circuits
– Most expensive of the three forms for storing
binary information.
– A flip-flop circuit has either one electronic status
or the other. It is said to flip-flop from one to the
other.
– Electronic circuits come in two forms:
• Permanent (ROM – Read Only Memory)
• Non-permanent (RAM – Random Access Memory)

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Input Devices
Magnetic Technology
– Two parts to most of the magnetic forms of
information storage:
• The medium that stores the magnetic information.
– Example: Floppy disk. Tiny spots on the disk are magnetized
to represent 0s and 1s.
• The device that can “read” that information from the
medium.
– The drive spins the disk.
– It has a magnetic sensing arm that moves over the disk.
– Performs nondestructive reading.

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Input Devices
Optical
– Uses lasers to “read” the binary information from
the medium, usually a disc.
• Millions of tiny holes called “pits” are “burned” into the
surface of the disc.
• The holes are interpreted as 1s. The absence of holes
are interpreted as 0s.

2
Input Devices
Secondary Memory Input Devices
– Disks (floppy, hard drive, or CD-ROM)
considered secondary memory devices
– These input devices are used by a computer to
store information and then to retrieve that
information as needed.
– External to the computer.
– Secondary memory uses binary.
• The usual measurement is the byte.
– A byte consists of 8 binary digits (bits). The byte is a standard
unit.

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Input Devices
The four most important characteristics of
storage devices:
– Speed and access time
– Cost / Removable versus non-removable
– Capacity
– Type of access

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Input Devices
 Speed (Access time) - How fast information can be taken from or stored
onto the computer memory device’s medium.
– Electronic circuits: Fastest to access.
• 40 billionths of a second.
– Floppy disks: Very slow in comparison.
• Takes up to 1/2 second to reach full speed before access is even
possible.
 We could further break access time down into:
– Seek Time
– Rotational Delay Time
– Data Transfer Time

2
Input Devices
Capacity - The amount of information that
can be stored on the medium.
Unit Description Approximate Size
1 bit 1 binary digit
1 nibble 4 bits
1 byte 8 bits 1 character
1 kilobyte 1,024 bytes 1/2 page, double spaced
1 megabyte 1,048,576 bytes 500,000 pages
1 million bytes
1 gigabyte 1,073,741,824 bytes 5 million pages
1 billion bytes
1 terabyte 1 trillion bytes 5 billion pages

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Input Devices
Cost
– Megabyte: A Million bytes.
– Gigabyte: A billion bytes.
– Two parts to a removable secondary storage
device:
• The cost of the medium. (Cheaper if bought in quantity)
• The cost of the drive.
Examples: Cost for drive Cost for medium
Floppy drive (1.4MB) 59.00 .50
Zip 100 (100 MB) 99.00 10.00

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Input Devices
Type of Access
• Sequential - Obtained by proceeding through the
storage medium from the beginning until the
designated area is reached (as in magnetic tape).
– Good for something like backup tasks
• Random Access - Direct access (as in floppy and
hard disks).

2
Primary Memory
 Primary storage or memory: Is where the data and program that are
currently in operation or being accessed are stored during use.
– Consists of electronic circuits: Extremely fast
and expensive.
– Two types:
• RAM (non-permanent)
– Programs and data can be stored here for the computer’s
use.
– Volatile: All information will be lost once the computer shuts
down.
• ROM (permanent)
– Contents do not change.

2
The Central Processing Unit
The Central Processing Unit ( CPU)
– Often referred to as the “brain” of the
computer.
– Responsible for controlling all activities of
the computer system.
– The three major components of the CPU
are:
1. Arithmetic Logic Unit (Computations performed)
Accumulator (Results of computations kept here)
2. Control Unit (Has two locations where numbers are kept)
Instruction Register (Instruction placed here for analysis)
Program Counter (Which instruction will be performed
next?)

2
Output Devices
Output units store and display information
(calculated results and other messages) for
us to see and use.
– Floppy disk drives and Hard disk drives.
– Display monitors: Hi-resolution monitors come in
two types:
• Cathode ray tube (CRT) - Streams of electrons make
phosphors glow on a large vacuum tube.
• Liquid crystal display (LCD) - A flat panel display that
uses crystals to let varying amounts of different
colored light to pass through it.
– Developed primarily for portable computers.
– Audio Output

2
Output Devices
Storage Requirements: How much storage
capacity is needed for…
– One keystroke on a keyboard. 1 byte (8 bits)
– One page single-spaced document. 4.0 K
– Nineteen pages formatted text. 75 K
– One second of high-fidelity sound. 95-110 K
– Complete word processing program. 8.4 MG
Storage Capacity: How much data can be
stored on…
– One inch of 1/2 in. wide magnetic tape. 4 K
– One 3 1/2” floppy disk, high density. 1.4 MG
– One Compact Disk. 650 MG
– One DVD. up to 17 GB

2
Moving Information
Within the Computer
How do binary numerals move into, out of,
and within the computer?
– Information is moved about in bytes, or multiple
bytes called words.
• Words are the fundamental units of information.
• The number of bits per word may vary per computer.
• A word length for most large IBM computers is 32 bits:

2
The Computer Continuum 3-80
Moving Information
Within the Computer
 Bits that compose a word
are passed in parallel from
place to place.
– Ribbon cables:
• Consist of several
wires, molded
together.
• One wire for each bit
of the word or byte.
• Additional wires
coordinate the activity
of moving
information.
• Each wire sends
information in the
form of a voltage

2
Moving Information
Within the Computer
 Example of sending
the word WOW over
the ribbon cable
– Voltage
pulses
correspondi
ng to the
ASCII
codes
would pass
through the
cable.

2
Packaging the Computer
 The many physical forms of the
general purpose computer:
– All follow general
organization:
• Primary memory
• Input units
• Output units
• Central Processing
Unit
– Grouped according
to speed, cost, size,
Super Computers
Mainframe Computers
Minicomputers
Microcomputer
Palmtop Computer
Calculator
Fast Expensive Complex Large
Slow Cheap Simple Small

2
Computer Architecture
This has just been an introduction to the
computer architecture, more specific details
will follow!

2hardware
Thomas Krichel
http://openlib.org/home/krichel

2 introduction
 This is a basic introduction to computer
hardware.
 I wrote it from memory.
 It contains the things I know about without
having to look them up.
 That's about how much you need to know.

2basic components
 basic components are
 processor
 memory
 motherboard
 input/output devices
 disks
 network interfaces
 The first three, plus the bus speed, are
essential to the understanding of the
performance of the computer.

2processors
 The processor does all the calculations on
a computer.
 The performance indicator of the
processor is the frequency of operations.
 There are various types of processors, by
different manufactures.
 Intel
 AMD

2architecture
 The Debian operating system offers a
complete range of software that can be
run with a range of processors by a
certain manifactures. Such a range of
software packages is called an
architecture.
 We use the i386 architecture for Intel
processors.
 AMD processors may be more open
source friendly

2memory
 The memory is where all data that the
computer works with is stored.
 If the memory is small the computer has to
perform more operations to read and write
data to the disk.
 As a consequence, it will appear to be
slower.

2motherboard
 This is a green sheet of plastic that all
components inside the computer attach to.
 We don't need to know more about it, just
the plane concept will do.

2devices
 These are things that the computer uses
for input and output of data.
 Examples include
 keyboard
 screen
 network card
 disks
 We only need to study disks and network
cards.

2disks
 There are three architectures of disks
 IDE, aka PATA, an old system
 SCSI, a bit more modern
 SATA, used in most modern systems
 We need to be aware of them because the
way that Linux refers to them.

2IDE
 When a computer can use IDE, you see
two forty-pin connectors on the
motherboard.
 These are the primary and the secondary
IDE channnels. They are usually labelled.
 To each channel, you can attach two
disks.
 One is called the master.
 The other is called the slave.

2master and slave
 One method to select master and slave is
to set jumpers on the disk. The position of
the jumpers is often written on the disk.
Otherwise
 The other method is called “cable select”.
There you place the master at the end of
the 40 pin IDE cable.

2device names
 Linux needs to give the devices names in
other to talk to them.
 The device names for IDE are
 /dev/hda for the primary master
 /dev/hdb for the primary slave
 /dev/hdc for the secondary master
 /dev/hdd for the secondary slave

2SCSI and SATA
 SCSI and SATA drives are named
 /dev/sda
 /dev/sdb
 etc.
 Usually it is a bit of guesswork to know
which drive is give what name. There may
be a better way than guesswork, but I
don't know about it.

2file systems
 A file system is a way to set up files on a
disk.
 Common file systems are
 Microsoft FAT
 ext2 or ext3, used in Linux
 Reiserfs, used on Linux
 Linux kernels support various file systems
natively, including Microsoft file systems.

2several file systems
 If you have several file systems on a disk,
each system needs to occupy a separate
physical area on the disk.
 Such an aera is called a partition.
 An empty disk will have no partitions.
 You will have to set up partitions before
working with a disk.
 Chaning the partitions at a later stage will,
generally, make the data on the disk
inaccssible.

2partition table
 Any disk has a special place for the
partition table.
 The partition tables says
 what partitions are on the disk,
 where each partition starts and end
 Changing the partition table makes all
data on the disk unusable.

2default partitions
 On a Linux system, if you only have one
disk on a computer, it is customary to
have two partitions on it.
 the main data partition
 the swap partition
 Deciding on the size of both is a bit of
black magic. There is no hard rule.
 We let the Debian installer do it for us.

2device names with partitions
 If you have a device that linux calls foo,
the first partion will be foo1, the second
partition will be foo2 etc.
 Thus you can have /dev/hda1, /dev/sdb3
etc.
 The command “df” will list all devies and
all partition.

2the main data partition
 This is where you have all the data on the
hard disk.
 This is usually formatted with the ext3 file
system.
 There other file systems one could use,
but this is the default, one and we will use
that one.

2the swap partition
 The swap partition is used to reserve
space for swapping.
 Swapping is a way for a computer to work
with large memory requirements by writing
parts of the memory on the disk.
 When this happens the computer appears
to be very slow.

2initial setup
 When the debian installer sets up your
machine, by default it will take the first
disk.
 Then it will calculate a partition table
 swap partition
 data partition
 it will present you with the suggestions.
 When you accept them, it will write the
partition table. All data on the disk will be
lost.

2booting
 When you switch on a computer, you see
some messages.
 They usually refer to particular pieces of
hardware that just tell you “hi, I am here in
this computer.
 Then the operating system starts.
 But before it starts, there is one interesting
stage.

2more on initial setup
 When we start the computer, it reads an
internal, essentially read only piece of
data known as the BIOS.
 The BIOS has a number of settings. You
can make changes to them.
 How to do that depends on the BIOS
manufacturer but there are some generic
features.

2getting into the BIOS
 When the machine starts, you see, maybe
for a second a message “press foo to
enter setup”.
 foo is usually the name of a key.
 When you see this message, press the
key very quickly several times.
 (yes, this presumes you have a working
keyboard attached).
 You arrive in a menu-driven system.

2the BIOS menu system
 The menu system is usually in English.
 It usually relies on keyboard strokes.
 What keys do what depends on the BIOS
manufacturer.
 What entries there are depends on the
manufacuturer.
 We only need to know one BIOS setting,
and it is useful to know about another.

2BIOS setting: boot sequence
 When the machine boots, it looks for an
operating system on a sequence of
devices.
 That sequence is called the boot
sequence.
 When we install Debian, we need to make
sure that the medium that contains Debian
is in the boot sequences.
 We also need to make sure that this
medium appears before any other medium

2BIOS setting: boot on power
 When you are running a server machine,
you want the machine to be on all the
time.
 After a power cut, you want the machine
to boot as soon as power is restored.
 There usually is a BIOS setting for that.

2making a Debian medium
 Go to the debian installer
http://www.debian.org /devel/debian-
installer/
 I made a copy of the current CD for you at
http://wotan.liu.edu/opt
 Get software to burn the CD
 http://isorecorder.alexfeinman.com/isorecord
er.htm
 http://www.cdburnerxp.se/downloadsetup.ph
p

2working with the installer
 The only rule is: don't panic.
 Any decision you are making when
working with the installer can be reversed
quite easily later.
 The only exeption is the disk partitioning,
reversing that would be cumbersome.

2overall steps
 boot
 set up user interface of installer
 setting up network (the crucial part)
 setting up a disk
 setting the time
 setting up users
 downloading basic software from the
network
 making system bootable

2obvious sequence
 At the start, select the normal (not the
graphical installer) and press enter.
 Select the language of installation
(English)
 Select your country (United States)
 Select your keyboard layout (US)

2the hostname
 This is a short name for the machine.
 Here any name can be used. The name
can't contains a space. You need to let me
know about the name.
 Don't use the name debian because I
want everybody to have a different
machine name for ease of administration
of the course.

2network configuration
 The installer will configure the network
with the help of a protocol called dhcp.
 This should work in the class situation.
 I will discuss networks later, so I skip over
details for now.
 If the dhcp we have a serious problem.

2the domain name
 Here you should enter a domain that you
own and control.
 If you don't have one, or don't know what
this is please enter the domain of a friend
who will run the domain for you.
 Since Thomas is your friend, enter his
domain here: “openlib.org”.

2disk partitioning
 Here chose of guided partitioning, using
the built-in partitioner.
 Select the disk to partition, usually there is
only one.
 Choose the default of all files in one
partition.
 Accept the partition that is proposed.
 Then you get the screen where you are
warned you will loose all data, here don't
accept the default to tell the partitioner to

2setting up time
 The time can be set in the BIOS. They
BIOS calls a battery that keeps running.
But that is not reliable.
 Modern linux machines get the time from
the network from time servers. The time
servers know what time it is.
 Then all you have to do is to set the time
zone you are in. Since you have said you
are in the US, you will be shown a list of
US time zones.

2setting up the root user
 There is one superuser who has the right
to do anything on the machine.
 The name of this user is “root”.
 There is a sequence screen that invites
you to set the password for that user.
 Since it is not echoed, you need to type it
twice to try to make sure that it was
entered properly.

2ordinary user
 Although this is not strictly necessary, the
installer also requires the setup of an
ordinary user.
 Here you first enter your full name, then
your user name (login name, no spaces,
no uppercase) and then your password.

2network download
 On the network, there are mirrors of
Debian that contain newer versions of the
Debian packages. It is a good idea to use
the closest mirror available. Say yes to
use a network mirror.
 The mirrors are organized by country.
Select country and then select a mirror
that appears to be close. For class select
any because we may have a problem if all
select the same.

2http proxy
 To download packages from mirrors, the
installer uses the http protocol.
 This is a well-know protocol used to
transfer files on the web.
 In certain, rare settings, a network
administrator may require you to use the
http proxy. We don't have such a
requirement, so we can leave this screen
blank.

2popularity contents
 This is a bit of an oddity.
 There is a contents on which packages
are most popular.
 Machines participating in the contest
report what packages are installed on
them.
 You may elect to take part or not.

2the bootloader
 To make the system bootable without the
CD, Linux installs a special command
sequence on the hard disk you are
installing linux to.
 This special command sequence calls a
software known as a boot loader. The boot
loader shows you a menu to ask you what
operating system you want to load.

2removing media
 You need to remove the media you booted
from, or change the BIOS not to boot from
it again.
 If you use a CD to install from the installer
will eject the CD for you.
 Then the machine reboots.
 You are done.

2linux boot loaders
 In olden days, people use lilo, the linux
loader.
 Nowadays people use the grub, the grand
unified bootloader.
 Here you just have to follow the default to
install the bootloader.

2collection of software
 This is important. There are collections of
software predefined by the installer for
certain tasks a machine should do.
 Here you should ONLY select the
“standard system”.
 Selecting others, you will waste your time
dowloading a ton of software we don't
need.
 Do not select “desktop environment”. This
is particularly wasteful for what we are
trying to do.

Basic hardware familiarization

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Basic hardware familiarization