An overview of Hardware and Software, easy to understand, and can benefit the students and the starters in IT, as well as degree students.

1. Hardware & Software
Taufiq H. Ghilan
towfeeq2k5@yahoo.com

2. Agenda or Summary Layout
Introduction
Part 1 What is Hardware ?
Hardware components
Part 2 What is Software?
What are Software Types ?
Software key features
Part 3
Relationship between Hardware & Software
Conclusion

3. Introduction
Computers Has Made Our Life Different.
They Changed Our Behaviors, Habits, And Even
Our Course Of Life.
So, What Are Computers? What Is This Creature
Made Of? And, Does It Have A Body And Soul?
Lets Navigate Deeper To Know More….

4. What is Hardware ?
- It is a Collection of physical components that comprises the
computer system.
- Something that can be touched. It is the body of the computer
Hardware Components
Motherboard
• Electronic components
including all embedded ICs;
• Central processing unit, CPU;
• Memory, Random Access
Memory;
• Sound Card;
• Video Card; and
• Network Interface Card, NIC.

5. What is Hardware ? Continued…
Central processing unit – also called “ CPU”, a Processor, “
The Chip”, or Microprocessor.
 CPU is often described as the brain of the computer.
 CPU is an integrated circuit which processes instructions and
data.
 CPU has many types, i.e. Intel Pentium processors, AMD
Athalon Processors, and Sun Microsystems Sparc Processors.
CPU speed measured by the number of completed instruction
cycle per second.
CPU has different families depending on the usage of the
processor of the platform of the computer using it, i.e. laptop
processors, workstation processors, servers processors, smart
phones processors.

6. What is Hardware ? Continued…
Random Access Memory, RAM – it is the waiting room for the
computer’s “ CPU”.
 Holds instructions for processing data, processed data, and raw data.
 RAM is measured by: capacity ( in Megabytes or Gigabytes), and speed
( in nanoseconds)
 Amount of Ram installed determines :
 Which software applications will run efficiently?
 All
applications has certain memory requirements listed on their
package for the minimum and recommended memory.
 How many applications can be opened simultaneously ?
RAM are cost-effective to and upgrade and easy to install.

7. What is Hardware ? Continued…
Sound Card – it has line-in, line-out, and microphone
interfaces.
 process sound signals from digital to analog and vise- versa.
 Microphone interface sends the sound waves to the PC to be then
processed, recorded, and saved in the PC.
 line-out interface sends the digital signal of the voice from the PC
to other media like speakers.
Line-in interface receives analogue signal from analogue device,
like tape-recorder, and process it in the PC in digital form.

8. What is Hardware ? Continued…
Video card – it is connected on the Motherboard, sometimes
integrated, and has inside and outside interfaces on the case of the
computer.
 process the picture from the digital form to the analogue form to be
displayed on the monitor.
Has a small microprocessor that is used to process the picture details like
the 3D and the high density pictures.
Has a separate memory of its card for high definition of the pictures.
Developed a lot in the past years
 high resolution cards with multiple interfaces of multiple purposes has
high price reaching the price of PC itself, $ 2000.
Network interface card – it is used to connect the computer to the
network and share data with other computers or devices.

9. What is Hardware ? Continued..
Pointing device
• Touchpad;
• Trackball;
• Mouse; and
• Touch- screen.
Storage
Fixed storage - hard-disk
Drives.
Removable data storage :
• Optical disc drive: CD/DVD
RW discs.
• Floppy disk;
• Memory Cards; and
• Flash Disk.

10. What is Hardware ? Continued..
Pointing device – is used to guide the user on the
screen to access different objects and icons on the screen.
Has many forms:
• Touchpad – used in laptops to move the mouse cursor
• Trackball – A small ball especially on laptops used to
move the cursor of the mouse to perform specific
action;
• Mouse – An external device used to move the cursor on
the screen in Graphical interfaces; and
• Touch- screen – An electronic sensitive screens that
translates the movements of the finger into signals
understood by the operating system to perform specific
action.

11. What is Hardware ? Continued…
Storage – Electronic devices that store, retrieve, and save data.
Forms of Storage
Fixed storage - hard-disk Drives.
 It is a magnetic storage device used to
store, OS, applications, and data.
 Capacity started in kilobytes, now in Gigabytes & Terabytes.
Removable data storage :
• Optical disc drive: CD/DVD RW discs.
• Floppy disk – started capacity in Kilobytes up to 2.88
Megabytes, and finally disappeared from the market industry;
• Memory Cards – new technology that has great demand and
many new devices, i.e. digital cameras, are using it; and finally
• Flash Disk- a media that is using flash memory technology to store
data on demand, plug, save or retrieve, then go…
Capacity & speed are important factors when selecting a
new storage device or media.

12. What is Hardware ? Continued..
Output devices
• Monitor;
• Printer; and
• Speakers.
Input devices
• Keyboard
• Scanner;
• Microphone;
• Webcam;
• Joystick;

13. What is Hardware ? Continued…
Output devices – receives different digital signals, i.e.
video, audio, data, and translate them into different forms according to the ending
device, i.e. Monitor, Printer, speaker.
Types of output devices
Monitor – h transforms the digital signal into an analogue type and
display the picture on the screen.
 Has different types, i.e. CRT, LCD, LED.
 Has different resolution capabilities, some with HD & 3D features.
Printers – receives digital data and process it to produce printed
copies on paper.
 Different types – dot matrix, ink jet, laser jet, bubble jet.
 Has different resolutions when printing on paper.
 Colored or black & white
 Different paper sizes used according to the model and type of
printer.
 Different printing speeds.
 Multipurpose printers has capabilities of scan, copy, print, and
send to fax or e-mail.
Speaker - transforms the digital signal from computer into analogue
signal, sound waves.

14. What is Hardware ? Continued…
Input devices – Receives different signals from different
devices, i.e. scanners, microphones, webcam, joystick, and keyboards and
translates the output into the proper form.
Types of output devices
Keyboard – process the finger strikes into an electronic signals
that is translated into different characters, by a decoder, then sent
to the computer to perform the actions.
Scanner – process the light signal into digital signal and send it to
computer to display the image captured using special software.
Microphone – transforms the sound wave signal into an
electronic signal and computer process it into a digital form to be
heard using speakers or headphone.
Webcam – used to take pictures and video streaming images.
 Widely used in internet chatting.
Joystick - useful in education as an adaptive or assistive input
device.

15. What is Hardware? Continued..
Computer Case
 One of the most important components that is used to include all
the primary components inside, motherboard, RAM, CPU, Sound/NIC
cards, VGA cards, etc.

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

17. What is Software ?
 It is collection of computer programs & related data that
instructs the computer what to do and how to do it.
 The term was coined to contrast to and distinguish it from
the term hardware.
 It is like the soul that brings life to the hardware.
It is something that can not be touched but sensed.
It s the interpreter between the human and the machine.

18. What are Software types ?

19. Software
Operating Programming Application
System Language software
Software Software
It is designed to Are used to assist a Software developed
operate the computer programmer in writing to perform in any task
hardware. computer programs. and utilize the
It provides platform Has tools to hardware capabilities.
for application to run. create, debug, maintai Examples: Microsoft
Examples: Microsoft n other applications of office, SAP, Norton
OS, Unix OS, Linux programs. Anti-virus Program.
OS, Sun Solaris OS . Examples:
C, Java,C++, PHP, HTM
L.

20. Software Key Features
Reliability & Quality
• Any software should be reliable to well accepted.
•Softwarethat has many errors and faults are considered to have bugs and
needs more test.
•Bigsoftware companies such as Microsoft, Sun Microsystems has testing
departments.
Updates and service packs are used by the users of the software to
eliminate bugs and make it more reliable.

21. Software Key Features continued…
 License
•software has license agreement that enables the user to use the software legally.
 Execution
In order to use the software:
•it should be installed on the operating system.
•thecomputer is able to execute the software by passing instructions from the
application, to the operating system.
•then the hardware that, at the end, receives the instructions as machine code to
carry out certain operation.

22. Software Key Features continued…
Documentation
•software has to have documentation to let end user understand the program,
what it can do, and how to use it.

23. Relationship between Hardware &
Software

24. Moving Information Within the Computer
Without the integration between Software and
Hardware, computers will never be able to speak
with us.
Software is like the blood in the artery of the
hardware, without it computers are pile of metal
pieces.
Software instructs the hardware to move
information from place to place.
Software without hardware is only an imaginary
creature that only exists in our minds.

25. 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= 4 bytes= 1 word:

26. 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 pulse.

27. Conclusion
We Conclude That Computers Are Two Parts, Software &
Hardware, That Can Never Be Useful Without Its Two
Components.
Software And Hardware Are Complimentary To Each
Other and That Made It A Creature With Two
Components.
That Is The Secret Behind This Mysterious Creature That
Changed Our Life…

28. BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. (n.d.). retrieved October 9, 2012, from what is the typical configuration
of a computer sold today?: http://www.tec-
search.net/en/group/77669/central_processing_unit
2. Google. (n.d.). retrieved October 9, 2012, from http://www.google.com
3. Poirot, d. (n.d.). retrieved October 9, 2012, from www.tcet.unt.edu:
www.tcet.unt.edu/weblibrary/ppt/hwswb.ppt
4. Wikipedia encyclopedia inc. (n.d.). retrieved October 10, 2012, from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/internet_in_yemen