Computer Architecture

Hardware - Opearting System - Software - User

Hardware

Ports: Connection points that we can connect devices to the computer

CPU: Central Processing Unit, the brain of the computer that does all the calculation and data processing

RAM: Random Access Memory, short term memory

ROM: Read Only Memory Chip, data won’t be erased after power turned off

Hard Drive: Store all the data

Motherboard: Body or the circulatory system of the computer that connects all the parts together

Operating System

Kernel: Core of the operating system, contains process manager, memory manager, file manager and I/O manager; requires priviledged access

User Space: Part of the operating system that is outside the kernel space

Virtual Memoery: a OS scheme the copy the areas of RAM that have not been used recently into hard drive, which frees up the space in RAM to load new appplication

BIOS/UEFI: Basic Input/Output System, a program stored on a chip that is used to set up a computer

Logs: Files that record system events on computer, like a diary

POST: Power On Self Test, a series of diagnostic test to make sure the computer is in proper order

Bootloader: a program that loads the operating system

The Boot Process