CAO UNIT-1

1. Computer Types:

- Computer is an electronic device which accepts data as input, processes that input data and produces the result data as output.

- Computer is a fast electronic calculating machine that accepts digitized input information, processes it according to a list of internally stored instructions and produces the resulting output information.

- The list of instructions is called a Computer Program.

- The internal storage is called Computer Memory.

- The different Computer Types are,

            i) Desktop or Personal Computers

            ii) Notepad Computers

            iii) WorkStations

            iv) Enterprise Systems

            v) Servers

            vi) Super Computers

i) Desktop or Personal Computers:

- Desktop Computers have processing and storage units, visual display and audio output units, and a keyboard that can all be located easily on a home or office desk.

- The storage media includes,

            - Hard Disks

            - CD-ROMs,…., etc

- The most common form of desktop computers is Personal Computers (PCs), which has found wide use in homes, schools and business offices.

ii) Notepad Computers:

- Notepad Computers are also called as Portable Notebook Computers or Laptops.

- These are the compact version of the personal computer with all of these components packaged into a single unit like the size of thin briefcase.

iii) Work Stations:

- Work Stations have more computational power than Personal Computers, used in Engineering applications, especially for interactive design work.

iv) Enterprise Systems:

- Enterprise Systems are also called as Mainframes.

- These are used for business data processing in medium to large corporations that require much more computing power and storage capacity than workstations can provide.

v) Servers:

- Servers contain sizable database storage units and are capable of handling large volumes of requests to access the data.

vi) Super Computers:

- Super Computers are used for the large-scale numerical calculations required in applications such as Weather Forecasting and Aircraft Design and Simulation.