BTEC IT Unit 02 - Lesson 01
Back to Basics
Mr C Johnston
ICT Teacher
www.computechedu.co.uk
Session Objectives
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Understand the difference between input, processing, storage
and output devices,
Be able to describe the different features of key input and
output devices so you can recommend them to others,
Know the different types of port on a modern PC and what
they are typically used for,
Know the different types of cables used to assemble a PC.
Starter
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Download and complete page 1 of the back-to-basics
worksheet.
Back to Basics
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Computers operate in bits – electric pulses of either 1s or 0s,
How Binary Works Video
Computer storage are measured in bytes which are groups of 8
bytes,
As computer storage requirements so have the units:
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KiloByte (KB) – Digital 1000 Bytes/Binary 1024 Bytes
MegaByte (MB) – Digital 1,000,000 Bytes/Binary 1,048,576 Bytes
GigaByte (GB) – Digital 1,000,000,000 Bytes/Binary 1,073,741,824 Bytes
Computer processor speeds are measured in Hz (cycles per
second)
Basic Requirements
INPUT
DEVICES
PROCESSING
STORAGE
OUTPUT
DEVICES
Hardware Requirements
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Video To Show How A Computer Works
System Case
Power Supply
Mother Board
Processor
Storage Devices
Input Devices
Output Devices
Types of Port
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Serial (9 / 25 pin male) – mice + other serial peripherals - obsolete
Parallel (25 pin female) – used for old printers - obsolete
Games / MIDI Port (15 pin female) – Joy sticks / MIDI devices - obsolete
PS2 6pin mini DIN – mouse and keyboard – becoming obsolete
USB 1/1.1 (1.5/12 mbps) – original USB port ok for mice and keyboards
but little slow for today's devices
USB 2 (480 mbps) - used by most devices today – allows high speed data
transfer – more popular than FireWire
USB 3 (4,000 mbps) – latest faster USB port
IEEE 1394 FireWire (400mbps) – very fast port used to transfer data
typically for high quality video capture
RJ-45 Socket (10/100/1000mbps) – used for network cable connection
RJ-11 Socket (56kbps) – used for telephone cable connection
HDMI (10.2 gbps) – high definition multimedia interface – transfers video
and audio in a single cable in high definition
Types of Cable
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IDE Cable (40pin female) – used to connect HDD and Optical Drives to
the motherboard
SATA Cable - used to connect modern internal hard disk drives and
optical drives to the motherboard
Optical Drive Audio Cable – Connects drive to sound card so sound can
be heard from it,
Serial cable– used to connect devices to serial port
Parallel cable – used to connect devices to parallel port
USB cable – used to connect devices to USB port – plug is always the
same to connect into USB socket but different types fit into devices
FireWire Cable – used to connect devices to FireWire port
Ethernet Cable – used to connect computers to a network
HDMI Cable – used to connect HD video and audio equipment together
Topic Exercise
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Review your answers to page 1 of the back-to-basics
worksheet and make any necessary amendments,
Complete the input and output device sections of the back-tobasics worksheet.