MI375 Chapter 4 Study Guide
1. ----------------------- consists of electronic components and related gadgets that input, process,
output, and store data according to instructions encoded in computer programs or
software.
2. See Figure 4.1 on page 96 and leave room for notes.
3. The CPU or ----------------------------- is “the brain” of the computer and consists of two parts:
(leave room for notes)
4. A computer with two CPUs is called a _______ processor computer while one with
__________ CPUs is called a quad-processor. Some high end computers can have 16 or
more CPUs.
5. The CPU works in conjunction with ________ ______ also known as RAM. The CPU reads
data and instructions from memory, and stores results of computations in RAM, or Random
Access Memory.
6. In 2000, _________________________connectors became the standard connection type
for connecting or plugging different devices into your computer such as keyboards, mice,
printers, etc.
a. Standards allow users to purchase products from a variety of manufacturers.
7. The smallest element of computer data is called a ______________ or a bit. A bit can be
either a one or a zero. (leave room for notes)
8. For ___________storage media such as a CD or DVD, small pits are burned onto the disk’s
surface to reflect light.
 Zeros and one are represented by no light reflection/light reflection.
9. A ________ is equal to 8 bits. A byte represents one number or character. Thus, if a
computing device has 100 million bytes of memory, it can hold 100 million characters.
10. Computer storage is measured in bytes. (See Figure 4-4 on page 98 – leave room for notes)
11. To run a program or process data, the computer first transfers the program or data from
disk to main_____________ or RAM.
12. ___________ is a very fast (and expensive) type of memory which holds frequently used
instructions.
a. The more cache memory, the faster your computer, but also, the more expensive
your computer will be.
13. Because the main___________ (RAM) is too small to hold all of the programs and data that
a user might want to process, the CPU loads programs into memory in chunks.
14. Memory______________ is the process in which the operating system directs the CPU to
place new programs or data into unused memory. If there is not enough memory, it will
remove old data or programs and replace them with the requested program or data.
15. See Figure 4.5 on page 99 – leave room for notes
16. The more programs or large files that you run at one time, the more __________________
your computer needs, otherwise it will have to constantly swap programs.
a. Computer performance can be improved by:
i. Closing one or more _____________
ii. Adding more __________
17. Computer processing speed is measured in ___________. According to today’s standards, a
fast computer would have a processing speed of 3+ Gigahertz and a dual processor.
18. Since a byte consists of eight bits, a 32 bit processor can process _____ bytes at one time
and a 64 bit processor can process ___ bytes at one time. Thus, a _____ bit processor would
be faster.
19. Because their contents are lost when the power is turned off, cache and (RAM) main
memory are considered __________. Magnetic and optical disks are __________________,
meaning that their contents survive when the power is turned off.
20. See Figure 4-6 on page 100. Leave room for notes
21. A ________________computer often has at least 4GB of RAM and at least one hard drive
that can hold one terabytye or more.
22. Web sites servicing a large number of customers, such as eBay or Amazon, have a collection
of coordinated servers called a server_______.
23. A network of computers that operate as an integrated whole is called a ____________.
24. Skydrive and GoogleDocs are examples of _________computing in which vendors
specializing in server processing lease space to users. Because customers pay only for the
resources ________, cloud computing is flexible, dynamic, and economical.
25. Computer resources are controlled by the _____________system. All computers, even
hand-helds, have an OS. Some of the functions of the operating system are to:
a. Read and write data
b. Allocate main memory
c. Perform memory swapping
d. Start and stop programs
e. Respond to error conditions
f. Facilitate backup and recovery
g. Create and manage the user interface
26. Two important software constraints:
a. A particular version of an operating system is writing for a particular type of
____________
i. Example: A 32 bit version of Windows runs only on Intel computers with 32-bit CPUs
b. Application programs are written to use a particular _____________ system
27. See Figure 4-9 on page 105.- Leave room for notes
28. A loosely coupled group of programmers who mostly volunteer their time to contribute
code to develop and maintain a system is an ____________________ community.
a. Linux is an example of an open source software
b. Companies make money from ________________ the software rather than selling
licenses.
29. When you “buy” a computer program, you are buying a ______________ or right to use
that program, rather than buying the actual program. A site license is a flat fee that
authorizes a company to install the software on all of the company’s computers or all at a
particular site.
30. __________________ is the process by which one computer hosts the appearance of many
(virtual) computers via a host operating system. The big server, or host, allocates disk space
and other resources to each virtual machine.
a. _____virtualization is where a user can run multiple operating systems on their personal
computer.
b. With _________ virtualization, a server computer hosts one or more other server
computers. Server virtualization makes cloud computing feasible.
c. With _________ virtualization, a server hosts many versions of desktop operating
systems allowing each user to access their own desktop no matter where they are.
31. Application software performs a service or a function. Microsoft Excel and Word are
considered ______________ purpose while accounting software, Quickbooks, is considered
_______________.
32. Briefly describe the three categories of application programs:
a. Horizontal-market – Provides capabilities __________ cross all organizations and
industries.
i. This software can be purchased______________ with little customization.
b. Vertical market – Serves the needs of a ___________industry
c. One-of-a-kind – Developed for a specific, unique need that no other organization has.
33. What are the three ways that you can purchase application software:
a. Off-the-shelf
b. Off-the-shelf with ______________
c. ________ developed – tailor made
34. ___________________ software is installed at the factory into the read-only memory of
devices such as printers, print servers, and various types of communication devices.
35. Software installed on a user’s computer is called a ______________ application.
36. ________________ applications require code on both the client and the server.
37. _________source means that the source code of the program is available to the public.
____________code is computer code written by humans that gets compiled into
______________code that the computer understands.
38. Microsoft Office, and most applications that you buy, are examples of a ____________
source projects in which the source code is highly protected and available only to trusted
employees and contractors. This software may also be called proprietary.
39. See Figures 114 and 115 on pages 114-115 and leave room for notes.
40. See Figure 4-17 on page 116 and leave room for notes.
41. If you do not have enough money in your budget to purchase every technology item you
need, some ways of saving costs include: (pg. 117)
a. Purchasing____________equipment
b. Delay the _____________ of all of your computers to the new operating systems
c. Find ways of______________hardware among the employees in your department
42. In the future, we will see more _________________ virtualization where we can access any
public computer, connect to our personal virtual desktop, and run our own computer on a
public machine.