BMIS Exam II Review
Chapter 4
Q1: What do Business Professionals Need to Know About Computer Hardware?
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Basic Components of Computer Hardware: IPO
o Input hardware: keyboard, mouse, document scanners, bar-code scanners,
microphones, scantrons
o Processing: Central Processing Unit (CPU)  sometimes called “the brain” of the
computer  selects instructions, processes them, performs arithmetic and
logical comparisons, and stores results of operations in memory (dualprocesser is a computer with two CPU’s)
§ CPU works with main memory to read data and instructions in the
memory and store results in main memory which is also called
Random Access Memory (RAM)
o Output: consists of video displays. Printers, audio speakers, overhead projectors
o Storage: saves data and programs (magnetic disk is most popular but CD’s and
DVD’s are also used)  two types of storage
§ Primary/internal – volatile (CPU)
§ Secondary/external - nonvolatile (magnetic disks, optical disks)
Binary digits (bits)  either a zero or a one, used for computer data because they are
easy to represent electronically  all computer data is represented by bits  can be
numbers, characters, currency amounts, photos, recordings
o Bits are grouped into 8-bit chunks called bytes (one character fits in each byte)
o 1 byte= 8 bits
o 1 character= 1 byte
o 1 kilobyte= 1024 bytes
o 1 megabyte= 1024 K bytes
o 1 gigabyte= 1024 MB
o 1 terabyte= 1024 GB
How a computer works
o Cache  small very fast memory of the CPU keeps frequently used instructions
here  larger cache makes a computer faster
o Main memory (RAM) contains program instructions for applications such as
excel as well as instructions for the operating system, which is a program
that controls the computers resources and provides services to application
programs and users
o Memory swapping  CPU loads programs and data into the memory in chunks
and replaces data when necessary with data/programs that were just
requested  slows down computer speed because if your memory is too small
it will be constantly swapping memory which slows it down  this occurs
when RAM is too small to hold all programs
o CPU speed is expressed in hertz
o Cache and main memory are volatile which means that their contents are lost
when the power is off
o Magnetic and optical disks are nonvolatile, meaning that their contents will
survive when the power is off
o First step: CPU transfers data from a storage disk to main memory
o Second step: CPU moves a program from main memory into the CPU via the bus
Difference between client and server
o SERVER  INTERNET  CLIENT COMPUTERS
o Client computers are used for word processing, spreadsheets, database access,
etc.  most have software that allow them to connect to a network
o Servers  provide services such as processing email, web sites, shared
databases  fast computers with multiple CPU’s that need lots of main
memory and large disks  limited to no display
o Server farm = collection of servers
Q2: What Do Business Professionals Need to Know About Software?
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Two types of computer software:
o Operating system software  controls computer resources  hardware specific
and includes a set of instructions based on the computers processor (Windows
XP)
o Application program software  helps users accomplish tasks such as word
processing and database management (Microsoft Word and Excel)
Operating system  read and write data, allocate main memory, perform memory
swapping, start and stop programs, respond to error conditions, and facilitate backup and
recovery
o Major operating systems:
§ Non-mobile (client): Windows, MAC OS X, Unix, Linux
§ Mobile (client): Symbian, android, iOS, Blackberry OS
§ Servers: windows server, Unix, Linux
Both server computers and client computers need an operating system
Virtualization  the process by which one computer hosts the appearance of many
computers
o Host operating system  runs one or more operating system applications
called virtual machines
o Three types of virtualization:
§ PC virtualization  a personal computer hosts several different
operating systems
§ Server virtualization  a server computer hosts one or more other
server computers
§ Desktop virtualization  a server hosts many versions of desktop
operating systems
Own vs. License
o License
§ Limits vendor’s liability
§ Rights to use specific number of copies
o Site license
§ Rights to install software on all company computers for a flat fee
o Open-source
§ No license fee
Categories of application programs
o Horizontal-market application software  provides capabilities common across
all organizations and industries  EX: Microsoft word, excel, adobe
Photoshop, etc.  usually not customized
o Vertical-market application software  serves the needs of a specific industry 
EX: software used by dental offices to schedule appointments, bill patients, and
keep track of customer data  can be customized to the company
o One-of-a-kind application software developed for a specific, unique need 
EX: IRS develops software like this because they have needs that no other
company/industry needs
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Thin clients vs. thick
o Client-server applications --? Applications that process code on both the client
and the server
o Thick-client application  an application program that must be pre-installed on
the client
§ Larger
§ More features and functions
§ Installation and version management can be expensive in big
companies especially when applications need to be updated
o Thin-client application  one that runs within a browser and does not need to
be pre-installed  the browser loads the application code for any application
from the server
§ When a new version is created the browser automatically downloads
and updates it
§ Need to be smaller
o Relationships:
§ Desktop application
§ Client-server application
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Thick client
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Thin client