Intro to IT

Time

Intro to IT

A blog made for my foundation course subject; Introduction to Information Technology.

Computer Networks

Sunday, October 25, 2009

A node is a connection point that acts as either an end point or a redistribution point for data transmissions. This is because it has the ability to recognize and process transmissions to other nodes. A cellphone is an example of what can be considered a node.

A client is an application that accesses a remote service on another computer system through networking. For example, when a user is making requests for pages from servers all over the Web using a Web browser, then the user is making client requests. There are generally three types of clients which are "fat clients", "thin clients" and "hybrid clients".

A server is a program that fulfills the requests from client programs. For example, a server will deliver web pages that are requested by a client.

A Hub contains multiple ports and is one of the most commonly used networking hardware devices. They function as central connection points for local area networks (LAN). A port copies a packet without modifying it to all ports of the hub when it arrives at one port for transmission.

Network interface cards (NIC) is used to allow communication between computers over a computer network. It is a computer hardware specially designed for this purpose. The NIC assigns a MAC (media access control) which is a unique address to a machine. It allows the communication between computers using the MAC addresses.

Network Operating System (NOS) is an operating system. It allows a computer to fulfill requests from other computers for data and provide access to other resources through a network.

Distributed Processing is where a computer system uses more than one computer, or processor, to run an application. Distributed processing can also involve distributed databases. This is where data is stored across two or more computer systems. Distributed processing implies that a transaction will be completed when more than one processor is involved in processing.

A Host Computer is a computer that is connected to a network. It provides services such as functioning as a store-and-forward processor, a packet or message switch, and it is also used to develop software for execution on a target computer. Host computers range in a variety of sizes from something as small as a small microcomputer to batch mainframes or large time-sharing.

Network Manager is a software that is used for simplifying the use of computer networks. A network manager is also known as a network manager. It maintains the hardware and software that comprises a network.

posted by Melissa @ 4:07 PM 0 comments

Input and Output

Sunday, October 4, 2009

Magnetic ink character recognition (MICR)

The banking industry, which is the primary user of MICR, uses MICR to facilitate the processing of cheques. MICR is a character recognition technology. It can easily be read by humans unlike other technologies such as barcodes. Magnetic ink or toner, usually containing iron oxide, are used to print MICR character in special typefaces. Even if the characters are overprinted or have been obscured by other marks, magnetic printing allows the characters to be read reliably.

Optical-character recognition (OCR)

The mechanical or electronic translation of images of handwritten, typewritten or printed text into machine-editable text is called optical-character recognition (OCR). It enables one to take a book and, by feeding it into a electronic computer file, enable one to edit the file using a word processor. Advanced OCR is able to read a variety of fonts. However, even the advanced OCR still have difficulty reading handwritten text.

Optical-mark recognition (OMR)

The process of capturing human-marked data from document forms such as surveys and tests is called optical-mark recognition (OMR). Other applications of OMR are geocoding, community surveys and data compilation.

Dot matrix printer

It is a type of computer printer with a print head that runs back and forth or in an up and down motion, much like a typewriter. Tiny hammers in its print head strike pins over an inked ribbon to form images on paper. Most people prefer using ink jets and lasers over dot matix printers because they are cheaper, quieter, faster and produce output of better quality.

Plotters

There are two types of plotters and they are pen plotters and electrostatic plotters. Plotters are connected to a computer and is used to print graphical plots. It is a vector graphics printing device.

Photo printer

To print high quality digital photos on photo paper, one can simply use a photo printer. Photo printers are usually ink jet printers.

Portable printer

A portable printer is a lightweight and small printer that can be easily carried around. It is ideal for those who are travelling and who need to work. It is not only easy to carry around, it prints quite quickly and at a reasonable quality.

Fax machine

A fax machine is usually a combination of three things; an image scanner, a modem and a printer. It is a telecommunications technology. It is convenient and useful as it can be used to transfer copies of documents no matter the distance, be it short distance or long distance. The documents will reach the recipient almost instantaneously.

Multifunctional devices

Multifunctional devices can do a number of things such as copying, printing, finishing and scanning. It also comes at a reasonable price.

Internet telephones

An internet telephone is just like a regular telephone except that it uses the Internet to send voice. Unlike using regular telephones to talk to people, it is cheap and sometimes even free.

Telephony

The usage of equipment and technology to provide voice transmissions over long distances through electronic signals is called telephony. With the advance in telecommunications, it is difficult to differentiate between traditional telephony and telecommunications.

email URL, name and ID to introtoit2009@gmail.com

posted by Melissa @ 10:24 PM 0 comments

Sunday, September 27, 2009

Expansion Card
By installing it in a computer, it can enhance a computer's capabilities in several ways. For example, it can increase the memory or enhance the graphics. An expansion card that you can use to enhance graphics is an nVidia GeForce FX.

Network Interface Card (NIC)
When a Network Interface Card is installed in a computer, the computer will be connected to a network. It will provide a full-time connection to the network.

Plug & Play
It is a capability that enables the computer to recognise a device's presence when it is plugged in to the computer. Before Plug & Play was invented, user had to tell the computer manually that a new device has been added.

Sockets
In computing, there are several types of sockets such as Berkeley sockets, Internet socket, CPU socket and Unix domain socket. Berkeley sockets are used for communication between computers through an inter-systems pipe. It supports two types of communication which are TCP (connection oriented, stream, reliable) and UDP (connectionless, record oriented, unreliable). Internet sockets are used for delivering oncoming data packets to the appropriate application process using a combination of IP addresses and port numbers. The CPU socket houses a CPU and creates the electrical interface and contact with it. It is also the connector on the motherboard. Pin grid array (PGA) are used on CPU sockets. It is where pin on the underside of the processor connect to the holes in the CPU socket. Unix domain socket is the combination of the IP address of the station and a port number. Unix domain socket is used to direct data to the correct application in a TCP/IP network.

Chips
Chips are tiny circuit boards etched onto squares of silicon and are mounted on carrier packages. Some circuit boards can even be smaller than the tip of your finger. A chip has several names and they are silicon chip, semiconductor, or integrated circuit.

Slots
These act as a connection point for circuit boards or specialized cards. These cards provide extra features to the computer system. For example, a modem card can be used to provide a connection to the Internet.

Bus lines
Communication among the various electronical components that are either on the system board or attached on the system board is provided by connecting lines called bus lines. The larger the bus width, the larger the number of bits that are allowed to travel down the bus width.

Serial Port
Serial ports are often used to connect a lot of devices to the system unit such as a mouse, keyboard, modem and many other devices. They are very good at sending information over a long distance and can send data one bit at a time.

Parallel Port
When external devices need to send or receive a lot of data over a short distance, a parallel port is used. An example of an external device used to connect to a parallel port is a printer. Through eight parallel wires, these ports typically send eight bits of data across them.

Universal Serial Bus
Universal serial bus can be thought of as a substitute for serial ports and parallel ports. It is much more efficient and faster than serial ports and parallel ports as it can connect to several devices to the system unit.

Firewire Port
Specialized Firewire devices such as a camcorder use Firewire ports as a connection. Firewire ports have a speed that is comparable to USB 2.0 ports.

posted by Melissa @ 10:20 PM 0 comments

Careers in IT

Sunday, August 2, 2009

A webmaster is a person who is in charge of a web site. This person is the one who has created the web site and is reponsible for maintaining it. As a webmaster, a person has to do numerous things to maintain a web site such as keeping the web site up to date, replying emails from users and examining the web traffic.

A computer support specialist is a person who helps people who have problems with computers. For example, if a person has a problem with the computer, a computer support specialist will try to fix it. Help can be asked face-to-face, on the phone or through email. If it is asked over the phone, the computer support specialist will help guide the person to fix the problem. They can also install computer tools such as printers and then teach people how to use them.

A technical writer is a person who manages technical documentation (such as online help, user guides, white papers, design specifications, system manuals, and other documents) produces technical documentation for various fields, be it for business, technical and consumer audiences.

A software engineer is a person who creates software and systems, and makes sure that any technology containing software work.

A network administrator is a person who makes sure that the network, server deployment, security, and the network connectivity throughout a company's LAN/WAN are working properly. They are rarely involved with direct user support. A network administrator's job usually consists of the following; network address assignment, assignment of routing protocols and routing table, maintenance of network facilities and maintenance of certain network servers.

A database administrator is in charge of the physical design and managing the database. It is a database administrator's duty to ensure that all database is readily available to all users and programs that need it. He or she must also create back ups and archives of the data, and must always monitor the database to ensure that it responds to requests quickly.

A system analyst is very important in a business or an organisation. This is because a system analyst must determine the purpose of the computers to make sure that they meet all of the company's needs. Because of this, a system analyst must have a very good understanding of the objective of a business or an organisation, and also what each user's job requires.

A person who works as a programmer is the one who is responsible for programming the functionality of a web site. When it is determined what the function of a web site should be, it is the programmer's job to figure out how to accomplish this task and then write out the necessary programming codes.

posted by Melissa @ 10:29 PM 3 comments

About Me

Name: Melissa
Home: Selangor, Malaysia
About Me: Not much you need to know about me. I'm 20, Sabahan, and a female with a slight obsession with anime/manga, the colour pink and writing. Everything else, I'll let my posts speak for me.
See my complete profile