NI - Lesson 2

• Computer Hardware is all of the physical components of a computer
• The basic hardware of a computer composes the computer’s architecture and includes:

  • electric cuircuits
  • microchips
  • processors
  • Random access memory
  • read only memory
  • BIOS chip
  • graphics card
  • sound card
• The basic hardware of a computer composes the computer’s architecture are attached to a component called a motherboard.
• Motherboard is also called the "guts" or the heart of the computer
• motherboard is a square or rectangular board made of nonconducting material
• The motherbaord is a square or rectangular board made of nonconducting material such as fiberglass or heat-resistant plastic.
• The motherboard’s storage media is called memory
• The memory includes the locations of the computer’s internal or main working storage.
• registers is a a small number of very high-speed memory locations
• RAM which is the main storage area in which the computer places the programs and data it is working on
• cache a small memory storage area holding recently accessed data
• There are three key types of memory in a computer:

  • RAM
  • ROM
  • cache
• Working memory used for primary storage. It is used as temporary storage by the CPU and other processors for holding data and commands the processors are actively using

  Random Access Memory
• RAM can be accessed, used, changed, and written on repeatedly
• Smaller form of RAM. Its purpose is to speed up processing by storing frequently called (used) data and commands in a small, rapid-access memory location.

  cache
• Form of permanent storage in the computer. It carries instructions that allow the computer to be booted (started) and other essential machine instructions.

  Read only memory
• ROM are called firmware
• Input and output devices are wired to a controller that is plugged into the slots or circuit boards of the computer
• Devices that allow the computer to receive information from the outside world.
• The most common input devices are the keyboard and mouse.
• Touchscreen is both an input and output device combined, displays information back to the user, just as does any computer monitor
• Light pen is a device attached to the computer that has special software that allows the computer to sense when the light pen is focused on a designated part of the screen.
• Voice systems allow the nurse to speak into a microphone (which is the input device) to record data, submit laboratory orders, or request information from the computer.
• scanners are used for security and can detect users’ fingerprints, retinal prints, voiceprints, or other personally unique physical characteristics that identify users who have clearance to use the system.
• output devices allow the computer to report its results to the external world
• Output devices are defined as any equipment that translates the computer information into something usable by people or other machines.
• Output can be in the form of text, data files, sound, graphics, or signals to other devices
• heart monitors are output devices recording and displaying heart rhythm patterns and initiating alarms when certain conditions are met
• Volumetric infusion pump outputs include both fluids infused into the patient’s body and images displayed on a screen.
• Storage includes the main memory but also external devices on which programs and data are stored
• Hard Drive is the Main storage device of many personal computers and is typically inside the case or box that houses other internal hardware
• USB flash drive is a form of a small, erasable, programmable, read-only memory
• It should be noted that flash drives are not really used in clinical settings, at least not for business or patient care purposes
• Optical Media includes compact disks, digital versatile disks, and Blu-Ray.
• • An extension of the online storage service offered by individual vendors is cloud storage
• Data stored “in the Cloud” is still stored on commercial computers called servers
• Cloud refers to a distributed system of many commercial, networked servers that communicate through the Internet and work together so closely that they can essentially function as one large system.
• Data Centers are data storage sites with enormous numbers of servers that store data are physically located in many warehouse-sized buildings.
• super computers are the largest type of computers specially designed for scientific application and used primarily in such work as defense and weaponry, weather forecasting, advanced engineering and physics, and other mathematically intensive scientific research applications.
• Most common fast, large, and expensive type of computer used in large businesses (including hospitals and other large healthcare facilities) for processing, storing, and retrieving data.

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