BM2201B

COMPUTER HARDWARE

Hardware focus on three interrelated factors which are appropriateness for the task, speed, and cost. A personal computer is made up of multiple physical components of computer hardware, upon which can be installed a system software called operating system and a multitude of software applications to perform the operator's desired functions.

Though a PC comes in many different forms, a typical personal computer consists of a case or chassis in a tower shape (desktop), containing components such as a motherboard.

Computer hardware or hardware means the fixed parts that make up a computer. Some examples include:

Motherboard

The motherboard is the main component inside the case. It is a large rectangular board with integrated circuitry that connects the rest of the parts of the computer including the CPU, the RAM, the disk drives (CD, DVD, hard disk, or any others) as well as any peripherals connected via the ports or the expansion slots.

Components directly attached to the motherboard include:

The central processing unit (CPU) performs most of the calculations which enable a computer to function, and is sometimes referred to as the "brain" of the computer. It is usually cooled by a heat sink and fan.
The chip set mediates communication between the CPU and the other components of the system, including main memory.
RAM (Random Access Memory) stores resident part of the current running OS (OS core and so on) and all running processes (applications parts, using CPU or input/output (I/O) channels or waiting for CPU or I/O channels).
The BIOS includes boot firmware and power management. The Basic Input Output System tasks are handled by operating system drivers.
Internal Buses connect the CPU to various internal components and to expansion cards for graphics and sound.

Removable Media Devices

CD (compact disc) - the most common type of removable media, suitable for music and data.

DVD (digital versatile disc) - a popular type of removable media that is the same dimensions as a CD but stores up to 12 times as much information. It is the most common way of transferring digital video, and is popular for data storage

Floppy disk - an outdated storage device consisting of a thin disk of a flexible magnetic storage medium. Used today mainly for loading RAID drivers.

USB flash drive - a flash memory data storage device integrated with a USB interface, typically small, lightweight, removable, and rewritable. Capacities vary, from hundreds of megabytes (in the same ballpark as CDs) to tens of gigabytes (surpassing, at great expense, Blu-ray discs).

Input and Output

Keyboard - a device to input text and characters by depressing buttons (referred to as keys or buttons).
Mouse - a pointing device that detects two dimensional motion relative to its supporting surface
Touchscreen - senses the user pressing directly on the display
Joystick - a control device that consists of a handheld stick that pivots around one end, to detect angles in two or three dimensions and reports its angle or direction to the device it is controlling.

Web cam - a video camera used to provide visual input that can be easily transferred over the internet.
Printer - a device that produces a permanent human-readable text of graphic document
Speakers - typically a pair of devices (2 channels) which convert electrical signals into audio.
Headphones - for a single user hearing the audio.
Monitor - an electronic visual display with textual and graphical information from the computer.

Ø CRT - (Cathode Ray Tube) display

Ø LCD - (Liquid Crystal Display) as of 2010, it is the primary visual display for personal computers.

Ø LED - (light-emitting diode) display

Ø OLED - Organic Light-Emitting Diode

Posted by Zulkhairudin Zulkifli

2010988721

What is Teleconferencing?

Teleconferencing

Two-way electronic communication between two or more groups, or three or more individuals, who are in separate locations. Includes group communication via audio, audiographs, video, and computer systems.

A teleconference is a telephone meeting among several business associates. Teleconferencing utilizes technology that is much more high tech than a simple phone conversation. A teleconference can be as simple as an with both ends of the conversation using a speaker phone to as complex as a video teleconference utilizing full motion video images.
While still expensive, the cost of teleconferencing has steadily reduced in step with the bandwidth required to perform the function.

In video conference,participants in one location can see participants,location,documents and presentationat other location. The latest version of videoconferencing called telepresence, enable participant to seamlessly share data, voice, pictures, grafics, and animation by electronic means.Conferees can also trasmit data along with voice and video, which allows them tom work on document together and to exchange computer files.

Several companies offering high-end teleprence systems. For example, Hewlett-Packard’s halo System ( www.hp.com ), Cisco TelePresence 3000 ( www.cisco.com ) and Polycom’s HDX ( www.poly.com ) use massive high-definition screens up to eight feet wide to show people sitting around conference tables.

Telepresence systems also have advance audio capabilities that lets everyone talk at once without cancelling out any voice.

Can cost up to $400,000 for room with network management fees ranging up to $18.000 per month. Financial and consulting firms are quickly adopting telepresence systems. For example, the Blackstone Group ( www.blackstone.com ), a private equity firm, has 40 telepresence rooms around the world,and Deloitte & Touches is instaliing 12 telepresence rooms.

Prepared by Saiful Suffian bin Abdul Hadi

2010173451

Threat to Information Systems.

Unintentional acts are those acts with no malicious intent. One of them is Human Errors and represented by far the most serious threats to information security.

Human Errors

There are different categories of organizational employees. First category is comprised of regular employees, who span the breadth and depth of the organization, from mail clerks to the CEO, and in all functional areas. The higher the level of employees, the greater the threat the employee poses to information security. This situations exist because higher-level employees has greater access on organizational information systems.

The second category includes contract labour, consultants, and janitor and guards. Contract labour such as temporary hires, may be overlooked in information security. However, these employees often have access to the company’s network, information systems, and information assets. Consultants, although technically not employees, do works for the company. They also may have access to the company’s network, information systems, and information assets.

Human errors or mistakes by employees pose a large problem as the result of laziness, carelessness, or a lack of awareness concerning information security. This lack of awareness usually comes from poor education and training efforts by the organization. Human mistakes manifest themselves in many different ways.

Human Mistakes

1. Tailgating.

A technique designed to allow the perpetrator to enter restricted areas that are controlled with locks or card entry. The perpetrator follows closely behind a legitimate employee and, when the employee gains entry, asks them to ‘hold the door’.

To deter tailgating, many companies have anti-tailgating doors protecting the entrance into high-security areas. Note that only one person at a time can go through this door.

1. Shoulder surfing.