Nt1310 Unit 4 Chapter 1

In 4th chapter I learned about CPU and other aspects related to it such as RISC and CISC.CPU stands for central processing unit and it is very suitable name for it as it processes the instructions that it gathers from files. Following diagrams explain the basic architecture of CPU:

CPU performance is given by the fundamental law:

Thus, CPU performance is dependent upon Instruction Count, CPI (Cycles per instruction) and Clock cycle time. And all three are affected by the instruction set architecture. Instruction Count CPI Clock

Program x

Compiler x x

Instruction Set Architecture x x x

Microarchitecture x x

Physical Design x

This underlines the importance of the instruction set architecture. There are two prevalent

Storage devices are one of the important components of any computing device. They store virtually all the information and applications on a computer, except hardware things. They are available in different form factors depending on the type of underlying device. For example, a standard computer has multiple storage devices including RAM, cache, a hard disk, an optical disk drive and externally connected USB drives.

There are two different types of storage devices:

• Primary Storage Devices: Generally smaller in size, are designed to hold data temporarily and are internal to the computer. They have the fastest data access speed, and include RAM and cache memory.

• Secondary Storage Devices: These usually have large storage capacity, and they store data permanently. They can be both internal and external to the computer, and they include the hard disk, compact disk drive and USB storage device.

Optical storage: Optical storage is the storage wherein data is read and written via use of laser. Typically, data is written to optical media, such as CDs and DVDs. For several years, proponents have spoken of optical storage as a near-future replacement for both hard drives in personal computers and tape backup in mass