Discussion on Computer fundamentals 2

Hello everyone, my name is Oluwademilade Ala. I am currently studying and understanding Cloud computing. On today's topic I will be discussing about the CPU, RAM, Storage, Motherboard and OS (Operating System).

Before I begin, here is a side note of what I learned from my late night youtube series:

The earliest recognised device for computing was the “Abacus”, invented in Mesopotamia around 2500 BCE. It is a hand operated calculator that helps add and subtract many numbers. It also stores the current state of the computation much like our hard drive does today

If you want to learn more about that, I'll leave the link at the end of the lesson.

1. CPU
The CPU which stands for Central Processing Unit excutes instructions. Our programs are made up of instructions that the CPU executes. There are three terms we need to understand.

a. Core: This is an individual processing unit within a CPU. A CPU can contain multiple cores, most modern CPUs contain multiple cores

b. Clock speed: This roughly indicates how many CPU cycles occur per second, and it is usually measure in GHz(gigahertz). Note that a higher GHz alone doesn't guarantee that you'd have a faster computer because other things matter, like the CPU's architecture and workload.

c. Instruction: This is a basic operation that the processor can execute

I saw that later in AWS, I'd encouter something like EC2 and vCPU. A vCPU represents virtualised CPU capacity that is made available to your virtual machine

2. RAM
RAM (Random Access Memory) is responsible for holding information that programs are actively using.

so let us imagine you are working on your desk/table.

• Your *SSD (Storage) * is the drawer containing all your books
• Your RAM is where you put the books you are currently using
• Your CPU is you, actively working on your maths assignment in your book (or maybe you're sneak watching NBA, I see you 👀.), and that's about it

One thing to note is that RAM is volatile, its content normally disappear when power is removed. That's why RAM isn't where you permanently store your books (documents, images,etc).

3. Storage
According to wikipedia (

Computer data storage

Computer data storage or digital data storage is the retention of digital data via technology consisting of computer components and recording media. Digital data storage is a core function and fundamental component of computers.

View on Wikipedia>

)

Computer storage is any hardware or technology that captures and retains digital data (1s and 0s) so your computer can remember and access it.

A storage is persistent

Your applications, operating system, photos, videos, documents can remain there even after shutting down your computer (or when power is removed). Two major types of storage you'll encouter are HDD and SSD

a. HDD (Hard Disk Drive): This uses spinning magnetic platters to offer large amounts of storage space at a low cost.

b. SSD (Solid State Drive): This uses flash memory chips with no moving parts, making it much faster, quieter, and more durable than an HDD.

HDD — Hard Disk Drive: magnetic spinning disks; generally slower.
SSD — Solid State Drive: flash-based storage with no mechanical spinning disk; generally much faster.

I learnt that Cloud computing has the same concept. for instance, AWS EBS can provide persistent block storage to an EC2 virtual machine. we also have

YOUR COMPUTER CLOUD

CPU → vCPU
RAM → Memory
SSD/HDD → Persistent storage

4. Motherboard
The motherboard is the main circuit board connecting major hardware components.
CPU, RAM, storage and other hardware ultimately communicate through systems connected to the motherboard.

5. Operating System
This is the main software that manages a computer's hardware and runs other programs. Examples include: Linux, Windows and macOS.

An OS manages things such as CPU usage, Memory, Storage/Files, Hardware devices, Running programs

When you launch Chrome or brave, The browser doesn't simply take complete control of your CPU and RAM. The operating system manages resources and coordinates programs. This becomes extremely important later because much of cloud engineering involves Linux servers.

          APPLICATION
               ↓
      OPERATING SYSTEM
               ↓
  ┌────────────┼────────────┐
  ↓            ↓            ↓
 CPU          RAM        STORAGE

processing working persistent
memory data

Alright so that's my discussion and if you understand that, we're already building the mental model we'll eventually use for cloud servers. I'll see you in the next discussion about CPU + processes + threads

Oh here is also the I link I promised: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5nskjZ_GoI&t=543s

À tout à l'heure.