There are several components in a computer system needed to make that computer system work. These components are people, procedure, hardware, software, data, and communication.

People are an obvious component of a computer system. Without people to give input to the computer, the computer could not function. There are some famous people associated with computers. One is Herman Hollerith, who developed the punch card system, a system which could hold data and helped advance the field of computers. He established the Tabulating Machine Corporation in 1896, and later in 1924 the company became the International Business Machines Corporation, or IBM. John Vincent Atanasoff is claimed to have developed the basic techniques that helped develop ENIAC, which was completed in 1945.

The second component in a computer system is procedure. Procedures are descriptions of how things are done, steps for accomplishing a result. If a person does not perform the correct procedure on a computer, whatever they were trying to do wouldn’t work. Many procedures for computer systems come in manuals, which are also called documentation. These manuals are very important to the user because they set out the rules and steps that you need to use your computer. It’s always a good idea to read the manual and follow procedures closely.

The third component is hardware. Hardware is what most people think of when they think of a computer. Input hardware is the components that allow information to be entered into the computer. Common input hardware is the keyboard, mouse, and scanner. Output hardware, hardware that allows information to be displayed as output, is the monitor, speakers, and printer. Cables, another hardware component, connect networks, hardware components, and connect you to the Internet (through the telephone system, etc.). The hard drive is part of hardware. Inside the hard drive you will find ROM, non-volatile memory, and RAM, volatile memory. Volatile memory needs electric current, so when you turn your computer off, only the memory in ROM will be saved.

The fourth component is software. Software is the set of procedures, sets of data, and programs and the order of use by which a computer is required to define and control the operation of any computer system. In relation to a human body, system software is the whole body, application software are parts of the body, and the hardware basis is the brain. Software uses computer languages to operate. There are many different languages, such as applicative languages, constraint languages, and procedural languages.

The fifth component is data. Data is the raw material to be processed by the computer into information. Data can be stored on the hard drive, electronically, or on disks. Data is organized into bits (binary digits), bytes (a group of 8 bits), fields (a unit of data consisting of one or more characters), records (a collection of related fields), and databases (a collection of inter-related files). The data capacity (smallest to largest) is kilobytes, megabytes, gigabytes, and terabytes. A kilobyte is comprised of 1024 bytes.

The last component is communication. Communication is the transmission of data from one computer to another, or from one device to another. Modems, cables, and ports are all communications devices. One way to communicate is through networking. Networking is a group of two or more computer systems linked together. Some types of networks are Local-area networks (LANs) and Home-area networks (HANs).

Without all of these components, the computer system would fail to work.

posted on 27 April 2003