M05 Network & Computer Hardware
M05 Network & Computer Hardware
M05 Network & Computer Hardware
Level II
August, 2022
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Acknowledgement
Ministry of Labor and Skills wish to extend thanks and appreciation to the many representatives
of TVET instructors and respective industry experts who donated their time and expertise to the
development of this Teaching, Training and Learning Materials (TTLM).
Acknowledgement 2
Acronyms 4
Self-Check 1 19
Self-Check 2 36
Self-Check 3 51
Self-Check 4 60
Reference 64
Acronyms
RAM-Random Access Memory
CD-Compact Disk
OS-Operating System
Note: Peripheral devices are the devices that are attached to the computer’s system unit
Inside Computer
RAM (random-access memory) stores resident part of the current running OS (OS core and
so on) and all running processes (application 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. Newer motherboards use Unified Extensible
Firmware Interface instead of BIOS.
Internal buses connect the CPU to various internal components and to expansion cards for
graphics and sound.
The Central Processing Unit (CPU; sometimes just called processor) is a machine that can execute
computer programs. It is sometimes referred to as the brain of the computer.
There are four steps that nearly all CPUs use in their operation: fetch, decode, execute, and
writeback. The first step, fetch, involves retrieving an instruction from program memory. In the
decode step, the instruction is broken up into parts that have significance to other portions of the
CPU. During the execute step various portions of the CPU, such as the arithmetic logic unit (ALU)
and the floating point unit (FPU) are connected so they can perform the desired operation. The final
step, writeback, simply writes back the results of the execute step to some form of memory.
Power supply
Inside a custom-built computer: the power supply at the bottom has its own cooling fan.
A power supply unit (PSU) converts alternating current (AC) electric power to low-voltage DC
power for the internal components of the computer. Some power supplies have a switch to change
between 230 V and 115 V. Other models have automatic sensors that switch input voltage
automatically, or are able to accept any voltage between those limits. Power supply units used in
computers are nearly always switch mode power supplies (SMPS). The SMPS provides regulated
direct current power at the several voltages required by the motherboard and accessories such as
disk drives and cooling fans.
Secondary storage
Hardware that keeps data inside the computer for later use and remains persistent even when the
computer has no power.
A Hard disk drive (HDD also hard drive or hard
disk) is a non-volatile, random access digital magnetic
data storage device. It features rotating rigid platters
on a motor-driven spindle within a protective
enclosure. Data is magnetically read from and written
to the platter by read/write heads that float on a film of
air above the platters. Introduced by IBM in 1956,
hard disk drives have decreased in cost and physical
size over the years while dramatically increasing in
capacity.
Hard disk drives have been the dominant device for
secondary storage of data in general purpose
computers since the early 1960s. They have
maintained this position because advances in their
recording density have kept pace with the
requirements for secondary storage. Today's HDDs
Keyboard
A combination of a typewriter keyboard and numeric
keypad, a keyboard enables you to enter data into a
computer. Computer keyboards are similar to electric
typewriter keyboards but include additional keys.
A printer is a device that allows you to obtain hard copies of the data you have created on your
computer system. Printers are classified by:
1 Their quality
2 The speed of printing — pages per minute
3 The print/image resolution — measured in dots per inch (dpi).
In the case of speed, the faster the better, and in the case of dpi, the higher the better. There are different
types of printers due to the different methods of transferring ink to paper. Two common types for the
home and office are inkjet and laser.
Inkjet printer — sprays ink onto a sheet of paper, and can
produce high-quality text and photo images.
Web cam
Web cams are small cameras that plug into your computer which allow
the user to share a moving image of themselves with others on other
computers through the Internet.
Digital camera
Digital cameras store images digitally onto a storage device, either a memory card or a floppy disk,
rather than recording them on film. Once a picture has been taken, it can be downloaded to a
computer system, and then manipulated or printed.
1.5 Determine any requirements as specified by the hardware manufacturer
Warranties and support
Before acquiring hardware peripheral devices, it is vital to assess what kind of warranties, service
and support, prospective suppliers will provide.
Warranties
You also need to be aware of the peripheral’s system requirements. The manual for the peripheral
device as well as the manufacturer’s website will help you determine the minimum system
specifications.
Compatibility
Compatibility is the ability of a system or a product to work with other systems or products
without special effort on the part of the customer. One-way products achieve interoperability is to
comply with industry interface standards. For example, a memory module is compatible with a
motherboard because the manufacturer of the memory module and the motherboard both work to
the same industry standard.
Technical specifications
IDENTIFICATION (Acronyms)
1. USB______________________________________________
2. CPU______________________________________________
3. BIOS_____________________________________________
4. CMOS____________________________________________
5. AGP______________________________________________
Matching
1. B
2. B
3. B
4. B
5. A
6. B
7. B
8. B
9. B
10. B
11. B
12. B
13. A
14. A
15. A
16. A
IDENTIFICATION (Acronyms)
1. USB – Universal Serial Bus
2. CPU – Central Processing Unit
3. BIOS – Basic Input/ Output System
4. CMOS – Complimentary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor
5. AGP – Accelerated Graphics Port
Temperature
One of the single most important factors in prolonging the life of your computer hardware is the
temperature of the components. Components that run hot, have a much shorter life than those that
stay cool most of the time. To keep components cool you could use cooling equipment or ensure
certain procedures or actions (discussed later). A more general approach is to provide a room
environment that is appropriate for the hardware.
A rule of thumb for room temperature is that computers like the temperatures that most people
like. That is temperatures between 15 and 24 degrees Celsius. Having computer equipment
operating in a hot room that is over 25 degrees Celsius will make general cooling equipment, such
as fans, fairly ineffectual.
Some businesses have their air-conditioners on a timer that will shut off at night. In this situation
you might want to make sure that computer equipment is switched off overnight, or that a special
computer room is designated with independent controls.
Obviously, most computer hardware can tolerate being at more extreme temperatures when they
are not running. If you are transporting equipment or storing it, the temperature concerns are far
less than if the equipment is actually in use. However, if you have equipment that has been
exposed to very low temperatures and is then immediately turned on, you risk permanently
damaging the equipment. It is essential that very cold equipment be brought up to room
temperature slowly before use. This is called acclimation.
When receiving new equipment during very cold weather, it is worth considering that the
equipment has been sitting in very cold warehouses or trucks. You may be risking permanent
damage if you switch power up the equipment while still very cold. Of particular concern are
monitors, hard disks, motherboards, and chips of all kinds (processor, memory, etc.) This covers
most of the computer of course.
Surge protectors – a device designed to protect against electrical surges and spikes. It
provides no protection against blackouts or brownouts.
Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) – a device designed to protect against blackouts. A
UPS provides power automatically during a blackout and is designed to provide
battery power for a relatively short period of time – around ten to twenty minutes.
This provides time to save all data and shut down the computer correctly.
Most UPS devices also provide protection against brownouts, surges and spikes depending on their
design.
Generators – where an organization requires the computer hardware to be powered for an
extended length of time, a generator may be installed in addition to a UPS. This is a
relatively costly option and would be considered where the operation of the computer
hardware is considered critical to the organization.
2.10 Business requirements
When selecting computer hardware, it is important to firstly identify the tasks the computer
hardware is required to perform. For example, a workstation required for video editing will have
When computer hardware devices are purchased, the supplier provides a guarantee that if a fault
develops in the equipment within a certain time, they will repair or replace it free of charge.
Organizations need to consider the warranty conditions before purchasing to ensure their business
needs will be met. Common warranty conditions include:
The length of the warranty – typically one or more years.
The actions needed to have the repairs undertaken. Either the repairs will be done on-site or
the equipment will need to be returned to the supplier, known as return-to-base.
How long the supplier has to make good any required repairs
Any exclusions to the warranty, such as damage caused to hardware by accidental damage.
Many computer hardware suppliers offer extended warranties at additional cost. For example, the
extended warranty may extend the period of cover from one year to three years. The level of
service purchased by an organization will depend on how critical the device is to the IT system.
A Service Level Agreement (SLA) is an agreement which sets out the level of service and
maintenance to be provided.
Safe electrical work practices
Computer hardware should be located close to a suitable electrical outlet. The use of long
extension cords is a trip hazard. If no power outlet is available, a new fixed power outlet may need
to be installed. Any fixed electrical installation is required by law to be installed by a licensed
electrician.
Cables should be kept away from the floor, and a person’s workspace. Cables on the floor are
easily damaged by trolleys and chair castors.
Use switched power boards and not double adapters or piggy backed plugs.
Routinely inspect cables for any damage. Damaged cables should be disconnected and removed.
Testing and tagging refers to the practice of testing electrical equipment (which is designed for
connection by a flexible cord), by an appropriate person. If the equipment is compliant a tag is
attached which is marked with the name of the person or company who performed the test, and the
test date or retest date.
True or False
1. Computer hardware should be located close to a suitable electrical outlet.
2. A Service Level Agreement (SLA) is an agreement which sets out the level of service and
maintenance to be provided.
3. Universal Serial Bus (USB) – a device designed to protect against blackouts.
Matching
1. B, and C
2. G, H, I,
3. A, D, E, F,
4. K and L
5. M
True or False
1. True
2. True
3. False
Viruses
A software virus is a parasitic/freeloading program written intentionally to alter the way your
computer operates without your permission or knowledge.
A virus attaches copies of itself to other files such as program files or documents and is inactive
until you run an infected program or open an infected document. When activated, a virus may
damage or delete files, cause erratic system behavior, display messages or even erase your hard
disk.
A virus may spread through email and instant messenger attachments, through infected files on
floppy disks or CD-ROMs, or by exploiting a security flaw in Microsoft Windows.
Worm
A worm is a self-replicating program that is harmful to networks. A worm uses the network to
duplicate its code to the hosts on a network, often without any user intervention. It is different from
a virus because a worm does not need to attach to a program to infect a host. Even if the worm
does not damage data or applications on the hosts it infects, it is harmful to networks because it
consumes bandwidth.
Trojan horse
The Trojan does not need to be attached to other software. Instead, a Trojan threat is hidden in
software that appears to do one thing, and yet behind the scenes it does another. Trojans are often
disguised as useful software. The Trojan program can reproduce like a virus and spread to other
computers.
A Trojan horse is not a virus because it does not replicate and spread like a virus.
Biometric sensors that identify physical characteristics of the user, such as fingerprints or
retinas
3.5 Encryption
One of the most effective ways to eliminate data loss or theft is to encrypt the data as it travels across the
network. However, not all data protection solutions are created equal. While most solutions offer standard
AES 256-bit encryption, there are other attributes that must be considered:
Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) is a set of hardware, software, people, policies, and
procedures needed to create, manage, distribute, use, store, and revoke digital certificates.[1]
In cryptography, a PKI is an arrangement that binds public keys with respective user
identities by means of a certificate authority (CA). The user identity must be unique within
each CA domain. The binding is established through the registration and issuance process,
which, depending on the level of assurance the binding has, may be carried out by software
at a CA, or under human supervision. The PKI role that assures this binding is called the
Registration Authority (RA). The RA ensures that the public key is bound to the individual
to which it is assigned in a way that ensures non-repudiation.
Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) is a popular program used to encrypt and decrypt e-mail over
the Internet. It can also be used to send an encrypted digital signature that lets the receiver
verify the sender's identity and know that the message was not changed in route. Available
both as freeware and in a low-cost commercial version, PGP is the most widely used
privacy-ensuring program by individuals and is also used by many corporations.
Symmetric and Asymmetric ciphers
Because asymmetric ciphers tend to be significantly more computationally intensive, they are
usually used in combination with symmetric ciphers to implement effect public key cryptography.
The asymmetric cipher is used to encrypt a session key and the encrypted session key is then used
to encrypt the actual message.
Symmetric ciphers are the oldest and most used cryptographic ciphers. In a symmetric cipher, the
key that deciphers the cipher text is the same as (or can be easily derived from) the key enciphers
the clear text. This key is often referred to as the secret key. The most widely used symmetric
ciphers are DES and AES.
AES DES
AES stands for Advanced Encryption DES stands for Data Encryption Standard
Standard
The date of creation is 1999. The date of creation is 1976.
Byte-Oriented. Bit-Oriented.
Key length can be 128-bits, 192-bits, and The key length is 56 bits in DES.
256-bits.
Number of rounds depends on key length: DES involves 16 rounds of identical
10(128-bits), 12(192-bits), or 14(256-bits) operations
The structure is based on a substitution- The structure is based on a Feistel network.
permutation network.
The design rationale for AES is open. The design rationale for DES is closed.
The selection process for this is secret but The selection process for this is secret.
accepted for open public comment.
AES is more secure than the DES cipher DES can be broken easily as it has known
and is the de facto world standard. vulnerabilities. 3DES(Triple DES) is a
variation of DES which is secure than the
usual DES.
The rounds in AES are: Byte Substitution, The rounds in DES are: Expansion, XOR
Shift Row, Mix Column and Key Addition operation with round key, Substitution and
Permutation
AES can encrypt 128 bits of plaintext. DES can encrypt 64 bits of plaintext.
AES cipher is derived from an aside- DES cipher is derived from Lucifer cipher.
channel square cipher.
AES was designed by Vincent Rijmen and DES was designed by IBM.
Joan Daemen.
No known crypt-analytical attacks against Known attacks against DES include Brute-
AES but side channel attacks against AES force, Linear crypt-analysis, and Differential
implementations possible. Biclique attacks crypt-analysis.
have better complexity than brute force but
still ineffective.
Asymmetric Cryptosystems
Symmetric Cryptosystems
Asymmetric Cryptosystems
In an asymmetric cryptosystem (or public key cryptosystem), there are two different keys used for
the encryption and decryption of data. The key used for encryption is kept public and so as called
public key, and the decryption key is kept secret and called private key. The keys are generated in
such a way that it is impossible to derive the private key from the public key.
The transmitter and the receiver both have two keys in an asymmetric system. However, the
private key is kept private and not sent over with the message to the receiver, although the public
key is.
Symmetric Cryptosystems
A symmetric cryptosystem (or private key cryptosystem) uses only one key for both encryption
and decryption of the data. The key used for encryption and decryption is called the private key
and only people who are authorized for the encryption/decryption would know it. In a symmetric
cryptosystem, the encrypted message is sent over without any public keys attached to it.
A disadvantage of using public-key cryptography for encryption is speed: there are popular
secret-key encryption methods which are significantly faster than any currently available
public-key encryption method.
Sniffers Monitor network data. A sniffer can be a self-contained software program or a hardware
device with the appropriate software or firmware programming. Sniffers usually act as network
probes or "snoops." They examine network traffic, making a copy of the data without redirecting
or altering it. Some sniffers work only with TCP/IP packets, but the more sophisticated tools can
work with many other protocols and at lower levels including Ethernet frames.
Secure Shell (SSH) Is a network protocol for secure data communication, remote shell services or
command execution and other secure network services between two networked computers that it
connects via a secure channel over an insecure network: a server and a client (running SSH server
and SSH client programs, respectively). The protocol specification distinguishes two major
versions that are referred to as SSH-1 and SSH-2.
Deslogin is a remote login program which may be used safely across insecure networks. With
deslogin, you may log into a secure remote host from a secure local host without worry about your
login password or session information being made visible across the network. Deslogin is a simple
stand-alone client and server, which may be used on machines which don't have more sophisticated
PKZIP Is an archiving tool originally written by Phil Katz and marketed by his company
PKWARE, Inc. The common "PK" prefix used in both PKZIP and PKWARE stands for "Phil
Katz".
Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) a protocol for encrypting information over the Internet
A digital signature or digital signature scheme is a mathematical scheme for demonstrating the
authenticity of a digital message or document. A valid digital signature gives a recipient reason to
believe that the message was created by a known sender, and that it was not altered in transit.
Digital signatures are commonly used for software distribution, financial transactions, and in other
cases where it is important to detect forgery or tampering.
A software virus is a parasitic program written intentionally to alter the way your computer
operates without your permission or knowledge.
A virus attaches copies of itself to other files such as program files or documents and is inactive
until you run an infected program or open an infected document. When activated, a virus may
damage or delete files, cause erratic system behavior, display messages or even erase your hard
disk.
1. Worm
A worm is a self-replicating program that is harmful to networks. A worm uses the network to
duplicate its code to the hosts on a network, often without any user intervention. It is different from
a virus because a worm does not need to attach to a program to infect a host. Even if the worm
does not damage data or applications on the hosts it infects, it is harmful to networks because it
consumes bandwidth.
2. Trojan horse
The Trojan does not need to be attached to other software. Instead, a Trojan threat is hidden in
software that appears to do one thing, and yet behind the scenes it does another. Trojans are often
disguised as useful software. The Trojan program can reproduce like a virus and spread to other
computers.
A Trojan horse is not a virus because it does not replicate and spread like a virus.
3. Adware
Adware is a software program that displays advertising on your computer. Adware is usually
distributed with downloaded software. Most often, adware is displayed in a popup window.
Adware popup windows are sometimes difficult to control and will open new windows faster than
users can close them.
4. Gray ware
or malware is a file or program other than a virus that is potentially harmful. Many grayware
attacks are phishing attacks that try to persuade the reader to unknowingly provide attackers with
access to personal information. As you fill out an online form, the data is sent to the attacker. Gray
ware can be removed using spyware and adware removal tools.
Denial of service (DoS) is a form of attack that prevents users from accessing normal services,
such as e-mail and a web server, because the system is busy responding to abnormally large
amounts of requests. DoS works by sending enough requests for a system resource that the
requested service is overloaded and ceases to operate.
7. Describe ways to protect data
Password Protection
Data Encryption
Port Protection
Data Backups
Choose The correct answer
1. C
1. C
2. A
Avoid creating static electricity charges while you're installing the new motherboard
by wearing a static-free wristband or grounding yourself often by touching the metal
case.
How to Replace a CPU
A computer's central processing unit, or CPU, can be thought of as the computer's brain, which
carries out the majority of the calculations and processes needed to make the computer run. As
computers age, processors may run more slowly due to power surges, overheating and other stress-
induced damage. Replacing a used CPU with a new one can often increase performance, but it is
usually more common to install a CPU upgrade rather than a straight replacement.
Things you’ll need
Screwdriver(s)
Replacement CPU
Thermal grease or another thermal interface material
Instruction
1. Turn off the computer and unplug all plugs.
2. Open the computer's case and set it on its side.
3. Take off the CPU fan and heat sink. The CPU fan and heat sink will be easy to locate: look
for a large fan on top of a fin-like network of metal attached to the motherboard.
Depending on your heat sink, you may either have to unscrew it, or undo some plastic
clipping mechanisms holding it in place. Sometimes removing the fan first can make
removing the heat sink easier. You will likely have to unplug the fan from the motherboard.
Caution
Only one software firewall should be enabled at a time. If you have an antivirus or other security
program installed with its firewall, make sure it is disabled first.
1. Press the Windows key, type "Windows security", and then press Enter.
3. In the next Windows Security window, click the Turn on button for the Domain
network, Private network, or Public network, depending on which firewall profile
you want to enable.
Instruction: Answer all the questions listed below, if you have some clarifications- feel free to ask
your teacher.
1. List the use of Diagnostic functions
2. What are the mechanisms to security?
Barrett, Diane. & King, Todd (2005). “Computer networking illuminated.” Jones & Bartlett
Learning.
Englander, Irv (2003). “The architecture of computer hardware and systems software: An
Information Technology Approach.” Wiley.
Sarkar, Nurul (2006). “Tools for Teaching Computer Networking and Hardware Concepts.”
Information Science Pub.