Computer Fundamentals: Hardware

Course Overview
(Music) Hi everyone. I'm Dan Lachance, and welcome to my course, Computer Fundamentals: Hardware. There is so much computer hardware out there these days that sometimes it can feel overwhelming, but it doesn't have to be that way. By understanding when specific hardware components should be used, you can better address computing needs efficiently. Some of the major topics that we're going to cover include input and output peripherals, cables and connectors, internal hardware components and storage, and finally, printing and multifunction printing devices. By the end of this course, you'll have the skills necessary to identify existing PC hardware components. You'll have the knowledge required to choose hardware that best suits computing needs. Finally, you'll know which type of printing is best suited for a given situation. I hope you'll join me to learn about Computer Fundamentals: Hardware, here at Pluralsight.

PC Hardware and Use Cases
Hey everyone. Welcome to Pluralsight. I'm Dan Lachance, and I'm the voice that you're going to hear as we jump into computer fundamentals with a hardware focus. Specifically, we'll talk about PC hardware components and how they should be used. Our discussion will begin with a definition of peripherals. Peripherals, really, are external devices that we can connect to a PC for additional functionality, and that connectivity occurs through specific cables or through wireless technologies that we'll define later. So when it comes to peripherals, think things like printers, mice, keyboards, card readers, and so on. We'll also have a discussion about power supplies. Without a power supply, nothing works in the PC. But it's not quite that simple because we also need to consider the amount of internal components and their power draw to make sure we've got enough juice in our chosen power supply. We'll then talk about PC configuration scenarios. In other words, which hardware components will meet specific computing needs. Now this is going to be important, certainly, with the selection of equipment that we need in a business environment for a PC. It's also important and will help us troubleshoot if we have an understanding of the components and how they connect later on down the road. So I hope you'll join me as we talk about how PC hardware components should be used to address business needs.

Cables and Connectors
Hello, and welcome back to Pluralsight. I'm Dan Lachance, and where in the previous module the focus was on peripherals and power supplies, in this module, the focus will be on cables and connectors. We'll start by talking about cables that would be used for external peripherals, but also cables that would be used for internal components, as well as cables used for network connectivity. Now, you can't talk about cables without also having a discussion about connectors that exist at the end of those cables. There's quite a wide array of connector types, and we need to be able to identify them, not only on sight, but also determine which is the best suited connector for a given scenario. So, we'll end off this module talking about how to match cables and connectors to specific computing needs.

Internal Hardware Components
Welcome to Pluralsight. I'm Dan Lachance, and in this module, the focus will be on internal PC hardware components. We're going to go ahead and talk about motherboards. Motherboards are the main circuit boards into which everything else is connected, including CPUs, the central processing unit, or the brain, the processor of the machine. Add-on cards are available via slots on the motherboard to add enhanced functionality to the machine, such as in the case of a high-end video card. And of course, random access memory, or RAM, gives us electronic memory that's required to run operating systems, applications, and to work with large files. All of these things are important because when we are putting together a PC for a specific purpose, we have to consider each of these components. And if, for example, we're going to be doing something that requires a lot of RAM, our current motherboard might not support it. So then we might have to replace the motherboard, which, in turn, might require that we replace the CPU and an add-on card. So all of these internal hardware components, therefore, are related to one another, and it's important to have a solid understanding of them, which we will do in this module.

PC Storage
Hi. Welcome back to Pluralsight. I'm Dan Lachance. In this module, the focus will be on PC storage. We'll start by talking about optical storage where we focus on things like CDs, DVDs, and Blu-Rays. We'll then talk about hard disk drives that have moving parts. We'll talk about solid-state drives that do not have moving parts. We'll also talk about arranging multiple physical disks together for the performance or fault tolerance benefits using RAID, the Redundant Array of Independent Disks. Then we'll jump into network storage where we'll start by talking about network attached storage access, iSCSI, and storage area networks. Another aspect of network storage would be accessing storage that's hosted on public cloud provider equipment, in other words, cloud storage. So having a solid understanding of both local and network storage options available is important in order to address business needs, and also to comply with laws and regulations.

Printer and Multi-function Devices
Hello, and welcome back to Pluralsight. I'm Dan Lachance. In this module, we're going to talk about printers and multifunction devices. We want to talk about common printer types, which includes laser printers, inkjet printers, thermal printers, impact printers, and finally 3D printers. We want to make sure that we understand the printing process related to each of these common printer types, and we also want to determine when each type is best used given a specific business need. We'll then talk about multifunction device configuration where multifunction devices really combine the functionality of a printer, perhaps a fax machine, a scanner, and a photo copier, in one networked device.