System Fundamentals Week 5 - CameronProvost/Tech-Journal GitHub Wiki

Design Overview

When it comes to learning how a computer is designed and what components it is made up of it takes a system to remember all the information. Bloom’s Taxonomy is a system that is used to learn about a new subject such as the design of computers.

Computer System Design

Computer users have different needs and requirements when it comes to the different tasks they are performing on a computer. Because of this each system is built from different specialized components to best fit the needs of the user and the tasks they wish to complete. Some of the main specialties for different computer designs are CAD, Gaming systems, audio and videos editing systems, virtualization workstations, Thin and Thick clients, Home Theatre systems, Home servers, Industrial systems, and Mobile computers.

Motherboard and Associated Component Design

The motherboard, CPU and chipset are all directly related and are required to work in conjunction with each other. This means that they all must be compatible with each other and work together to run programs. When picking these components it is important to consider RAM, form factor, size, and intended use of the system.

Storage Subsystem Design

The storage subsystem consists of magnetic or flash memory technologies that are used to store the bulk of the data required and produced from a system. These technologies can be either disk drive or SSDs and they can be both internal or external devices.

Troubleshooting Overview

All computers at some point will stop working correctly or will run into an issue that requires a technician to troubleshoot. Technicals will use a variety of resources as well as trial and error to identify the issue, determine the cause of the issues, find potential solutions, and implement the solution.

Based on the chapter, what are the three most important components to think about if you were building a computer for yourself? How about if you were building a computer for another family member?

The three most important components when building a system for myself are the processor, storage device, and graphics interface. I believe that these three are the most important for myself and anyone who uses a computer for daily tasks that do not require specific specialized components. Think back to the last time you had to troubleshoot a problem with your computer. What steps did you follow? Did you follow a different set of steps than the book recommends, and if so, do you think following the book's steps would have worked out better or worse? Whenever I run into a problem with my computer the first thing I do is look online for others who have had the same issue. Most of the time someone else has had this issue and posted their solution online. This is very useful because for any issue you may come across there is one or multiple solutions online.