Topic 2a
Computer Architecture
The CPU and Mass Storage

Learning Objectives

By the end of this topic students should be able to:

• Define the purpose of the [ ALU | Control Unit | registers | program counter | instruction register] and the role it plays in the CPU.
• Define the purpose of the [bus | main memory | secondary memory].
• Explain the differences between mass storage, main memory, and general-purpose registers.
• Identify and/or explain the following vocabulary related to Mass Storage
  • Magnetic Storage
    • magnetic disks (aka HDD)
    • magnetic tape
    • floppy disk drive
    • track
    • cylinder
    • zoned-bit recording
    • seek time
    • rotational delay
    • access time
    • transfer rate
    • bandwith
    • latency
  • Optical Storage
    • Compact Disk
    • DVD
    • Blue-ray
  • Flash Storage
    • Flash drives
    • Solid State Drives (SSD)
    • SD cards
• Explain why we still have three broad classes of secondary/mass storage
• Consider which media type is more appropriate for a particular scenario

Learning Materials

• Readings
• Section 2.1, pp 96-101 in your book
• Sections 1.2-1.3 (pp 34-43) [Yes, this is repetition and regression back to chapter 1. But we feel this material fits better here than it did with the main outcomes from chapter 1.]
• Videos
  • Crash Course Computing #5: How Computers Calculate - the ALU
  • Crash Course Computing #6: Registers and RAM
  • Crash Course Computing #7: The Central Processing Unit (CPU)
  • Extra https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wI0upu9eVcw (How hard drives work.)
• Activity
  • Main Memory and Mass Storage
  • Written answers to this activity are here
  • A detailed video walkthrough of this activity is linked below under Additional Guidance

 

Checking for Understanding

Answer the following questions from your textbook. The answers to all Q&E questions are in the back of your book in Appendix F.

• p 101, #1
• p 101, #2
• p 101, #3
• [p 42, #1 and 2 were basically answered in the Activity]
• p 42, #3
• p 43, #4
• p 43, #5
• p 43, #6

Additional Guidance

If you are still struggling with the material in this topic, the following video may help.

• The answers to the activity are discussed in this video
• I don't know that the CFU questions here need video explanations like they did in the previous chapter. If you want to talk about any of these, please reach out to me!

Further Information

• NA