Computers are important elements of the networks. We must know the elemental components.

Transistor a small electronic device containing a semiconductor and having at least three electrical contacts, used in a circuit as an amplifier, detector, or switch Integrated Circuit a complex set of electronic components and their interconnections that are etched or imprinted on a chip Resistor a device used to control current in an electric circuit by providing resistance Capacitor an electric circuit element used to store charge temporarily, consisting in general of two metallic plates separated and insulated from each other by a dielectric. Also called condenser Plug a fitting, commonly with two metal prongs for insertion in a fixed socket, used to connect an appliance to a power supply Light Emitting Diode (LED) a semiconductor diode that converts electric energy into electromagnetic radiation at a visible and near infrared frequencies when its pn junction is forward biased

Main components

Printed Circuit a circuit in which the wires or components have been replaced by a conductive pattern printed upon or bonded to the surface of an insulating board CD-ROM Drive a device that holds and reads CD-ROM discs (Compact Disc, Read-Only-Memory) CPU (Central Processing Unit) the computing part of the computer. Also called the "processor," it is made up of the control unit and ALU. Today, the CPUs of almost all computers are contained on a single chip Diskette Drive the diskette drive is where 3.5 inch diskettes are inserted letting you read or store relatively small amounts of data Hard Drive a disk drive that reads data stored on hard disks. Also called hard disk drive Motherboard the main board of a computer, usually containing the circuitry for the central processing unit, keyboard, and monitor and often having slots for accepting additional circuitry Bus a collection of wires through which data is transmitted from one part of a computer to another RAM (Random Access Memory) the most common computer memory which can be used by programs to perform necessary tasks while the computer is on; an integrated circuit memory chip allows information to be stored or accessed in any order and all storage locations are equally accessible ROM (Read-Only Memory) memory whose contents can be accessed and read but cannot be changed Desktop case (or tower case) main part of the computer, it consists of CPU, memory, buses and ports. The keyboard, monitor, or any external device don’t belong to it Expansion Bus an input/output pathway from the CPU to peripheral devices typically made up of a series of slots on the motherboard. Expansion boards (cards) plug into the bus. PCI is the common expansion bus in a PC and other hardware platforms Power Supply an electrical system that converts AC current from the wall outlet into the DC currents required by the computer circuitry

Motherboard Components, or Motherboard Plug-ins

Back panel back panel is an electrical panel consisting of plugs and wires
Network Card a network card (also called network adapter, network interface card, NIC, etc.) is a piece of computer hardware designed to allow computers to communicate over a computer network.
Display Adapter the plug-in card in a desktop computer that creates the electronic signals required by the monitor
Audio Adapter computer expansion card that can input and output sound under program control
Serial Port an interface on a computer system with which information is transferred in or out one bit at a time
Parallel Port an interface from a computer system where data are transferred in or out in parallel, that is, on more than one wire. A parallel port carries one bit on each wire thus multiplying the transfer rate obtainable over a single cable USB Port (Universal Serial Bus) a widely used hardware interface for attaching peripheral devices. Replacing the serial and parallel ports on a PC, at least four USB ports are standard on every computer. FireWire a personal computer serial bus interface standard, offering high-speed communications and isochronous real-time data services