Explain the concept of Hardware - Write in detail Input, Output and storage devices.
Answers
Answer:
Input devices
Input devices take data from the 'outside world' (i.e. outside of the computer) and send it to the Central Processing Unit for processing. Data can be collected and entered into a computer in a range of ways. These include, for example, a keyboard, a mouse, a graphics tablet, a touch screen, a bar code reader, a magnetic stripe reader and so on. So data from the world outside of the computer is entered into the computer system using ‘input devices’.
Output devices
Every computer system will need to have a way of displaying information or printing information out so that it is useful to humans. There needs to be, therefore, some ‘output devices’. A very useful output device is a VDU (or Visual Display Unit). Another handy one that allows you to produce ‘hardcopy’ (i.e. a printout on paper) is a printer. It is possible that you also need an audio output. Speakers or headphones would be useful in these circumstances!
Storage devices
Of course, the computer might not want to display or print out the results of some processing immediately. It might simply want to store the results for another time. It therefore needs some storage devices. Storage devices will store data, even when the power to the computer is switched off. When the power is switched on again, the data can be retrieved. For this reason, storage devices are known as ‘non-volatile’ devices. Examples include USB pen drives, hard disks, CDs, CD R/Ws, DVDs, SD and micro SD cards, Blu-ray disks and magnetic tape. The hard drive is a very important storage device in your computer that deserves a special mention at this point in time. Not only does it hold all of your files, even when the power is switched off, it also holds your operating system and all of the programs you want to use, too.
Another increasingly important 'storage device' is cloud storage. This is where you store data on someone else's computer system by uploading files to it across the Internet. This means that you don't have to use your own storage space and your files in theory should be backed up by the cloud company and safe from viruses, although some people are concerned about file security; they have lost control over what happens to their data once it has been uploaded. As long as you have an Internet connection, you can get your files back at any time from any computer. There are many free services available you can set up and use, including Dropbox, Apple iCloud, SkyDrive and Google Drive.