Thursday, November 22, 2007

The Windows 2000


Windows 2000 (also referred to as Win2K) is a preemptive, interruptible, graphical and business-oriented operating system designed to work with either uniprocessor or symmetric multi-processor computers. It is part of the Microsoft Windows NT line of operating systems and was released on February 17, 2000. It was succeeded by Windows XP in October 2001 and Windows Server 2003 in April 2003. Windows 2000 is classified as a hybrid kernel operating system.
Windows 2000 was made available in four editions: Professional, Server, Advanced Server, and Datacenter Server. Additionally, Microsoft offered Windows 2000 Advanced Server Limited Edition and Windows 2000 Datacenter Server Limited Edition, which were released in 2001 and run on
64-bit Intel Itanium microprocessors.[4] Whilst all editions of Windows 2000 are targeted to different markets, they each share a core set of common functionality, including many system utilities such as the Microsoft Management Console and standard system administration applications. Support for people with disabilities was improved over Windows NT 4.0 with a number of new assistive technologies, and Microsoft included increased support for different languages and locale information. All versions of the operating system support the Windows NT filesystem, NTFS 3.0,[5] the Encrypting File System, as well as basic and dynamic disk storage. The Windows 2000 Server family has additional functionality, including the ability to provide Active Directory services (a hierarchical framework of resources), Distributed File System (a file system that supports sharing of files) and fault-redundant storage volumes. Windows 2000 can be installed and deployed to corporate desktops through either an attended or unattended installation. Unattended installations rely on the use of answer files to fill in installation information, and can be performed through a bootable CD using Microsoft Systems Management Server, by the System Preparation Tool. Windows 2000 is the last NT-kernel based version of Microsoft Windows that does not include Windows Product Activation.
At the time of its release, Microsoft marketed Windows 2000 as the most secure Windows version they had ever shipped,
[6] however it became the target of a number of high-profile virus attacks such as Code Red and Nimda. More than seven years after its release, it continues to receive patches for security vulnerabilities on a near-monthly basis.

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

The Memory


Computer data storage, computer memory, and often casually storage or memory refer to computer components, devices and recording media that retain digital data used for computing for some interval of time. Computer data storage provides one of the core functions of the modern computer, that of information retention. It is one of the fundamental components of all modern computers, and coupled with a central processing unit (CPU, a processor), implements the basic computer model used since the 1940s.
In contemporary usage, memory usually refers to a form of
semiconductor storage known as random access memory (RAM) and sometimes other forms of fast but temporary storage. Similarly, storage today more commonly refers to mass storage - optical discs, forms of magnetic storage like hard disks, and other types slower than RAM, but of a more permanent nature. Historically, memory and storage were respectively called primary storage and secondary storage.
The contemporary distinctions are helpful, because they are also fundamental to the architecture of computers in general. As well, they reflect an important and significant technical difference between memory and mass storage devices, which has been blurred by the historical usage of the term storage. Nevertheless, this article uses the traditional nomenclature.

The Latest PCI Slots


The Peripheral Component Interconnect, or PCI Standard (in practice almost always shortened to PCI), specifies a computer bus for attaching peripheral devices to a computer motherboard. These devices can take any one of the following forms:
An
integrated circuit fitted onto the motherboard itself, called a planar device in the PCI specification.
An
expansion card that fits into a socket.
The PCI bus is common in modern
PCs, where it has displaced ISA and VESA Local Bus as the standard expansion bus, but it also appears in many other computer types. The bus will eventually be succeeded by PCI Express from 2004 and onwards.
The PCI specification covers the physical size of the bus (including wire spacing), electrical characteristics, bus timing, and protocols. The specification can be purchased from the
PCI Special Interest Group (PCI-SIG).

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

The Latest Processor

A Central Processing Unit (CPU), or sometimes just processor, is a description of a certain class of logic machines that can execute computer programs. This broad definition can easily be applied to many early computers that existed long before the term "CPU" ever came into widespread usage. However, the term itself and its initialism have been in use in the computer industry at least since the early 1960s (Weik 1961). The form, design and implementation of CPUs have changed dramatically since the earliest examples, but their fundamental operation has remained much the same.
Early CPUs were custom-designed as a part of a larger, usually one-of-a-kind, computer. However, this costly method of designing custom CPUs for a particular application has largely given way to the development of mass-produced processors that are suited for one or many purposes. This standardization trend generally began in the era of discrete transistor mainframes and minicomputers and has rapidly accelerated with the popularization of the integrated circuit (IC). The IC has allowed increasingly complex CPUs to be designed and manufactured in very small spaces (on the order of millimeters). Both the miniaturization and standardization of CPUs have increased the presence of these digital devices in modern life far beyond the limited application of dedicated computing machines. Modern microprocessors appear in everything from automobiles to cell phones to children's toys.

The Latest Motherboard


A motherboard is the central or primary circuit board making up a complex electronic system, such as a modern computer. It is also known as a mainboard, baseboard, system board, or, on Apple computers, a logic board, and is sometimes abbreviated as mobo.[1]
Most after-market motherboards produced today are designed for so-called IBM-compatible computers, which hold over 96% of the personal computer market today.[2] Motherboards for IBM-compatible computers are specifically covered in the PC motherboard article.
The basic purpose of the motherboard, like a
backplane, is to provide the electrical and logical connections by which the other components of the system communicate.
A typical
desktop computer is built with the microprocessor, main memory, and other essential components on the motherboard. Other components such as external storage, controllers for video display and sound, and peripheral devices are typically attached to the motherboard via edge connectors and cables, although in modern computers it is increasingly common to integrate these "peripherals" into the motherboard