Bit200-Final Exam-Set 1

Front 1

components of information systems

Back 1

-data
-people
-procedures
-hardware
-networks
-software
-databases
-information
-customers
TABLE 1

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1. What is ftp? What is it used for?

Back 2

“File transfer protocol”. Used to move files between computers that you have access too. Can use as a place to store files that you need to access at work or school. Mfile is an example

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4. What distinguishes blogging from normal HTML pages? Is a blog an HTML page? Is an HTML page a blog?

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Blogging is different in that is a user generated website where entries are made in journal style and displayed in a reverse chronological order. Normally HTML pages are just the format used to show the text in different sizes on fonts on internet website.
A blog is written in HTML but an HTML page does not have to be a blog. Example of this is the blogs that we wrote for BIT that are formatted in HTML.

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1. What does it mean to participate in a social bookmarking site?

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-Share information with other people.

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2. What are the benefits and drawbacks of social bookmarking?

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Benefit:
-easier to find information
- can see what is popular
-can see what was helpful for other people.
-quite organized
-can share websites easily with others
Drawback:

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3. Understand how to do the different kinds of queries with delicious.

Back 6

just do tags like this.. “bit200f06+technology”
-type into search boxes
-use the cloud format (the bigger, the more tags it has)
-use related tags at the sides and tops
-popular: view all: tagged my a lot of people/ fresh only: most recent tagged
-hotlist: shows pages that are most active
-recent: shows pages that are most recent

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1. When is the appropriate time to use formulas, data tables, and PivotTables?

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-data tables:
-use this instead of executing a worksheet multiple times.

-PivotTables:
-Used when your spreadsheet contains a large table of data
-Use to summarize values in one or more columns and how they change in different categories

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2. What is a one-variable data table? Two variable data table?

Back 8

Used to show how the value of a cell in a worksheet varies when another cell is changed
1. Data Table/1: can show how one or more cells change in response to a change in one other cell
2. Data Table/2: can show how one cell changes in response to a change in two other cells

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3. What is the benefit of using a data table? A PivotTable?

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Data table:
-Can be used to help you explore lots of possibilities at once
-Model can be as complex as you want
-Use in combination with conditional formatting can make results more immediately obvious to others
PivotTable:
-Can summarize numerical data at multiple levels of aggregation (totals, subtotals)
• - Use to summarize values in one or more columns and how they change in different categories
- Used when your spreadsheet contains a large table of data (ironic, isn’t it?)
- Original data must have columns containing categorical data (days, types)
- Can summarize numerical data at multiple levels of aggregation (totals, subtotals)
-

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4. Understand how to interpret the structure of data tables and PivotTables.

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-unchanging numbers on the top and side. In upper left corner is the equation to input the stuff. TABLE 2 and 3

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5. Understand, and be able to explain, the difference between absolute and relative addressing

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-relative addressing is when you’re not actually using the actual number, just a certain cell which can move around.
-absolute addressing is when you are using a specific number in a cell.

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1. What is an RSS feed?

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a structured document that contains summaries of and pointers to news and blog items (actually, anything) basically a website posts a standard html form of each
article in which an RSS reader can read and transpose to the user. The main idea is that
all companies publishing RSS feeds must publish the article in this standarized format:
like header goes here, date here, etc. family of web feed formats used to publish frequently updated digital content, such as blogs, news feeds or podcasts. Consumers of RSS content use special browsers called aggregators to watch for new content in dozens or even hundreds of web feeds. The initials "RSS" are variously used to refer to the following standards:

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2. What is an RSS reader?

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An application that allows you to easily read RSS feeds

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3. How is an RSS document structured differently than an HTML document? Why?

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RSS documents use tags as well but its tags are full descriptions (Example: <title>, <link>, etc.).

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4. What are the differences between what a search engine does and what a social bookmarking service does?

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• Search engines such as Google automatically match search terms to documents
• Social bookmarking enables sharing of interest in specific Web sites

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5. What are some benefits gained when moving from a RSS reader application based on your own computer to a Web-based RSS reader?

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Web-based RSS reading enables sharing of interest in specific news and blog sites
Allows for sharing with users all of internet
Ability to find much more information and sources instantly

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6. What is the difference between search and discovery?

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Search: Looking for information about a specific topic
Discovery: Finding something that you did not know (and maybe didn’t know that you didn’t know)
This is often done by social means but through things like popular and recent on Delicious it is becoming more automated

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7. From a description of the service, be able to determine whether the service aids in search, discovery, or both.

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Search: Yahoo, google, web based blog searches, web based rss readers, social bookmarks that allow sharing of interest in specific Web sites
Discovery: “recent” and “Popular” on delicious, hot topics and popular feeds, basically anything based on popularity and top searches

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1. Describe different measures of computing speed.

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FLOPS (Floating Point Operations Per Second)
megaFLOPS (10^6)
gigaFLOPS (10^9)
teraFLOPS (10^12)
petaFLOPS (10^15)
“flopm” m—for minute; s for second

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1. What does a processor do? What distinguishes one processor from another? How do you make a processor better?

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• Does the actual calculations (related to numbers, text, video, audio, etc.)
• Distinguish them by the amount of megahertz, which is the clock speed and the bus speed (speed at which the Front Side Bus communicates with the memory and processors)
• Make better by: Level 2 (L2) cache, Overclocking (Not with laptops), Buy one with more cores (But more cores take more energy), or increase the bus speed. Core=centralized station for doing calculations. à lots ofinstrucionrs for processor, a core has 2 processors-can work in parallel. .
• -Level 2 cache-registers-16 slots where have data currently working on right nowà get the numbers from reigsters and put calculation into another register. If don’t have the number go to L1 cache. Bigger cache-can ge more memory at one time and put it in registers.
• Overclocking-buying 2GigaHertz-replacing drum major with faster one. See if work faster- aka. Overcolckingàhave to get bigger fan. à can’t ovelcock laptpob/ c no room for bigger fan, so don’t replace gigaertaz clock determines how fast the processor is.

Hardly use level 1 cache; everytime you go get something, get 16k from either side-> see if the info you got is needed later.

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2. What distinguishes one motherboard from another?

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They contain special chips for video, audio, and processing. You can improve the motherboard by adding expansion cards to the slots they contain. This is mostly used by gamers to improve graphics.

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3. What’s the relationship between the processor and the motherboard?

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The processor connects to the motherboard in the processor slot on the motherboard. As processors change so do the connections that they make with the motherboard. Motherboards facilitate the communication between all of the devices in the computer and are why they are so important

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4. What’s a bus? Specifically, what’s the front side bus (FSB)?

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A bus is a subsystem that transfers data or power between computer components inside a computer or between computers. Bus=pathway b/t different parts (highway)-32 or 64=width of highway. 32 people across and walking across. If 64, can get more people. front-side bus—speed that processor can access memory; b/t processors, b/t processors and access memory---this is where you want the speed


The front side bus communicates with memory and the processors.

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1. What’s Moore’s Law?

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The number of transistors will double exponentially roughly ever “18-24 months”. Transistor-electronic concept of an off/on switch-controls the electrons. Gordon moore-founder of intel
Number of transistors on a chip-would double ever 2 years
Change name-change how many transistors and what they doà for FLOPS or for division, etc.

TABLE 4

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6. How can the speed of one computer be compared with the speed of another?

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In slides are there two different benchmarks for speed. The first is to do convert 950 pages of word files into a PDF. This is the “truest” form of comparison.
The second is to compare them based on random computing - Just how fast diff. computers finish the task.
tasks
TABLE 5

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7. About how much slower were the first general purpose computers than current computers? 1-millionth? 1-1000th?

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The Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer is 0.00000019 SPC2006 which is approximately 1- 5 millionth. An SPC is the standard computing speed for a computer in 2006. This is 0.00000019 as fast as the average modern computer

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8. What is a supercomputer?

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supercomputer is a computer that leads the world in terms of processing capacity, particularly speed of calculation, at the time of its introduction. The term supercomputer itself is rather fluid, and today's supercomputer tends to become tomorrow's normal computer.

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9. What is a mainframe?

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Are computers used mainly by large organizations for critical applications, typically bulk data processing. They run (or "host") multiple operating systems and thereby operate not as a single computer but as a number of virtual machines.
Laymen’s terms: They are very reliable and connect multiple computers so that data processing can be done much faster.

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10. What are three kinds of input devices?

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Keyboards, mice, and monitors

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11. What are four features that distinguish one monitor from another?

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Size, dot pitch (lower equals sharper picture), multi-head (using multiple monitors like the apples in the ugli), refresh rate (number of times per second the display is illuminated). Hertz=# of times the screen is refreshed.. So don’t’ see the flicker where the screen refreshes. You want the highest
E6600-refers to motherboard;
2.4Ghz-how fst storage, 1.0-Frontload bus.
320GB o stoargae (and bakcup-invisibl)

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12. What are different units of storage (or memory)?

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Memory is measure in 100’s of megabytes (MB) (some will reach a couple gigabyte (GB’s)). Storage is typically measured in 100’s of GB’s

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13. What’s the difference between a bit and a byte?

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In recent years, the use of a byte to mean 8 bits has become nearly ubiquitous. A bit is one digit in the binary numeral system (so either a 0 or 1)

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14. What’s the difference between volatile and non-volatile memory? What kind of memory is volatile? What kind is non-volatile?

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“Non-volatile”: when power goes out, it retains its contents
Volatile: When power goes out it loses content.

Storage is non-volatile and memory is volatile.

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15. What are the two types of file stored on a disk? What’s the difference between the two?

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Applications and snapshots of documents.
Applications are programs on your computer (windows media player, etc.) and snapshots of documents are quick temporary files saved in case of sudden memory loss

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16. About how much faster is the fastest supercomputer than current computers? 100x? 100,000x?

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Current fastest is 140,300 SPC2006. So 140,300 times faster than current computers.

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17. How are different ports (USB, FireWire, etc.) distinguished from each other? Why would you use one port instead of another?

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The speed of ports is constantly increasing. USB 2 is only 480 Mb/sec but it is supported by 127 devices. SCSI is very expensive but good for connecting multiple computers. FireWire is 400 Mb/sec and widely used for digital cameras. And SATA is newest and is very fast (2400 Mb/sec) but only supported by one device.

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18. What’s the difference between storage and memory? Which is faster? What’s the primary purpose of each?

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Storage: “Disk space”, Measured in 100s of GBs, which is non-volatile. It is used for long term storage; is used to hold applications and snapshot of documents and usually put on a disk.
Memory: “RAM”, Measured in 100s of MBs or a few GBs, which is volatile. Has short term usage; is used to hold working copy of currently needed documents and program and usually in silicon. RAM is for current work Storage-long-term storage
TABLE 6

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19. how hard disk speed is measured:

Back 38

1. Spindle speed
5400 RPM
2. Average Seek time
8.5 millisec
“How long does it take to get to the data that is needed?
3. Sustained transfer rate
48.4 MB/sec
“How fast can the data be read off the disk?”

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Grid Computing

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Using many loosely connected computers to solve a problem
Looking for aleins---- let scientist use others computers to do calculations

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1. What are the different types of software?

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1. Application software - satisfies specific user need
2. Systems software
1. Control program: the operating system (OS)
1. Makes hardware more usable
2. Provides functions needed by many applications
2. Support programs: utilities
1. Tools administrator uses to maintain computer (For example: “Norton Utilities”, “McAfee VirusScan”)

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2. What is data compression?

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1. Change data representation so that it takes fewer bits than before
2. Data compression—zip
3. Raw file-uncompressed picture—take up to 15megs. Use jpeg to store photo-only take 2 megs, 300k. Can be compressed/uncompressed. Save and look at jpeg… loses data and quality

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3. What are the two types of data compression? Which one results in a smaller compressed file? Which one results in a file that is truer to the original when it is uncompressed? What does this have to do with JPEG and PNG files?

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1. Lossy: compressing, then decompressing, data may be different after decompression
1. JPEG
2. Lossless: exact data reconstruction – ZIP
1. PNG

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4. What are the pros and cons of sharing a PDF document with someone instead of a Word document (for example)?

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1. Pros – Device independent, retains all text, graphics, etc.
2. Cons – Not easy to modify, cannot in word

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1. Why does your computer have an operating system? What functions does it handle? Why do we care about what operating system a computer has?

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1. Handle simultaneous execution, Manage resources, File management, Monitor performance, Monitor security (control programs/firewalls), & Provide tools for creating user interfaces (OS different looks, problem for cross-platform development)
2. They provide different features, programs are written to specific OS, dictates hardware usage
3. EXAMPLES: MS Windows, Vista, PalmOS, Unix Family (Mac, Linux)

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2. What are the different ways in which a computer can handle simultaneous execution?

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1. Mulit-tasking – Two or more at the same time
2. Multi-threading – Two or more within one program, at the same time
3. Multi-processing – Manage allocation of tasks among processors