Hardware Computres Hardware and Software

1. What is the hardware?

In  computer science and computer science , it is known as hardware (union of the words of  hard ,  rigid, and  ware , product, merchandise) to the total of tangible, material elements that form the computer system of a computer  or computer. This refers to its mechanical, electronic, electrical and peripheral components, without considering the programs and other digital elements, which form part of the software instead  .

The term hardware  was used in English from the sixteenth century , but to designate tools and tools made from hard or heavy metals , such as iron, and which were used for hardware or mechanical work.

From the appearance of the first automatic calculation systems in the 1940s and the first steps towards computerized calculation, it became necessary to distinguish between the physical aspects of the machine and those that belonged to the logical or, more recently, to the virtual , so the term hardware was rescued since 1947.

The term is applied in Spanish and other languages ​​without translation , since there is no equivalent, and has also become a word commonly used in today’s hypercomputerized world.

There are  four different generations of hardware , throughout their evolutionary history, determined by a key technological advance that made them possible:

• 1st generation  (1945-1956).  Calculation machines that operated by vacuum tubes, instead of relays.
• 2nd generation (1957 -1963).  Thanks to the discovery of  transistors , the total size of computers was greatly reduced.
• 3rd generation (1964 – today) . Integrated circuits  are discovered  , printed on silicon wafers, which provided speed and effectiveness.
• 4th generation (future).  Devices that overcome the silicon plates and venture into new computer formats. It’s about technology still in development.

See also: Output Devices .

2. Types of hardware

The hardware of the computer systems is classified according to their performance in the set , thus identifying five different categories:

• Processing  The heart proper of the system or the computer is where it resides its capacity to carry out logical operations, that is, its calculations. It is identified with the Central Processing Unit or CPU .
• Storage.  The “memory” of the system, is about units that allow to safeguard the information and recover it later, both in internal supports inside the body of the machine, or in removable and portable supports, such as diskettes.
• Input peripherals.  These are devices with a specific function: enter information into the system. They can be integrated into the machine or be removable.
• Output peripherals.  Similar to the input, but allow to extract or retrieve information from the system.
• Input and output peripherals.  Those combine the information input and output functions of the system.

3. Examples of hardware

Some simple examples of hardware are:

• The microprocessors , motherboards, integrated cards (audio, video, etc.).
• The monitors and projectors (videobeam, etc.).
• Printers, scanners and other external peripherals.
• The keyboard and the pointer ( mouse ) with which the user communicates with the machine.
• Modules of RAM memory in the CPU.
• The batteries that keep the system on, and the wiring that communicates the parts.
• Hard disks and removable memory drives ( flash ).

4. Hardware and Software

The distinction between  hardware  and  software  operates in a way similar to that between the body and the soul of the human being  in certain  religions and philosophies . The first term is understood as the physical and perishable aspects, replaceable in the case of the computer, and for the second term those intangible, virtual aspects , without which the hardware would not perform any function.

Hardware and software are aspects of the computer that operate in a joint way, since the first supports the second one and the latter allows to control the way in which it operates and the objective of the first.

It can help you: System Software .