Cambridge Technicals Level 3 - IT

Unit 1 – Fundamentals of IT

Fundamentals of IT unit will give you understanding of computer hardware, networks, software, the ethical use of computers and how business uses IT. It is a mandatory unit which is externally assessed by the exam board. The research tasks assigned to you should take about 4 hours to complete. It is important that you provide detailed explanation and include a bibliography section on the document.

LO1 – Understand Computer Hardware

1.1– Computer Hardware:

Provide research information for a range of computer hardware, their benefits, limitations and uses. Computer hardware must cover input devices, output devices and communication devices.

  • Below are examples of benefits, limitations and uses:
  • benefits (e.g. integrated devices make portable devices simpler to use)
  • limitations (e.g. voice recognition performs poorly in noisy environments)
  • uses (e.g. membrane keyboard could be used in harsh physical environments)

Example of Input Devices

Input Devices
Name of input Device / Image of Device / Benefits / Limitations / Uses
Membrane Keyboard / / Membrane keyboard could be used in harsh physical environments
Graphics Tablet
Mice

1.2– Computer Components:

Research and provide information for component parts of a computer system and their characteristics. The information you provide should include purpose of each component.

Computer components research must cover the following:

• Processors

• Motherboards

• Storage (hard drive, solid state, flash, internal, removable, SAS, SCSI, portable, Cloud)

• Ports (USB, Firewire, SATA, Network, Fibre Channel)

• Memory (RAM, ROM, cache)

• Expansion cards (sound, network, graphics, storage controller, fibre channel)

• Power supplies

Example of Computer Components:

Computer Components
Name of Component / Image / Purpose / Characteristics
Motherboards / / It is also referred to as the mainboard. Motherboard connects CPU to the memory and other hardware. The CPU computes data and uses the motherboard to send and receive signals to other components like the hard drives (storage). / There are a range of characteristics which define the motherboard. This is called the form factor which includes chipset, etcetc

1.3– Types of Computer Systems:

Below is a list of the types of computer systems which you should cover in your research. For each computer system, explain what it is, show an example, and explain uses, benefits and limitations.

• Desktop/server

• Tablet/hybrid

• Smartphone

• Embedded system/Internet of Things (e.g. cars, home appliances, etc.)

• Mainframe

• Quantum

Below are examples of benefits, limitations and uses which should be explained for each type of computer system:

  • Uses (e.g. tablet device can be used when travelling due to physical properties)
  • Benefits (e.g. desktop computer can have a large screen which can improve productivity)
  • Limitations (e.g. mainframes can be expensive topurchase and maintain)

Bibliography (references of websites, books and any other sources used)

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