Basic Principles of Computer Networks and TCP/IP Protocols - Report Example

COMPUTER SCIENCE SECTION A How to represent data A digital computer is created to process data. The circuits conduct mathematical operations that include division, multiplication, subtraction and addition. The numbers that are used in a digital computer are expressed in bits of binary digits and these include zero and one, zero, one, ten eleven, one hundred and so on. The binary digits can be defined in the circuitry of the computer by a current presence or absence of a voltage. A sequence of eight successive digits is referred to as byte, which can authorize 256 combinations (Knuth, 2003, p.67). Every bite can indicate 256 alphanumeric oddities referred to as SBCS. Processing the data The digital computer operations are done by logic circuits that are digital circuits. The outputs of such circuits can be regulated by the input conditions. The many processing data within the interior of the computer ought to work in a synchronized way. This is often achieved by regulating them with a steady oscillator that always acts as the oscillator. Data storage and retrieval The CPU is the main storage unit of the computer and sometimes can be referred to as the computer’s memory. Initially, it consisted of vacuum tubes, but later consisted of ferromagnetic cores with doughnut shapes. Data and programs are not always used in the main storage and can always be stored in secondary or auxiliary storage. While punched paper cards have this function, the main materials that are currently in use include flash disks, magnetic tape and flash memories. When compared to the RAM, these are quite cheap. Today, magnetic tape is used mainly for the storage of voluminous data or main backups. In optical and magnetic systems, the norm is similar. The disk drive also has a motor that can spin the optical head. The drives are designed in a number of forms (Knuth, 2003, p.69). The flash disks have nonvolatile memory, which can be reprogrammed or erased. Components of a computer and their functions A computer has eight major components and these include graphic processing unit (GPU), the random access memory (RAM), the central processing unit (CPU), the motherboard, hard drives, power supply, The motherboard: This is one of the main parts of a computer. It is always installed in the system unit and has circuitry that is connected to the computer components functions. The central processing Unit (CPU): The circuitry and the motherboard must be powered. The CPU acts as the thinking process or the computer brains just like humans have their brains to process and relay information. The processors usually have a cooling unit that helps in reducing the heat within the computer. The computer usually gives its user all the necessary instructions during operation. The common processors have quad-cores (Knuth, 2003, p.76). The modern computers have at least two CPUs, which help in the power of processing and to optimize the potential. The power supply: Just like humans need the energy to operate, the computers also need the power to operate. The energy that the computer uses is in form of electric energy. The computer uses the power supply to bring the electricity. Hard drives: The hard drive is used in saving the work done in a computer. The hard drive is a permanent memory and this means that this information will not be deleted when the power supply is shut down. Hard drives are used to store the computer’s pictures, documents, movies, videos, and documents. Random Access Memory (RAM): There is always a big problem in differentiating random access memory and the hard drive memory. RAM is important in the computer because it can handle data within the main memory. The quantity of main memory is significant because it helps in determining the number of programs that the computer can handle. GPU: The graphics processing unit or sometimes called the graphics card is important in the applications that are three dimensions. The GPU is important in developing the computer graphics or pictures. This is the same as how the human eye functions and how it relates the images that it captures to the brain. The optical drives: These are the same as the DVD or CD drive. The optical drive is vital in writing or reading data from discs that can be carried or removed. The modern technologies for producing disks are the blue ray. The Linux operating system An operating system enables the user or gives the user instructions from an application to the processor of the computer. Linus is an operating system is software that enables the user and the applications to have access to the computer devices and perform whichever function that they desire. The Linux operating systems works in a similar way as the OS X and Windows (Knuth, 2003, p.85). The components of Linux include kernel, system library and system utility. Kernel: This is the main part of the Linux. It does most of the activities of the operating system. It is made of modules and interacts with the hardware. It offers the necessary abstraction in hiding the details of the hardware or applications System Library: These are programs or special functions that implement most of the functionalities. System Utility: The system utility programs perform specialized programs. Basic features of Linux include: Portable: This means that the software can function on various hardware in a similar way. Open source: Anyone can access the Linux code for developing a project. Multi-user: Many users can access the resources of the system such as RAM Security: It offers security by authenticating feature such as passwords. Shell: It offers special interpreter that can be used in performing commands of the OS. Multiprogramming: Many applications can run in Linux simultaneously. Hierarchical File System: It offers a standard file structure for arranging the files. Basic principles of computer networks and TCP/IP protocols TCP/IP PROTOCOL Computer communication works through the protocol suits. The most common protocol suite is the TCP/IP. A protocol is made of layered architecture whereby every layer has some functionality that can be done by a protocol. Every layer has at least an option of a protocol. TCP/IP usually has four layers and these layers include: Data link layer Network layer Transport layer Application layer Application layer: This layer has processes or applications that utilize layer protocols in delivering data to computers. Every layer has some protocol options that perform the required task to the layer (Knuth, 2003, p.89). At every layer, there are protocols, which include http, snmp, smtp and ftp. Transport layer: This layer offers the flow of data from one host to another. It gets data from the application layer. Network Layer: This is sometimes referred to as the internet layer. The layer serves a purpose of organizing the flow of data. The main protocol that is utilized is the IP. The data link layer: This may also be referred to as the interface layer. The layer is made of network interface and OS drivers (Knuth, 2003, p.98). These are responsible for communication and transfer of data form one network to another. Example of TCP/IP Basic principles of programming The four major principles of programming include encapsulation, abstraction, inheritance and polymorphism Encapsulation: This is the hiding of data implementation by confining access to mutators and accessors. An accessor is a way of asking an object regarding itself. They are often in the form of properties (Knuth, 2003, p.101). They are not always restricted to properties. Mutators are public methods that are used to modify and object’s state, while implementation is hidden. Abstraction: Encapsulation an abstraction closely relate to each other. Abstraction represents a model. It is used in management of complexity. Inheritance: Objects can always relate to one another with either a “is” or “uses” relationship. Polymorphism: This literally means many forms as the name suggests. It establishes itself by having many methods that have a similar name but different functionality. SECTION B Programming using flow charts: A flow chart is a step by step graphical method of designing programs. A flow chart that has been designed well will be easy to read and interpret. A flow chart that can be read easily will only use two basic symbols, two iteration constructs and two decision constructs. The main symbols used include the decision symbol, and the sequence symbol. Terminals are referred to as the START and STOP (Knuth, 2003, p.121). There are some vital rules that apply to the symbols and also to algorithms. While a loop is the reverse of a repeat loop, the decision is made first. The loop is written to repeat. A repeat loop is good for a program that checks external events. The algorithm above summarizes the numbers from one to twenty and then shows the sum. It applies a repeat loop and has a null shell in each loop repeated (Knuth, 2003, p.152). Some of the flow chart rules include: Each flow chart has a symbol of STOP or START. The flow of the series moves from the top to the bottom This varies depending on the loops required to flow to the point of entry The arrows point the flow direction There is only a single flow chart for every page References Knuth, D. E. (2003). The art of computer programming. Reading, Mass, Addison-Wesley Pub. Co. Read More