Transcript Linux+ Guide to Linux Certification Chapter Two Preparing for Linux

Linux+ Guide to Linux Certification
Chapter Two
Preparing for Linux
Installation
Objectives
• Describe common types of central processing units
• Describe common types of physical memory
• Describe common types of disk drives and other storage
devices
• Describe mainboards and peripheral devices
• Describe video adapter cards and monitors
• Describe keyboards and mice
• Obtain hardware information necessary to install Linux
• Obtain software information necessary to install Linux
Understanding Hardware:
Central Processing Units (CPUs)
• Central processing unit (CPU)
– Core component of any computer
– Also known as microprocessor or processor
– Consists of two main components:
• Arithmetic logic unit
• Control unit
Understanding Hardware:
Central Processing Units (CPUs)
• Processors can have their integral electronics
arranged in different ways
– Referred to as the processor’s architecture
• The two main categories of processor
architectures:
– Complex Instruction Set Computer (CISC)
processors
– Reduced Instruction Set Computer (RISC)
processors
Understanding Hardware:
Central Processing Units (CPUs)
• Clock speed
– Speed at which a processor can execute
commands related to an internal time cycle
– Measured in Megahertz (MHz)
– A processor may require one cycle to complete a
command or may be superscalar
• In either case, the faster the clock speed of the
processor, the greater the number of commands it can
execute in a given span of time
Understanding Hardware:
Central Processing Units (CPUs)
• The amount of information a processor can work
with at any given time, measured in binary digits
(bits), is another major factor in determining the
speed at which a processor can work
– The more information that can be moved or worked on at
once, the faster the data can be manipulated
• In addition to the number of bits a processor can
handle at one time, a computer’s cache size and
location also affect a processor’s ability to calculate
larger volumes of data
Understanding Hardware:
Central Processing Units (CPUs)
• Level 1 (L1) cache
– Cache stored in the processor itself
• Level 2 (L2) cache
– Information stored for retrieval in a separate
computer chip that is connected to the processor
via a high speed link
Understanding Hardware:
Central Processing Units (CPUs)
• Symmetric Multi-Processing (SMP)
– Refers to a system containing more than one
processor in which each processor shares tasks
and memory space
• ASymmetric Multi-Processing (ASMP)
– System containing more than one processor
where each processor is given a certain role or set
of tasks to complete independent of the other
processors
Understanding Hardware:
Physical Memory
• Physical memory
– Storage area for information that is directly wired
through circuit boards to the processor
– Divided into two main categories:
• Random Access Memory (RAM)
– Also referred to as volatile memory
• Read Only Memory (ROM)
Understanding Hardware:
Physical Memory – RAM
• RAM is classified into two major categories:
– Dynamic RAM (DRAM)
• There are two main types of DRAM sticks:
– Single In-line Memory Modules (SIMM)
– Dual In-line Memory Modules (DIMM)
– Static RAM (SRAM)
Understanding Hardware:
Physical Memory – RAM
• As technology changes, so does the nature of
DRAM and the speed at which it works
• Two recent DIMM technologies include:
– Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory
(SDRAM)
– Rambus Dynamic Random Access Memory
(RDRAM)
Understanding Hardware:
Physical Memory – ROM
• ROM is physical memory that can be read but
not written to
• ROM is often used to store the programs used
to initialize hardware components when
starting a computer
– This is known BIOS (Basic Input/Output System)
ROM
Understanding Hardware:
Physical Memory – ROM
• ROM variants include:
– Programmable Read Only Memory (PROM)
– Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory
(EPROM)
• An example of EPROM Complimentary Metal-
Oxide Semiconductor
– Electronically Erasable Programmable Read Only
Memory (EEPROM)
Understanding Hardware:
Disk Drives
• A disk drive is a device that can contain:
– Hard disk
• Stored in disk drives (HDDs)
–
–
–
–
Floppy disk
CD-ROM
CD-RW disk
Zip disk
Understanding Hardware:
Disk Drives – HDDs
• HDDs are not directly wired to the processor, but
pass through a hard disk controller card
controlling flow of information to and from the
HDD
• These controller cards come in two general
types:
– Integrated Drive Electronics (IDE)
• Also known as Advanced Technology Attachment
(ATA) controllers
– Small Computer System Interface (SCSI)
Understanding Hardware:
Disk Drives – HDDs
Table 2-1: IDE HDD configurations
Understanding Hardware:
Disk Drives – HDDs
• Partitions
– Used to divide up a hard disk into smaller areas
for ease of use
• Filesystems
– Way in which an HDD partition is formatted to
allow extra data to reside on the physical media
Understanding Hardware:
Disk Drives – HDDs
• Primary partitions
– Major unique and separate divisions into which
an HDD can be divided
• Extended partitions
– Partition on an HDD that can be further
subdivided into components called logical
drives
• Master Boot Record (MBR)
– Area of a hard disk outside of a partition
Understanding Hardware:
Disk Drives – HDDs
Table 2-2: Example partitioning scheme for a primary master IDE HDD
Understanding Hardware: Disk Drives
– Other Information Storage Devices
• Removable media
– Information storage media that can be removed
from a computer allowing transfer of data
between machines
• Zip disks
– Removable information storage units similar to a
floppy disk that can store much more information
than floppy disks and are used in zip drives
Understanding Hardware: Mainboards
and Peripheral Components
• Bus
– Term that represents the pathway information
takes from one hardware device to another via a
mainboard
• Mainboard
– Circuit board that connects all other hardware
components together via slots or ports on the
circuit board
– Also called a motherboard
Understanding Hardware: Mainboards
and Peripheral Components
• Peripheral components
– Component that attaches to the mainboard of a
computer
– Includes:
• Video cards
• Sound cards
• Network interface cards (NICs)
Understanding Hardware: Mainboards
and Peripheral Components
• Three most common slots for peripheral
devices include:
– ISA
– PCI
– AGP
Understanding Hardware: Mainboards
and Peripheral Components
• Industry Standard Architecture (ISA)
– Only allows peripheral components an interconnect that
transfers information at a speed of 8MHz
• Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI)
– Can transfer information at a speed of 33MHz and can use
Direct Memory Access (DMA)
• Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP)
– Designed for video card peripherals and allows a transfer
speed of over 66MHz
Understanding Hardware: Mainboards
and Peripheral Components
Figure 2-1:
Mainboard
components
Understanding Hardware: Mainboards
and Peripheral Components
• Other peripherals may not have slots on the
mainboard, including:
–
–
–
–
–
–
PS/2
COM (Serial)
LPT
USB
IEEE1394 (Firewire)
PCMCIA
Understanding Hardware: Mainboards
and Peripheral Components
• PS/2 ports
– Typically connect keyboards and mice to computers
• COM ports
– Can be used to connect a variety of different peripherals to
the mainboard
– Also called a serial port
• LPT port
– In the past, commonly used by printers to connect to the
mainboard
– Also called a parallel port
Understanding Hardware: Mainboards
and Peripheral Components
• Universal Serial Bus (USB) port
– Used for many peripheral components such as mice,
printers, and scanners
– Almost all USB devices can be attached to the computer
for the OS to detect and use while the computer is running
• Such a device is called a hot-swappable device
• Firewire (IEEE1394)
– Hot-swappable variant of USB developed by Apple
Computer, Inc.
– Commonly used to connect SCSI hard disks, scanners,
digital cameras, and CD-RW drives to the computer
Understanding Hardware: Mainboards
and Peripheral Components
• Personal Computer Memory Card
International Association (PCMCIA) ports
– Allow a small card to be inserted into the
computer with the electronics necessary to
provide a certain function
• Advanced Power Management (APM)
– BIOS feature that shuts off power to peripheral
devices not in use to save electricity
Understanding Hardware: Mainboards
and Peripheral Components
• Interrupt Request Line (IRQ)
– Specifies a unique channel from a device to the CPU
• Input/Output (IO) address
– Small working area of RAM where the CPU can pass
information to and receive information from a device
• Plug-and-Play (PnP)
– OS and peripheral devices that can automatically
assign the correct IRQ, I/O address, and DMA
settings without any user intervention
Understanding Hardware: Video
Adapter Cards and Monitors
• Video adapter cards
– Commonly referred to as video cards
– Provide a graphical display for the user when connected to
a monitor device
• Resolution
– Total number of pixels that can be displayed on a
computer video screen horizontally and vertically
• Color depth
– Total set of colors that can be displayed on a computer
video screen
Understanding Hardware: Video
Adapter Cards and Monitors
Table 2-3: Memory requirements for screen resolution and color depths
Understanding Hardware: Video
Adapter Cards and Monitors
• Refresh rate
– Rate at which information displayed on a video
screen is refreshed
– Measured in Hertz (Hz)
– There are two types of refresh rates:
• HSync (horizontal refresh)
• VSync (vertical refresh)
Understanding Hardware:
Keyboards and Mice
• Keyboards connect to the motherboard in a
variety of ways, including:
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–
–
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A large circular AT 5-pin connector
A small circular PS/2 6-pin connector
A USB connection
A wireless or radio connection
Understanding Hardware:
Keyboards and Mice
• Mice connect to the motherboard in a variety
of ways, including:
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–
–
A serial port
A small circular PS/2 6-pin connector
A USB connection
A wireless or radio connection
Gathering Pre-Installation Information
• Each hardware component should be checked against a Hardware
Compatibility List (HCL)
Table 2-4: Red Hat 7.2 hardware requirements
Gathering Pre-Installation Information
Table 2-5: Sample pre-installation checklist
Gathering Pre-Installation Information
Table 2-5 (continued): Sample pre-installation checklist
Gathering Hardware Information
Figure 2-2:
The
Windows
System
Information
tool
Gathering Hardware Information
Figure 2-3:
The
Windows
Device
Manager
Gathering Hardware Information
Figure 2-4: The Windows Display applet
Gathering Hardware Information
Figure 2-5: System Power-On Self Test (POST)
Gathering Hardware Information
Figure 2-6: BIOS Setup Utility
Gathering Software Information
• Identifying system network configuration
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–
–
–
–
Hostname
IP address
Netmask
Gateway
DNS servers
• These servers resolve Fully Qualified Domain
Names (FQDNs)
Gathering Software Information
• Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol
(DHCP) server
– Server on the network that hands out Internet
Protocol (IP) configuration to computers that
request it
– If you select the option to use DHCP during
installation, the Linux computer will attempt to
get these setting from a DHCP server on the
network
Software Package Selection
Table 2-6: Common Linux packages
Software Package Selection
Table 2-6 (continued): Common Linux packages
Software Package Selection
Table 2-6 (continued): Common Linux packages
Chapter Summary
• Understand the hard components of a
computer before Linux installation
• CPUs process most instruction in a computer
and come in two different architectures:
– RISC
– CISC
• Computer memory may volatile (RAM) or
non-volatile (ROM)
Chapter Summary
• Most information is stored on hard disk, floppy
disks, and CD-ROM disks in a non-volatile manner
• Peripheral components can attach to the mainboard
via an expansion slot or port
• Common expansion slots include ISA, PCI, and
AGP
• Common ports include PS/2, serial, parallel, USB,
Firewire, and PCMCIA
Chapter Summary
• All peripheral components must have a
unique IRQ and I/O address to communicate
with the processor
• Hardware information can be gathered from
computer manuals, the system BIOS, or other
operating systems
• Most software information can be specified at
the time of installation