tailieunhanh - Module Linux essentials - Module 10: Understanding computer hardware

Module Linux essentials - Module 10 help students understand computer hardware. This module include content: Viewing CPU information, system Information, peripheral devices, boot records, partition records. | Module 10 Understanding Computer Hardware Exam Objective Understanding Computer Hardware Objective Summary Researching computer hardware Viewing CPU Information Processors Central Processing Unit (also know as the CPU or processor) performs the decision and calculations for the Operating System. Connected to other hardware via the motherboard. Multiprocessor = system with more than one CPU. Multi-core = more than one processor on a single chip. Processors (continued) Two processor types: x86 (32 bit) x86_64 (64 bit) x86 invented in 1978, x86_64 invented in 2000. X86 is limited to 4GB RAM. x86_64 has limited software support. Viewing CPU Information View CPU information with one of the following commands: arch lspcu cat /proc/cpuinfo The /proc/cpuinfo file contains flags which describes key CPU features. System Information Motherboards and Buses Hardware communicates via the motherboard or buses. Basic Input and Output System (BIOS) is what the hardware uses to communicate. System Management BIOS (SMBIOS) is the standard that defines the data structures of the communications. Motherboards and Buses (cont) The dmidecode command displays SMBIOS information: RAM Random Access Memory (RAM) is where program and system data is stored. Virtual memory (swap space) is hard drive space that is used when available RAM is low. The free command can display memory utilization: Peripheral Devices Peripheral Devices Devices not directly attached to motherboard are called peripheral devices. Two common types: Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) Universal Serial Bus (USB) PCI Devices View devices with lspci command: USB Devices Are considered hot-plug because they can be added to the system while it is running. View devices with lsusb command: Use –v option for more verbose information. HAL Hardware Abstraction Layer keeps track of all system hardware. The hald daemon (process) provides this information to other programs. View HAL data with the lshal command: Disk Devices Also called hard drives. Can be connected directly to motherboard, to PCI or USB. Are divided into partitions. Two partitioning types: Master Boot Record (MBR) GUID Partitioning Table (GPT) Boot Records MBR Older technology. Still commonly used. Tools to view and modify MBR partitions: fdisk cfdisk sfdisk GPT Newer technology. Allows for larger partitions than MBR. Tools to view and modify MBR partitions: gdisk cgdisk sgdisk Device Names IDE drives are assigned filenames that start with hd and are stored in the /dev directory. USB, SATA and SCSI drives are assigned names that start with sd. First drive is assigned the letter a, second drive is assigned the letter b, etc. Examples: First IDE drive: /dev/hda First SATA drive: /dev/sda Second IDE drive: /dev/hdb Partition Records Partition Names Partitions are assigned numeric values: 1, 2, 3, etc. Examples: First partition of first IDE drive: /dev/hda1 Second partition of second SATA drive: /dev/sdb2 View partition and disk devices on system: View Partition Information The –l option to the fdisk command can be used to view partition information: Video Display Devices No video standards, requiring specific drivers for specific video cards. Two types of connections: Video Graphics Array (VGA) Digital Visual Interface (DVI) Monitor and video card must both support selected resolution. Typically server determines proper resolution. Configuration file: /etc/X11/