Study Lab for Chapter 3

Use the "Key Terms and Definitions" section of the lab to review terms used in this chapter. Try the "Practice Test" to check your comprehension of the chapter. Tackle the "Lab Exercises" to apply your knowledge.

Key Terms and Definitions

ATA (AT Attachment)

A series of standards for IDE (Integrated Drive Electronics) drives and devices.

binary

Numbering system used to store computer data; 0 and 1 are the only digits.

bit

1/8 of a byte; 8 bits equals 1 byte; many devices send/receive data in bits.

byte

One character; the basic building block of data storage; 8 bits equals 1 byte.

decimal

Base-10 numbering system (09) used for ordinary calculations.

file format

Structure of a data file.

FireWire

Another name (originally coined by Apple) for IEEE-1394 ports and devices.

gigabit

One billion (1,000,000,000) bits or 10 ⁹ bits (Gb).

gibibit

1,073,741,824 bits or 2 ³⁰ bits (Gib). Also called binary gigabit.

gibibyte

1,073,741,824 bytes or 2 ³⁰ bytes (GiB). Also called binary gigabyte.

gigabyte

One billion (1,000,000,000) bytes or 10 ⁹ bytes (GB).

hexadecimal

Base-16 counting system (09, AF) used in computers for memory addresses and I/O port addresses.

IDE (Integrated Drive Electronics)

A popular parallel-signaling interface for hard drives, CD-ROMs and other optical drives, and other removable-media drives.

IEEE-1394

A series of standards for the high-speed serial interface also known as FireWire or i.Link. IEEE-1394a is the most common variety, also known as FireWire 400.

kilobit

1,000 bits or 10 ³ bits (Kb).

kibibit

1,024 bits or 2 ¹⁰ bits (Kib). Also called binary kilobit.

kilobyte

1,000 bits or 10 ³ bytes (KB).

kibibyte

1,024 bits or 2 ¹⁰ bytes (KiB). Also called binary kilobyte.

LPT (LinePrinTer)

A parallel port.

mebibit

1,048,576 bits or 220 bits (Mib). Also called binary megabit.

mebibyte

1,048,576 bytes or 220 bytes (MiB). Also called binary megabyte.

megabit

One million (1,000,000) bits or 10 ⁶ bits (Mb).

megabyte

One million (1,000,000) bytes or 10 ⁶ bytes (MB).

parallel

Data-transfer method used to send 8 bits or multiples of 8 in a single operation; used by parallel port, IDE, floppy, SCSI, and memory devices.

RS-232

Standard serial port type for PCs.

SCSI (small computer system interface)

A flexible interface that uses parallel signaling. It can be used for hard and optical drives, scanners , and other devices. Narrow SCSI interfaces enable daisy-chaining of seven devices to a single port. Wide SCSI enables daisy-chaining of up to 15 devices to a single port.

serial

Data-transmission technique that sends a single bit at a time at various rates; used by RS-232, USB, Serial ATA, and IEEE-1394 interfaces.

Serial ATA

Also known as SATA, this high-speed serial-signaling version of the ATA interface uses thin data and power cables to transmit data serially at rates of 150MBps or higher. SATA uses the same commands as ATA.

USB (Universal Serial Bus)

High-speed serial-signaling replacement for older I/O ports such as serial, parallel, and PS/2 mouse/keyboard. USB 1.1 has a peak speed of 12Mbps. USB 2.0 (also called Hi-Speed USB) has a peak speed of 480Mbps; USB 2.0 ports also support USB 1.1 devices. USB 2.0 devices can be plugged into USB 1.1 devices, but run at only USB 1.1 speeds.

Practice Test

1:	How many bytes are found in 32 bits? (Select one) 4 8 16 32
2:	How many nibbles are in a byte? (Select one) One Four Eight Two
3:	In standard hexadecimal notation, which of these low-to-high sequences is correct? (Choose one) 9, 10, A, B 7, 8, A, B A, B, C, 1 9, A, B, C
4:	You need to save a short document on a disk that is almost full. Which of the following format choices is the best choice to use the least amount of space on the disk? (Choose one) Rich Text Format (.RTF) Plain text (.TXT) Microsoft Word (.DOC) JPEG (.JPG)
5:	Your client has asked you to install a hard disk with a capacity of at least 80 billion bytes. When you check the capacity of the available drives in your work area, you find drives with the following capacities : drive 1: 75GiB; drive 2: 78GB; drive 3: 80GiB; drive 4: 81GB. Using the definitions for GB and GiB provided in this chapter, identify which drive does not have sufficient capacity to satisfy the client's minimum requirements. (Choose one) drive 4 drive 2 drive 1 drive 3
6:	Which of the following statements are true in comparing serial and parallel data transfers? (Choose all that apply) Serial transfers are always slower than parallel. Parallel cables can be much longer than serial cables. Serial transfers are always faster than parallel. Parallel cables are usually thicker or wider than serial cables.

Lab Exercises

Use the following hands-on exercises to improve your knowledge of the topics covered in this chapter.

File Formats and Disk Capacity

Objective : Determine the relative storage efficiency and limitations of different file formats used for document storage.

Required equipment : desktop or notebook computer with NotePad, WordPad, and other word-processing programs (Word, Works, WordPerfect, and so forth)

1. Create a document with Notepad and save it.

2. Open Windows Explorer or My Computer, right-click on the file, and select Properties to determine its size (ignore Size on Disk if listed).

3. Record the size of the file.

4. Open the file in WordPad and save it as .RTF without making any other changes.

5. Open Windows Explorer or My Computer, right-click on the file, and select Properties to determine its size (ignore Size on Disk if listed).

6. Record the size of the file.

7. Add enhancements such as font size, font changes, bold, italics, and so forth, and then save the file again with a different name .

8. Open Windows Explorer or My Computer, right-click on the file, and select Properties to determine its size (ignore Size on Disk if listed).

9. Record the size of the file.

10. Open the original plain-text file in another word processor. Save the file with Save As using the program's native file format.

11. Open Windows Explorer or My Computer, right-click on the file, and select Properties to determine its size (ignore Size on Disk if listed).

12. Record the size of the file.

Which file was smallest? Which was largest?

Hexadecimal and Binary Conversions

Objective : Convert a number from decimal to binary, and from decimal to hexadecimal.

Required equipment : pen or pencil with paper and eraser; scientific calculator or computer with scientific calculator software (to check answers)

1. Convert 234095 from decimal to binary.

2. Convert 234095 from decimal to hexadecimal.

3. Convert 134.6 from decimal to binary.

4. Convert 134.6 from decimal to hexadecimal.

Answers for the Practice Test

A1:	Answer A (4) is correct. Because there are eight bits per byte, divide 32 by 8 to get the correct answer (4 bytes).
A2:	Answer D (2) is correct. Each nibble contains four bits, whereas a byte contains eight bits.
A3:	Answer D (9, A, B, C) is correct. Hexadecimal notation uses digits 09 for the first ten places, and A-F for the last six places.
A4:	Answer B (plain text or .TXT) is correct. As you learned in this chapter, a plain-text document contains only text, without formatting or other advanced features, so it uses far less space than other document types. However, if a formatted document is saved in plain-text mode, document attributes and other formatting settings are lost.
A5:	Answer B (the 78GB drive identified as drive 3) is the correct answer. Because a Gibibyte (GiB) contains over 1 billion bytes (a gigabyte is exactly 1 billion bytes), the 75GiB drive contains over 80 billion bytes.
A6:	Answer D (parallel cables are usually thicker or wider than serial cables) is correct. This is due to the use of eight (or multiples of eight) wires for signals, as opposed to a single (or pair) of wires for signaling with serial technologies.