D316 WGU - IT Foundations Study Guide with
Verified Solutions
Software
Part of the computer system that consists of encoded information or computer instructions.
Hardware
The physical parts of the computer.
Firmware
Provides control, monitoring, and data manipulation of engineered products and systems.
Device Driver
Operates a particular type of device connected to a computer.
Operating System
Coordinates interaction between hardware and software.
What does BIOS stand for?
Basic Input/Output System.
BIOS
Provides runtime services for programs and performs hardware initialization upon startup.
Soft Power
Front power button acts like a relay to initiate various power system changes depending on
how long the button is held.
Overclocking
Increasing the clock speed beyond what is recommended in order to get enhanced
performance.
,What two components need to support hardware based virtualization in order to avoid
software based virtualization?
BIOS and the CPU.
What is important when flashing a BIOS on a computer?
An uninterrupted power supply.
Beep Code
A series of beeps from the computer's speaker that indicate a problem. The pattern, duration,
and number of beeps can sometimes indicate which component is causing the issue.
Motherboard
Computer component that contains all the circuitry that allows other components to
communicate with each other.
ATX
Advanced technology extended (ATX) motherboards are motherboards that have the processor
and memory slots at right angles to expansion slots and in line with the fan output of the power
supply allowing the processor to run cooler.
Micro ATX
Smaller version of the ATX though you can still it into an ATX ready case. It has fewer expansion
slots, memory slots, etc. than ATX.
ITX
Motherboards that are developed at low power, small form factor for specialty uses such as
home theater systems. This family of motherboards consists of Mini, Nano, Pico, and Mobile
models.
Chipset
, A collection of chips that perform interface and peripheral functions for the processor. They can
be divided up into two main functional groups: the northbridge and the southbridge.
Northbridge
This is the set of circuitry or chips that performs the management of high speed peripheral
communications such as video cars in PCIe slots and processor to memory (RAM)
communications. It contains the frontside bus and it may contain a backside bus as well.
Frontside Bus
Is part of the Northbridge and it connects the CPU and the main memory. If a backside bus isn't
present the frontside bus also contains a cache.
Backside Bus
Is part of the Northbridge and it is a set of signal pathways that connect the CPU to the level 2
or level 3 cache memory.
Southbridge
Is connected to the northbridge and is responsible for providing support to slower on board
peripherals such as serial ports, PS/2, USB, etc. Basically if you are considering part of a
computer that isn't CPU, memory, cache, or PCIe then the _______ is in charge.
Expansion slots
Used to install various devices on the computer to extend its capabilities. Some expansions that
could be installed are video cards, sound cards, networking cards, etc.
Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) slots
Usually white and around 3 inches in length.
PCI-Extended (or PCI-X) slots
Verified Solutions
Software
Part of the computer system that consists of encoded information or computer instructions.
Hardware
The physical parts of the computer.
Firmware
Provides control, monitoring, and data manipulation of engineered products and systems.
Device Driver
Operates a particular type of device connected to a computer.
Operating System
Coordinates interaction between hardware and software.
What does BIOS stand for?
Basic Input/Output System.
BIOS
Provides runtime services for programs and performs hardware initialization upon startup.
Soft Power
Front power button acts like a relay to initiate various power system changes depending on
how long the button is held.
Overclocking
Increasing the clock speed beyond what is recommended in order to get enhanced
performance.
,What two components need to support hardware based virtualization in order to avoid
software based virtualization?
BIOS and the CPU.
What is important when flashing a BIOS on a computer?
An uninterrupted power supply.
Beep Code
A series of beeps from the computer's speaker that indicate a problem. The pattern, duration,
and number of beeps can sometimes indicate which component is causing the issue.
Motherboard
Computer component that contains all the circuitry that allows other components to
communicate with each other.
ATX
Advanced technology extended (ATX) motherboards are motherboards that have the processor
and memory slots at right angles to expansion slots and in line with the fan output of the power
supply allowing the processor to run cooler.
Micro ATX
Smaller version of the ATX though you can still it into an ATX ready case. It has fewer expansion
slots, memory slots, etc. than ATX.
ITX
Motherboards that are developed at low power, small form factor for specialty uses such as
home theater systems. This family of motherboards consists of Mini, Nano, Pico, and Mobile
models.
Chipset
, A collection of chips that perform interface and peripheral functions for the processor. They can
be divided up into two main functional groups: the northbridge and the southbridge.
Northbridge
This is the set of circuitry or chips that performs the management of high speed peripheral
communications such as video cars in PCIe slots and processor to memory (RAM)
communications. It contains the frontside bus and it may contain a backside bus as well.
Frontside Bus
Is part of the Northbridge and it connects the CPU and the main memory. If a backside bus isn't
present the frontside bus also contains a cache.
Backside Bus
Is part of the Northbridge and it is a set of signal pathways that connect the CPU to the level 2
or level 3 cache memory.
Southbridge
Is connected to the northbridge and is responsible for providing support to slower on board
peripherals such as serial ports, PS/2, USB, etc. Basically if you are considering part of a
computer that isn't CPU, memory, cache, or PCIe then the _______ is in charge.
Expansion slots
Used to install various devices on the computer to extend its capabilities. Some expansions that
could be installed are video cards, sound cards, networking cards, etc.
Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) slots
Usually white and around 3 inches in length.
PCI-Extended (or PCI-X) slots
