Hardware Reference
In-Depth Information
You also learned some basics about networking. You learned about wired and
wireless Ethernet network hardware, standards, and protocols, and you learned how
IP addressing works. You learned about several types of Internet connections too and
Internet technologies and protocols including DNS, HTTP, FTP, POP3, and IMAP. Finally,
you learned about some browser settings that enable you to customize and control your
browsing experience online.
Exam Essentials
Identify common input and output peripherals.
Printers, monitors, and speakers accept
output from a computer; scanners and digital cameras provide input. You should know the
technology basics of each of those devices.
Understand printer technologies.
The two main printer technologies are inkjet and laser.
Each has its own pros and cons in terms of initial cost, cost of operation, and print quality.
Understand how scanners and digital cameras capture images.
Scanners and digital
cameras bounce light off the image they're capturing and measure the amount that comes
back to the sensor. Based on those values, they digitize the image.
Identify the hardware involved in networking.
Each network device has a network
interface card (NIC) and a way of connecting it to a central gathering point, which could
be a switch, router, or wireless access point. For wired technologies, know about Cat5e and
other cable types. For wireless, know the 802.11 standards.
Understand IP addresses and DNS servers.
An IPv4 address consists of four numbers
between 0 and 255, separated by periods. An IPv6 address consists of eight 4-digit
hexadecimal numbers, separated by colons. On the Internet, domain names are translated
to and from IP addresses by Domain Name System (DNS) servers.
Understand Internet connection technologies and protocols.
Cable and DSL are the
most popular types of broadband connections. To share a broadband connection within
a location, use a router. Common protocols used on the Internet include HTTP, POP3,
IMAP, and FTP.
Know how to customize a web browser.
Web browsers have many options for controlling
the web browsing experience, including enabling/disabling plug-ins, changing fonts/sizes,
managing cookies, and allowing or disallowing certain technologies such as ActiveX and Java.
