Hardware Reference
In-Depth Information
FIGURE 4.1
Desktop PC
Courtesy of Lenovo
Desktop PCs are widely used in SOHO environments. SOHO stands for
small office/home office.
A
server
is like a desktop PC in terms of size and components. The main difference
between a server and a desktop PC is the operating system: a server uses a server OS, such
as Windows Server, which has special utilities built in for managing a network. A server
may also have multiple CPUs and a large amount of RAM in order to process effi ciently the
heavy computing demands that a server's job entails. As you learned in Chapter 2, “Input
and Storage Devices,” home networks don't usually have servers; they're not needed for
networks that consist of 10 or fewer computers.
Portable computers
are characterized by a built-in LCD monitor and a built-in keyboard
(or other data-entry mechanism, such as a touch screen). Some of the different types of
portables include the following:
Notebook or Laptop
A notebook or laptop is a computer that's approximately the size
of a paper notebook, with a screen ranging from about 12” to 16” in diagonal. Notebook
PCs are usually full-featured computers, running a regular version of Windows and
handling all the tasks that a desktop PC can handle. A notebook may be appropriate for
business professionals who need to take their computer home from the offi ce every night,
for example, but who need the computer to be powerful enough to run standard business
applications (see Figure 4.2).
