Lesson 2 - Internal Computer Components: CPU, I/O, Memory, and NICs

   Introduction

Before we can learn how computers exchange data over a network, we must first understand how data moves within the computer itself. Users often blame a network for some type of poor performance, when one of the computer's internal systems is actually at fault. This lesson introduces the main components found in most computer systems, and outlines the basic principles of the way they work.

   Objectives

At the end of this lesson you should be able to:

1.	Explain what a CPU is and what it does
2.	Describe the purpose of an I/O bus
3.	Name the various types of memory and explain the best use of each one
4.	Describe what a NIC is and explain why it is necessary

Key Point
All internal computer components have various levels of speed
and capacity.

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