Linux+ Guide to Linux Certification, Second Edition

Linux+ Guide to Linux Certification, Second Edition

Chapter 2Preparing for Linux Installation

Linux+ Guide to Linux Certification, 2e 2

Objectives

• Describe common types of hardware and their features

• Obtain the hardware and software information necessary to install Linux


Understanding Hardware:Central Processing Units (CPUs)

• Core component of any computer– Also known as microprocessor or processor

• Two main components:– Arithmetic logic unit (ALU): Mathematical

calculations and logic-based operations executed here

– Control unit (CU): Instruction code or commands loaded and carried out here


Understanding Hardware: CPUs (continued)

• Processor architecture: Arrangement of a processor’s integral electronics

• Two main processor architectures:– Complex Instruction Set Computer (CISC)– Reduced Instruction Set Computer (RISC)



• Clock speed: Internal time cycle of a processor – Determines speed that processor executes

commands– Measured in Megahertz (MHz)

• A processor may require one cycle to complete a command or may be superscalar

• Amount of information a processor can process at one time is a major factor in clock speed– Measured in binary digits (bits)– The more information that can be worked on at once,

the faster data can be manipulated



• Cache: Temporary store of information – Cache size and location affect a processor’s ability to

calculate larger volumes of data

• Level 1 (L1) cache: Cache stored in the processor itself

• Level 2 (L2) cache: Cache stored in a separate computer chip – Connected to processor via high speed link

• Level 3 (L3) cache: Cache stored on a separate computer chip – Connected directly to processor



• Multiple processors can work together – Perform the same tasks faster– Symmetric Multi-Processing (SMP): Allows OS and

memory to use both processors simultaneously for any task

– ASymmetric Multi-Processing (ASMP): Each processor given a set of tasks to complete independently


Understanding Hardware:Physical Memory

• Storage area for information that is directly wired through circuit boards to the processor

• Two main categories:– Random Access Memory (RAM)

• Volatile memory

– Read Only Memory (ROM)


Understanding Hardware:Physical Memory―RAM

• Requires constant supply of electricity to maintain stored information

• Directly related to computer performance

• Two major categories:– Dynamic RAM (DRAM)– Static RAM (SRAM)


Understanding Hardware:Physical Memory―RAM (continued)

• Three main types of DRAM sticks:– Single In-line Memory Modules (SIMM)

• No longer produced

– Dual In-line Memory Modules (DIMM)– Small Outline Dual In-line Memory Modules

(SODIMM)• Used in portable notebook computers and Macintosh

systems


Understanding Hardware:Physical Memory―RAM (continued)

• Three recent DIMM technologies:– Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory

(SDRAM)– Double Data Rate Synchronous Dynamic Random

Access Memory (DDR SDRAM)– Rambus Dynamic Random Access Memory

(RDRAM)


Understanding Hardware:Physical Memory―ROM

• Read-only Memory: Physical memory that can be read but not written to– Nonvolatile

• Basic Input/Output System (BIOS) ROM: Stores programs used to initialize hardware components when starting computer


Understanding Hardware:Physical Memory―ROM Variants

• Programmable Read Only Memory (PROM): Can only be written to once

• Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory (EPROM): Contents can be repeatedly erased and rewritten as a whole

• Electronically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory (EEPROM): Whole or partial contents can be repeatedly erased/rewritten


Understanding Hardware:Disk Drives

• Most information in a computer maintained using nonvolatile media, not consisting of integrated circuits– Hard disk– Floppy disk– CD-ROM, DVD– CD-RW, DVD-RW disk– Zip disk– Flash Memory


Understanding Hardware:Disk Drives―Hard Disk Drives

• Not directly wired to the processor– Pass through a hard disk controller card

• Controls flow of information to and from the hard disk drive (HDD)

• Two types of controller cards:– Integrated Drive Electronics (IDE)

• Also known as Advanced Technology Attachment (ATA) controllers

– Small Computer System Interface (SCSI)


Understanding Hardware:Disk Drives―HDDs (continued)

Table 2-1: IDE HDD configurations



• Partitions: Small, manageable sections of a hard drive

• Filesystems: Specify how data should reside on the hard disk itself– A partition must be formatted with a filesystem



• Primary partitions: Major unique and separate HDD divisions

• Extended partitions: Partitions that can be further subdivided into logical drives

• Master Boot Record (MBR): Table of all partition information for a hard disk– Stored outside of all partitions



Table 2-2: Example partitioning scheme for a primary master IDE HDD


Understanding Hardware: Disk Drives―Other Information Storage

Devices• Removable media: Information storage media that

can be removed from the computer – Transferable between computers

• Floppy disks: Store information electro-magnetically – Used in floppy disk drives

• Zip disks: Similar to floppy disks– Can store much more information – Used in zip drives


Understanding Hardware: Disk Drives―Other Information Storage

Devices (continued)

• DVDs and CD-ROMs: Use lasers to read reflected light pulses– Greater data transfer speed– Larger storage capacity– More resistance to data loss than floppy disks or ZIP

disks

• Flash memory drives: Use EEPROM chips to store information


Understanding Hardware: Mainboards and Peripheral Components

• Bus: Pathway information takes from one hardware device to another via a mainboard

• Mainboard (also called a motherboard): Circuit board that connects all other hardware components together via slots or ports on the circuit board

• Peripheral components: Attach to the mainboard of a computer– e.g., video cards, sound cards, and network interface

cards (NICs)– Connected via an Input/Output bus represented by

different slots or ports on the mainboard



(continued)

• Three common slots for peripheral devices:– Industry Standard Architecture (ISA): Information

transfer at 8 MHz– Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI):

Information transfer at 33 MHz• Can use Direct Memory Access (DMA)

– Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP): Information transfer over 66 MHz

• Designed for video card peripherals



(continued)

Figure 2-1: Mainboard components



(continued)

• Other peripherals may have external connections to mainboard– PS/2– COM (Serial)– LPT– USB– IEEE1394 (Firewire)– PCMCIA



(continued)

• PS/2 ports: Connect keyboards and mice to computers

• COM ports: Connect a variety of peripherals to the mainboard– Serial port

• LPT ports: Most commonly connect printers to the mainboard

– Parallel ports



(continued)

• Universal Serial Bus (USB) port: Connects peripheral components such as mice, printers, and scanners– Hot-swappable: Can be attached to the computer

while it is running

• FireWire (IEEE1394): Hot-swappable variant of USB commonly used to connect SCSI hard disks, scanners, digital cameras, and CD-RW drives



(continued)

• Personal Computer Memory Card International Association (PCMCIA) ports: Allow a small card to be inserted into the computer with electronics necessary to provide certain functionality

• Advanced Power Management (APM): BIOS feature that shuts off power to unused peripheral devices



(continued)• Interrupt Request Line (IRQ): Specifies a unique

channel from a device to the CPU• Input/Output (IO) address: Small working area of

RAM where CPU can pass information to and receive information from a device

• Plug-and-Play (PnP): OS and peripheral devices that automatically assign the correct IRQ, I/O address, and DMA settings


Understanding Hardware: Video Adapter Cards and Monitors

• Video adapter cards: Provide graphical display when connected to a monitor– Commonly referred to as video cards

• Resolution: Total number of pixels that can be displayed on a computer video screen

• Color depth: Total set of colors that can be displayed on a computer video screen



(continued)

Table 2-3: Memory requirements for screen resolution and color depths



(continued)

• Refresh rate: Rate at which information displayed on a video screen is refreshed– Measured in Hertz (Hz)– Two types of refresh rates:

• HSync (horizontal refresh)

• VSync (vertical refresh)


Understanding Hardware:Keyboards and Mice

• Facilitates user input and direction

• Variety of ways to connect to motherboard– Serial port– Large circular AT 5-pin connector– Small circular PS/2 6-pin connector– USB connection– Wireless or radio connection

• Check hardware components against a Hardware Compatibility List (HCL)


Gathering Preinstallation Information

Table 2-4: Red Hat 7.2 hardware requirements


Gathering Preinstallation Information (continued)

Table 2-5: Sample pre-installation checklist


Gathering Preinstallation Information (continued)

Table 2-5 (continued): Sample pre-installation checklist


Gathering Hardware Information

• Tools and resources to check hardware against a preinstallation checklist:– Computer manuals– Windows System Information tool (if Windows

already installed)– Windows Device Manager (if Windows already

installed)


Gathering Hardware Information (continued)

Figure 2-2: The Windows System Information tool



Figure 2-3: The Windows Device Manager



Figure 2-4: The Windows Display applet



Figure 2-5: System Power-On Self Test (POST)



Figure 2-6: BIOS Setup Utility


Gathering Software Information

• Identifying system network configuration:– Hostname– IP address– Netmask– Gateway– DNS servers

• Resolve FQDNs


Gathering Software Information (continued)

• Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server: Server on network providing IP configuration to requesting computers– If selected during installation, Linux will attempt to

get IP settings from a DHCP server on the network



Table 2-6: Common Linux packages



Table 2-6 (continued): Common Linux packages


Summary

• Understand the hardware before an installation– Allows you to make appropriate choices– Verify that the installation was successful

• CPUs process most instructions in a computer

• Two CPU architectures: RISC and CISC

• Computer memory can be volatile (RAM) or nonvolatile (ROM)


Summary (continued)

• Most information is stored on hard disks, floppy disks, and CD-ROMs in a nonvolatile manner– Two main types of hard disks: SCSI and IDE

• Peripheral components (video adapter cards, sound cards, mice, keyboards, NICs) attach to mainboard via an expansion slot or port

• Common expansion slots: ISA, PCI, and AGP

• Common ports: PS/2, serial, parallel, USB, FireWire, and PCMCIA


Summary (continued)

• All peripherals must have a unique IRQ and I/O address to communicate with the processor– Can use DMA to bypass some processor operations

• Hardware information can be gathered from computer manuals, BIOS, or other OSs

• Can set software information at installation

Documents

Linux+ Guide to Linux Certification, Second Edition