Technical Support Fundamentals

BINARY

Binary - the communication that a computer uses, also known as base 2 numeral system
● We group binary into 8 numbers or bits
● Technically, a bit is a binary digit

The most basic unit of binary is a bit, which is just a single 1 or 0

The next unit of binary, a byte, consists of 8 bits. An example of a byte is 01101011
Each byte can store one character, and we can have 256 possible values thanks to the base-2
system (2⁸)

Converting Binary to its Decimal Value

Binary 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 1
Number

Base-2 2^7 2^6 2^5 2^4 2^3 2^2 2^1 2^0

Number

Decimal 128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1
Number

Transist ON ON OFF ON ON OFF ON ON

or State

Decimal 128 64 16 8 2 1
Value
Value = 219

ASCII - American Standard Code for Information Interchange

ASCII was an early coding system, it represents the english alphabet, digits, and punctuation
marks
● Example:
Letter ASCII Code Binary

A 065 01000001

Character Encoding - Assigns our binary values to characters, so that we as humans can read
them

UTF-8 - Unicode Transformation Format - 8 bits

A newer standard coding system, it allows us to store a character in more than one byte
Colors are represented by color models, such as the RGB model

Binary today uses electricity via transistors. If there's a voltage we would denote it as 1, if not
then it’s a 0

Logic gates allow transistors to do more complex tasks, like decide where to send electrical
signals depending on logical conclusions.

128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1 = 255

0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 = 10
8 and 2 are considered on

128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1 = 255

0 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 = 104
H = 104 and is represent in binary as 01101000

!Remember! We count 0 as a value which is why we have 256 values for a byte, but the
maximum decibel number we can have is 255

Abstraction - to take a relatively complex system and simplify it for our use
Example: Cars from different retailers may have differences under the hood but they all use
relatively similar operating interfaces (steering wheels, pedals, gear shift, etc.)

A computer can be cut into 4 main layers:

● Hardware - made up of physical components of a computer
● Operating System (OS) - allows hardware to communicate with the system
● Software - How we as humans interact with our computer (apps, browsers, OS, etc.)
● Users - Interacts with the computer

COMPONENTS

PROGRAMS AND HARDWARE

Ports - Connection points that we can connect devices to that extend the functionality of our
computer

CPU (Central Processing Unit) - is the brain of your computer, it does all the calculations and
data processing

Hard Drive - Holds all of our data, which includes all of our music, pictures, applications, etc.
Programs - Instructions that tell the computer what to do, they’re typically stored on hard drives

PSU (Power Supply Unit) - converts electricity from the wall into the format a computer can use

Address Bus -

Control Bus -

External Data Bus (EDB) - a row of wires that interconnect the parts of our computer, kind of like
the veins in our body
● When you send a voltage to one of the wires, we say the state of the wire is on;
represented by a 1
● If there’s no voltage, then we say the state is off; represented by a 0
● This is how we send around our 1’s and 0’s, this is how our bits physically travel around
our computer

Address, Control, and External together make

The EDB comes in different sizes, 8 bit, 16 bit, 32 bit, and 64 bit.

Registers - components inside the CPU. They let us store the data the CPU works with, for
example:
● If our CPU wanted to add two numbers, one number would be stored in register A
● Another number would be stored in register B
● The result of these two numbers would be stored in register C

Memory Controller Chip (MCC) - is a bridge between the CPU and RAM
● The CPU talks to the MCC and says I need these specific instructions
● The MCC finds the instructions in the RAM
● The MCC then grabs the data from the RAM and sends it through the EDB

Cache - is smaller than RAM but let’s us store data that we use often, and let’s us quickly
reference it. Used to store recently or frequently accessed data

Clock Wire - The CPU has an internal clock that keeps its operation in sync. It connects to a
special wire called the clock wire.
● When you send or receive data, it sends a voltage to that clock wire to let the CPU know
it can start doing calculations
● When you send a voltage it is referred to as a clock cycle

GHZ refers to the speed of a clock; 3.40 GHZ means 3.4 billion cycles per second

Overclocking - when you exceed the number of clock cycles on your CPU
CPU

The CPU is a small microchip that resides within a CPU package. The CPU package is often
referred to as the CPU.

Common CPU manufacturers are:

● Intel, AMD, and Qualcom

Instruction Set - What our CPU uses to translate and perform functions on our data. Literally just
a set of instructions our CPU is able to run
● Functions like adding, subtracting, copying data are all instructions that our CPU carry
out
● Every single program on our PC is broken down in small and simple instructions found in
our instruction set

When you select your CPU, you’ll need to make sure it's compatible with your motherboard –
the circuit board that connects all your components together.
There are currently two major types of CPU sockets:
● Lan Grid Array (LGA) - the pins stick out of the motherboard
● Pin Grid Array (PGA) - the pins are located on the processor itself

A CPU cooler is a device designed to draw heat away from the CPU. It lowes temperature and
improves system efficiency

Heatsink - takes the heat from our CPU and dissipates it through a fan or other medium

CPUs that say 64 bit or 32 bit are just specifying how much data they can handle

RAM

ROM (Read Only Memory Chip) - a memory chip where our BIOS is stored, unlike RAM it is non
volatile so when the computer is turned off the data isn’t lost

RAM (Random Access Memory) - computer short term memory

● We use it to store data we want to access quick;y
● The data changes all the time so it isn’t permanent

Almost all RAM is volatile, which means once we power off our machines, the data stored in the
RAM is cleared

DRAM - (Dynamic Random-Access Memory) is a type of RAM commonly found in computers

● When a 1 or a 0 is sent to DRAM, it stores each bit in a microscopic capacitor
● This is either the charge or discharge represented by the 1 or 0
● These semiconductors are put into chips that are on the RAM and store our data
There are also different types of memory sticks that DRAM chips can be put on, The more
modern DIMM (dual inline memory module) sticks have different sizes of pins on them

Synchronous DRAM (SDRAM) - This time of RAM is synchronized to our systems’ clock speed
allowing for a quicker processing of data

Double Data Rate SDRAM (DDR SDRAM) - DDR is faster, takes up less power, and has a
larger capacity than earlier SDRAM versions.

DDR DRAM has a lot of iterations, the latest version DDR4 is currently the fastest type of short
term memory currently available for your computer.

Types of RAM Features

Dynamic RAM (DRAM) Older technology

Static RAM (SRAM) Very fast and used for cache memory

SDRAM Sync with memory bus, higher transfer rates

DDR SDRAM 2 times faster than SDRAM, 2 reads and 2

writes per cycle

DDR2 SDRAM Improves on noise and crosstalk

DDR3 SDRAM Faster than DDR2, less heat, higher clock

speed

DDR4 SDRAM Faster than DDR3, has ECC memory for error
detection

GDDR SDRAM Graphics memory used on video adapters

MOTHERBOARD

Motherboard - the body or circulatory system of the computer that connects all the pieces
together

Chipset - a key component that allows us to manage data between our CPU, RAM, and
peripherals, chipsets on motherboards are made up of two chips
● Northbridge - it interconnects stuff like RAM and video cards (in some modern CPUs the
northbridge has been directly integrated in the CPU so there isn’t a separate northbridge
chipset)
● Southbridge - it maintains our IO (input/output) controllers, like hard drives and USB
devices that input and output data
Front-Side Bus (FSB) - the path between the CPU and the Northbridge.It connects various
components, such as the chipset, expansion cards, and RAM
● Data can travel in both directions across the FSB
● The frequency of the bus is measured in MHz (megahertz)
● The frequency at which a CPU operates is determined by applying a clock multiplier to
the FSB speed
● Example: A processor running at 3200 MHz might be using a 400 Mhz FSB. 3200 Mhz
divided by 400 Mhz is 8 so the CPU is 8 times faster than the FSB

Expansion slots - give us the ability to increase the functionality of our computer. The standard
for an expansion slot today is the PCI Express (Peripheral Component Interconnect Express or
PCIe)
● A PCIe base expansion card looks like a smaller circuit board

Form factors - Size of the motherboard

● ATX (advanced technology extended) for a more powerful build
● ITX (information technology extended) for smaller builds

STORAGE

Data sizes:
1 Bit - can store 1 unit of binary 1 or 0
1 Byte - 8 bits
1 Kilobyte (KB) - 1024 bytes
1 Megabyte (MB) - 1024 KB
1 Gigabyte (GB) - 1024 MB
1 Terabyte (TB) - 1024 GB

Hard Drive - Where we store all our computers data, there are two basic types used today:
● Hard Disk Drives (HDD) - use a spinning platter and mechanical arm to read and write
information. The speed the platter rotatoes allows you to read and write data faster, this
is referred to as RPM (revolution per minute)
1. HDDs are more affordable but they’re prone to a prone to a lot more damage
because of the moving parts
● Solid Disk Drive (SDD) - similar to a USB in creation, they store information on
microchips and data travels a lot faster than HDDs
1. They’re less risky when it comes to losing data but more expensive than HDDs
2. MVME are basically SSDs that plug in differently

Having an issue with your computer and losing all data on a hard drive happens a lot. You
should back up your data to be safe. This means you should copy and/or save your data
somewhere else in case of a hard drive crash.
ATA (Advanced Technology Attachment) Interfaces - are the most common interfaces that hard
drives use to connect to our system. The most popular ATA is Serial ATA (SATA)
● SATA - uses one cable for data transfers (SATA drives are hot swappable, which means
you don’t have to turn your machine off to plug in a SATA drive)

POWER SUPPLIES

Two types of electricity:

● Direct current (DC) - a current that flows in one direction
● Automating current (AC) - a current that changes directions

The power supply converts AC from the wall to DC for your computer

Types of desktop power supplies as they have evolved over time are:
● Advanced Technology (AT) - The original power supply for legacy computer systems.
Now considered obsolete
● AT Extended (ATX) - an updated version of AT but still now considered obsolete
● ATX12V - the most common power supply on the market today. It includes a second
motherboard connector to provide dedicated power to the CPU (several versions are
available)
● EPS12V - originally designed for network computers but is now commonly used in high-
end desktop models

Voltage is like water pressure, if you plug a 120 V charger into a 220 V outlet the power with
come bursting through and fry your charger

Wattage - the amount of volts and amps a device needs

PERIPHERALS

Peripherals - anything that you connect to your computer externally that adds functionality (like
a mouse and keyboard)

Universal Serial Bus (USB) - a standardized serial computer interface that allows simplified
attachment of peripherals

Different USB types:

USB Type Transfer Speed

2.0 480 Mb/s

3.0 5 Gb/s

3.1 10 Gb/s
 MB is megaBYTE which is a unit of storage
VS
Mb/s is megaBIT per second which is a unit of transfer

1 byte is 8 bits. So to transfer a 1MB file in a second you need an 8 Mb/s connection speed
Example: To transfer 40 MB in a second you’ll need a transfer speed of 320 Mb/s

Common Input Standards you should know:

● USB-C - quickly becoming the universal industry standard for display and data transfer.
In addition to audi and visual USB-C can also do data transfer and power
● DVI - DVI cables generally just output video
● HDMI - A standard for a lot of televisions and computers nowadays, outputs both audio
and visual

USB connectors are sorted by color on the back of your PC

BIOS

BIOS (Basic Input Output Services) - software thats helps initialize our computer and gets our
operating system up and running

Drivers - contain the instructions our CPU needs to understand external devices (like
keyboards, mouses, etc.)

Drivers use BIOS to initialize software in our computer

Read Only Memory Chip (ROM) - a memory chip where our BIOS is stored, unlike RAM it is non
volatile so when the computer is turned off the data isn’t lost

Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) - performs the same function of starting your
computer like a traditional BIOS but has better compatibility and support for newer hardware

Power On Self Test (POST) - When your computer is starting you might notice a beeping,
beeps in the booting means something, it's our computers running a test to make sure all the
hardware is working properly
Note: beep codes can be different per manufacturer

CMOS Chip - stores basic booting data (date, time, etc.)

BUILDING

1. AVOID STATIC! Either ground yourself by touching an electrical device that’s not
plugged in every few minutes OR wear an anti-static wristband
 2. Align your motherboard to the holes in your desktop. Once you figure out what holes to
use, screw in standoffs. Standoffs are used to raise and attach the motherboard to the
case

3. Align the marker of the CPU to the one on the motherboard socket, use a bit of force to
tightly secure it

4. Attach the heat sink with the thermal paste, use a flat tool to spread the paste evenly
once the four sockets are aligned and tighten the screws. The plug the Molex (the wire
on the heat sink) to the motherboard

5. Install RAM sticks by finding the DIMM slots. Line up the RAM and push in until it clicks

6. Next install the hard drive, slot it in the cage and click it

7. Connect the SATA power plug to the SSD and the other end to the motherboard. SATA
can only go in one way

8. Install fan and plug it into the motherboard

9. Attach the power supply and secure it in place

10. Connect all case cables

11. Finally connect graphics card into the pci express slot, needs to click

12. Close up the case and power it up to see if it works

OPERATING SYSTEMS

Remote Connection - Allows us to manage multiple machines from anywhere in the world

Secure Shell (SSH) - is a secure protocol that allows one computer to access another, to use it
you need an SSH server OpenSSH is the most popular for Linux

Virtual Private Network (VPN) - allows you to connect to a private network, like your work
network, over the internet

PuTTY is a free open source software you can use to make remote connections through several
network protocols, including SSH
Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) - a way for windows computers to connect to each other
provided by microsoft

Microsoft Terminal Services Client (mstsc.exe) - is used to create RDP connections to remote
computers

COMPONENTS OF OS

Operating System (OS) - the whole package that manages our computer’s resources and let’s
us interact with it

There are two main parts to an OS:

User Space - is made up of everything outside the kernel and things we interact with directly
● Applications

Kernel Space - the main core of an OS, it talks directly to our hardware and manages our
systems resources. It also creates processes, efficiently schedules them, and manages how
processes are terminated
● Process Manager - Our kernel manages the programs in our system from they order
they run in, how fast they run, how many resources they take up, etc.
● Memory manager - Our kernel optimizes memory usage and makes sure our
applications have enough memory to run
● File manager - Our kernel organizes files in folders or directories
● I/O manager - Anything that can give us input, or that we can use for output of data. This
is how our kernel talks to external devices like keyboards

Windows, Mac, and Linux are the top OS's

Linux is an open source OS, common types are Ubuntu, Debian, and Red Hat

KERNEL

Three main ways to handle filing data on an OS are:

File Data:

Metadata: Contains file info like owner, permissions, size, type, date created and date modified
File system
● NTFS (New Technology File System) used for windows
● APFS (Apple Products File System) for mac
● Ext4 (extension 4) for Linux

Data Blocks - The form in which we write data to our hard drive

Block Storage - Improves faster handling of data because the data is stored as one long piece
and can be accessed quicker

File Extension - the appended part of a filename that tells use what type of file it is in certain
operating systems

Process - a program that's executing, like our internet browser or text editor

Program - an application we can run, like chrome

Time Slice - a very short interval of time that gets allocated to a process for CPU execution

Our CPU executes processes one by one through a time slice. The CPU executes one process
in milliseconds. Our system is constantly running multiple processes that are necessary for it to
function, so our kernel has to worry about all of these processes at once.

Virtual Memory (Operating System Memory Management) - the combination of hard drive space
and RAM that acts like memory our processes can use

I/O Management - our kernel handles all input and output devices and makes sures everything
is working efficiently

When you’re troubleshooting or solving a problem with a slow machine, it’s usually some sort of
hardware resource deficiency

USER SPACE

You can interact with your OS primarily using a Shell or Graphical User Interface

Shell - a program that interprets text commands and sends them to the OS to execute

GUI (graphical user interface (gooey)) - is a visual way for us to interact with our computer, like
icons and buttons (like the chicken icon for stardew valley)

Command Line Interface (CLI) shell is just using text commands

Most common shell in Linux is Bourne Again Shell (bash)

Logs - files that record system events on our computer, just like a system’s diary

Boot process:
1. Power on
2. BIOS/UEFI - runs POST (power on self test)
3. Boot Device is selected
4. Bootloader is executed and loads the OS
5. Kernel is launched
6. User Space is Launched

INSTALLING OS

Windows:
hit F12 or some other key to access BIOS settings
Follow instructions on screen

Linux:
(Ubuntu)
use etcher.io to make the file bootable from a usb stick
follow instructions on screen after booting

to make a file in Linux using commands:

search for a app called terminal
verify we're using a bash shell using command - echo $SHELL
type command: touch (insert file name here)

Mac OS:
Usually comes preinstalled in apple devices

NETWORKING

BASICS

A network is an interconnection of computers.

Networking - managing, building, and designing of networks

INTERNET - a physical connection of computers and wires around the world

 VS

THE WEB - the information on the internet

Servers - store the websites that we use, these websites serve content

Clients - are the machines we use (phones, laptops, game consoles, etc.) to request content
like pictures and videos, from the servers

Internet service provider (ISP) - have already built networks and run all the necessary cabling
that connects millions of computers together in one network

Computers on a network have an identifier called an IP address

MAC address is generally permanent and hardcoded into a device

When you send or receive data through a network you need both an IP and MAC address

Packets - basic unit of communication over a TCP/IP network

HARDWARE

Router - connects lots of different devices together and helps route network traffic

Some connections can be through an ethernet cable, wifi, or a fiber optic cable
● network port is the name of where you plug in the ethernet cable into your PC
● fiber optic contains glass fibers, we send light instead of electricity through them

A device computers connect to are routers which connect to switches and hubs

Switches - like a mailroom that figures out what info goes where while

Hubs - like a memo that gets sent to everyone

Network Stack - a set of hardware or software that provides infrastructure to a computer (all the
components that make up a network)

LANGUAGE

Network protocols are like a set of rules for how we transfer data in a network

TCP/IP - the transmission control protocol and the internet protocol, they are the predominant
protocols of the internet
● IP - delivers packets to the right computer
 ● TCP - delivers information from one network to another

THE WEB

All websites are basically text documents we format with HTML

HTML - (hypertext markup language) is a coding language used by web browsers

URL - (uniform resource locator)

Domain Name System (DNS) - is like the internets directory

IPv4 (internet protocol version 4) - an address that consists of 32 bits separated into 4 groups
(IPv4 = 2^32)

(REMINDER: 32 bits is 4 bytes (8 bits = 1 byte) and

1 byte can be stored up to 256 values from 0 to 255)

IPv6 addresses consist of 128 bits (IPv6 = 2^128)

Network Address Translation (NAT) - lets organizations use one public IP address and many
private addresses within the network

IoT is the internet of things, smart technology

SOFTWARE

Software is how users directly interact with their computer, hardware is the physical stuff
you can touch, while software is the intangible instructions that tell the hardware what to do

Software Bug - an error in software that causes unexpected results

Drivers - allow the software interact with the hardware

Coding - translating one language to another

Scripting - coding in a scripting language; Scripts are mainly used to perform a single or limited
range task

Programming - coding in a programming language; Programming languages are special

software that developers use to write instructions for computers to execute
Installing software on Linux: (ubuntu) sudo apt install (software name)
● apt - a command we use in ubuntu’s package manager
● sudo - stands for superuser do, lets the computer know you’re authorized to use
commands
Uninstalling Software on Linux: (ubuntu) sudo apt remove (software name)

Types of Software:
● Application Software - any software created to fulfill a specific need (ie; text editor, web
browser, etc.)
● System Software - software used to keep our core system running, like OS tools and
utilities
● Firmware- is a system software that's permanently stored on a computer component like
the BIOS

Assembly language - allowed computer scientists to use human readable instructions

assembled into code that the machines could understand. Instead of using binary code
scientists could program using machine instructions

Compiled Programming Language - uses human readable instructions and sends them through
a compiler, a compiler is what turns the human readable instructions into machine instructions