Yadin - Computer systems architecture

COMPUTER SYSTEMS ARCHITECTURE

CHAPMAN & HALL/CRC TEXTBOOKS IN COMPUTING

Series Editors

Aims and Scope

This series covers traditional areas of computing, as well as related technical areas, such as software engineering, artificial intelligence, computer engineering, information systems, and information technology. The series will accommodate textbooks for undergraduate and graduate students, generally adhering to worldwide curriculum standards from professional societies. The editors wish to encourage new and imaginative ideas and proposals, and are keen to help and encourage new authors. The editors welcome proposals that: provide groundbreaking and imaginative perspectives on aspects of computing; present topics in a new and exciting context; open up opportunities for emerging areas, such as multi-media, security, and mobile systems; capture new developments and applications in emerging fields of computing; and address topics that provide support for computing, such as mathematics, statistics, life and physical sciences, and business.

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John S. Conery, Explorations in Computing: An Introduction to Computer Science

John S. Conery, Explorations in Computing: An Introduction to Computer Science and Python Programming

Iztok Fajfar, Start Programming Using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript

Jessen Havill, Discovering Computer Science: Interdisciplinary Problems, Principles, and Python Programming

Ted Herman, A Functional Start to Computing with Python

Pascal Hitzler, Markus Krtzsch, and Sebastian Rudolph, Foundations of Semantic Web Technologies

Mark J. Johnson, A Concise Introduction to Data Structures using Java

Mark J. Johnson, A Concise Introduction to Programming in Python

Lisa C. Kaczmarczyk, Computers and Society: Computing for Good

Mark C. Lewis, Introduction to the Art of Programming Using Scala

Efrem G. Mallach, Information Systems: What Every Business Student Needs to Know

Bill Manaris and Andrew R. Brown, Making Music with Computers: Creative Programming in Python

Uvais Qidwai and C.H. Chen, Digital Image Processing: An Algorithmic Approach with MATLAB

David D. Riley and Kenny A. Hunt, Computational Thinking for the Modern Problem Solver

Henry M. Walker, The Tao of Computing, Second Edition

Aharon Yadin, Computer Systems Architecture

CHAPMAN & HALL/CRC TEXTBOOKS IN COMPUTING

COMPUTER SYSTEMS ARCHITECTURE

Aharon Yadin

Yezreel Valley College (YVC)
Israel

CRC Press

Taylor & Francis Group

6000 Broken Sound Parkway NW, Suite 300

Boca Raton, FL 33487-2742

2016 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC

CRC Press is an imprint of Taylor & Francis Group, an Informa business

No claim to original U.S. Government works

Printed on acid-free paper

Version Date: 20160120

International Standard Book Number-13: 978-1-4822-3105-2 (Hardback)

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Yadin, Aharon, author.

Title: Computer systems architecture / Aharon Yadin.

Description: Boca Raton : Taylor & Francis Group, CRC Press, 2016. | Series: Chapman & Hall/CRC textbooks in computing | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2015048879 | ISBN 9781482231052

Subjects: LCSH: Computer architecture.

Classification: LCC QA76.9.A73 Y335 2016 | DDC 004.2/2--dc23

LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2015048879

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Contents

T HE PURPOSE OF THIS BOOK is to provide the necessary understanding of and background of hardware for IT (information technology) people. The term IT refers to a variety of disciples related to computer-based systems such as software engineering, information systems, computer science, and so on. Each one of these disciplines has its own focus and emphasis. In most cases, the hardware platform is viewed as an existing infrastructure, and it is sometimes insufficiently addressed or understood. Furthermore, technological developments in hardware in recent decades were aimed mainly at defining the hardware as a separated platform. As such, IT personnel, and especially software designers and developers, may regard it as a required layer of a computing solution, but a layer that they do not have to understand. In a sense, it is like using a car; the driver drives it but does not care about the internal mechanics. On the other hand, recent architectural developments, such as cloud computing, and the abstractions required for implementing modern computing systems, emphasize the importance of an understanding of hardware. For example, desktop virtualization provides the capability to access any application, using any device. The user may use a desktop computer, a laptop, a tablet, a smartphone, and even appliances that have not yet been invented, and the application will work properly.

For that reason, this book is not about computer organization, but rather concerns ongoing issues related to computer hardware and the solutions provided by the industry for these issues.

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