Parts and Components

A backplane is considered to be the backbone which connects several printed circuit boards together forming a complete computer system. They are used in servers in a wide range of applications including both in the domestically and commercially. Types of backplanes include PICMG 1.3, PICMG 1.0, PICMG 1.1, and PICMG 1.2.

Laptop or computer cases are used for storing or carrying a portable computer from one place to another and are essential for protecting a laptop from dust, water, shocks and impacts. Most laptop cases are made up of high quality natural or synthetic fibres.

Chargers which are also known as power adapters are essential for functioning of any type of computer. Although, the term charger is specifically used to refer to an adapter which charges an internal battery of a computer and as such mainly refers to chargers used by laptop and tablet computers.

Computer chassis refers to the body of a system block which is usually made of special electrogalvanized, cold rolled, coil steel and contain all the main components of a computer such as a processor, motherboard, graphic card, sound cards etc.

Climate control applications are used in a wide number of fields including agriculture, technology, transportation systems, emergency & disaster relief, event services and exploration to create and maintain desired temperatures. They are also commonly used domestically in refrigerators and outdoor green houses.

Most portable computers and laptops use batteries as these are often used in places without a continuous power supply and are mainly designed for outdoor use. Lithium-ion batteries are primarily used in most types of laptops. Battery backup of a battery largely depends on the type of battery, laptop and different activities can decrease or increase the battery backup.

Power supplies is a generic term used to refer to power cables, adapters, UPS or uninterruptible power supply units which are essential for any type of computer as no computer like any other electronic device can work without a source of power.

Screen or a computer monitors functions as the primary output device used by all types of computers for displaying data or information of various types. LCD and LED screens are mainly used for computers and laptops nowadays.

Enclosures used to describe materials and casings that protect or connect computer components (referred to as a motherboard or server) whilst keeping them all in a centralised location and connected to a power supply. Types of enclosures includes casings like full tower, mid tower, server racks, data racks, speciality racks, mini tower, desktop case, slim line case and small form factor case.

Fans are used in all types of desktop computers, laptops and workstations for cooling the heat generated by various computer parts such as processor or graphic card. During normal computing temperatures are often at around 50-60 degree Celsius and can even reach around 100 degree Celsius for computing intensive applications.

Graphic cards have become a norm rather than being an exception in most modern computers. Graphic cards come with their own video memory which reduces the pressure on computer ram during video or graphic processing. Most modern gaming computers, gaming desktops and workstations come with a discrete or integrated graphic card.

Hard disk drives act as the main storage of a computer and laptop as these devices are responsible for storing and retrieving data or information. Unlike computer memory these devices don’t delete data once the power is switched off and as such can store data for many years.

Housing is used to describe materials and casings that protect or connect computer components (referred to as a motherboard) whilst keeping them all in a centralised location and connected to a power supply. Housing is also referred to as casing, tower, computer chassis, base unit, system unit, cabinet, base unit, or cabinet.

KVM switches are essential to functioning of data centres as these allow a person to control multiple computers from a single or multiple keyboards, video monitors and mice. Indeed, the acronym KVM stands for Keyboard, video and mouse.

Computer memory refers to primary memory such as RAM which is the only type of memory accessible to a processor and is essential for the functioning of a central processing unit. Computer memory typically works at a much faster speed than the one offered by a hard disk drive.

Motherboards are essential to the functioning of any computer as they connect various integrated circuits and expansion cards to the processor. Motherboards are printed circuit boards which are commonly found in all types of computers.

Optical drives are disk drives which uses a laser lens or bulb for reading and writing data on a compact disk, digital video disk or DVD and a Blue-Ray disk. Optical drives are found in most types of computers apart from Ultrabook as ultra-book manufacturers have removed optical drives for achieving a lightweight and slimmer laptop.

Pointing devices such as mouse and trackpads are used in all computers and function as one of the primary input device Pointing devices allow one to input continuous and multidimensional data into a computer via a click and are used extensively for gaming, everyday use and graphic design applications or software.

Processors also known as central processing units or CPUs are central to the functioning of any computer. Indeed, they are considered as the brain of a computer as a processor is responsible for all type of computing activities in a computer.

Solid state drives are a form of storage used in all types of laptops and computers. Unlike hard disk drives, solid state drives don’t have any moving, rotating or mechanical part and thus are silent and faster than hard disk drives.

Sound cards are used in most computers and as suggested by name these cards deal with the input and output of sound. Most modern sound cards are included as parts of motherboards and are small integrated circuit chips which are located on a motherboard.

Other products that didn't quite fit into any of the above categories.