Computer Systems, Memory, Storage, and Network Security Flashcards

Comprehensive fill-in-the-blank review flashcards covering Computer Architecture, Central Processing Unit (CPU) operations, Memory & Storage hierarchies, Network Topologies, and Security principles.

Memory that requires continuous electrical power to retain its stored data is classified as __________ memory.

volatile

Static RAM (SRAM) stores each bit in a six-transistor latch, whereas Dynamic RAM (DRAM) stores each bit using one transistor and one __________.

capacitor

Unlike UV EPROM which requires removal from the circuit and ultraviolet light exposure, __________ permits in-circuit byte-level electrical erasure.

EEPROM

Network-Attached Storage (NAS) shares files over a local area network using NFS or SMB, while a Storage Area Network (SAN) provides access to raw __________.

block-level storage

RAID 0 stripes data across disks for maximum speed, whereas __________ mirrors data identically across drives for fault tolerance.

RAID 1

In a RAID 5 array, parity is calculated across matching sectors using the bitwise __________ operation.

XOR

The foundational concept introduced by John von Neumann involves storing program instructions and data together in the same __________.

RAM

The component of the CPU responsible for decoding instructions and directing the timing of operations using clock signals is the __________.

Control Unit

Arithmetic operations and logical evaluations such as AND, OR, and NOT are executed inside the CPU by the __________.

Arithmetic Logic Unit

The CPU register that holds the memory address of the next instruction to be fetched is the __________.

Program Counter

During the fetch stage of the FDE cycle, the instruction or data retrieved from main RAM is placed into the __________.

Memory Data Register

The CPU register that holds the immediate computational result output by the ALU is the __________.

Accumulator

When fetching an instruction, the memory address stored in the Program Counter is first copied to the __________.

Memory Address Register

When powering on a computer system, non-volatile ROM is required because volatile __________ is completely empty.

RAM

When main memory becomes full, the operating system moves inactive data into a hidden section of secondary storage called the __________ file.

page

Severe system performance degradation caused by constant page swapping between RAM and secondary storage is called disk __________.

thrashing

Compared to magnetic HDDs and optical media, solid-state drives offer high speed, durability, and reliability, but have a higher __________.

cost

Modern NVMe secondary storage connects directly through PCIe lanes to achieve throughput exceeding __________.

$$7000\,MB/s$$

Cache memory capitalizes on __________ locality when it retains recently executed instructions like those found inside loops.

temporal

While a DoS attack originates from a single device, a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack floods a network using traffic from many devices simultaneously, often via a __________.

botnet

To secure shared data and limit exposure to unauthorized access, organizations restrict permissions using the principle of __________ privilege.

least

The WannaCry ransomware pandemic exploited a vulnerability in the file-sharing protocol known as __________.

SMBv1

Unlike the 5 GHz Wi-Fi band, the 2.4 GHz frequency band travels farther and penetrates walls better, but experiences higher __________ due to overlapping channels.

interference

In network performance measurement, the variation in packet arrival delay over time is known as __________.

jitter

A primary weakness of a centralized client-server network is that a failure of the main server creates a single point of __________.

failure

In peer-to-peer (P2P) networks without central administration, infected devices can easily pass malware to other computers via __________ movement.

lateral