Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Define Privacy

Privacy (from Latin: privatus "separated from the rest, deprived of something, esp. office, participation in the government", from privo "to deprive") is the ability of an individual or group to seclude themselves or information about themselves and thereby reveal themselves selectively. The boundaries and content of what is considered private differ among cultures and individuals, but share basic common themes. Privacy is sometimes related to anonymity, the wish to remain unnoticed or unidentified in the public realm. When something is private to aperson, it usually means there is something within them that is considered inherently special or personally sensitive. The degree to which private information is exposed therefore depends on how the public will receive this information, which differs between places and over time. Privacy partially intersects security, including for instance the concepts of appropriate use, as well as protection, of information.
The right not to be subjected to unsanctioned invasion of privacy by the governmentcorporations orindividuals is part of many countries'privacy laws, and in some cases, constitutions. Almost all countries have laws which in some way limit privacy; an example of this would be law concerningtaxation, which normally require the sharing of information about personal income or earnings. In some countries individual privacy may conflict with freedom of speech laws and some laws may require public disclosure of information which would be considered private in other countries and cultures. Privacy may be voluntarily sacrificed, normally in exchange for perceived benefits and very often with specific dangers and losses, although this is a very strategic view of human relationships. Academics who are economists, evolutionary theorists, and research psychologists describe revealing privacy as a 'voluntary sacrifice', for instance by willing participants in sweepstakes or competitions. In the business world, a person may volunteer personal details (often for advertisingpurposes) in order to gamble on winning a prize. Personal information which is voluntarily shared but subsequently stolen or misused can lead to identity theft.
Privacy, as the term is generally understood in the West, is not a universal concept and remained virtually unknown in some cultures until recent times. Most cultures, however, recognize the ability of individuals to withhold certain parts of their personal information from wider society - a figleaf over the genitals being an ancient example.
The word "privacy" is sometimes regarded as untranslatable[1] by linguists. Many languages lack a specific word for "privacy". Such languages either use a complex description to translate the term (such as Russian combine meaning of уединение - solitude, секретность- secrecy, and частная жизнь - private life) or borrow English "privacy" (as Indonesian Privasi or Italian la privacy).[1]

PENGGUNAAN KOMPUTER DALAM PELBAGAI BIDANG



           Telah diketahui bahawa perkembangan penggunaan komputer semakin pesat sekarang.  Dalam semua bidang telah menggunakan komputer bagi melancarkan urusan. 
 Penggunaan Komputer Dalam Bidang Perniagaan
           Penggunaan komputer dipraktikkan secara semaksimumnya antaranya dalam bidang perniagaan.  Malah perniagaan kecil juga menggunakan komputer memandangkan kini terdapat mikrokomputer yang murah harganya.  Organisasi-organisasi perniagaan kini mempunyai jumlah fakta dan nombor yang banyak untuk diproses.  Jadi, kebanyakan organisasi perniagaan telah mula menggunakan komputer,contohnya untuk mengira gaji, untuk mengesan barang-barang yang dijual dan yang masih dalam stok, untuk mengeluarkan dan menghantar atau menerima penyata perniagaan, surat, invois dan lain-lain.
           Penggunaan komputer dan alat-alat pejabat yang lain yang membantu pengurus, kerani, dan pihak pengurusan disebut disebut pengautomatikan pejabat.  Salah satu daripadanya ialah pemprosesan perkataan yang menggunakan kaedah menaip secara elektronik yang membolehkan kita menghasil dan mengubah surat, laporan, dokumen, dan lain-lain dalam beberapa saat berbanding  kerja menaip secara manual.  Banyak pejabat menghasilkan surat-surat piawai seperti pembayaran baki, jemputan dan sebagainya lagi.  Selain itu organisasi perniagaan setempat menggunakan komputer untuk menyedia, menyimpan, dan menghantar utusan ke tempat tertentu.  Pengurus organisasi itu juga boleh mengawasi kakitangannya bila-bila masa.
            Pengautomatikan  pejabat juga membolehkan pihak pengurusan atasan berunding tanpa bertemu secara fizikal yang disebut teleperundingan.  Antara kelebihan penggunaan komputer dalam bidang ini, ternyatalah ianya amat penting dalam sesebuah organisasi perniagaan.
Penggunaan Komputer Dalam Bank Dan Institusi Kewangan
           Pemprosesan data yang melibatkan akaun-akaun simpanan, simpanan tetap, pinjaman, pelaburan, analisis keuntungan dan sebagainya adalah antara operasi organisasi-organisasi kewangan.  Langkah-langkah yang digunakan adalah piawai dan berulangan.  Maka dengan itulah, institusi kewangan merupakan pengguna yang pertama sedar akan kepentingan komputer untuk menjimatkan masa.  Penggunaannya dalam institusi kewangan ini meliputi aktiviti pemindahan wang secara elektronik
          Misalannya sebuah bank mempunyai terminal di setiap cawangannya di seluruh negara dan juga di pasaraya, stesen minyak, sekolah, kilang, rumah, hotel, dan sebagainya.  Majikan akan memindahkan gaji ke dalam akaun pekerjanya dengan memasukkan nombor pengenalan pekerjanya seterusnya wang gaji dipindahkan ke dalam akaun pasaraya, hotel, atau stesen minyak apabila membuat sesuatu pembelian.  Kemudahan pemindahan wang ini yang disebut pemindahan wang secara elektronik ini amat efektif penggunaannya juga kaedah yang selamat dan cepat untuk urusan kewangan.
Dengan kemudahan yang dikenali sebagai ETC ini juga individu itu bolah mengeluar, memindah, dan memasukkan tunai atau cek ke dalam baki semasa pada bila-bila masa sahaja.  Ternyatalah tujuan utama penggunaan komputer dalam institusi kewangan dapat membantu dalam menyusun segala urusan pelanggan serta menyediakan perkhidmatan yang lebih baik dan cekap, mengurangkan penipuan dalam urusan kewangan juga menghapus urusan yang melibatkan wang tunai dalam masyarakat dengan matlamat utama untuk menghasilkan sebuah masyarakat tanpa tunai.
 Penggunaan Komputer Dalam Bidang Industri 
          Industri merupakan bidang yang banyak sekali menerima faedah daripada penggunaan komputer dan juga perkembangan mesin berupa manusia iaitu ‘robot’.  Industri pengeluaran misalnya memerlukan komputer untuk memproses banyak data yang dikumpul dari pekerja, pelanggan, jualan, keterangan barangan, jadual pengeluaran, dan sebagainya.  Boleh dikatakan komputer digunakan bagi mengawal proses pengeluaran.  
Pemprosesan maklumat pengeluaran khasnya kawalan inventori bagi menyimpan maklumat terbaru tentang baki inventori bahan-bahan mentah dan juga barangan siap digunakan untuk menentukan nilai inventori dan status stok.  Hal ini komputer boleh mengingatkan kakitangan terlibat bila dia harus memesan bahan-bahan mentah dan bila untuk menghantar barangan siap kepada pelanggan.  Begitu juga untuk menyimpan maklumat tentang struktur sesuatu barangan, perancangan keperluan bahan malah dalam kerja proses turut menggunakan komputer bagi memudahkan pekerjaan.  Ternyatalah penggunaan komputer dalam bidang industri amat meluas serta turut mempengaruhi perkembangan industri di sesebuah negara.
Penggunaan Komputer Dalam Bidang Pendidikan
          Kini dalam era dunia sains dan teknologi yang semakin canggih, komputer mungkin mengambil alih peranan buku dalam menyimpan dan menyebarkan pengetahuan kepada orang ramai.  Dengan kata lain komputer akan mengubah cara kita belajar dan cara kita menyimpan pengetahuan.  Hal-hal yang berkaitan contohnya pendaftaran pelajar, penjadualan kelas, pemprosesan keputusan peperiksaan, penyimpanan peribadi pelajar dan guru boleh dilaksanakan oleh komputer dengan berkesan dan cepat dalam membantu pihak pentadbiran.
           Kini keputusan SPM dan STPM turut diproses oleh komputer.  Di IPT juga tugas-tugas pengautomatikan pejabat, pemprosesan keputusan peperiksaan dan penyelidikan saintifik turut menggunakan komputer.  Malah mengkatalog buku-buku di perpustakaan juga mengaplikasikan penggunaan komputer.  Tidak ketinggalan diguna untuk proses pengajaran dan pembelajaran bukan sahaja di institusi-institusi pengajian tinggi juga di sekolah-sekolah, baik untuk mengajar dengan bantuan komputer atau belajar pendidikan tentang komputer.Oleh itu komputer kini sangat dititikberatkan dalam bidang pendidikan untuk menbantu dalam proses pentadbiran, penyelidikan juga apa yang penting ialah memudahkan serta membantu pelajar dan guru dalam proses pengajaran dan pembelajaran. 
Penggunaan Komputer Dalam Bidang Perubatan
          Hospital dan klinik menggunakan komputer untuk menyimpan rekod pesakit, jadual doktor, jururawat dan kakitangan lain, inventori dan belian ubat-ubatan, penyelidikan perubatan dan juga diagnosis perubatan.
Pengaplikasian peralatan-peralatan berasaskan komputer atau penggunaan teknologi maklumat telah membantu para doktor untuk mendiagnosis penyakit.  Ternyata penggunaan komputer dalam bidang perubatan menyediakan penyelesaian kepada masalah-masalah rumit.  Antaranya teknologi komputer yang baru menyediakan pelbagai bantuan kepada mereka yang cacat.  Mikropemproses yang berasaskan sistem suara membantu orang-orang yang cacat percakapan dengan menggunakan terminal yang mengarahkan komputer untuk melakukan sesuatu tugas secara lisan.  Begitu juga perkembangan komputer telah membantu orang buta untuk melihat, orang bisu untuk berkomunikasi, sama ada dengan bantuan percakapan pensintesis atau dengan menggunakan papan kekunci.  Ini dapat membantu mereka menjadi lebih aktif dan dapat membuat apa yang mereka tidak boleh buat sebelum ini.
          Selain itu kerja-kerja pemprosesan data secara tradisional seperti mengeluarkan bil pesakit, statistik perubatan dan penjadualan kakitangan dan lain-lain telah turut diperkemas dan diproses dengan menggunakan komputer.  Sistem Maklumat Hospital yang digunakan dapat disimpan dalam pangkalan data pesakit secara berpusat.  Malah penggunaan teknologi maklumat iaitu komputer diprogramkan untuk mengkultur dan manganalisis bakteria, virus, dan agen jangkitan lain secara automatik bagi mengesan  dan mengenalpasti sesuatu penyakit seterusnya membolehkan pihak hospital dan makmal untuk memulakan rawatan.  Contohnya mesin Temography Bantuan Komputer (Computer Aided Temography, CAT) yang digunakan untuk trjuan tersebut.
          Begitu juga  komputer digunakan untuk mengaawasi pembolehubah psikologi seseorang pesakit seperti tekanan darah, suhu badan, ECG (Electro-Cardiograph) dan membunyikan amaran jika sesuatu yang tidak biasa berlaku.  Untuk tujuan ini komputer membaca pembolehubah yang berlainan dan membuat pembandingan dengan nilai-nilai piawai.  Jika ada sesuatu yang luar biasa yang berlaku komputer akan menarik perhatian doktor dan jururawat dengan mengeluarkan amaran.  Jelaslah didapati bahawa komputer mempunyai bidang pergunaan yang luas dalam bidang perubatan.
Penggunaan Komputer Dalam Bidang Perundangan
          Komputer telah digunakan dalam proses perundangan sejak beberapa tahun dahulu.  Penggunaan yang terpenting ialah dalam penyediaan dokumen yang menggunakan pemproses perkataan.  Penggunaan komputer juga melibatkan pemprosesan perakaunan perundangan untuk menghasilkan laporan mingguan dan bulanan, menyimpan rekod-rekod pembayaran perundingan, dairi untuk peguam mendapat maklumat mutakhir tentang pelbagai pelanggang dan prosedur mahkamah juga untuk menyimpan rekod-rekod pelanggang.
         Memandangan bidang ini sangat rumit, sudah menjadi keperluan untuk mendapatkan semula maklumat yang diperlukan sama ada tentang penindeksan jurnal undang-undang, kes penting, perkalaan, dan statistik atau keputusan penting untuk tujuan membuat keputusan dengan menyimpan bank data perundangan.  Oleh itu penggunaan komputer salah satunya akan membantu peguam dan peguam pelatih serta pelajar perundangan mencari data berkaitan tanpa membuang masa serta mendapat perkhidmatan yang lebih baik. 

control version contents and control



Revision control, also known as version control and source control (and an aspect of software configuration management), is the management of changes to documents, programs, large web sites and other information stored as computer files. It is most commonly used in software development, where a team of people may change the same files. Changes are usually identified by a number or letter code, termed the "revision number", "revision level", or simply "revision". For example, an initial set of files is "revision 1". When the first change is made, the resulting set is "revision 2", and so on. Each revision is associated with a timestamp and the person making the change. Revisions can be compared, restored, and with some types of files, merged.
Version control systems (VCS) most commonly run as stand-alone applications, but revision control is also embedded in various types of software such as word processors (e.g., Microsoft WordOpenOffice.org WriterKWordPages, etc.),[citation needed] spreadsheets (e.g., Microsoft ExcelOpenOffice.org CalcKSpreadNumbers, etc.),[citation needed] and in various content management systems (e.g., DrupalJoomlaWordPress).[citation needed] Integrated revision control is a key feature of wiki software packages such as MediaWikiDokuWikiTWiki etc. In wikis, revision control allows for the ability to revert a page to a previous revision, which is critical for allowing editors to track each other's edits, correct mistakes, and defend public wikis against vandalism and spam.
Software tools for revision control are essential for the organization of multi-developer projects.[1]

computer crime and security threats


Introduction
Data technologies poses numerous threats to businesses, institutions and people alike. Personal computer related threats might be either unintended or intended. Individuals with criminal intentions normally conduct the latter. Technology has transformed seemingly timid individuals into high tech criminals. In the past, one could simply utilize Security camera systems for protection, but not with these types of attacks. They have the potential to destroy the integrity or confidentiality of documents thus utilizing the information for their own ill intentioned purposes. The essay shall examine web crime and methods one can deal with it through IT security. (Honeynet, 2005)
How personal computer crime occurs
The world today is filled with malicious, careless or unscrupulous people. Some internet crimes are committed by members of the same organization although others could be committed by specialists who may have specialized in on-line crime. (Honeynet, 2005)
The initial category of criminals are disloyal staff members. These are individuals who have access to sensitive data and decide to dispense it to companies competitors or to company enemies. In such companies, employees have minimal sense of responsibility. It is likely that when they dispense sensitive data to competitors, they get material advantages in return. Ultimately, companies loose their competitive benefit.
Computer crime might happen in the form of unauthorized access to data. Here, people can gain access to information by figuring out passwords. In this case, passwords that are really obvious or those one that are shorter than six letters or also those ones that have been utilized for too lengthy are particularly susceptible.
Sometimes, the individuals who could bring about serious security threats are administrators themselves. Companies that face the highest risk are those ones that have 1 system both for normal production and for other specialized purposes. Also, such firms tend to give privileges to personal computer programmers who could abuse their positions. It is also likely that such businesses do not have a two-sided system of clarification. (Mandia and Prosise, 2001)

cyber law

What is Cyber Law? 
Cyber law refers to any laws relating to protecting the Internet and 
other online communication technologies. 
NEEDS FOR CYBER LAW 
In the recent years, many concerns and issues were raised on the integrity and security of 
information, legal status of online transactions, privacy and confidentiality of information, 
intellectual property rights and security of government data placed on the Internet. 


CYBER LAW

Integrity and Security of Information

Security of Government Data

Legal Status of Online Transactions 
Privacy and Confidentially of Information

Intellectual Property Rights 

These concerns and issues clearly indicate why cyber laws are needed in online activities. 
THE CYBER LAW ACTS IN MALAYSIA 
The Malaysian Government has already passed several cyber laws to control and reduce the 
Internet abuse. These cyber laws include: 
• Digital Signature Act 1997 
• Computer Crimes Act 1997 
• Telemedicine Act 1997 
• Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 
Beside these cyber laws, there are three other cyber laws being drafted.   
• Private Data Protection Bill 
• Electronic Government Activities Bill 
• Electronic Transactions Bill   
Digital Signature Act 1997 
The Digital Signature Act 1997 secures electronic communications 
especially on the Internet. Digital Signature is an identity verification 
standard that uses encryption techniques to protect against e-mail 
forgery. The encrypted code consists of the user’s name and a hash of 
all the parts of the message. 
By attaching the digital signature, one can ensure that nobody can eavesdrop, intercept or

temper with transmitted data.



Computer Crimes Act 1997 
The Computer Crimes Act 1997 gives protection against the misuses 
of computers and computer criminal activities such as unauthorised 
use of programmes, illegal transmission of data or  messages over 
computers and hacking and cracking of computer systems and 
networks. 
By implementing the Computer Crimes Act 1997, users can protect 
their rights to privacy and build trust in the computer system. At the 
same time, the government can have control at a certain level over cyberspace to reduce 
cyber crime activities. 
Telemedicine Act 1997 
The Telemedicine Act 1997 ensures that only qualified medical 
practitioners can practice telemedicine and that their patient's rights 
and interests are protected. These act provides the future 
development and delivery of healthcare in Malaysia.
Communications And Multimedia Act 1998 
The implementation of Communication and Telecommunication Act 
1998 ensures that information is secure, the network is reliable and 
the service is affordable all over Malaysia. This Act also ensures high 
level of user's confidence in the information and communication technology industry. 

Strorage


In a computer, storage is the place where data is held in an electromagnetic or optical form for access by a computer processor. There are two general usages.
1) Storage is frequently used to mean the devices and data connected to the computer through input/output operations - that is, hard disk and tape systems and other forms of storage that don't include computer memory and other in-computer storage. For the enterprise, the options for this kind of storage are of much greater variety and expense than that related to memory. This meaning is probably more common in the IT industry than meaning 2.
2) In a more formal usage, storage has been divided into: (1) primary storage, which holds data in memory (sometimes called random access memory or RAM
) and other "built-in" devices such as the processor's L1 cache, and (2) secondary storage, which holds data on hard disks, tapes, and other devices requiring input/output operations.

Sunday, March 18, 2012

Mother Board


Motherboard

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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In personal computers, a motherboard is the central printed circuit board (PCB) in many modern computers and holds many of the crucial components of the system, providing connectors for other peripherals. The motherboard is sometimes alternatively known as the mainboard,system board, or, on Apple computers, the logic board.[1] It is also sometimes casually shortened to mobo.
Motherboard for an Acer desktop personal computer, showing the typical components and interfaces that are found on a motherboard. This model was made by Foxconn in 2008, and follows the ATX layout (known as the "form factor") usually employed for desktop computers. It is designed to work with AMD's Athlon 64 processor.
A motherboard of a Vaio E series laptop (right)

Contents

[edit] History

Prior to the advent of the microprocessor, a computer was usually built in a card-cage case or mainframe with components connected by abackplane consisting of a set of slots themselves connected with wires; in very old designs the wires were discrete connections between card connector pins, but printed circuit boards soon became the standard practice. The Central Processing Unit, memory and peripherals were housed on individual printed circuit boards which plugged into the backplate. During the late 1980s and 1990s, it became economical to move an increasing number of peripheral functions onto the motherboard (see below). In the late 1980s, motherboards began to include single ICs (called Super I/Ochips) capable of supporting a set of low-speed peripherals: keyboardmousefloppy disk driveserial ports, and parallel ports. As of the late 1990s, many personal computer motherboards supported a full range of audio, video, storage, and networking functions without the need for anyexpansion cards at all; higher-end systems for 3D gaming and computer graphics typically retained only the graphics card as a separate component.
The early pioneers of motherboard manufacturing were MicronicsMylexAMI, DTK, HauppaugeOrchid TechnologyElitegroupDFI, and a number of Taiwan-based manufacturers.
The most popular computers such as the Apple II and IBM PC had published schematic diagrams and other documentation which permitted rapidreverse-engineering and third-party replacement motherboards. Usually intended for building new computers compatible with the exemplars, many motherboards offered additional performance or other features and were used to upgrade the manufacturer's original equipment
The term mainboard is applied to devices with a single board and no additional expansions or capability. In modern terms this would includeembedded systems and controlling boards in televisions, washing machines, etc. A motherboard specifically refers to a printed circuit board with expansion capability.

[edit] Overview

A motherboard, like a backplane, provides the electrical connections by which the other components of the system communicate, but unlike a backplane, it also connects the central processing unit and hosts other subsystems and devices.
A typical desktop computer has its microprocessormain memory, and other essential components connected to the motherboard. Other components such as external storage, controllers for video display and sound, and peripheral devices may be attached to the motherboard as plug-in cards or via cables, although in modern computers it is increasingly common to integrate some of these peripherals into the motherboard itself.
An important component of a motherboard is the microprocessor's supporting chipset, which provides the supporting interfaces between the CPU and the various buses and external components. This chipset determines, to an extent, the features and capabilities of the motherboard.
Modern motherboards include, at a minimum:
  • sockets (or slots) in which one or more microprocessors may be installed[2]
  • slots into which the system's main memory is to be installed (typically in the form of DIMM modules containing DRAM chips)
  • chipset which forms an interface between the CPU's front-side bus, main memory, and peripheral buses
  • non-volatile memory chips (usually Flash ROM in modern motherboards) containing the system's firmware or BIOS
  • clock generator which produces the system clock signal to synchronize the various components
  • slots for expansion cards (these interface to the system via the buses supported by the chipset)
  • power connectors, which receive electrical power from the computer power supply and distribute it to the CPU, chipset, main memory, and expansion cards.[3]
The Octek Jaguar V motherboard from 1993.[4] This board has few onboard peripherals, as evidenced by the 6 slots provided for ISA cards and the lack of other built-in external interface connectors.
Additionally, nearly all motherboards include logic and connectors to support commonly used input devices, such as PS/2 connectors for a mouse and keyboard. Early personal computers such as the Apple II or IBM PC included only this minimal peripheral support on the motherboard. Occasionally video interface hardware was also integrated into the motherboard; for example, on the Apple II and rarely on IBM-compatible computers such as the IBM PC Jr. Additional peripherals such as disk controllers and serial ports were provided as expansion cards.
Given the high thermal design power of high-speed computer CPUs and components, modern motherboards nearly always include heat sinks and mounting points for fans to dissipate excess heat.

[edit] CPU sockets

A CPU socket or slot is an electrical component that attaches to a printed circuit board (PCB) and is designed to house a CPU (also called a microprocessor). It is a special type of integrated circuit socket designed for very high pin counts. A CPU socket provides many functions, including a physical structure to support the CPU, support for a heat sink, facilitating replacement (as well as reducing cost), and most importantly, forming an electrical interface both with the CPU and the PCB. CPU sockets can most often be found in most desktop and server computers (laptops typically use surface mount CPUs), particularly those based on the Intel x86 architecture on the motherboard. A CPU socket type and motherboard chipset must support the CPU series and speed.

[edit] Integrated peripherals

Block diagram of a modern motherboard, which supports many on-board peripheral functions as well as several expansion slots.
With the steadily declining costs and size of integrated circuits, it is now possible to include support for many peripherals on the motherboard. By combining many functions on one PCB, the physical size and total cost of the system may be reduced; highly integrated motherboards are thus especially popular in small form factor and budget computers.
For example, the ECS RS485M-M,[5] a typical modern budget motherboard for computers based on AMD processors, has on-board support for a very large range of peripherals:
Expansion cards to support all of these functions would have cost hundreds of dollars even a decade ago; however, as of April 2007 such highly integrated motherboards are available for as little as $30 in the US.

[edit] Peripheral card slots

A typical motherboard of 2009 will have a different number of connections depending on its standard.
A standard ATX motherboard will typically have one PCI-E 16x connection for a graphics card, two conventional PCI slots for various expansion cards, and one PCI-E 1x (which will eventually supersede PCI). A standard EATX motherboard will have one PCI-E 16x connection for a graphics card, and a varying number of PCI and PCI-E 1x slots. It can sometimes also have a PCI-E 4x slot. (This varies between brands and models.)
Some motherboards have two PCI-E 16x slots, to allow more than 2 monitors without special hardware, or use a special graphics technology calledSLI (for Nvidia) and Crossfire (for ATI). These allow 2 graphics cards to be linked together, to allow better performance in intensive graphical computing tasks, such as gaming and video editing.
As of 2007, virtually all motherboards come with at least four USB ports on the rear, with at least 2 connections on the board internally for wiring additional front ports that may be built into the computer's case. Ethernet is also included. This is a standard networking cable for connecting the computer to a network or a modem. A sound chip is always included on the motherboard, to allow sound output without the need for any extracomponents. This allows computers to be far more multimedia-based than before. Some motherboards contain video outputs on the back panel for integrated graphics solutions (either embedded in the motherboard, or combined with the microprocessor, such as the Intel HD Graphics). A separate card may still be used.

[edit] Temperature and reliability

Motherboards are generally air cooled with heat sinks often mounted on larger chips, such as the Northbridge, in modern motherboards. Insufficient or improper cooling can cause damage to the internal components of the computer and cause it to crashPassive cooling, or a single fan mounted on the power supply, was sufficient for many desktop computer CPUs until the late 1990s; since then, most have required CPU fans mounted on theirheat sinks, due to rising clock speeds and power consumption. Most motherboards have connectors for additional case fans as well. Newer motherboards have integrated temperature sensors to detect motherboard and CPU temperatures, and controllable fan connectors which the BIOSor operating system can use to regulate fan speed. Some computers (which typically have high-performance microprocessors, large amounts of RAM, and high-performance video cards) use a water-cooling system instead of many fans.
Some small form factor computers and home theater PCs designed for quiet and energy-efficient operation boast fan-less designs. This typically requires the use of a low-power CPU, as well as careful layout of the motherboard and other components to allow for heat sink placement.
A 2003 study[6] found that some spurious computer crashes and general reliability issues, ranging from screen image distortions to I/O read/write errors, can be attributed not to software or peripheral hardware but to aging capacitors on PC motherboards. Ultimately this was shown to be the result of a faulty electrolyte formulation.[7]
A microATX motherboard with some faulty capacitors.
For more information on premature capacitor failure on PC motherboards, see capacitor plague.
Motherboards use electrolytic capacitors to filter the DC power distributed around the board. These capacitors age at a temperature-dependent rate, as their water based electrolytes slowly evaporate. This can lead to loss of capacitance and subsequent motherboard malfunctions due tovoltage instabilities. While most capacitors are rated for 2000 hours of operation at 105 °C,[8] their expected design life roughly doubles for every 10 °C below this. At 45 °C a lifetime of 15 years can be expected. This appears reasonable for a computer motherboard. However, many manufacturers have delivered substandard capacitors,[9] which significantly reduce life expectancy. Inadequate case cooling and elevated temperatures easily exacerbate this problem. It is possible, but tedious and time