Tutorial 1: Computer Hardware is like a Human Body

The hardware of a computer involves many interrelated parts. Most hardware is useless without the connectivity to other hardware units. In order for a computer to operate and be useful to the user, each of the necessary pieces need to be present. This is also true of the human body. All of the parts of a computer and human body work together to help complete tasks. Through this tutorial I hope to explain computer hardware in a creative, easy to understand manner - by comparing each part to a physical part of you! For easy reference, the body parts discussed will appear peach, while the computer parts analogous to that body part will appear blue. Below is an illustration of the analogies to which I will refer:

Starting from head to toe: A human brain is like a computer's central processing unit (CPU). In order for both the human body and computer to perform tasks, they need a brain or CPU. The brain and CPU communicate with other parts of the computer. The body is rendered useless without a brain in the same sense that a computer without a CPU is an pile of hardware unable to work together. Many people commonly refer to the CPU as "the brain of the computer," and stop there. To continue the analogy, if the CPU is a brain then the clock speed of the CPU tells us how smart, fast, and efficient he or she is. Cache is comparable to human short-term memory. A small amount of information is kept there for fast retrieval, yet it is often information frequently accessed by your brain or computer. CPUs communicate through buses, which are like the nervous system. The wider the bus and faster its speed, the easier information flows in the same way that the nervous system provides channels for the brain to communicate to even the most remote parts of the human body. All of these hardware parts relate to the CPU, which is like a human brain.

If the CPU's cache is our short-term memory, then long-term memory is a computer's hard drive. A hard drive stores a computer's written data and information. It is considered long-term memory because it could not be as easily accessible as the CPU cache. The hard drive's access time is much like the process we undergo when we stop and think for a few moments in attempt to remember and reorganize our thoughts. When we access memories, the more disheveled our long-term memory, the longer it takes to retrieve. If a computer's data is highly fragmented, it may take longer for the computer to find and retrieve information off the hard drive (the longer the access time). Defragmentation reorganizes the placement of data written on the hard drive to make it easier to read and provide faster access times. Although Apple does not recommend manual defragmenting for Macs, it may prove useful tool for improved PC performance. Defragmenting could even reduce heat generated by the hard drive.

Another part of a human body analogous to a computer part is the eye. The eye provides human vision in the way a computer's video card creates images to display on the monitor. Resolution results in the clarity of images on the screen and pixels are the colored dots on the screen. Poor resolution for a computer is much like poor vision for a human, or vision that may call for a visit to the optometrist and glasses. Units of measurement like 20/20 vision and different aspect ratios (such as 4:3 or 16:9), provide more information on the type of eye or video card we have.

Structurally: The skeletal system is a computer's motherboard. Our skeleton holds all of our systems and organs together. Bones give us structure and provide a place for each part of our body. A computer's motherboard similarly provides a location to mount much of the computer's hardware.

Human skin is like a computer case. We have bones, organs, and a need for blood flow and skin contains each of these in a defined area. Skin protects us from infections and serves as a line of defense from the outside world. A computer also needs a defined area to keep and protect its hardware.

The digestive system of a human body takes food and converts it into useable energy. By digesting, our body is provided with nutrients alongside the storage of energy to be used later. This is why the digestive system is comparable to a computer's RAM, or random access memory. RAM stores the running data and software for our computer. Oftentimes more RAM can result in a performance boost to a lethargic computer. This is similar to the sense of hunger we feel when our body could use the energy food provides to continue to function.

Disclaimer: I am not suggesting that more food is always the answer - especially not junk food - even though sometimes I wish that were true.

Our sweat glands are like heat sinks. Heat sinks are found mounted on CPUs and sometimes video cards to keep the computer's temperature from getting too hot. The human body reacts to temperature changes by releasing sweat through glands found all over the body. The sweat then dries on the skin to cool down the internal body temperature. Without the ability to sweat or the placement of heat sinks, our bodies and computers would reach a temperature too high at which to operate.

I hope this analogy and illustration provided a better understanding of a computer's hardware and how it relates the the human body. Take note that this analogy could also be stretched and applied to many more computer processes to better understand how a computer works.