Hardware

Hardware is the physical components that make up a computer system.

Common hardware components

• CPU
• RAM
• Storage (HDD, SSD)
• Motherboard
• power supply
• GPU
• Peripherals (keyboard, mouse, monitor)
• Monitor
• network interface card (NIC)
• Cooling systems (fans, liquid cooling)

Running the software

The software is executed by the hardware. For example:

• the CPU decodes and runs the instructions in our programs
• it stores and fetches data from RAM
• it reads and writes data to storage devices
• it sends output to the monitor
• it receives input from peripherals like the keyboard and mouse
• it communicates with other computers over the network via the NIC
• (as well as various other things).