The components inside the system unit can be divided into four distinct subunits: a switching power supply, the disk drives, the mother board, and the options adapter cards.
A typical system unit contains a single power supply unit that converts commercial power into the various levels required by the different devices in the system. The number and types of disk drives in the system vary according to the application the system is designed for. However, a single floppy disk drive unit, a single hard disk drive unit, and a single CD-ROM drive are typically installed to handle the system’s mass storage requirements.
System boards are also referred to as mother boards, or planar boards. Any number of plug-in options adapter cards may be installed to handle a wide array of PC peripheral equipment. Typical adapter cards installed in a system include a video adapter card and some sort of Input/Output (I/O) adapter card. Peripheral devices such as printers and mice normally connect to the system through the rear of the system unit. These cards plug into expansion slot connectors on the back of the mother board. In most desktop cases the keyboard also plugs into the back panel.
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