Culminating Blog Reflection

Looking back at previous blog posts, I realized how much knowledge I had gained from completing this project. I remember contacting Neil in the very beginning and warning him that I had next to no experience about computer hardware. Now, I'm educated in everything from file systems to hard drive types to network troubleshooting with a command line. I made most of my growth intellectually, which is exactly what I aimed for when I started this project. I had planned to pursue a career in Computer Science since my freshman year in high school, but I found that I actually knew little about it. My Capstone project not only gave me valuable experience with computer technology, but also practice with professionalism and collaboration.

I did encounter multiple hurdles in the beginning of the project- which I would eventually triumph over. I wrote my essay on how there is an unnecessary fear of violent video games and their effect on people- something I feel very strongly about. Since I was having trouble finding possible places to get a mentor at, I decided to partner with a classmate of mine. Together, we contacted numerous groups and businesses in the video game industry, but in the end we were either rejected or ignored. As the deadline for finding a mentor approached, I decided to look for a well rated computer repair shop on yelp as a last resort. Although this was far off my essay topic, I knew I could still get essential information for my career in the Computer Science industry. Today, I'm glad things worked out the way they did, and I'm delighted with the knowledge I gained in computer repair and servicing.

The next hurdle was actually meeting my mentor. Neil was revealed to be an extremely busy man- working from mornings to almost 11 o'clock at night- so we needed to find a way to get our hours for our project without disturbing Neil too much. We eventually decided to go through a set of tutorials that Neil gave to his employees-in-training, and this is what I spent a majority of my time working on for my project. I also felt it was best to get some hands-on experience, so my partner and I asked Neil if he would accept disassembling and reassembling our computers as hours, which he approved. This was definitely my favorite part of my Capstone Project- for the first time I honestly felt skilled handling and recognizing computer hardware, and I had fun! When I first saw the inside of a computer, all I saw was a mess of wires and circuit boards. After my capstone project, I was able to identify and understand every individual part, which is overwhelmingly satisfying and even exciting for me. Although I was presented with numerous roadblocks, I was able to both work around them, and gain a substantial amount of knowledge in my desired field of study.

I know that my project was not as "physical" as others- most of the time I was either sitting behind a computer or digging into one- and I know that the content I covered would be seen as boring to many. Personally, however, the whole experience was very interesting and enjoyable. I'm now confident that I will enjoy working in the Computer Science industry later on, and I'm excited to dive in and learn more about it!

Section 1.5- 1.10

I've done an additional two and a half hours of tutorials and note taking within the past two days. Section 1.5 went over a concept that I had never heard of before- RAID- or a Redundant Array of Independent Disks. The tutorial went over RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, and Nested RAID (or RAID 1+0). RAID is a method of storing data over multiple disks to gain redundancy (reliability in case of an error) and efficiency (writing data over multiple disks takes much less time than it takes to write a whole file on one disk). The tutorial went over 4 different RAID methods, and outlined their differences. 1.6 taught about CPU socket types, CPU characteristics, and methods of cooling the CPU. The first section went over the different sockets for AMD and Intel processors that have appeared over the years- and how to identify them on a motherboard. The next section then described how to rate the speed of a processor, explained cache memory levels, and then went over model-unique characteristics such as hyperthreading (a performance upgrade by Intel), virtualization support (to run multiple operating systems on one client), and integrated graphics processing units. The last part of 1.6 went over heat sinks, on-board fans, case fans, and liquid coolant to bring temperatures down inside of a computer. 1.7  briefly taught about different interfaces and case sockets- like USB ports or SATA ports for hard drives. 1.8 was about powering computers, and what happens when you plug in your computer to an outlet. Once you plug in your computer, the power supply within your computer then turns the alternating current from the outlet into direct current- which computer components can use. The power supply also is responsible for distributing the power correcting and regulating the Watt output. 1.9 taught about designing custom computer systems- and choosing appropriate components for certain situations. For example, an office employee who uses their computer mainly for document writing will need a computer build that is much less intensive than a video-editor- who may need specialized audio and video cards. Lastly, 1.10 discussed computer displays- and which might be best for certain situations. For example, a Plasma screen displays color accurately and has a good response time, but uses a lot of power and may not work well in high-altitude locations. LCD displays use less power, but since they always have a back-light, they don't display dark colors accurately. After going through Section 1 of my second group of tutorials, I've noticed a huge increase in my knowledge of computer hardware. Going back through the pictures I took of our desktop, not only was I able to identify what each component was but also how it functioned. I would say that this is the greatest sign of my overall improvement. With these additional two and a half hours, I now have a total of 27.5 hours.