Hardware Fundamentals 101
Eight lessons on the physical components behind computers, data, and AI — explained in plain language for beginners.
Modern data and AI work depends on hardware — but hardware terminology can feel opaque. This path explains the key components in plain language: what they are, what they do, and how they relate to software, data, and AI. No technical background required.
- Difficulty: Beginner
- 8 lessons reading
- No prior knowledge required
- What hardware is and how it relates to software
- What a CPU does and what cores and clock speed mean
- How RAM works and why it differs from storage
- The difference between HDDs, SSDs, and NVMe
- What a GPU does and why it matters for AI
- What bandwidth and latency mean in networking
- How servers, virtual machines, and cloud computing work
- How hardware components support data and AI workloads
Understanding Computer Hardware
What hardware is, how it relates to software, and the main categories of components found in modern computers.
Read Lesson →CPU Fundamentals
What a CPU does, how cores and threads work, and why processing speed matters for data and software tasks.
Read Lesson →Memory (RAM)
What RAM is, how working memory affects performance, and how RAM differs from storage.
Read Lesson →Storage Systems
How HDDs, SSDs, and other storage technologies work, what capacity means, and why backup matters.
Read Lesson →GPU Fundamentals
What a GPU does, how parallel processing works, and why GPUs are frequently discussed in AI and data contexts.
Read Lesson →Networks and Connectivity
How computers connect to each other and the internet, what bandwidth and latency mean, and how local networks work.
Read Lesson →Servers and Cloud Computing
What servers are, how cloud computing works, what virtual machines are, and how data centres support modern infrastructure.
Read Lesson →Hardware for Data and AI
How CPU, GPU, RAM, storage, and networking work together to support analytics, databases, AI, and cloud workloads.
Read Lesson →