Hardware
Motherboard Form Factors
Form Factor | Size (WxL) | Size (WxL) cm | Description |
---|---|---|---|
ATX | 12" x 9.6" | 30.5cm x 24.4cm | Standard size, widely used in mid to full-sized desktops. Supports multiple expansion slots. |
Micro-ATX (mATX) | 9.6" x 9.6" | 24.4cm x 24.4cm | A smaller version of ATX. Fewer expansion slots but maintains compatibility with ATX cases. |
Mini-ITX | 6.7" x 6.7" | 17cm x 17cm | Compact form factor, popular for small form factor (SFF) builds. Typically has one expansion slot. |
Extended ATX | 12" x 13" | 30.5cm x 33cm | Larger than standard ATX. Used for high-end systems with multiple GPUs or extensive I/O. |
Nano-ITX | 4.7" x 4.7" | 11.9cm x 11.9cm | Even smaller than Mini-ITX. Less common and used for specialized applications. |
Pico-ITX | 3.9" x 2.8" | 9.9cm x 7.1cm | One of the smallest form factors. Limited expansion and I/O capabilities. |
BTX | Varies | Varies | Designed as a successor to ATX but didn't gain widespread adoption. Focuses on improved cooling and layout. |
FlexATX | 9.0" x 7.5" | 22.9cm x 19.1cm | A variation of ATX with a smaller size. Less common. |
Mini-DTX | 8.0" x 6.7" | 20.3cm x 17cm | Slightly larger than Mini-ITX, allowing for an extra expansion slot. |
Network
Standard | Speed | Description |
---|---|---|
Ethernet (10BASE-T) | 10 Mbps | Early standard for wired LANs. |
Ethernet (100BASE-TX/Fast Ethernet) | 100 Mbps | Increased speed over original Ethernet. |
Gigabit Ethernet (1000BASE-T) | 1 Gbps | High-speed wired LANs, backbone for many networks. |
10 Gigabit Ethernet | 10 Gbps | Very high-speed wired LANs, used for data centers. |
Wi-Fi 802.11a | Up to 54 Mbps | Operates in 5 GHz band, less interference than 2.4 GHz. |
Wi-Fi 802.11b | Up to 11 Mbps | Early Wi-Fi standard, operates in 2.4 GHz band. |
Wi-Fi 802.11g | Up to 54 Mbps | Improved speed over 802.11b, operates in 2.4 GHz band. |
Wi-Fi 802.11n | Up to 600 Mbps | MIMO technology, operates in both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands. |
Wi-Fi 802.11ac (Wi-Fi 5) | Up to 3.5 Gbps | Faster speeds, operates mainly in 5 GHz band. |
Wi-Fi 802.11ax (Wi-Fi 6) | Up to 9.6 Gbps | Improved efficiency, better in crowded areas. |
LoRa | < 50 kbps | Long-range, low power consumption for IoT devices. |
Bluetooth 4.2 | Up to 1 Mbps | Low energy, suitable for many battery-powered devices. |
Bluetooth 5 | Up to 2 Mbps | Improved range and speed over Bluetooth 4.2. |
5G NR | Up to 20 Gbps | High-speed mobile network, low latency, supports IoT. |
4G LTE | Up to 1 Gbps | High-speed mobile network, widespread adoption. |
3G UMTS | Up to 384 kbps | Early mobile broadband. |
Zigbee | 250 kbps (2.4 GHz) | Low power, mesh networking for home automation. |
Z-Wave | 40-100 kbps | Low latency, mesh networking primarily for home automation. |
NFC | 424 kbps | Short-range, often used for contactless payments. |
Thread | 250 kbps | Low-power, mesh networking for home IoT. |
Storage
Floppy Disks
- 8-inch: 80 KB to 1.2 MB
- 5.25-inch: 110 KB to 1.2 MB
- 3.5-inch: 720 KB (DD) to 2.88 MB (ED)
Hard Disk Drives (HDDs)
- 1990s: 40 MB to 10 GB
- 2000s: 20 GB to 500 GB
- 2010s: 500 GB to 4 TB became common for consumer devices
- 2020s: 2 TB to 16 TB (and even larger capacities for enterprise solutions)
Solid-State Drives (SSDs)
- Late 2000s: 32 GB to 256 GB
- Early 2010s: 128 GB to 1 TB
- Late 2010s: 256 GB to 4 TB became more standard for consumer devices
- 2020s: 512 GB to 8 TB (with enterprise solutions offering even larger capacities)
Optical Discs
- CD-ROM: ~700 MB
- DVD: 4.7 GB (single layer) to 8.5 GB (dual layer)
- Blu-ray: 25 GB (single layer) to 50 GB (dual layer), with higher capacities like 100 GB for triple-layer discs
Flash Drives (USB Sticks)
- Early 2000s: 32 MB to 512 MB
- Late 2000s: 1 GB to 16 GB
- 2010s: 8 GB to 128 GB became common
- 2020s: 16 GB to 1 TB (though larger capacities like 2 TB exist, they're less common)
SD Cards
- SD: 1 MB to 2 GB
- SDHC: 4 GB to 32 GB
- SDXC: 64 GB to 2 TB
- SDUC: 2 TB to 128 TB (theoretical maximum)
Screen standards
Resolution
Standard Definitions (SD):
- 720 x 480 (DVD quality)
- 640 x 480 (VGA)
High Definitions (HD):
- 1280 x 720 (720p)
- 1920 x 1080 (1080p or Full HD)
Ultra High Definitions (UHD):
- 2560 x 1440 (2K or QHD/Quad HD)
- 3840 x 2160 (4K or UHD)
- 7680 x 4320 (8K or Super Hi-Vision)
Others:
- 1600 x 900 (HD+)
- 2048 x 1080 (DCI 2K)
- 4096 x 2160 (DCI 4K)
Mobile and Tablet Resolutions:
- 800 x 480 (WVGA)
- 1136 x 640 (iPhone 5/5S/5C)
- 1334 x 750 (iPhone 6/6S/7/8)
- 1920 x 1200 (WUXGA)
- 2048 x 1536 (iPad Retina)
- 2560 x 1600 (Nexus 10, QHD+)
Computer Monitors:
- 1024 x 768 (XGA)
- 1280 x 1024 (SXGA)
- 1440 x 900 (WXGA+)
- 1680 x 1050 (WSXGA+)
- 1920 x 1200 (WUXGA)
Pixels per Inch
To calculate Pixels per Inch:
For example, for a 5-inch screen with a resolution of 1920 x 1080:
So, the PPI would be approximately 440.58 for this screen.
Some other examples:
- 13.3" @ 1080p = 165.63 PPI
- 22" @ 1080p = 100.13 PPI
- 25" @ 1080p = 88.12 PPI
- 22" @ 1440p = 133.51 PPI
- 24" @ 1440p = 122.38 PPI
- 25" @ 1440p = 117.49 PPI
- 27" @ 1440p = 108.79 PPI
- 32" @ 1440p = 91.79 PPI
- 27" @ 4k = 163.18 PPI
- 36" @ 4k = 122.38 PPI
- 50" @ 4k = 88.12 PPI
Response Times
Display Monitors
- TN (Twisted Nematic) panels: 1ms - 5ms
- IPS (In-Plane Switching) panels: 4ms - 10ms
- OLED panels: Typically under 1ms
Web Servers
- Fast response: Under 200ms
- Average response: 200ms - 500ms
- Slow response: Over 500ms
Databases
- In-memory databases (like Redis): Sub-millisecond to a few milliseconds
- Traditional relational databases (like MySQL, PostgreSQL): Single-digit milliseconds for simple queries, but complex operations can take much longer
APIs (Application Programming Interfaces)
- Fast response: Under 100ms
- Average response: 100ms - 300ms
- Slow response: Over 300ms
Customer Support (for IT-related issues)
- Immediate/Urgent: Within 1 hour or less
- High priority: Within 4 hours
- Medium priority: Within 24 hours
- Low priority: Within 72 hours or more
Disk Access
- NVMe SSDs: Typically under 0.1ms
- SATA SSDs: Around 0.2ms - 0.5ms
- HDDs: 5ms - 10ms (for 7200 RPM drives), 15ms - 20ms (for 5400 RPM drives)
Network Latency
- Local Area Network (LAN): Under 1ms
- Wide Area Network (WAN) or Internet: Varies widely based on distance, routing, and other factors. Can range from a few milliseconds to several hundred milliseconds.
Cloud Services
- Content Delivery Networks (CDNs): Tens of milliseconds, depending on the user's proximity to the nearest edge location
- Cloud storage (like AWS S3, Google Cloud Storage): Typically tens to hundreds of milliseconds, depending on the operation and network conditions