hardware
1. Computing the physical equipment used in a computer system, such as the central processing unit, peripheral devices, and memory
2. mechanical equipment, components, etc.
Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005
hardware
[′härd‚wer] (computer science)
The physical, tangible, and permanent components of a computer or a data-processing system.
(engineering)
Items made of metal, such as tools, fittings, fasteners, and appliances.
(ordnance)
Metal military items for use in combat.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
hardware
Metal products used in construction, such as: bolts, nails, screws (see rough hardware); fittings, such as catches, hinges, locks, etc. (see finish hardware); tools.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Architecture and Construction. Copyright © 2003 by McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
hardware
(hardware)The physical, touchable, material parts of a
computer or other system. The term is used to distinguish
these fixed parts of a system from the more changable
software or data components which it executes, stores, or
carries.
Computer hardware typically consists chiefly of electronic devices (CPU, memory, display) with some electromechanical parts (keyboard, printer, disk drives, tape drives, loudspeakers) for input, output, and storage, though completely non-electronic (mechanical, electromechanical, hydraulic, biological) computers have also been conceived of and built.
See also firmware, wetware.
Computer hardware typically consists chiefly of electronic devices (CPU, memory, display) with some electromechanical parts (keyboard, printer, disk drives, tape drives, loudspeakers) for input, output, and storage, though completely non-electronic (mechanical, electromechanical, hydraulic, biological) computers have also been conceived of and built.
See also firmware, wetware.
This article is provided by FOLDOC - Free Online Dictionary of Computing (foldoc.org)
hardware
Machinery and equipment (CPUs, drives, keyboards, printers, scanners, cables, etc.). In operation, a computer is both hardware and software, and one is useless without the other. The hardware design specifies the command format it can follow, and the software instructions in that format tell it what to do. See instruction set and computer.Hardware Is "Speed, Storage and Transmission"
The more memory (RAM) and storage (hard and solid state drives) a computer has, the more work it can do. The faster memory and drives transfer data and instructions to the CPU and the faster instructions are executed, the more work gets done in a given time frame. A hardware requirement is based on the quantity of data processed and the number of users or applications being served simultaneously. How much? How fast?
Software Is "Logic and Language"
Software deals with the details of an ever-changing business and must process transactions in a logical fashion. Languages are used to program the software. For the IT department, the "logic and language" involved in systems analysis and software programming is an order of magnitude more complicated than specifying a hardware storage and transmission requirement. See software, information system and wares.
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Copyright © 1981-2025 by The Computer Language Company Inc. All Rights reserved. THIS DEFINITION IS FOR PERSONAL USE ONLY. All other reproduction is strictly prohibited without permission from the publisher.
The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.
Hardware
various standardized metal products for industrial or general purposes.
Industrial hardware conventionally includes cold-rolled steel strip, steel wire and the products made from it (nails, cables, netting, metal mesh and cord for tires, and welding electrodes), fastenings (bolts, nuts, pins, screws, wood screws, lock washers, and cotter pins), rivets, railroad spikes, rail anchors, and telegraph and telephone brackets. General-purpose hardware includes steel balls (for ball mills), iron forks, milk pails, crosscut saws, ripsaws, frame saws, and circular saws, and various kinds of knives.
Hardware production is an independent area of ferrous metallurgy and metalworking.
REFERENCES
Metalloizdeliia promyshlennogo naznacheniia: Spravochnik. Edited by E. A. Iavnilovich. Moscow, 1966.Volkova, T. I. Tovarovedenie metallov, metallicheskikh izdelii i rud. Moscow, 1969.
E. M. STARIKOV
The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.