Networking twisted pair (TP) cables are types of cables that come in pairs that are twisted. The twisting is used to reduce crosstalk and electromagnetic interference. They are the most common types of ethernet, CCTV, and telephone networking cable. They are simple to configure and cheaper compared to other types of guided networking media.

Twisted pair cables are cheap and simple to configure and used. However, they have low data transmission speeds and suffer from electromagnetic interference. They are characterized by having pairs that are twisted and color-coded. Cables are also categorized depending on the speed and distance of data transmission.

A network interface card also known as a network controller or network adapter is a circuit board card fixed on a computer motherboard that enables connection to the network. Without a network card, either ethernet or wireless, a computer cannot connect to the internet. It acts as a physical connection (link/interface) between the computer & a properly terminated transmission cable.

The network interface card converts digital signal from the computer to electrical signal to be transmitted over the cable and vice versa when it reaches the destination computer. It operates at both the physical and data link layer of OSI layers. The types of network adaptors are Ethernet, Wireless, Fiber, and USB card. NIC is made up of components such as MAC address, connection port, processor, interface to the motherboard, and network drivers among others discussed in the article.

Floppy disks also known as diskettes are the old type of magnetic storage devices that were used in earlier computers. The initial floppy disk was just a disk without a cover. It was later covered to secure it in a floppy casing. Today’s computers don’t come with floppy drives but we have external drives connected via USB that can be used to read and write data. 

The main advantage of floppy disks was that they were cheap and portable. However, they had a small storage capacity compared to today’s storage devices. The 3 types of diskette were 8, 5.25, and the most common 3.5 inches disk. A floppy is made up of the components such as flexible magnetic material, a hub, write protect tab, a spring, a shutter, and an outer plastic casing.

The mouse and touchpad or trackpad are input devices used as pointing devices. Both devices achieve the same objectives of pointing, selecting, and moving the cursor among other functions of the pointing device. However, they have some differences in how they look and operate to achieve their function.

The main difference between a computer mouse and a touchpad is that users move the mouse over the flat surface while on the pad they move their finger over it. Most common trackpads used capacitive technology to sense the motion of the finger while the mouse is optical to sense the movement over the surface.