• What are peripheral devices?
• Input devices
• Output devices
• Input and output devices
• Storage devices
• Communication devices

We explain what peripheral devices are in computing and the characteristics of each type according to their function in the system.

Peripheral devices are not a permanent part of the system.

What are peripheral devices?

In computing, peripheral devices (also called just “peripherals”) are all those devices that connect to the CPU (Central Processing Unit o Central Processing Unit) to add functions or operations to the system, but they are not a permanent part of it.

Computer systems traditionally comprise three basic operating units, of which the input and output subsystem, the same one that manages the peripherals, is just one. The others are the memory central and CPU. Peripherals are part of the hardware.

Peripherals are classified according to their performance within the system, having as follows:

• Input peripherals, which introduce data To the system.
• Output peripherals, which extract data from the system.
• Input and output peripherals (i / o), when they fulfill both functions.
• Storage peripherals, when they serve as auxiliary to the system memory.
• Communications peripherals, when they allow the system to communicate with someone else or some computer network.

Input devices

The input devices communicate the user with the system.

These are those devices that only serve to enter data into the system, that is, to capture new information or communicate to Username with the system. Seen this way, they communicate the system with the outside world in different ways.

Examples of this type of device are:

• The keyboard. Thanks to which we can enter commands into the system or create documents that will reside within it.
• The mouse or mouse. Introduced from the invention of graphical work environments, it allows us to introduce movements to the system, which interprets them within an axis of possible actions such as commands and actions (clicks).
• The scanners. Designed to graphically reproduce documents, similar to a copier, they enter data into the system through graphical digitization of text, QR codes, etc.
• Video cameras. Devices that perceive the real world and record it in a video, allowing their entry into the system.
• The microphones. Similar to the previous case, but they record the sound of the real world. They can be incorporated into the same device.

Output devices

Output devices allow the system to output information.

These are those peripherals that allow information to be extracted from the system, that is, to receive data from the system in the real world, through our senses. It is the only way in which the computer system can issue information and communicate with the user.

Examples of this type of device are:

• The monitors. In these screens the system can graphically represent the operations that occur inside, and simulate various environments depending on the type of software in use. There we can read, watch videos or perceive other users who are connected with us.
• The speakers. Audio outputs only, which allow the system to emit different ranges of sounds, either its own or those of third parties: play music, alert the user to something, etc.
• Printers. These devices give the system information a physical presence, either by writing it on paper through various mechanisms (ink, laser, etc.), or even by sculpting it into matter (as is the case with 3D printers).

Input and output devices

The input and output devices are bi-directional.

The input and output devices are those that fulfill both the input and output functions, either simultaneously or at the user's choice. These are bidirectional devices for communication with the system.

Examples of this type of device are:

• The multifunctional printers. Capable not only for printing, but also for photocopying, scanning and reproduction, these artifacts serve as input or output as the user needs it.
• Touch screens. It is a specific type of monitor that supplants the keyboard through a screen that is sensitive to human touch, allowing the user to simultaneously output and input information.
• VR helmets. Devices that occupy the entire head of the user and that supplant the real world by a simulation offered in lenses in front of their eyes and speakers next to their ears, at the same time that it perceives the position of their head and feeds the system with that information, in an exercise of feedback simultaneous.

Storage devices

Storage devices can retain or move data.

These are devices with their own memory (or rather a storage space) of a specific capacity, in which the data contained in the system's memory can be copied, to be conserved, geographically displaced or simply backed up.

Examples of this type of external device are:

• The diskettes. Completely obsolete today, these small devices equipped with a magnetic tape had a minuscule capacity in comparison with today's computing needs, but they were the data backup and recovery mechanism available in the 1980s and early 1990s.
• The compact discs. The well-known CDs, so popular in the music industry, were nothing more than an information storage device of any kind, which worked on the basis of a polished surface on which a laser produced computer-coded micro-tears.
• The pendrives. The most recent version of the previous devices is the memory bar in which today we store and transport information, and which works based on microvariations of the electric current from the specialized port (USB) where they connect.
• The external disks. Similar to pendrives but larger and with greater storage capacity. They can store several terabytes of information.

Communication devices

Communications devices connect computers to various networks.

Communications or communication devices net are those that allow the computer connection of the system, both with other devices (cell phones, tablets, televisions, etc.), as well as with local computer networks or with the Internet.

Examples of this type of device are:

• Network cards. Chip platforms designed to manage an antenna sensitive to electromagnetic waves that carry information on a network, or an input port of a coaxial cable that fulfills the same role. However, these cards are usually not external devices, but one of their internal parts.
• Modems and routers. Autonomous devices or devices physically located within the system, which allow the encoding and decoding of the information packets that are transmitted through a computer network.
• Wireless devices. Antennas and devices that allow the system to perceive waves electromagnetic radio signals, which allows communication without the need for cables (Wireless or Wifi).