Everything is a computer
What is a computer?
At its most basic level, a computer is an electronic device capable of performing computations. That implies a set of hardware that enables computation: a processor and a random-access memory.
A PC has more than that. It has:
- a storage device
- a network interface
A lot of things are computers. Sometimes, even components we would typically not think of as a computer (well, at least not me) — a network interface card. A NIC has its own processor and RAM. It's a special-purpose computer designed to connect to a network of computers. It sends & inspects packets. If it receives a packet that is not meant for its host, it discards the packet. It doesn't interrupt its host. Imagine if it can't compute, and the host has to attend to every single packet. That would slow down the host.
What else is a computer?
- A Trusted Platform Module (TPM) is a computer
- A Baseboard Management Controller (BMC) is a computer
- A Power Distribution Unit (PDU) is a computer
- A router is a computer
- A switch is a computer
Computers with network interfaces are especially useful, as we can communicate with them remotely and instruct them to perform or display specific actions.