Main Hardware Components:

a) Motherboard: It is board where major hardware parts are installed or It is a place where all
components gets hooked up.

b) Hard Drive: It is also called hard disk, place to store data.

Processor: Processor is the major component in computer, it performs calculation. It is called as

Central processing Unit (CPU).

c) RAM: Random Access Memory (RAM) where all running programs load temporarily.

d) Printer: It is output device and used to print image, map or document. There are various type of
printer available in market.

e) External Disk: These are portable storage space such as USB drive, DVD, CD or external disk.

f) Monitor: It is a screen for displaying output information. Nowadays there are various type of
monitor: CRT (cathode ray tube), LCD (Liquid Crystal Display), LED (Light Emitting Diodes)
and more. 2) Software:

Next component is GIS software which provide tools to run and edit spatial information. It helps

to query, edit, run and display GIS data. It uses RDBMS (Relational Database Management

System) to store the data. Few GIS software list: ArcGis, ArcView 3.2, QGIS, SAGA GIS.

Software Components:

a) GIS Tools: Key tools to support the browsing of the GIS data

b) RDBMS: Relational Database Management System to store GIS data. GIS Software retrieve
from RDBMS or insert data into RDBMS.

c) Query Tools: Tools that work with database management system for querying, insertion,
deletion and other SQL (Standard Query Language).

d) GUI: Graphical User Interface that helps user and Software to interact well.

Layout: Good layout window to design map.

3.) Data:

The most important and expensive component of the Geographic Information System is Data

which is generally known as fuel for GIS. GIS data is combination of graphic and tabular data.

Graphic can be vector or raster. Both type of data can be created in house using GIS software or

can be purchased. The process of creating the GIS data from the analog data or paper format is

called digitization. Digitization process involves registering of raster image using few GCP

(ground control point) or known coordinates. This process is widely known as rubber sheeting or

georefrencing. Polygon, lines and points are created by digitizing raster image. Raster image itself

can be registered with coordinates which is widely known as rectifying the image. Registered
image are mostly exported in TIFF format. As mentioned above, GIS data can be Raster or Vector.

GIS Data Types:

a)Raster: Raster image store information in a cell based manner. It can be aerial photo, satellite

image, Digital Elevation Model (DEM). Raster images normally store continuous data.

b) Vector: Vector data are discrete. It store information in x, y coordinate format. There are three

types of Vector data: Lines, Points and Area 4.)People:

People are user of Geographic Information System. They run the GIS software. Hardware and
software have seen tremendous development which made people easy to run the GIS software.