The interfaces 608 and 613 may afford both serial and parallel connectivity, the former typically being implemented according to the Universal Serial Bus (USB) standards and having corresponding USB connectors (not illustrated). Storage devices 609 are provided and typically include a hard disk drive (HDD) 610. Other devices such as a floppy disk drive and a magnetic tape drive (not illustrated) may also be used. An optical disk drive 612 is typically provided to act as a non-volatile source of data. Portable memory devices, such optical disks (eg: CD-ROM, DVD), USB-RAM, and floppy disks for example may then be used as appropriate sources of data to the system 600.

The components 605, to 613 of the computer module 601 typically communicate via an interconnected bus 604 and in a manner which results in a conventional mode of operation of the computer system 600 known to those in the relevant art. Examples of computers on which the described arrangements can be practised include IBM-PC's and compatibles, Sun Sparcstations, Apple Mac? or alike computer systems evolved therefrom.