Overview
I/O refers to the signals or data received by the system (Input) and the signals or data sent from it (Output). It is the primary way humans and other machines interact with a computer.
I/O Management
The operating system manages I/O through Device Drivers, which provide a standardized interface for the OS to talk to diverse hardware.
Performance
I/O is typically much slower than CPU processing, leading to techniques like Buffering, Caching, and DMA to prevent the CPU from being stalled by slow I/O devices.