The manual is intended for students of the areas of training of the 09.04.00 "Informatics and Computer Engineering" (preparation of masters) studying the discipline "Computer Systems." The manual can also be used in the study of related disciplines in the preparation of bachelors, as part of course and diploma design. The tutorial gives a general description of the methods and means of simulation modeling, discusses abstract information converters, gives the functional foundations for building a single-processor computer. Information storage devices are considered, including those based on promising technologies. In the final section, parallel processing is considered as the main method for increasing the performance of computing systems.