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+/- Rw	These Letters Specify The Formats To Which A Dvd Burner Can Write. Four Formats Exist +r, -r, +rw, And –rw. Check The Specifications Of The Drive You Have Selected To Match With The Kind Of Blank Dvd Discs You Buy.
1.544-mbps	T1, Ds-1
1.544-mbs	Isdn Primary Rate (23 B Channels)
10/100 Ethernet Card	A Card That Is Installed In A Computer To Facilitate The Connection To An Ethernet Based Lan. It Will Support Up To 100 Megabits Per Second Of Data Transmitted Over A Utp Cable. This Is Also Called A Network Interface Card (nic).
10/100 Ethernet Network	An Ethernet Based Network That Supports Both 10baset And 100baset Speeds.
10/100/1000mbps Ethernet	Mbps Stands For “megabits Per Second” And Refers To The Speed Of Data Transmission Across A Network. 10/100/1000 Refers To The Amount Of Megabits Per Second That A Card Is Capable Of Transmitting Either 10, 100, Or 1000 Megabits Per Second, Allowing For Maximum Compatibility With All Networks. 1000 Mbps = 1gbps (gigabits Per Second), Which Is Why The Technology Is Referred To As “gigabit Ethernet.”
1000baset	Gigabit Ethernet - Star Topology - 1-gbs On Utp (category-5 Or Better) For 100 Meters Max.
100baset	Fast Ethernet - Star Topology - 100-mbs On Utp (category-5) For 100 Meters Max. Each Station Is Cabled To A Central Hub.
100-mbps	Fast Ethernet (100baset).
10base2	Thin Ethernet, 'cheaper Net' - Bus Topology - 10-mbs On Thin Coax For 200 Meters Max. This Is The Familiar Coax Ethernet Where Each Network Card Has A 't' Connector And A Coax Cable Attaches To Each Arm Of The 't'.
10base5	Thick Ethernet - Bus Topology - 10-mbs On Thick Coax (about 3/4' And Usually Bright Orange) For 500 Meters Max. Stations Are Added Using A Vampire Tap (which Pierces The Cable To Make A Connection) Above The Ceiling, And An Aui Drop Cable Connects It To The 15-pin D Aui Connector On The Interface Board In The Station.
10baset	Utp Ethernet - Star Topology - 10-mbs On Utp (unshielded Twisted Pair, Category-3 Or Better) For 100 Meters Max. Each Station Is Cabled To A Central Hub.
10-mbps - Ethernet	10base5 (thick Coax) 10base2 (thin Coax) 10baset (utp).
110 Punch-down Impact Tool	The Proper Tool Used To Install Wires On The Back Of The Rj45 Jack Module. They Are Available From Many Sources On The Internet With Prices As Low As "15.00. 110 Is The Type Of Blade Used For The Rj45 Jack Module Which Is A 110 Type Connecting Block. (see Figure 1)
128-kbs	Isdn Basic Rate (2 B Channels)
16-mbps	16-megabit Token Ring.
1-gbps	Gigabit Ethernet
2.048-mbps	E1 (european T1)
300-bps	Modem - The Original Hayes Modem Speed.
33.6-kbs	Modem 33.6 - Theoretical Maximum For Modems.
3d	3d Is Generally What Is Used To Refer To The Capabilities Of The Video Card. Today's Video Cards Use A Variety Of Instructions Built Into The Video Card Itself (not Software) To Achieve More Realistic Graphics In Computer Games That Appear To Have Depth. Most Of Today's Video Cards Have These Capabilities, But There Are Incredibly Large Differences Between Specific Cards. That's Why You Need To Read The Video Card Recommendations. These 3d Capabilities Are Generally Used For Games, But High-end Video Cards Are Used For Creating 3d Models And 3d Animation. Many Of These Cards Cost Well Over "1,000 And Are Not Intended For Home Use.
3d Audio	Again, This Is For Gaming More Than Anything Else. Sound Cards Such As The Live! And Diamond Mx300 Use Techniques That I Do Not Fully Understand To Make Your Speakers Present Sound That Sounds Like It Is Coming From Behind Or Beside You Instead Of In Front Of You Where Your Speakers Are. The True Effect Is Best With A Set Of Four Speakers.
3dnow!	Amd's Set Of Additional Instructions That They Integrated Into Their Cpus. Similar To Mmx And Sse/kni, These Instructions Are Intended To Speed Up Cpu Performance. These Only Appear In Amd Cpus.
42-kbs	Modem 56k V.90 - About The Fastest You're Going To Actually Get
45-mbps	T3, Ds-3
4-mbps	4-megabit Token Ring
5.1 Vs 6.1 Vs 7.1	Refers To The Amount Of Speakers In A Surround-sound System. The “.1” Refers To The Presence Of A Subwoofer; So A 6.1 System Contains 6 Speakers Placed Around The Room And A Subwoofer To Reproduce Bass Frequencies. The Entire Audigy 2 Zs Line Supports A 7.1 Setup.
5.1 Vs. 6.1 Vs. 7.1	Refers To The Amount Of Speakers In A Surround-sound System. The “.1” Refers To The Presence Of A Subwoofer; So A 6.1 System Contains 6 Speakers Placed Around The Room And A Subwoofer To Reproduce Bass Frequencies. The Entire Audigy 2 Zs Line Supports A 7.1 Setup For Your System.
56-kbs	Dedicated Data Line - Frame Relay, Etc.
64-kbs	Ds-0, Digital Data Service
A (serial Advanced Technology Attachment Or Sata)	A Standard Used To Connect Hard Drives To Computers. Sata Is Based On Serial Signaling Technology Rather Than Ide Technology That Uses Parallel Signaling.
Access Time	The Length Of Time Required For A Binary Word In The Memory Section Of A Computer To Be Read By The Central Processing Unit (cpu), Or The Time To Read Data From A Peripheral Data Storage Area.
Accumulator	An Interface Register (memory) In The Arithmetic Logic Unit (alu), That Stores Interim Arithmetic Information For Future Processing. The Accumulator Is Interface Between The Alu And Other Sections Of The Computer.
Acpi	An Advanced Power And Configuration Interface. Latest Standards Allows The Pc Or Laptop To Manage Its Power Needs Efficiently. Such Benefits Can Be Powering Devices Fully On A Need To Know Basis, And Lowering Sore Power Until Needed.
Actuator Arm	The Arm In A Disk Drive That Holds All Of The Read And Write Heads, And Moves Them In Unison.
Adapter Card	A Circuit Board Plugged Into A Slot In The Motherboard To Add Features Or Peripherals To A System. Also Called An Expansion Card.
Adder	The Digital Logic Circuits In The Alu Section Of A Computer Which Implements The Adding Process (sum And Carry) Of Two Or More Binary Numbers.
Address	The Location Of Digital Information In The Memory Unit Of A Computer, Or A Digital Code That Designates This Location.
Address Lines	The Lines In A Bus Or Cable That Carry Address Information Rather Than Data.
Adsl	Stands For Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line, A Broadband Connection Used Over Isdn And Dial Up Connections, Similar To Cable Modems.
Agp	Accelerated Graphics Port. The Standard Interface A Video Card Uses To Connect To The Motherboard. A Motherboard Offering An Agp Port Will Accommodate All Of Today’s Newest 3d Graphics Cards. A Number In Front Of The Letters Denotes Increased Speed; For Example, “8x Agp” Means The Video Card Supports Agp Speeds Up To Eight Times Its Original Specification.
Ait	Advanced Intelligent Tape, This A Sony Magnetic Tape Using The 8mm Cassette Standard, These Cassettes Can Hold Up To 100gb.
Algorithm	The Sequence Of Operations That Defines A Solution To A Problem In Logic.
Alphanumeric	The Term That Defines The Letters Of The Alphabet (a To Z) And The Ten Numerals (0 To 9). The Term Is Generally Used To Mean Any Text Data.
American Standard Code For Information Interchange (ascii)	A 7-bit Binary Code, Providing 128 Different Binary Combinations For Standard American Keyboards. Ascii Is Used To Encode All 26 Letters Of The Alphabet (upper And Lower Case), All Ten Decimal Digits (0 To 9), Punctuation Marks, Standard Graphics, And Special Control Codes Into Machine Language. Although Ascii Has 128 Different Codes, Only 7 Bits Are Needed For Each Different Code. Ascii Characters Are Generally Stored Inside 8-bit Bytes, Providing Room For The 128 Ascii Codes Plus Another 128 Codes, Totaling 256 Characters. This 8-bit Code Is Referred To As Extended Ascii.
Amr	Audio Modem Riser And Cnr (communications Network Riser) Are Slots On Motherboards That Can Accommodate Low Cost Sound Cards, Network Cards, Etc. So Far There Isn't Really Much Available For These Slots, And They're Not Likely To Be Used Much In The Future Either.
Analog	Continuously Changing, Rather Than Jumping From One Numerical Value To The Next. See Digital.
Analog Computer	A Non-digital System That Manipulates Linear, Or Continually Changing Data.
And	All Inputs Must Be In A '1' State To Produce A '1' State Output.
And Gate	See Logic Gates
Apache	A Freely Available Web Server That Is Distributed Under An “open Source” License.
Appletalk	Apple - Peer-to-peer - Proprietary, Running Over Serial Cable. A Remarkably Slow Network, But Completely 'plug And Play'. Macintosh Users Boasted Of The Ease Of Installation And Use, Comparing Appletalk To Pc Networks Running At 100 Times The Speed.
Application	A Computer Program To Perform A Specific Task, As Opposed To The Operating System Program That Runs The Computer Itself.
Arithmetic Logic Unit (alu)	The Section Of A Computer That Contains A Large Amount Of Logic Circuitry And Performs The Four Basic Arithmetic Functions (addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, And Division). Larger Units Contain Circuitry For Higher Mathe Quadratic Equations, Etc.
Ascii Data (ascii File)	Data, Or The File Containing The Data, That Is Constructed With Letters Of The Alphabet, Numerals, Punctuation Marks, And The Standard Ascii Formatting Commands, Such As 'carriage Return' Or 'line Feed'. These Terms Refer To Text Information.
Asp (active Server Pages)	A Simple Programming Language Used Exculsively With Windows
Asp.net	Originally Called Asp+. The Next Generation Of Microsoft's Active Server Pages (asp).
Aspi	Advanced Scsi Programming Interface. The Standard Protocol Used By Most Programs To Access A Scsi Device.
Assembler	A Software Program That Converts (translates) Each Symbolic Instruction Written In Assembly Language Into The Machine Language (binary Code) Of A Computer.
Assembly Language	A Programming Language (source Code) That Consists Of A Group Of Coded Letters Or Labels, Called Mnemonics. A Mnemonic Is A Memory Assist To Help Recall Data. Each Mnemonic Represents A Single Instruction That Is Translated Into The Binary Code Of Machine Language. Mnemonics Are Easier To Use Than Machine Language Instructions. For Example, The Mnemonic 'mul' Tells The Computer To 'multiply'.
Asynchronous	A Term That Describes A Non-clocked, Or Free-running Digital Signal That Triggers Successive Computer Instructions; The Completion Of One Instruction Triggers The Next. The Speed Of Operation Depends Only On The Speed Of The Signal Generated Through The Circuit Or Network. In Contrast With Synchronous Operation, The Computer Clock Controls The Speed Of The Signals In The System.
At/atx	These Are Two Standard Types Of Motherboards, Cases, And Power Supplies. An Atx Motherboard Generally Must Be Used In An Atx Case With An Atx Power Supply. When Upgrading Your Computer, You Need To Know What Type You Have And What Type You Will Be Getting. If They're Not Compatible They Won't Work. Atx Is Becoming The Norm, Particularly For Pentium Ii, Iii, And Celeron Computers. Retail Computers Like Gateway, Dell, Packard Bell, And Compaq Often Have Their Own Proprietary Standards. These Often Cause Problems And Prevent Users From Upgrading Their Motherboards And Other Components.
Ata	Advanced Technology Attachment. Interface That Allows Hard Drives To Connect To The Motherboard. Revisions Of Ata Include Ata/66, Ata/100, And Ata/133, All Offering Increased Speeds. Also Known As Parallel Ata Or Ide, This Interface Is Beginning To Be Phased Out With The Introduction Of Sata Hard Drives. Optical Drives Still Require An Ide Attachment.
Atapi	A Packet Attachment Interface Which Is Used To Extend The Eide Interface Used With Cd-roms And Similar Devices.
Athlon	A High-speed Cpu Made By Amd.
Audigy 2 Zs Vs. Zs Platinum Vs. Zs Platinum Pro	The Different Levels Of Audigy 2 Zs Include Different Features. The Zs Platinum Includes A “breakout Box” That Handles Many Different Types Of Sound Recording Inputs And Outputs. The Platinum Pro Places This Same Box Outside The Case And Includes A Remote. Each Step Up The Ladder Includes More Bundled Software.
Auto Sensing Network Switch	A Piece Of Network Hardware That Acts As A Central Connection Point In A Residential Or Business Lan. It Is Preferable To Use A Switch Versus A Hub, Because It Increases Capacity And Decreases Network Loading By Dividing A Lan Into Different Segments, Which Don't Compete With Each Other For Network Transmission Capacity. A Switch Acts As A Selective Bridge That Automatically Forwards Traffic From One Segment To Another, Without Interference. In Other Words, A Switch Works Better Than A Hub.
Average Seek Time	The Average Amount Of Time It Takes A Disk Drive To Locate A Specific Track And Sector.
Ax/bx/cx	Method Of Referring To The Write/rewrite/read Speeds Of A Cd-r/w Drive. For Example, A Measurement Of 52x/32x/52x Means That Drive Can Write To Cd-r Discs At 52x, Re-write To Cd-r/w Discs At 32x, And Read Data From Cds At 52x. For Reference, 1x Is Equivalent To 150 Kilobytes Per Second, Which Places 52x Speeds At Around 7,800 Kilobytes Per Second, Or 7.8 Megabytes Per Second. High-grade Cd-r Media, A Fast Drive, And A Great Software Package Are Your Keys To Burning Cds Quickly. The Same “x” Numbers Hold True For Dvd +/- Rw Drives (those That Burn Dvds). A 4x Dvd +/- Rw Drive Burns Dvds At A Maximum Of 5.54 Megabytes Per Second.
Backplane	A Part Of A Computer Into Which The System's Pc Boards Are Plugged To Provide A Common Voltage Supply, Reference, And System Bus For All Computer Sections. A Backplane Is Often Called A Motherboard.
Backup	A Copy Of A Disk Or Selected Files Made For Safekeeping, Usually To Removable Media.
Bandwidth	Network Transmission Capacity - Bandwidth Is Usually Specified In Megabits Per Second (mbps) Or Kilobits Per Second (kbps) For Slow Connections And Bits Per Second (bps) For Really, Really Slow Connections.
Base Memory	The First 1 Mb Of System Ram.
Basic	The Acronym For Beginner's All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code. Basic Is An Easy To Use Programming Language, Originally Intended For Educational Purposes; It Is Available For Personal Computers In Varying Degrees Of Complexity.
Basic Input / Output System	The Hard-wired Instructions That The Cpu Uses To Boot Up And To Control I/o Devices. Usually Abbreviated As Bios.
Batch File	A File With An Extension Of .bat, Containing A List Of Commands Or Program Routines That The Computer Will Execute In Sequence.
Baud Rate	A Measure Of Speed (up To 2400 Bits Per Second) Of Transferring Information Between Two Or More Sections Of A Computer System, Or Between Two Or More Computers.
Baudot Code	A 5-bit Digital Code Having 32 Possible Combinations Of Binary '0s' And '1s'; For Teletype (telex) Communications Systems. Benchmark - The Specifications For Measuring The Characteristics Of A Computer System, Or Parts Of The System, Under Clearly-defined Conditions.
Bell 103	300 Baud - At&t Bell Labs Spec.
Bell 212a	1200 Bps - At&t Bell Labs Spec.
Benchmark	A Standard Test Or Measurement Used To Compare The Performance Of Similar Components Or Systems.
Binary	A Number System Using Just Two Digits.
Binary Coded Decimal (bcd)	A Coding System In Which Each Decimal System Numeral (0 To 9) Is Represented By A 4-digit (4-bit) Binary Code.
Binary Digit (bit)	The Term 'bit' Is The Contraction Of Binary Digit And Is Part Of A Binary Word That Consists Of Combinations Of '0s' And/or '1s'. There Are Only Two Numerals In Binary Arithmetic (base 2) And Is The Basis For Binary Code (machine Language), The Language Of The Computer. A 'bit' Has The Same Significance In Binary Arithmetic That A Decimal Digit Has In The More Familiar Decimal (base 10) Arithmetic System.
Binary System (base 2)	A Numbering System Consisting Of Only Two Digits (0 And 1), As Contrasted With A Decimal System That Uses Ten Digits (0 To 9). In Electronics, 'binary' And 'two-state' Are Synonymous.
Bios (Basic Input Output System)	A Set Of Instructions Stored On A Rom Chip That Provides An Interface For A Computer's Hardware And Software.
Bistable Multivibrator	A Digital Circuit Having Two Stable Electrical States. The Output Signal Of This Circuit Will Remain In Either State (0 Or 1) Indefinitely Until An External Input Signal Causes The Circuit To Switch To Its Other Output State. This Circuit Is Generally Called A Flip-flop.
Bit	The Smallest Unit Of Data Possible, It's Values Are 1 & 0 (binary) They Are Stored In Capacitors On Memory Chips Using Electrical Currents. These Are Often Abbreviated Ie 5kbps = 5,000 Bits Per Second.
Black Box	A Term That Refers To An Electronic Circuit Or System Within An Enclosure Without Necessarily Providing Details Of Its Internal Elements. The Black Box Concept Often Offers A Useful Approach In The Design Of A System Or In The Interconnect Between Two Circuits Or Systems.
Blog	Short For Weblog. A Personal Journal That Is Frequently Updated And Intended For General Public Consumption.
Boolean Algebra	Named After George Boole, A 19th Century English Mathematician, Who First Formulated Theorems That Included A Mathematical Analysis Of The Laws Of Human Logic. It Uses Algebraic-like Notation To Describe The Interaction Of Variables Having Only Two States - 'true' And 'false'. In Electronics, The States Are Often Referred To As '1' And '0' Or, 'high' And 'low'. The Terms 'high' And 'low' Refer To The Voltage Levels Of The Input And Output Signals Of A Logic Gate (logic Circuit). Boolean Algebra Is Used In The Design Of Logic Circuits In Computers And Similar Digital Systems. The Logic Gates Called And, Or, And Not Are The Three Basic Logic Gates In Boolean Algebra. Nand, Nor, Xor And Others Are Combinations Of The Three Basic Logic Gate Operations.
Boot Up	To Start Or Restart A Computer. From The Phrase 'picking Yourself Up By The Bootstraps.'
Bootstrap (boot)	A Software Program For Initiating The Operation Of A Computer. The Function Of The Program Is To Set Up The Input And Output (i/o) Devices And Load The Operating System From A Disk, Cassette, Or Built-in Read Only Memory (rom).
Breakpoint	Location Of A Place In A Program Where Program Execution Can Be Stopped To Permit A Visual Test, Printing, Or Other Performance Analyses.
Broadband	Transmission By Modulated Carrier - Data Over Tv Cable Is Broadband, Dsl Is Not. In Cable Transmission A High Frequency Carrier Signal Is Modulated By Data. In Dsl Data Signals Are Sent As Changes In Voltage On The Wire. Dsl Should Be Called 'high Data Rate', Not Broadband.
Browser	The Software You Use To Access The Internet. Examples Include Internet Explorer And Mozilla Firefox.
Bubble Memory	A High-density Memory Medium Upon Which A Magnetic Film Is Grown On A Gadolinium-gallium Garnet Substrate. A Small Permanent Magnet Is Mounted Inside Its Package, Perpendicular To The Surface Of The Substrate. When An External Magnetic Field Is Created With An External Coil, Magnetic 'bubble' Domains Are Formed On The Internal Magnetic Film Which Represent Patterns Of '1s'. The Absence Of Magnetic Bubbles Will Represent Patterns Of '0s'.
Buffer	1. A Digital Logic Circuit Inserted Between Other Digital Circuits To Reduce Circuit Interaction And/or To Provide Amplification Of A Digital Signal. 2. An Intermediate Storage Circuit Used To Compensate For A Difference In Baud Rate Or, To Compensate For Different Times Of Occurrence Of Different Events Or Instructions. 3. A Circuit For Converting Input Or Output Voltages For Signal Level Compatibility When Transmitting Data From One Device To Another.
Bundled	A Term Describing A Computer System That Includes All Necessary Hardware And Software That Will Allow The System To Operate As Advertised.
Burner (cd-rom)	This Is A Device That Allows You To Save Data To A Cd-rom. Special Cd-rs Are Required For This. They Also Allow You To Make Backup Copies Of Your Cds. There Is A Large Variety Of Types, Including Cd-r Or Cd-r+rw. The Latter Has Support For Rewritable Cds Which Can Be Erased And Rewritten To, While Cd-r Only Drives Can Only Write To Their Cds Once. Like Cd-rom Drives, Burners Can Be Ide Or Scsi. Scsi Is Definitely Preferable When It Comes To Burners, But A Scsi Card Is Required. Burners Are Generally Quite Picky And Must Have A Constant Stream Of Data To Work Properly. If That Stream Is Interrupted, The Burn Will Fail. This Is One Reason Why Scsi Burners Tend To Be Better; Scsi Devices Can Deliver A More Reliable Stream Of Data Than Ide, While Other Applications Are Being Run As Well.
Burn-proof / Underun	This Technology Is Included With Some Cd Writers, The Technology Controls The Data Stream Going To The Writer And Avoids Errors And Underun Problems Which On Writers With Out Burn- Proof Will Be Useless And Wont Read In Other Drives Basically Another Coaster. Very Good If You Can Afford The Extra Do It, It Will Save You Discs And Time In The Long Run. Also Depending On The Size Of The Buffer You Can To A Task Or Two At The Same Time As Burning.
Bus	A Signal Path That Serves Multiple Devices Or Multiple Points On A Circuit Board.
Bus (buss)	A Series Of Transmission Lines Connecting The Various Elements Of A Computer For Distribution Of Data, Control Signals, Addresses, And/or Voltage Supply(s) Within A Computer. See System Bus.
Bus Controller	A Circuit That Generates Commands And Control Signals For Sequencing And Timing Of The Data Transmitted On A Bus.
Bus Or System Bus	This Is Just A Collection Of Wires That Transmit Data From One Component To Another.
Bus Speed	This Is A Speed Measured In Megahertz That Determines How Fast The Memory And Cpu Run. The Only 'official' Bus Speeds Supported By Intel Are 66 And 100. However, Numerous Others Exist (75, 83, 103, 112, 124, 133, 153, Etc.). High-quality Memory Is Required For The Higher Bus Speeds. The Bus Speeds Usually Determine The Speed Of The Pci And Agp Buses As Well The Default Pci Bus Speed Is 33 And The Default Agp Bus Speed Is 66 Mhz.
Byte	8 Bits Used To Make Up One Byte, This Is Where It Can Be 'tricky' As The Binary System Is Used Which Makes A Kilobyte = 1,024 Byte. A Megabyte (mb) Is 1,048,576 Bytes. This Mistake Is Often Noted By Newer Users When More Ram Or Hard Drives Are Added As 128mb Of Ram Will Be 131, Kilobytes As 1mb Is 1,048,576. It Doesn't Make A Real Difference To Us The Users But Is Worth Knowing.
C++	An Object-oriented Programming (oop) Language That Is Used To Create Large-scale Applications.
Cache	It's Said Just Like Cash, But Has An Entirely Different Meaning. Cache Memory Is The Fastest Type Of Ram Available And Is Used In Cpus, Hard Drives, And A Variety Of Other Components. As With Ram, The More Cache, The Better, But Cpu And Hard Drive Cache Generally Cannot Be Upgraded. Pentium Ii Cpus Have 512 Kilobytes Of Cache, And The High End Ibm 9lzx Scsi Hard Drives Have A Large 4 Megabytes Cache. Like Ram, Data Generally Passes Through Cache Memory Before Going To The Component That Is Going To Use It (the Cpu). It Holds The Data For Quick Access As Well. The Speed Of The Cache Is Also Very Important. Pentium Ii Cpus Have 512 K Cache, And Celeron Cpus Have 128 K Of Cache, But The Celeron Cache Runs At Full Cpu Speed While The Pentium Ii's Cache Runs At 1/2 Cpu Speed. Thus, There Is A Tradeoff That Makes The Celeron Run About As Fast As The Pentium Ii Cpu.
Case	The Computer's Case Is Nothing More Than Its Shell Or A Skeleton. The Case Performs The Function Of Holding The Computer Together, Cooling (with Fans), And Grounding The Computer Components Through Its Steel. Larger Cases With A Lot Of Expansion Bays Are Preferable. This Way You Can Have A Lot Of Room To Work In Your Case And Be Able To Upgrade With More Hard Drives, Dvd Drives, Burners, Etc. Supermicro's Sc750-a Server Tower Is An Example Of A Great Case. It Has A Total Of 8 External Bays, Plenty Of Room To Work, And A Great Cooling Setup With Space For A Lot Of Fans. Tower Cases Are Generally Preferred Over Desktop Cases Because They Have More Room For Expansion And Better Cooling Capabilities. A Case Can Be At Or Atx, Differing In The Way The Holes Are Laid Out To Connect The Motherboard To And The Type Of Power Supply If It Comes With One. Cases Generally Come With Power Supplies, But It Is Often Advisable To Get Them Separately So That You Can Get High Quality Parts For Both.
Category 5 Cable (cat 5)	A Cable That Uses, Solid Core Telephone Wires, Versus Stranded, And Includes 4 Pairs (8 Wires) Of Unshielded Twisted Wire. This Is Currently The Most Popular Cable Used In A 10/100 Ethernet Based Network. Rj45 Connectors And Jack Modules Are Used On This Cable.
Category 5e Cable (cat 5e)	Similar To Cat 5 Cable, But Is Enhanced To Support Speeds Of Up To 1000 Megabits Per Second.
Category-3, Category-4, Category-5	Grades Of Utp (unshielded Twisted Pair) Cable Used For Telecommunications And Networking.
Cd	Compact Disc. A Thin Platter That Has Computer Data Or Music Recorded On It In Optical Form. See Cd-rom.
Cd Burner	A Type Of Cd-rom Device That Can Burn/write Data And Music Onto Writable Cds.
Cd-e Or Cd R/W (Compact Disk, Erasable, Read/write Memory)	Capable Of Storing Up To 650 Megabytes Of Digital Data. It Uses A Magneto-optical Technology That Combines The Storage Capacity And Reliability Of Optical Disks And The Erasability Of Magnetic Media.
Cd-r	A Cd Which Can Be Written On By The User. A Cd-rw Can Be Written, Erased And Re-written.
Cd-r Or Worm (Compact Disk, Write Once, Read Many Memory)	A Blank Disk That Can Be Programmed Once, Permanently Storing Up To 650 Megabytes Of Digital Data. Once Programmed, It Has Essentially The Same Features As A Cd-rom.
Cd-rom	Compact Disc Read-only Memory. The Term Is Often Used For The Cd Platters As Well As For The Drive Which Reads Them.
Cd-rom (Compact Disc Read-only Memory)	An Optical Data Storage Medium Using Disks Similar To Audio Cds. Cd-roms Have A Maximum Storage Capacity Of 700 Mb (megabytes). Some Types Can Be Written To Multiple Times (cd-rw). Cd-roms Are Used In Cd-rom Players On Computers.
Cd-rom Burner	See Burner.
Cd-rom Drive	Reads Compact Disks In The Form Of Audio Or Cd-rom. A Cd-rom Holds Data (perhaps Audio As Well). Newer Cd-rom Drives Will Read Cd-r (writable Cds) And Cd-rw (rewritable Cds). The Speed Of A Cd-rom Drive Is Not Usually Very Important Except When Installing Programs, Running Games That Require Use Of The Cd-rom Drive, Or 'burning' Cds With A Cd-rom Burner - A Cd-rom Drive That Is Able To Write To Special Cds Called Cd-rs. Visit The Cd-rom Drive Page.
Celeron	A Low-cost Pentium Without Cache.
Central Processing Unit (cpu)	The Section(s) In Which All The Processing Circuits Of A Computer Are Located. It Incorporates A Control Unit And An Alu.
Cga	Color Graphics Array. The First Video Standard For Color Monitors And Video Adapters.
Cgi (common Gateway Interface)	A Protocol That Interfaces Application Software With A Web Server (or Other Type Of Server).
Character Generator	A Circuit That Accepts Digital Data And Forms The Corresponding Letters And Numerals For A Monitor Or Printer.
Chip	A Slang Term For An Integrated Circuit.
Chips/chipsets	These Are The Little Pieces Of Silicon That Hold Computer Information And Instructions. Just About Any Computer Component Has At Least One Chipset On It. Motherboard Chipsets Control The Basic Ins/and Outs Of The Computer. Video Card Chipsets Control The Rendering Of 3d Graphics And The Output Of Images To Your Monitor. The Cpu Is Just A Very Important Chip. Common Motherboard Chipsets Include The Bx, I810, I820, And Many Others.
Chipset	The Chip Or Chips On A Motherboard Containing Various Functions Supporting The Cpu.
Circuit	Any Combination Of Wiring And Components That Provides A Path For The Flow Of Electricity.
Circuit Board	A Thin Board, Usually Fiberglass, On Which Components Are Mounted. Also Called A Printed Circuit Board (or Pcb) Because The Connections Between The Components Are Printed Onto The Board.
Cl2	Cas Level 2. The Cas Level Refers To Your Memory’s Latency, The Time It Takes For Your Memory To Respond When Given Instructions. Lower Numbers Are Better; Cl2 Is Faster Memory Than Cl2.5, Which Is In Turn Faster Than Memory Rated At Cl3.
Client	Any Computer On A Lan, Other Than The Host Computer Or A Server. A Client Is The Remote Computer That Shares The Satellite Connection With The Host Computer.
Clock	A Digital Pulse Generator That Controls The Timing Of A Computer And, To A Great Extent, Determines The Speed (number Of Instructions Per Second) Capability Of The Computer. Generally, It Is Located In The Cpu.
Cluster	The Smallest Amount Of Space That A File Can Occupy On A Disc, With Hard Discs, The Larger The Size Of The Disc The Larger The Cluster Will Be.
Cmc (Common Messaging Calls)	An Xapia Specification For An E-mail Api. It Currently Supports X.400 And Smtp/ Mime E-mail Protocols. There Are Two Varieties Simple Cmc, For E-mail Enabled Applications, And Full Cmc For Entire E-mail Systems. Full Cmc Has Been Selected For Lotus Notes 4.0 And Novell's Groupwise Xtd. 'the World Against Microsoft' - See Mapi.
Cmos	A Type Of Chip Able To Operate With A Tiny Trickle Of Electricity From A Battery. The Term Also Refers To The Contents Of A Cmos Chip On The Motherboard, Which Holds Information About The System And Its Peripherals Even While The System Is Turned Off. Cmos Stands For Complementary Metal Oxide Substrate.
Cmos Logic	A Cmos Technology Monolithic Ic 'logic Family' Characterized By Low Power Dissipation Per Gate, High Chip Density, And Relatively High Propagation Delay Per Gate Compared With Bipolar Ic Logic Families.
Cnr	See Amr.
Colocation (or Co-location) Hosting	Hosting Where You Own The Hardware, But You Rent Space In A Data Center (or Colocation Facility) For Internet Connectivity And Networking.
Color Depth	Refers To The Number Of Colors Displayed To The Monitor By The Video Card. The More Colors Used, The More Realistic The Display. With Photographs, Changing The Computer's Color Depth May Or May Not Help If The Picture Is Limited To A Small Amount Of Colors. Common Color Depths Are 256 Colors, 16-bit (65,000 Colors), 24-bit, And 32-bit (millions Of Colors). 24-bit And 32-bit Are Difficult To Differentiate Between, But 16-bit And Particularly 256 Colors Will Show A Noticeable Lack Of Quality Or Realism.
Com1	The Name Of The First Serial Port In A System. Additional Ports Are Labeled Com2, Com3 And Com4.
Communication	The Exchange Of Information Between Two Points.
Compiler	A Software Program That Converts (translates) A Complete Software Program Written In High-level Language Source Code (such As Pascal Or Fortran) Into Machine Language. The Entire Source Code Is Edited, Compiled, And Run At One Time As Compared To An Interpreter That Is Run One Line At A Time.
Complement	Reversal Of Bit Values '1s' Become '0s' And '0s' Become '1s'.
Compression	This Is Reducing The Size Of A File So It Can Be Stored In A Smaller Space. A Common Compression Utility In Winzip.
Computer	An Electronic Device For The Storage And Processing Of Information.
Concurrency	The Independent Execution Of Two Or More Sequences Of Events That Are Either Occurring, Or Appearing To Occur Simultaneously.
Configuration	The Way The Parts Of A System Or Network Are Arranged Or Connected, Or The Act Of Arranging Them.
Conflict	See Resource Conflict.
Console	The Term Referring To A Combination Of A Display And Keyboard.
Control Bus	A Set Of Transmission Lines Whose Function Is To Carry Synchronization Signals And Control Data As Part Of The System Bus.
Control Panel	The Software That Lets You Access And Manage Your Hosting Account. This Is Where You Create Mailboxes, Set Up Your Message Forwarding, Upload And Edit Files, Etc.
Control Unit (cu)	Part Of The Cpu Containing The Clock, Program Counter And Instruction Register. The Control Unit Also Generates Control Signals And Manages The Control Bus.
Controller	A Circuit That Manages The Operation Of Some Part Of A Computer And Its Communication With The Rest Of The Computer.
Co-processor	See Math Co-processor.
Counter	A Circuit Whose Output(s) Change State In A Specified Sequence On Receiving Appropriate Input Signals. The Circuit Can Provide A Required Output Pulse After Receiving A Specified Number Of Input Pulses.
Country Code Tlds (cctlds)	The Unique Tld (or Domain Suffix/extension) For Individual Countries, Which Is Usually A Two-letter Abbreviation For The Country. Find Your Country Code.
Cpu (central Processing Unit)	Also Known As The Processor. This Microchip Controls And Performs The Execution Of Computer Instructions. They Come In Many Different Types And Speeds. The Speed Is Most Commonly Measured In Gigahertz (ghz).
Crash	The Term That Describes A Situation When A Part Of, Or The Complete Computer, Stops Working Because Of A Hardware And/or Software Malfunction. A Head-crash In A Disk System Refers To The Accidental Impact Of The Read/write Head On The Surface Of The Disk.
Crossover Cable	This Is Also Called A 'crossed Cable.' A Cat 5 Or 5e Cable That Is Used To Connect One Personal Computer (pc) To Another Pc Or One Switch To Another Switch.
Cybersquatter	The Illegal Act Of Buying Or Registering Domain Names With Intent To Profit From Another Company’s Existing Trademark Or Image.
Cylinder	The Same-numbered Tracks Of All The Platters In A Drive Make Up A Cylinder. Cylinder 1 Is All Track 1s, Cylinder 2 Is All Track 2s, Etc.
Daemon	An Application Or Utility That Runs In The Background On The Server.
Daisy-wheel Printer	An Impact Printer That Uses A Print Element Shaped Like A Flat Disk Or Large Thimble To Form The Alphanumerics And Punctuation Marks That Are Part Of Its Print Element. Unlike Dot-matrix, Ink-jet, And Laser Printers, Daisy-wheel Printers Can Not Print Graphics. See Letter-quality Printer.
Dat	Stands For Digital Audio Tape, This Is A Magnetic Tape Using 4mm Cartridges, Often Used In Dat Drives For Backups. Didn't Take Of As Planned Used For Backup Tape Drives And Was Mainly Used By Musicians And Sound Studios. There Are 4 Medias Dds-1 - 4 Which Range At 2gb, 4gb, 12gb, 20gb.
Data	Information, Especially Information In A Form That Can Be Used By A Computer. It Can Include Text, Numbers, Sounds And Pictures. A Single Piece Of Information Is Called A Datum.
Data Base	A Collection Of Structured Information For Creating A Specific Format Out Of Some, Or All, Of The Collected Data.
Data Processing	Using A Computer To Manage Or Store Information.
Data Rate	This Is The Amount Of Data A Hard Disc Or Device Is Capable Of Saving / Transferring Per Second.
Data-base Management System (dbms)	A Software Program That Controls And Supervises The Updating, Editing, And Execution Of Items From Multiple Files In A Data Base Environment.
Ddr	This Is A New Type Of Ram Called Double Data Rate Ram. It Is Used In Some Of The Newer Video Cards Such As The Nvidia Geforce Cards.
Debug	The Process Of Detecting, Locating, And Correcting A Problem In A Software Program Or Hardware.
Decimal	Based On Ten Parts.
Decnet	Digital Equipment Corporation - Proprietary - For Dec Minicomputers, Going Extinct Real Fast.
Decrement	The Reduction Of The Numerical Contents Of A Counter. A Decrement Of 1 Is Usually Assumed, Unless Otherwise Specified. It Is The Complementary Operation Of Increment.
Dedicated Hosting	The Exclusive Use Of A Dedicated Appliance/server By Just One Person Or Business (as Opposed To Shared Hosting).
Device	In A Computer System, This Term Refers To A Unit Of Processing Equipment External To The Cpu. It Is Sometimes Synonymous With The Term Peripheral.
Digit	A Single Unit Or Numeral In A Counting System.
Digital	Made Of Or Using Distinct Digits Or Numerical Values, Rather Than Continuously Variable Values. Most Often Used To Refer To Information Existing In Electronic Form As Ones And Zeroes.
Digital Camera	This Is A Camera That Does Not Use Film, But Instead Stored The Photographs In A Digital Format In Memory On The Camera. These Images Can Then Be Downloaded To A Computer.
Dimm	This Is A Type Of Memory Connection That Uses 168 Pins. The Most Common Type Of Dimm Is Sdram (see It For More Information). Dimm Stands For Dual Inline Memory Module. Dimms Are The Succesor To Simms (single ...). The Most Common Type Of Simm Is Edo And Is Used Primarily In Older Pentium Computers.
Din	A Type Of Connector For Keyboards And Mice, Named For The German Group Originating The Standard, Deutsche Industrie Norm.
Diode-transistor Logic (dtl)	One Of The First Bipolar Monolithic Ic Families Of Logic Gates. A Diode In An Ic Logic Gate Performs The Required Logic With A Transistor Amplifying And Inverting The Output. The Dtl Family Has Been Made Obsolete By The Transistor-transistor Logic (ttl) Family.
Dip	Dual Inline Package. The Configuration Of Two Rows Of Pins Used By Many Ics. This Configuration Is Also Used To Combine Several Switches Into A Single Component.
Direct Address	A Memory Accessing Mode In Which The Contents Of The Accessed Location Is Called The Operand.
Direct Memory Access (dma)	A Method Of Transferring Blocks Of Data Directly Between An External Device And The Computer System Memory Without The Need For Intervention By The Cpu. This Method Significantly Speeds Up The Data Transfer Rate, Improving System Efficiency.
Disc Or Disk (diskette)	A Thin, Flexible, Plastic, Circular Memory Medium, Coated On Both Sides With Metal Oxide And Enclosed In A Protective Jacket. Data Is Stored Magnetically In Binary Digital Form On Its Surface(s). See Floppy Disk.
Disk	A Thin Platter Coated With A Magnetic Material, And Used In A Disk Drive To Store Information. Also Can Refer To The Drive Itself.
Disk Drive	The Mechanical/electronic Section That Can Accept And Operate A Compatible Floppy Or Hard Disk. It May Include Several Motors (for Disk Rotation And Reading/writing Head Positioning), Position Sensors, And Control Circuits.
Disk Emulator	See Ram Disk.
Disk Operating System (dos)	A Software Program On A Disk Which Coordinates The Operation, Transfer Of Data, Supervision, And Control Of A Computer. This Software Program Must First Be Booted Into The Working Memory Of The Computer From The Disk Before It Can Operate.
Disk Storage	A Method Of Storing Software Programs And Data On A Rotating Circular Disk (either A Floppy Or Hard Disk) Coated With Magnetic Material, Such As Iron Oxide. Data Is Written (stored) And Read (retrieved) By Movable Read/write Heads Positioned Over Data Tracks On The Surface Of The Disk. Addressable Portions Of The Disk Can Be Selected For Read Or Write Operations.
Diskette	The Removable Storage Platter Used In A Floppy Disk Drive.
Display	A Peripheral Device Serving As A Computer Readout, Such As A Cathode-ray Tube (crt), Flat-panel (generally For Laptop Computers), Or Other Readout Devices. The Screen Can Be Amber, Green, Or Full-color Display. Also Called A Monitor.
Dlink	Dlink - Peer-to-peer - Netbios. One Of Many Small Netbios Small Business Networks Running On Proprietary Network Cards (2-mbs). Dlink Now Manufactures A Line Of Standard Network Hardware.
Dma	Stands For Direct Memory Access, This Is The Process That Sis The Retrieval Of Data From A Hard Drive Which Writes It Into The Memory With Out Requiring The Cpu This Frees Up Tasks And Resources.
Documentation	Information That Explains How To Use Computer Hardware Or Software. It Is Usually Provided As A Manual Or Stored On A Disk.
Domain Name	An Internet Address As Recognized By A Web Browser. When Combined With A Web Hosting Service To Create A Website, The Domain Name Is Integrated Into A Url To Become That Website’s Name (as Opposed To Its Ip Address, Which Serves More As A Location). See Url For More Info.
Domain Name System (dns)	A Hierarchical Naming System That Maintains A Relationship Between Ip Addresses And Domain Names By “translating” Ip Addresses Into The More Readable Domain Names That Users Enter Into Their Browsers.
Domain Name Transfer	The Process(es) That Determines How Control Of A Domain Name May Be Transferred To A New Owner.
Domain Parking	A Convenient Way To Hold Or “park” Domain Name(s) That Aren’t Being Actively Used. Parking That Uses A Placeholder Featuring Ads Is Called “monetized” Domain Parking.
Dos	Disk Operating System. This Is The Operating System Used By The Original Ibm Pc And Many Since.
Dot-matrix Printer	An Impact Printer With A Computer-driven, Multi-pin Print Element (print-head). It Create Images By Imprinting A Series Of Tiny Dots On A Paper To Print A Wide Variety Of Character Styles And/or Finely Detailed Graphics. Generally, These Printers Are Extremely Fast And Are Used For Draft-quality Documents And Precise Graphics.
Dots Per Inch (dpi)	The Measurement Of Density On Dot-matrix Printers Or Other Dot-matrix Devices. As The Dpi Increases, Image Clarity Increases.
Down Time	A Period Of Time During Which A Computer Is Not Functioning. It Is Inoperable Because Of Temporary Or Permanent Failure Of Hardware Or Software, Or When Routine Hardware Or Software Maintenance Procedures Are Indicated.
Download	The Transfer Of Files Or Data From A Source Of Data To A Remote Computer. See Upload.
Dpi	Dots Per Inch Is A Measurement Used Both On Monitors And Printers. The Measurements Are Done Different Ways Though. The Higher Numbers On Printers Generally Represent More Detailed Print Quality (i.e. 1440x1440 Would Be Very High Resolution Printing). The Lower Numbers On Monitors Represent Clearer Picture Quality (i.e. .22 Dpi Would Be A Very High Quality Monitor).
Dram	A Common And Cheapest Form Of Memory, Which Uses A Capacitor And Transistor To Store One Bit Of Data, It Is Similar To Ram And Is Volatile So Once Power Is Removed It Loses Its Memory.
Drive	A Data Storage Device Connected To A Computer. Examples Are A Hard Drive, Floppy Drive Or Tape Drive.
Drive Parameters	The Values For The Number Of Cylinders, Heads And Sectors In A Drive.
Driver	Also Device Driver. A File Containing The Information An Operating System Or Application Needs To Interact With A Particular Hardware Device. These Files Will Have An Extension Of .drv (or .sys In Dos)..
Drnet	Digital Research - Peer-to-peer. Networking For Concurrent Dos And Other Dr Multiuser Systems.
Dsu, Dsu/csu	Digital Services Unit / Channel Services Unit A Unit That Provides Connection Between A Computer Or Computer Network And Digital Communications Lines. The Dsu Side Talks To The Computer, The Csu Side Talks To The Line.
Dual Heads	Technology That Allows Video Output To Be Split Among Two Monitors. Each Monitor Can Display The Same Image Or The Image Can Be Split Across Both Monitors. You Can Also Have Different Programs Open On Each Monitor.
Dun	Dial-up Networking - A Microsoft Method For Connecting To A Remote System By Modem. Supports Slip, Ppp And X.25 Connections.
Dvd	Digital Versatile Disc, But Now Also Referred To As Digital Video Disc Following Popular Use In Storing Movies. There Are Several Different Formats At Present Ranging From 2.6gb - 17gb Once A Agreed Format Has Been Settled Prices Of Media And Recording Devices Will Fall To Realistic Levels.
Dvd-rom Drive	Similar To A Cd-rom Drive, A Dvd Drive Reads Cds, Cd-roms, And The Newer Dvds. The Acronym Dvd Originally Had No Meaning, But Has Since Been Referred To As Digital Video Disk And Digital Versatile Disk. Dvd's Advantage Over Cds Is That It Holds Many Times The Capacity Of A Single Cd. Dvds Can Also Hold Full-length Movies And Can Be Used Double-sided For Extra Storage. Currently Very Few Software Titles Are Available Only On Dvd-rom, But Are Also Available On Cd-rom, Usually Requiring Multiple Cds. Dvd Videos Are Only Available On Dvd Though. Dvd Also Requires And Mpeg Decoder Card To View The Videos. Software Dvd Decoding Can Be Done On Very Fast Machines, But Hardware Decoding (simply Meaning A Piece Of Hardware Is Added To The Computer Along With The Drive - A Decoder Card) Will Work Much Better. Some More Discussion Of This Appears On The Cd-rom Drive Page.
Dvd-rw	A Dvd Technology That Allows The User To Write To The Disk.
Dynamic Random Access Memory (dram)	A Type Of Semiconductor Memory In Which The Presence Or Absence Of A Capacitive Charge In Each Element Of The Memory Represents The State Of The Bit (1 Or 0). This Charge Must Be Periodically Recharged (refreshed) To Maintain The Desired Binary State Of The Element.
Ecommerce (or E-commerce)	A Term Meaning Electronic Shopping Or Commerce Via The Internet.
Editor	A Program For Preparing And/or Modifying A Source Program Or Other File By Addition, Deletion, Or Change.
Ega	Extended Graphics Array. A Video Standard Allowing Up To 64 Colors.
Electro-magnet	A Magnet Consisting Of A Coil Of Wire Around A Metal Core. It Is Magnetic Only When A Current Flows Through The Wire Coil.
Email Or (e-mail)	Electronic Mail. A Means Of Communication That Transfers Electronic Messages From An Outbox On One Computer To The Inbox Of Another.
Emitter-coupled Logic (ecl)	A Bipolar Monolithic Ic Logic Gate Family Characterized By Very High Speed Operation And Relatively High Power Dissipation Compared With Other Monolithic Ic Logic Families.
Emulation	The Process Of Imitation (simulation) Of One Computer System By Another. The Imitating Program, Or Device (emulator), Accepts The Same Data, Executes The Same Programs, And Achieves The Same Results.
Epp/ecp	Enhanced Parallel Port / Extended Capabilities, Uses Improved Parallel Port To Give Rates Of Over 2mb/s As Well As Bi Directional Duties. Bi-directional Is Mainly Referred To In Printing, Basically Allows The Printer To Communicate With The Port Backwards And Forwards To Inform Of Errors And Such Like.
Eprom (erasable Programmable Read-only Memory)	A General Term For A Non-volatile, Semiconductor Memory That Can Be Programmed, Erased, And Reprogrammed Many Times Without Damage To The Device. More Specific Types Of Eproms Include Eaprom (electrically Alterable Prom), Eeprom (electrically Erasable Prom) And Uv-eprom (ultraviolet Erasable Prom). Either Memory Is Suitable For Prototype And Computer Development, Or To Change Memory Data When New Conditions Dictate The Change.
E-Sata (external-serial Advanced Technology Attachment)	Allows You To Connect Sata Drives Externally While Still Getting The Same Transfer Speeds As Internal Sata Drives.
Ethernet	A Method Used To Access A Local Area Network (lan). Token Ring Is Another Method, But Not Widely Used. Ethernet Can Be Used On A Shared Network, Where All Clients Share The Bandwidth Or On A Switched Network Where Each Sender And Receiver Pair Have The Full Bandwidth. Ethernet Uses A Technology That Broadcasts Each Frame Onto A Medium Such As Wire Or Fiber. All Computers, On The Network, Are Listening. The Computer With The Matching Destination Address, Accepts The Frame And Checks For Errors. Ethernet Was Invented In 1973 By Robert Metcalfe And David Boggs Of Xerox. It Ran At 2.93 Megabits Per Second (mbps).
Ethernet Cable	Any Cable Used To Connect Computers, Hubs, Switches, Routers, Etc. The Most Popular, For Home Use, Is Cat 5 Or Cat 5e.
Ethertalk	Apple - Peer-to-peer - Proprietary. A Variety Of Appletalk That Supports Ethernet Transmission, Thus Able To Provide Reasonable Performance.
Event	An Occurrence During The Execution Of A Task, Such As The Completion Of An Input/output Operation.
Exchange Server	Microsoft Proprietary E-mail System - A Key Part Of Microsoft's 'back Office' Server Suite. It Is A Large, Very Complex E-mail System Most People Wish They Had Never Gotten Involved With. Runs Only On Windows Nt/2000 Servers.
Execute	The Command To Run A Specified Instruction Or Software Program.
Expanded Memory System	The Combination Of A Memory Manager Program And Plug-in Expanded Memory Cards. Abbreviated Ems, Which Also Stands For Expanded Memory Standard.
Expansion Card	A Circuit Board That Plugs Into A Motherboard, Used To Add New Peripherals To A Computer System. Also Called An Adapter Card.
Expansion Slot	A Socket On The Motherboard That Accepts An Expansion Card.
Expired Domain	A Domain On Which The Paid-for Period Has Ended Without The Owner Submitting Payment For The Next Term (although There Is A Grace Period Allowing The Owner To Renew For A Short Time Before The Name Expires). Upon Expiration, The Name Is Once More Placed Into The Pool Of Available Names.
Extended Binary Coded Decimal Interchange Code (ebcdic)	An 8-bit Code Developed By Ibm For Their Mainframe Computers, Providing 256 Bit-pattern Equivalents Of Standard Keyboard Symbols.
Extended Memory	System Ram Above 1mb.
Extended Memory Specification	The Rules For Using An Extended Memory Manager To Access Ram Above 1mb. The Specification Is Known As Xms And Was Developed Jointly By Several Companies.
Factory-type Format	The Same As A Low-level Format
Fan-in	The Maximum Number Of Output Terminals From Other Logic Gates That Can Be Connected To An Input Terminal Of A Specified Logic Gate.
Fan-out	The Maximum Number Of Input Terminals That Can Be Connected To The Output Terminal Of A Specified Logic Gate.
Fast Ethernet	An Ethernet Network That Will Support Up To 100 Megabits Per Second Of Data Transfer.
Fat	File Allocation Table, These Are Held On Floppy's Or Hard Disks And Communicate With The Operating System Where The Data Is Stored. Using 16 Bit Addresses (fat 16) It Can Only Support Disks Up To 2gb, The Fat32 Can Handle Sizes From 2gb - 2tb (terabytes)
Fat 16	The Original Fat Version Allowing 1016 Clusters Per Partition, With File Names Limited To 8 Characters With A 3-character Extension.
Fat 32	A Later Version Allowing 255-character File Names And 1028 Clusters Per Partition.
Favicon	An Icon Associated With A Particular Website Or Webpage. Short For “favorites Icon” And Less Commonly Known As A Website Icon Or Bookmark Icon. This Is The Icon You See In The Url Address Bar Displayed By Most Web Browsers.
Fddi	Fiber Distributed Data Interface - An Ansi Standard For Data Transmission Over Optical Fiber. Cost Of The Network Cards Has Restricted Fddi To Critical Backbone Spans.
Fedora	A Linux Based Operating System That Is One Of The Free Projects That Were Derived From The Redhat Operating System.
Fetch	The Command To Obtain An Instruction From A Stored Program.
File	A Collection Of Related Data Treated As A Single Unit. In A Computer, A File Can Exist On A Disk, Magnetic Tape, Or As An Accumulation Of Information In Memory. Firmware - A Combination Of A Software Program In Hardware, Such As A Read-only Memory (rom), Or A Disk That Has Files Or Software Programs Written On Its Surface.
File Transfer Protocol (ftp)	A Method For Transferring Data On The Internet, Ftp Servers Allow A User To Connect To Allocated File Storage Locations That Can Be Accessed Remotely From Other Computers.
Firewall	A Protective Program Or Appliance That Controls And Filters All Incoming And Outgoing Traffic On A Server Or Network.
Firewire	This Is A Very Quick Interface For Use With External Devices. Sometimes Also Known As Ieee 1394 Or Ilink, This Format Can Support Up To 63 Devices And Speeds Of Around 400mbps. It Is More Expensive Than Usb, And At The Moment Used Primarily For Digital Cameras And Pda's Etc And Where A High Transfer Rate Is Beneficial.
Firmware	Computer Instructions Which Are Permanently Imbedded In The Circuitry, Usually In A Rom Chip.
First In, First Out (fifo)	The Term Refers To The Sequence Of Entering And Then Retrieving Data From A Data Storage Section Of A Computer. The First Data Entered Is The First Data Retrieved.
Fixed Disk	Another Name For A Hard Drive.
Fixed Media	The Platters Of A Hard Drive Which, Unlike A Floppy Diskette, Cannot Be Removed.
Flag	An Indicator Of A Specific Condition That Informs A Section Of A Program That This Condition Has Already Occurred And Is Identified By The Presence Or Absence Of The Flag. A Flag Can Be Implemented In Software And/or Hardware.
Flash Bios	A Rom Bios Chip Whose Content Can Be Changed By The System Without Removing The Chip. The Same Type Of Chip Used In An Adapter Card Or Peripheral Is Called Flash Rom.
Flash Memory (flexible Architecture For Shared Memory)	Non-volatile Semiconductor Memory With Access Time Approximately That Of Eeprom Or Eaprom And Density Similar To That Of An Eprom. Flash Memory Is Generally Limited To About 100,000 Erase Cycles. Usually Packaged In Pcmcia For Plugging Into A Laptop Computer Card Slot.
Flip-flop Circuit	A Logic Circuit Having Two Stable Output States. It Has The Ability To Change From One State To The Other When An Input Pulse Is Applied In A Specified Manner. It Is Also Called A Bistable Multivibrator.
Floating-point Arithmetic	A Method In Which The Decimal Point Location Of A Number In An Arithmetic Operation Is Determined By The Number's Exponent Value In Base 10. All Exponents Are Equalized Prior To The Operation To Set A Decimal Point In Its Proper Location In The Final Computation. Floating-point Arithmetic Extends A Computer's Mathematical Capability Beyond The Limit Imposed By A Fixed Word Length And Contributes To Easier Programming.
Floppy Disk (diskette)	A Relatively Inexpensive, Flexible, Plastic Disk For Storing Digital Data On Both Sides Of Its Magnetic Surface. The Amount Of Data Depends On The Diameter Of The Disk And The Technology For Recording The Data. See Disk Storage.
Floppy Diskette	The Removable Storage Platter Of A Floppy Disk Drive.
Floppy Drive	A Disk Drive With A Removable Storage Platter.
Flow Chart	A Symbolic Representation Of The Processing Steps Performed By A Software Program Or A Graphic Sequence Of Logic Operations Implemented In Hardware. A Flow Chart Helps To Visualize The Procedure(s) Necessary To Design A Software Program Or A Final Hardware System.
Font	A Style Of Print Typeface Having A Specific Form And Size.
Format	The Dos Command That Creates The Vbr, Fat, Root Directory And Data Areas For Each Partition. Also, Either Of Two Processes Preparing The Platter Surfaces For Data Storage. See High Level Format And Low Level Format.
Fortran	An Orderly, Structured Arrangement Of Data Elements (bits, Bytes, And/or Fields) That Is Necessary To Produce A Larger Entity, Such As - A Science-oriented High-level Software Language, Derived From The Contraction Of The Terms Formula Translator.
Forwarding	The Process Of Automatically Redirecting Email (email Forwarding) Or Web Traffic (url Forwarding) From One Location To Another.
Freebsd	An Advanced Operating System Derived From Bsd, The Version Of Unix Developed At The University Of California, Berkeley (free-berkley-standard-distribution)
Frequency Shift Keying (fsk)	A Technique Of Digitally Keying (modulating) An Audio Tone (carrier Wave) So That A Commercial Telephone Line Can Carry Digital Data.
Frontpage	A Microsoft Web Development Application
Full Duplex	A Data Transmission Mode That Provides Simultaneous And Independent Transmission And Reception. A Conventional Telephone Communication Is An Example Of This Technique. See Half Duplex.
Gate	See Logic Gate.
Gate Array	A Group Of Standard Logic Gates That Can Be Interconnected Into A Complete Circuit Or System. Also Called Logic Array.
Gateway	See Payment Gateway.
Gb	Gigabytes. A Measure Of A Hard Drive’s Capacity To Store Data. 1 Gb Equals Roughly 1,000 Megabytes.
General Purpose Interface Bus (gpib)	A Bus Specification Standard (ieee 488) For Controlling Peripheral Devices.
Generic Tlds (gtlds)	Basic, Commonly Used Tlds That Can Be Registered By Any Individual, No Matter What Type Of Business (or Lack Thereof) That Individual May Have.
Giga	A Prefix Meaning One Billion. When Measuring Computer Data, It Means 230 Or 1,073,741,824, Which Is The Power Of 2 Closest To One Billion.
Gigabyte	The Standard Unit Of Measurement For Hard Disk Sizes, A Gigabyte (gb) Is Roughly 1000 Megabytes. (mb)
Gigo (garbage In, Garbage Out)	The Term Describing The Output Of A Computer Whose Operation Or Accuracy Is Faulty.
Graphics	Schematic Drawings, Pictures, Line Drawings, And/or Diagrams Generated By Data Entered Into A Computer Via A Keyboard Or A Data Base.
Gui	Pronounced Goo-ee. A Graphical (rather Then Purely Textual) User Interface To A Computer.
Half Duplex, Full Duplex	Bidirectional Transmission Modes. Half Duplex Allows Transmission In Only One Direction At A Time (like In Wwii Aviation Movies Where The Pilot Says 'over' To Indicate The Other Guy Can Talk Now). Full Duplex Allows Both To Talk At The Same Time, As In A Telephone Conversation.
Half-duplex	A Communications Mode That Allows Transmission And Reception Of Digital Data Between Computers, But Not Simultaneously.
Handshaking	A Communications Synchronizing Technique Carried Out Before And After Any Transfer Of Digital Data. It Consists Of A Sequence Of Signals For Non-clocked (asynchronous) Systems In Which A Reply Is Needed To Complete A Data Transfer Operation.
Hard Copy	A Printed Copy Of A File, Message, Or Graphic Of The Visual Display On The Screen Of A Computer Monitor.
Hard Disk Drive (hdd)	The Mechanism That Controls The Positioning, Reading, And Writing Of The Hard Disk, Which Furnishes The Largest Amount Of Data Storage For The Pc Or Server.
Hard Drive	The Hard Drive Stores All The Computer's Information And Retains The Information When The Computer Is Turned Off. A Fast Hard Drive Is Needed To Supply The Cpu With Data As Fast As It Needs It. Hard Drive Sizes Are Typically Measured In Gigabytes. The Larger The Number, The More Applications And Games You Can Have Installed. A Hard Drive Can Be Ide Or Scsi. See Ide Or Scsi For More Information. For More Information, Go To My Hard Drive Page.
Hard-disk Drive	A Sealed Unit Containing High-density, High-speed, Rigid Metal Disks, And Recording Heads To Store Digital Data. It Reads And Writes Data Faster Than Floppy Disks.
Hardware	Tangible, Physical Objects Like Disks, Disk Drives, Display Screens, Keyboards, Printers, Boards, And Chips. This Also Includes Appliances Like Firewalls And Routers.
Hard-wired	Unable To Change. Usually Refers To Instructions In A Rom (read Only Memory) Chip Or To Logic Created With Physical Connections Rather Than Software.
Head	A Part Mounted Very Close To The Surface Of A Disk Platter To Read Or Write Data.
Heat Spreader	A Piece Of Hardware That Attaches To A Memory Module, Helping To Dissipate Heat.
Heatsink	A Cooling Device Which Attaches To A Cpu To Conduct Away And Disperse The Heat Generated By The Cpu.
Hexadecimal	Made Up Of 16 Parts. The Hexadecimal Numbering System Uses The Numbers 0 Through 9 Plus Letters A Through F To Represent The 16 Digits.
High-level Format	The Process Of Creating The Fat And Other Partition Structures, Done By The Format Command.
High-level Language (hll)	A Programming Language (source Code) Consisting Of A Unique Group Of Symbols And Command Statements Representing A Series Of Machine Operations. A Compiler Or Interpreter Translates (converts) A Hll Into Machine Language. Basic, Fortran, Pascal, Algol, And Ada Are Some Examples Of High-level Languages.
Hold Status	A Specific Domain Status That Prevents The Name From Being Modified Or Deleted. Typically This Occurs Toward The End)of The Expiration Grace Period.
Host Computer	The Computer That Is Connected Directly To Your Satellite Itu And Iru Modems (also Called Adapters).
Hosting	See Web Hosting.
Https	A Secure, Ssl-enabled Version Of Http.
Hypertext Markup Language (html)	The Language Used To Write Websites And Website Pages And Determine How They Will Appear On Screen. Html-format Pages Typically Appear With The File Extension .html Or .htm.
Hypertext Transfer Protocol (http)	The Protocol That Dictates The Transfer Of Information On The Internet. A Technical Term For Defining How Data Is Transferred.
I/o	Input/output. The Flow Of Data To And From The Cpu. Also Refers To The Peripherals Sending The Data, And The Pathways They Use.
I/o Port	A Hex Address Used By A Device To Send And Receive Data.
Ic	Integrated Circuit. A Part Containing Within Itself Many Other Circuits.
Ide	Ide Stands For Integrated/intelligent Drive Electronics. It Is An Ata Specification (the Terms Are Often Used Interchangably). This Is The Most Common Disk Interface For Hard Drives, Cd-rom Drives, Etc. It Is Easy To Use, But Also The Most Limited. Ide Is Integrated Into Your Motherboard. It Only Allows For 4 Devices. The Other Option Is Scsi Which Is Faster, More Complicated, And Allows For Many More Devices. Scsi Requires A Separate Add-on Card And Different Types Of Hard Drives (scsi).
Ide (integrated Drive Electronics)	A Standard Electronic Interface Used Between A Computer Motherboard And The Computer’s Disk Drives.
Ieee 1394 Firewire	Firewire (code-named By Apple Computers) Is An Extremely Fast Way To Connect Peripherals To Your System. Firewire Ports Are Traditionally Used In Transferring Digital Video From A Camcorder To A System.
Ieee 488	See General Purpose Interface Bus
Iis (internet Information Services)	A Group Of Microsoft Windows Internet Services, Including A Web Server Or Hypertext Transfer Protocol Server And A File Transfer Protocol Server.
Impact Printer	A Computer-driven Mechanical Imprinting Device Where The Characters Are Formed By The Printer-head Key Striking A Ribbon To Imprint The Character's Image Onto A Paper.
Increment	The Increase In The Numerical Contents Of A Counter. An Increment Of One Is Usually Assumed, Unless Otherwise Specified. See Decrement.
Ink-jet Printer	A Printer That Forms Characters By Electrostatically Aiming And Depositing A Tiny Patterned Drop Of Ink Onto The Paper To Be Printed.
Input	Data Received By A Device Or By The Cpu.
Input/output (i/o) Section	The Section That Interfaces Between The Computer's System Bus And The Peripherals Feeding Data Into And Taking Data Out Of The Computer. Depending On The Number Of Peripherals In A System, The I/o Sections Can Have A Single Port Or Multiple Ports.
Instruction	A Software Statement That Specifies A Machine Operation. Also Called A Command.
Instruction Set (instruction Repertoire)	A Description Of The Total Operational Capabilities Of A Computer Provided By The Computer Or The Cpu (mpu) Manufacturer. It Consists Of A Listing Of Binary Words For Each Executable Commands. It Is Sometimes Called The Computer's Microcode.
Integrated Circuit	See Ic.
Intel	A Manufacturer Of Cpus, Motherboards And Other Components.
Intellimouse Vs. Intellimouse 3.0a	Both Of These Mice Are Optical, Meaning They Use A Laser For Movement, And Both Feature A Scroll Wheel. The Intellimouse 3.0a, However, Has Extra Buttons And A More Durable Construction.
Interface	The Meeting Point Between A Computer And Something Or (someone) Outside Of It. Common Interfaces For Peripherals Are The Serial And Parallel Ports. Common Interfaces For People Are The Monitor Screen And Keyboard.
Interleave	An Offset Between Comparable Sectors Of Adjacent Tracks Of A Disk Platter, Needed Because Of The Time It Takes The Heads To Move From One Track To The Next. On Some Older Drives, The Interleave Can Be Set By The User.
Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (iana)	A Sub-organization Of Icann That Oversees Worldwide Ip Address Allocation, Dns Management, And Other Basic Internet Protocol Procedures.
Internet Corporation For Assigned Names And Numbers (icann)	The Non-profit Organization That Manages The Assignment And Regulation Of Domain Names And Ip Addresses On Behalf Of The U.s. Government.
Internet Service Provider (isp)	A Business That Provides Internet Connectivity To Residential Or Commercial Customers, Most Commonly Via Cable, High-speed Dsl Circuit, Or Dial-up.
Internet, The Internet	An Internet Is Any Network Of Networks. The Internet Is A Specific Worldwide Network Of Networks Covered Here In Its Own Pages.
Interpreter	A High-level Language Translator That Converts Individual High-level Computer Language Program Instructions (source Code) Into Machine Instructions. It Translates And Executes Each Statement Line-by-line During The Running Of The Program.
Interrupt	The Suspension Of Normal Program Execution To Perform A Higher Priority Service Routine As Requested By A Peripheral Device. After Completion Of The Service Routine Operation, The Interrupted Program Routine Is Resumed At The Point Where It Was Interrupted.
Invisible Network	Invisible - Peer-to-peer - Netbios. One Of Many Small Netbios Small Business Networks Running On Proprietary Network Cards (2-mbs).
Ip Address	A String Of Numbers Describing A Server’s Physical Location On The World Wide Web. Whereas A Domain Name Is An Address Designed For Ease-of-use With Internet Browsing, An Ip Address Is Meant More For Geographic Organizational Purposes.
Ipx/spx	Novell's Netware Networking Protocol. Roughly Equivalent In Purpose To Tcp/ip, But Designed To Be More Efficient For Smaller Networks.
Irq	Interrupt Request Signal, These Are Used By Devices To Basically Interrupt The Cpu To Get Its Attention So That The Cpu Can Read The Instruction And Carry Out The Task.
Isa	Isa Is An Older Technology For Connecting Computer Peripherals (stands For Industry Standard Architecture). Common Current Devices Include Modems And Sound Cards. Isa Is Much Slower Than Pci, So Pci Devices Are Generally Better If You Have A Choice. Isa Is Starting To Fade And Eventually Will Be Removed Entirely. Most Motherboards Still Come With At Least One Or Two Isa Slots On Them.
Isdn	Stands For Integrated Services Digital Network, This Is A Digital Phone Line Used To Enhance Connection Speed The Isdn Lines Transmit At 64 Kps, Or 128 Kbs If You Use Two Lines. The Maximum Speed From A Standard Line Is 56 Kbs. For Isdn You Will Need A Digital Line And A Isdn Adapter Which Does The Job Of The Modem For The Digital Line.
Iso 7-layer Stack	The International Standard Organisation's Design For A Networking Protocol In 7 Well Defined Layers. It Was To Replace Interim Protocol Tcp/ip And All Other Network Protocols. Unfortunately Iso Met Tcp/ip In A Dark Alley And Hasn't Been Heard From Since. Today The Iso 7-layer Stack Is Used Only As A Teaching Tool To Explain Protocol Stacks.
Java	A Programming Language Expressly Designed For Use On Any Type Of Computer Architecture Or Operating System (windows/mac/linux).
Jdk (java Development Kit)	A Program Development Environment For Writing Java Applets And Applications.
Joomla	A Free, Open Source Content Management System Written With Php For Publishing Content On The Internet, Using The Mysql Database.
Joystick	An Input Device Used For Video Games And For Some Graphics Applications.
Jump	An Instruction That Causes The Computer To Fetch The Next Instruction To Be Executed From A Location Other Than The Next Sequential Location In Memory.
Jumper	A Small Component That You Place Over Pairs Of Pins To Connect Them Electronically Most Commonly Used On Hard Drives And Cd-roms To Determine Which Is Master And Which Is The Slave.
Keyboard	A Peripheral Device Consisting Of Alphanumerics, Punctuation Marks, And Other Special Function Keys That Are Mechanically Arranged To Allow The Entry Of Data, Commands, And Other Information Into The System.
Keyboard Controller	A Small Processor On The Motherboard That Manages The Entry Of Data From The Keyboard.
Kilo	A Prefix Meaning 1000. When Used To Measure Computer Data, It Means 210 Or 1024, Which Is The Power Of 2 Closest To 1000.
Kilobyte	A Kilobyte Is 1024 Bytes But Often Referred To 1000 Bytes Of Data. This Is Sometimes Mistaken By Users Who Think They Have Been Done Out Of Some Hard Drive Space Etc When Really Its 1024 Not 1000.
Kni	See Sse.
Lan	See Local-area Network.
Landscape	A Printer Feature, Generally Controlled By Software, Which Rotates The Output Image By 90º To Print Across The Length Rather Than The Width Of The Paper.
Lantastic	Artisoft - Peer-to-peer - Netbios Over Various Wiring Schemes - A Formerly Very Popular Small Business Network From When Netware Was King (and Costly And Difficult To Administer). Lantastic Originally Required Proprietary (2-mbs) Network Cards, Then Proprietary Ethernet Cards. At Its Peak It Supported Many Standard Ethernet Cards. Lantastic Has Been Almost Wiped From The Face Of The Earth By Microsoft's Built-in Windows Networking And Deliberate 'acts Of Bill'. It Still Holds A Position In Pos Systems.
Laser	A Very Pure And Intense Beam Of Light Formed Within A Crystal, Or The Device That Creates The Light. Laser Stands For Light Amplification By Stimulated Emission Of Radiation.
Laser (light Amplification By Stimulated Emission Of Radiation)	A System That Generates High-intensity, Highly-focused Light For Many Purposes, Including Printers, High-density Memory Media, And A Light Generator For Fiber Optic Transmission Systems.
Laser Disk	See Cd-romlaser Printer - A Computer-driven Photocopier That Creates An Original Image Of The Text Or Graphics From The Output Of The Computer. A Computer-controlled Laser Beam 'paints' The Desired Image Inside The Photocopier And Then Prints The Image On A Sheet Of Paper.
Last-in, First-out (lifo)	A Method Of Storing And Retrieving Data In A Stack, Table, Or List.
Lba	This Means Logical Block Addressing, Used In Hard Drives Capacity's.
Ldap	Lightweight Directory Access Protocol - A Subset Of The Iso X.500 Network Directory Protocol Which Has Proven Too Complex For Anyone To Actually Use. Ldap Maintains A Directory Tree Of All The Subnets, Servers, Users, Printers And Other Objects On The Network. Other Directory Protocols (microsoft's Active Directory; Netscape's Directory Server; Novell's Nds (netware Directory Services)) Are Based On, Partially Based On, Claim To Be Somewhat Compatible With, Or Offer An Interface To Ldap Directories.
Legacy	Containing Obsolete Technology.
Library	A Collection Of Standard Software Instructions, Programs, Routines, And Subroutines In A Computer's Memory.
Light Pen	A Light-sensitive Stylus For Forming Graphics By Touching Coordinates On A Display Screen, Thereby Seeming To Draw Directly On The Screen.
Linkage	Instructions That Connect One Program To Another, Providing Continuity Of Executions Between The Programslocal Area Network (lan) - A Combined Hardware/software Technique For Interconnecting Company Related Multiple Computers Or Computer Terminals Through A High-speed Networking System.
Linux®	An Open-source Operating System Software Used To Operate A Computer Or Server. There Are Many Variations Of Linux Offered By Different Vendors And Developers, Including Fedora, Redhat, Centos, Debian And Many More.
Llr	Lag And Latency Reduction Technology Enables Optimization Of Online Game Network Communications To Improve Game Responsiveness.
Load Balancing	Dividing The Amount Of Work That A Computer Has To Do Between Two Or More Computers. These Devices Are Typically Used By Server Administrators To Provide A Single Internet Service From Multiple Servers.
Local Area Network (lan)	Two Or More Computers, Tied Together In A Network, Usually Confined To One Building Or A Group Of Associated Buildings.
Logic Gate	A Digital Circuit Resulting In An Output Whose State (0 Or 1) Depends On The Specific Combination Of The States Of Input Signals. Definitions Of The More Commonly Used Logic Gates Are Listed Below
Logical Block Addressing	A Translation Done By The Disk Controller Of Large-capacity Drive So That The Head/sector/cylinder Addresses Will Appear To Be In The Range Recognized By The Bios. Abbreviated Lba.
Logical Drive	A Sub- Partition Of An Extended Partition On A Hard Disk.
Look Ahead	1. A Feature Of A Cpu Which Allows The Masking Of An Interrupt Request Until The Current Sequential Instruction Has Been Completed. 2. A Feature Of An Adder Circuit In The Alu Section Which Allows The Circuit To Look Ahead To See That All The Generated Arithmetic Carrys Are Available For Addition.
Looping	The Repetition Of Program Instructions Until A Conditional Exit Situation Is Encountered.
Low-level Format	The Initial Factory Process Of Putting On New Sector Marks To Prepare The Platter Surface For Data Storage. A Low-level Format Destroys Any Previous Data On The Disk.
Lpt-1	Or Lpt-2,3. The Standard Names For The Parallel Ports. Lpt Stands For Line Printer.
Machine Language	Sets Of Numeric Binary Code Instructions In A Computer Which Execute Its Operations. All Other Programming Languages (source Programs) Must Be Translated Into Machine Language (object Program) Before Entering The Cpu.
Macro	A Combination Of Commands, Instructions, Or Keystrokes Which May Be Stored In A Computer's Memory To Be Executed As A Single Command By A Single Keystroke Or A Simultaneous Combination Of Keystrokes.
Macroassembler	An Assembly Language Translator That Converts Macro Expressions Into Several Machine Language Instructions. Although Macros Simplify Program Coding And Speed Up Execution Of A Program, A Code For Each Macro Must Also Be Generated.
Main-frame	A Large Computer Designed To Be Used By Many People At The Same Time.
Mainframe Computer	Second Largest Of The Computer Family, In Capability And, Generally, In Size, Having A Word-width Of 32 Bits And Higher. The Largest Computer Is The Super Computer With A Word Width Of 64 To 128 Bits.
Male Connector	A Connector With Pins That Fit Into The Sockets Of A Female Connector.
Mapi	Messaging Api - Microsoft's Messaging Protocol For Exchange Server. 'microsoft Against The World' - See Cmc. There Are Two Versions, Simple Mapi, Nearly Identical To Simple Cmc, And Extended Mapi, Almost Completely Unrelated To Cmc But Providing Tight Integration Into The Windows Nt Operating System.
Master	One Of Two Drives Attached To An Ide Controller, The Other Being Slave.
Master Boot Loader	The Program In A Disk's Master Boot Record That Contains Instructions For Loading In The Operating System.
Master Boot Record	The First Sector On A Disk, Containing The Partition Table And Master Boot Loader. Abbreviated Mbr.
Master File Table	The File-tracking System Used Instead Of A Fat In The Windows Nt File System.
Math Coprocessor	Circuitry To Handle Floating-point Arithmetic For The Cpu. It May Be Incorporated In The Cpu Or It May Be A Separate Chip. Also Called The Npu Or Numerical Processing Unit.
Mb	Abbreviation For Megabyte.
Mbr	See Master Boot Record.
Mca	Micro-channel Architecture. A Type Of Bus Introduced By Ibm In The Late 1980s. It Is No Longer Manufactured.
Media	Methods Of Communication. In Computers, It Refers To The Material Or Device Used To Store Or Transmit Data.
Medium	Singular Of Media.
Mega	A Prefix Meaning One Million. For Computer Data, It Means 220 Or 1,048,576, Which Is The Power Of 2 Closest To One Million.
Megabyte	Megabytes Are The Measurement Used For The Amount Of Hard Drive Space Available, Used, Required, Etc. One Megabyte Is Equal To One Million Bytes Or One Thousand Kilobytes. One Megabyte Is Small By Today's Typical File Sizes. Hard Drive Sizes Are Commonly Given In Gigabytes, Each Of Which Is One Thousand Megabytes. Memory Is Also Measured In Megabytes.
Memory	A Data Storage Structure In A Computer That Accepts Binary Information For Storage In Electrical, Mechanical, Or Magnetic Form, And Retains The Information For As Long As Needed. Selected Data Can Be Written, Moved, Displayed, Copied, Or Erased Paper, Magnetic, Bubble, Optical Laser, And Semiconductor Memory. Each One Has A Different Method Of Operation And A Specific Criterion For Being Selected.
Memory Bank	The Number Of Memory Modules Needed To Have The Same Number Of Data Bits As The Bus. In A 64-bit Pentium System, Each Dimm Is One Bank, But Two 72-pin Simms Are Required For Each Bank.
Merchant Account	A Commercial Bank Account Set Up Between A Retail Business And A Financial Institution That Allows A Business To Accept Credit Card Transactions From Customers.
Mfm	A Old Dated Hard Drive Standard, Special Controller Card Was Required.
Mhs	Message Handling System - An Iso Standard In Development For A Complete E-mail System. X.400 And X.500 Are Parts Of Mhs.
Mhz	This Stands For The 'megahertz' Rating And Is The Primary Measure Of A Cpu's Speed. One Megahertz Is One Million Clock Cycles Per Second. Thus, A 400 Mhz Processor Will Have Twice As Many Clock Cycles Per Second As A 200 Mhz Processor, But This Doesn't Necessarily Mean It Is Twice As Fast...
Microcomputer	A Microprocessor-based Computer, Consisting Of An Mpu, Internal Semiconductor Memory, Input And Output Sections, And A System Bus, All On One, Or Several Monolithic Ic Chips Inserted Into One Or Several Pc Boards. The Addition Of A Power Supply And Connecting Cables, Appropriate Peripherals (keyboard, Monitor, Printer, Disk Drives, Etc.), An Operating System And Other Software Programs Can Provide A Complete Microcomputer System. The Microcomputer Is Generally The Smallest Of The Computer Family, However, The Improvement In Performance Capability Of Newer Microcomputer Systems Can Make The Microcomputer As Powerful As Larger Systems.
Microprocessor	A Master Control Circuit. See Central Processing Unit.
Microprocessor Unit (mpu)	The Central Processor Unit (cpu) Implemented In Monolithic Ic Technology, Usually, But Not Necessarily, On One Vlsi Chip. In Many Cases, The System Bus Is Also Included On The Mpu Chip.
Microscope	Trade Name For A Hardware Diagnostic Program That Uses Its Own Operating System To Manipulate Hardware Directly Without Interference From The Main Operating System.
Microsoft	A Software Company, Best Known For The Windows Operating System.
Microsoft Networking	Microsoft - Peer-to-peer - Netbeui (now Also Tcp/ip) - This Is An 'enhanced' Version Of Ibm's Old Pcnet (you Didn't Really Think Microsoft Came Up With Something Original, Did You?). It Runs On Various Varieties Of Windows (wfw, Win95/98, Windows Nt, Windows 2000, And Dos (in Client Mode Ony)). Microsoft's Attempts To Make It Incompatible With Os/2 Networking Have Been Largely Unsuccessful.
Midi	Stands For Musical Instrument Digital Interface, This Is The Standard For Connecting Musical Instrument Like A Midi Keyboard To Your Pc
Millisecond	This Is The Speed That Hard Drives Access Is Timed, 1 Millisecond Is 1 Thousandth Of A Second.
Mime (multi-purpose Internet Mail Extensions)	An Extension Of The Original Internet E-mail Protocol That Lets People Use The Protocol To Exchange Different Kinds Of Data Files On The Internet.
Minicomputer	Considered To Be More Capable Than A Microcomputer But Less Powerful Than A Mainframe. Generally, The Word-width Of The Minicomputer Is Between 12 To 32 Bits. Mnemonic - A Symbolic Label Or Code Reminder That Assists The User In Remembering A Specific Operation Or Command.
Miva	A Popular Web-based Shopping Cart Application.
Mmx	A Set Of Additional Instruction (multi-media Extensions) Integrated Into Cpus Starting With The Pentium Mmx Cpus. They Are Still Present In The Pentium Iii Cpus, And Amd Integrated Them Into Their K6 Series Of Cpus. The Mmx Instruction Sets Had A Fairly Small Impact. Sse Or Kni Are A Similar Set That Was Integrated Into The Pentium Iii And Later Cpus.
Model	A Representation Of A Process Or System That Can Be Controlled To Demonstrate The Effects That Various Actions Will Have On The Process Or System.
Modem	It Stands For Modulator Demodulator, But It's Use Is Much Simpler. It Enables A Computer To 'dial-up' To Another Computer For A Variety Of Purposes Including Fax, Gaming, Or Internet Connections. There Is A Large Variety Of Modems Available Now Including The Original 14.4, 28.8, 33.6, And 56k Modems As Well As Newer Isdn (128k) And Adsl (256k) Modems. To Use Any Modem, Your Internet Service Provider Must Support The Format (modem, Isdn, Or Adsl). Also, New Phone Lines Are Needed For Isdn, And Adsl Must Have Support In Your Area. Visit The Modem Page For More Information And Recommendations.
Modulate	To Change A Signal In A Way That Conveys Information. For Instance, A Tone Sent Over A Phone Line Can Be Changed In Volume Or Frequency To Represent Ones And Zeroes, Thus Sending Digital Data Over An Audio Line.
Module	A Self-contained Part Of Something That Can Function On Its Own.
Monitor	The Visual Readout Device Of A Computer System. A Monitor Can Be In Several Forms, A Cathode Ray Tube (crt), A Liquid Crystal Display (lcd), Or A Flat-panel, Full-color Display. See Display.
Motherboard	The Motherboard Is Easily Compared To The Human Body's Nervous System. The Wires (nerves) On It Transfer Data Between All Of The Other Components. Having A High-quality Motherboard (not Described In Retail Computers) Is Essential To A Reliable Computer.
Mouse	A Manually Operated Input Device For Moving Or Entering Positional Information And Other Data Or Commands By Accessing (pointing To) Images On A Monitor.
Ms Sql (microsoft Structured Query Language)	A Database Management System That Uses A Programming Language Exclusive To Microsoft.
Multimedia	Presenting Data In More Than One Medium, Such As Combining Text, Graphics And Sound.
Multiplier	This Number Works With The Bus Speed To Determine How Fast The Cpu Is Run. A Multiplier Of 4.5 Coupled With A Bus Speed Of 100 Mhz Yields A Cpu Speed Of 450 Mhz (4.5x100). Most Of Intel's Newest Cpus Are Multiplier Locked In That Only A Specific Multiplier Can Be Used And Not Others (i.e. A 450 Mhz Cpu Can Only Use A 4.5 Multiplier, But Not 4 Or 5). The Bus Speed Is Independent And Can Be Changed So That 4.5x100 And 4.5x103 Will Give Different Cpu Speeds (provided The Cpu Will Run At That Speed).
Multitasking	The Technique Of Using Several Applications Programs (tasks) In A Computer System Or On Several Terminals In A Network At The Same Time. Multitasking Can Simultaneously Work With Several Programs Or Interrelated Tasks That Share Memories, Codes, Buffers, And Files.
Multiuser	The Term Describing The Capability Of A Computer System To Be Operated At More Than One Terminal At The Same Time.
Mysql	An Open-source, Relational Database Management System That’s Essentially A Multi-user, Multi-threaded Sql Database Server. Used To Power High-volume Websites And More Resource-intensive Critical Business Systems. See Also Sql.
Name Server	Also Known As A Domain Name Server. Directs Internet Traffic From Domain Names To Their Corresponding Ip Addresses.
Nand (not And)	All Inputs Must Be In A '1' State To Produce A '0' State Output.
Negative Logic	This Term Refers To Logic In Which The Negative Voltage Represents The '1' State And The Zero Voltage Represents The '0' State.
Nesting	Embedding Commands Or Data In Levels Of Other Data So That Specific Routines Or Instructions Can Be Executed Or Accessed Continuously In Loops, Without Returning To The Main Program.
Netbios	Network Basic Input Output System - A Network Protocol Created By Ibm For Their Pc-net Network. It Is Used By Ibm (os/2 Networking), Artisoft (lantastic), Microsoft (microsoft Networking) Samba, And Others. Netbeui (netbios Enhanced User Interface) Is Includes Additional Protocols Used By Os/2, Microsoft Networking, Samba And Others. Netbios Is Not Routable And Must Be Encapsulated In Tcp/ip To Go Through Routers (netbios Over Tcp/ip Or Tcpbeui)
Netware	Novell - Server Based - Ipx/spx (now Also Tcp/ip) - Once Absolute King Of Small Business And Departmental Networks, Novell Moved Netware Upscale And Largely Abandoned The Small Business Focus. Netware Became The Main Victim Of Microsoft's Windows Nt Marketing Blitz And Seemed Doomed. It Is Currently Making A Strong Comeback As People Realize They Need Something That Works, Not Just Something Well Marketed.
Network Interface Card (nic)	A Hardware Device That Is Used To Connect A Computer To Other Networked Devices Such As Other Computers And Printers. Nics Can Support Several Different Data Transfer Rates But The Most Common Is 100 Mbps (mega Bits Per Second).
Networking	See Nic.
Nibble	A Sequence Of Four Adjacent Bits, Or A Half-byte. A Hexadecimal Or Bcd Coded Digit Can Be Represented By A Nibble.
Nic	A Network Interface Card Allows Your Computer To Connect To A Network Of Computers. The Most Common Type Of Nic Is Ethernet - A Very Fast Method Of Transferring Data Between Computers. A Modem Is Generally Used To Dial-up From A Home Computer To Connect To A Network Or The Internet. However, An Ethernet Nic Uses A Cable That Usually Connects To A Hub Which Connects To A Router Which Connects To A Switch, And These Pieces Are Also Often Connected To A Server Through The Same Type Of Cable And To The Internet Backbone Via A Fiber Optic Cable. The Nic Allows The Computer To Share With And Get Resources From Other Computers On The Network (as Well As The Internet If It Is Not A Local Area Network (lan). A Lan Is A Closed Network Consisting Of 2 Or More Computers That Are Connected Through Nics And Hubs, Generally Not Connected To The Outside World - The Internet. Hubs Allow Several Computers To Share One Cable Connection (1 Cable Connects To Another Hub Or Router, And The Hub Provides 5 (more Or Less) Connections For Other Computers Or Hubs To Connect To).
Node	The Endpoint Of A Network Branch Or The Junction Of Two Or More Branches.
Non-volatile Memory	A Memory Where Stored Data Remains Undisturbed By The Removal Of Electrical Power.
Not (inverter)	A Logic Gate Having Only One Input And One Output. If The Input Is In A '1' State, The Output Is In A '0' State And Vice Versa.
Npu	Network Processing Unit Acts As A Co-processor To Optimize All Pc/game Communications By Prioritizing Game Traffic, Bypassing The Windows Os Stack, And Offloading The Cpu.
Ntfs	The Disk File Structure Used By Window Nt And Windows 2000, Which Has A Master File Table Instead Of A Fat.
Object Code	Machine Language Code Produced By A Translator Program, Such As An Assembler, Interpreter, Or Compiler. Instructions In Object Code Can Be Executed By A Central Processing Unit (cpu).
Operating System	The Program That, After Being Initially Loaded Into The Computer By A Boot Program, Manages All The Other Programs In A Computer.
Operating System (os)	A Structured Software Program (set Of Programmed Routines) That Manages, Controls, Coordinates, And Sequences The Hardware And Software Resources Of A Computer System. See Bootstrap. The Operating System Is Sometimes Called Systems Software.
Operation Code (op-code)	Part Of A Computer Instruction Word That Designates The Function Performed By A Specific Instruction. For Example, Op-codes For Arithmetic Instructions Include 'add', 'sub', 'mul' And 'div'.
Optical	Using Light.
Or	Any One Input, Or More, In A '1' State Will Produce A '1' State At The Output.
Or (not Or)	Any One Input, Or More, In A '1' State Will Produce A '0' State Output.
Os	Operating System.
Os/2	Ibm - Peer-to-peer - Netbeui - Networking For The Os/2 Operating System, Descended From Ibm's Pcnet. It Is Similar To (and Largely Compatible With) Microsoft Networking.
Outlook	Client Software (running On Individual Workstations) For Access To Exchange Server E-mail And Calendaring.
Output	Data Sent By A Device Or The Cpu. Especially, The End Result Of A Processing Task, Sent To The Printer Or To The Monitor Screen.
Over-clocking	Setting The Clock Multiplier So That The Cpu Will Run Faster Than Its Rated Speed. Not A Recommended Practice.
Overflow	An Error Condition Occurring In A Computer When A Mathematical Operation Produces A Result Having A Magnitude That Exceeds The Capacity Of The Computer's Arithmetic Register.
Packet	: The Unit Of Data That Is Routed Between An Origin And A Destination On The Internet.
Parallel	Components Or Circuits Connected To The Same End Points, So That Each Circuit Provides An Alternate Path For Electrical Current From The Same Source. Compare To Series.
Parallel Operation	A Method Of Data Transmission In Which All Bits Of A Digital Word Are Handled Simultaneously With Each Bit On A Separate Line. Although Faster And Simpler To Install And Operate Than Serial Operation, This Method Requires More Transmission Lines (real Estate).
Parallel Port	This Is The 25 Pin 'd' Shaped Port On Your Pc It Is Used Mainly For Connecting Printers, It Offers A Fairly Slow Transfer Rate By Many Standards But Is Used For Printing And Attaching Scanners Primarily.
Parameters	See Drive Parameters.
Parity	An Extra Bit Added To Data For Error Checking Purposes, To Make The Quantity Of Ones Consistently Either Odd Or Even.
Partition	A Division Of The Hard Drive, Or The Process Of Setting Up Divisions On The Hard Drive.
Partitioning	The Logical Grouping Of Electronic Functions Within A Given Set Of Hardware Components.
Pascal	A High-level Programming Language That Is Structured To Encourage Efficient Programming Habits (documentation) And Is Used Extensively In Educational Institutions And Engineering Environments.
Payment Gateway	Acts As An Intermediary Between The Merchants’ Shopping Cart And All The Financial Networks Involved With The Transaction, Including The Customers’ Credit Card Issuer And Your Merchant Account.
Pay-per-click (ppc)	A Type Of Search Marketing Where Advertisers Page A Set Amount Each Time Their Ad Is Clicked On. These Are Often Displayed As “sponsored Links”.
Pc	Personal Computer. An Ibm Or Ibm-compatible Self-contained Computer System, Designed To Be Used By One Person At A Time.
Pc100/pc133	A Rating That Certifies That The Memory Is Capable Of Running At 100 Or 133 Mhz Bus. This Memory Is Generally Required For Running At Those Specific Speeds.
Pcb	See Printed Circuit Board.
Pci	'peripheral Component Interconnect' Is A High-speed Connection For Devices Including Scsi Cards, Video Cards, Sound Cards, Modems, Video Capture Cards, Etc. This Is The Primary Way Of Adding Devices To Your Computer. It Is Faster Than Isa, So Is Preferred For Devices Such As Sound Cards And Scsi Cards. It Is Slower Than Agp Which Is For Graphics Cards Only, So Agp Graphics Cards Tend To Be Better Than Pci Ones. Default Pci Speed Is 33 Mhz.
Pci (peripheral Computer Interconnect)	An Industry-standard Bus Used In Computers That Provides A High-speed Connection With Peripherals Such As Video And Sound Cards.
Pci Express	A High-speed Peripheral Interconnect Introduced In 2002 That Expands On And Doubles The Data Transfer Rates Of Original Pci. Pci Express Is A 2 Way Serial Connection Compared To The Single Parallel Data Bus Of Traditional Pci. It Was Designed To Eventually Replace The Pci And Agp Buses.
Pcnet	Ibm - Peer-to-peer - Netbios. Aprimitive Network For Early Pcs. It Lives On In Enhanced Form In Os/2 And Microsoft Networking.
Pcxxxx	the Internal Speed Of Your Ram. Pc4200 Memory Runs At 533mhz, Pc4000 Memory Runs At 500mhz, Pc 3700 Memory Runs At 466mhz, Pc3500 Memory Runs At 433mhz, And Pc3200 Memory Runs At 400mhz. You Will Notice That These Mhz Speeds Correspond With The Dd For Example, Our 400 Mhz Memory Is Listed As 'pc3200 Ddr400.'
Pentium	A High-speed Microprocessor Chip Made By Intel.
Peripheral	A Term Designating The Various Kinds Of Machines And Devices That Work In Conjunction With A Computer But Are Not Necessarily Part Of The Computer Structure. Typically, Peripherals Refer To Printers, Keyboards, Monitors, Scanners, Cd Rom Drives, And Plotters. A Hard Drive, Floppy Disk Drive, And A Modem Are Considered To Be Peripheral Devices Even Though They May Be Physically Located Inside A Computer.
Perl (practical Extraction And Reporting Language)	A Programming Language Frequently Used For Creating Cgi Programs For Web Use.
Php (hypertext Pre-processor)	A Scripting Language Usually Embedded Into Html Used Most Frequently To Generate Dynamic Page Content Or Send And Receive Cookies.
Phpmyadmin	A Tool Written In Php Intended To Handle The Administration Of Mysql Over The Web.
Pixel	Picture Element. A Dot Of Light That Is The Smallest Part Of The Visual Image On A Monitor. The Number Of Pixels Depends On The Resolution Setting Of The Monitor.
Platter	The Actual Disk Inside Of A Disk Drive. Its Surface Is Coated With A Magnetic Material That Records Data. Both Sides Of The Platter Are Used, And A Typical Disk Drive Has Several Platters, Stacked Like Pancakes.
Plenum Cable	Cable That Has An Outer Sheath Coated With Teflon As A Fire Retardant. It Will Not Give Off Toxic Fumes Or Smoke When Burned. It Will Also Accept A Higher Temperature Then Regular Pvc Coated Cable. Plenum Cable Is Usually Used In The Plenum Space Of A Building Which Is Between The Actual Ceiling And The Drop Ceiling.
Plug-and-play	A Standard That Allows The System To Automatically Configure Adapter-card Resources.
Plug-compatible	A Term That Describes The Ability Of Peripherals To Be Interchanged Without Modification.
Policy Based Network Management	Yet Another Attempt To Make Large Networks Manageable. In Theory, The Manager Sets Up A System Of Rules (policies) Which Are Followed By All The Devices Controlling Data Flow Over The Network.
Polling	A Process In Which A Number Of Peripheral Devices, Remote Stations, Or Nodes In A Computer Network Are Interrogated, One At A Time, To Determine If Service Is Required.
Pop	The Instruction That Removes A Word From The Top Of A Stack.
Pop3	Electronic Mail Protocol Used To Retrieve Messages Stored On A Separate Server.
Port	An Input/output Channel (either Parallel Or Serial), Terminated At A Connector On The Computer. It Interconnects The Computer's Input And/or Output Terminals To An Appropriate Source And/or Destination.
Portrait	A Term That Designates The Position Of Conventional Printing Across The Width Of A Page. Positive Logic - This Logic Represents The Reverse Of Negative Logic. It Is The More Commonly Used Form Of Logic. A Positive Voltage Represents A '1' State And A Negative (or Zero) Voltage Represents A '0' State.
Post	Power On Self Test, This Is The Very First Action The Pc Will Run When It Is Switched On. It Will Check That All Devices Such As Memory, Graphics, Drives Etc Are Working Before It Attempts Booting. If It Finds Any Errors It Will Sound A Series Of Beeps, The Standard One Beep At Booting Is A Indication That It Has Found Nothing Amiss And Will Boot.
Post Reader	A Diagnostic Card That Is Inserted Into A Bus Slot To Display The Post Codes During Boot-up. This Is Used To Diagnose A System That Won't Boot Up. The Most Comprehensive Post Reader Is Micro 2000's Universal Post-probe.
Power Supply	Generally This Comes With The Case. It Can Have An At Or Atx Power Connector And It Is Measured In Its Rated Output. It Converts Power From Your Outlets Into A Steady Stream Of Power The Computer Can Use. A 235 Or 250 Watt Power Supply Is Generally Sufficient For Home Users, But Power Users May Need A 300 Or 400 Watt Power Supply If They Have A Lot Of Hard Drives Or Other Components. The Quality Of Power Supply Can Be Very Important And May Make The Difference Between A Stable Computer And A Computer That Crashes Often. I Recommend Power Supplies From Pc Power And Cooling And Calpc.
Powerlan	Performance Technology - Peer-to-peer - Netbios. Similar To Lantastic And Other Small Netbios Networks But With Exceptionally High Performance And Stability. It Had Bridges To Other Network Systems, Like Netware. Performance Technology Was Bought Up By Bay Networks To Get Their 'instant Internet' Internet Access Device. Bay, In Turn, Was Bought By Telecom Giant Northern Telecom To Get Their Networking Equipment. Powerlan Was Released On The Internet As 'free Software'.
Ppga	This Stands For Plastic Pin Grid Array. Ppga Is The Same As Socket 370 And Is A Relatively New Cpu Connection Type. The Cpus Are Very Similar To The Socet 7 Cpus, But They Cannot Be Used In The Same Motherboards. Like The Socket 7 Cpus, They Have Pins At The Bottom Of A Flat Square Cpu, And Sit Parallel To The Surface Of The Motherboard.
Prefabricated Cat 5 Or 5e Patch Cable	A Cat 5 Or 5e Cable That Is Already Fitted With The Rj45 Connectors On The Ends. Nine (9) Feet Is The Maximum Length, Recommended For Connecting Between The Switch And A Rj45 Jack Module, Between The Host Computer And The Switch Or Between The Rj45 Jack Module And A Client Computer. However, Longer Lengths May Be Used In A Home Environment, But The Shorter, The Better. This Should Be A 'straight Cable' Versus A 'crossed Cable.'
Print Spooler	A Device For Temporarily Storing Data To Be Printed When The Printer Is Functioning. It Provides Uninterrupted Data Entry And Editing While The Printer Is Active And While Other Data Awaits Transmission To The Printer.
Printed Circuit Board	A Thin Board, Usually Fiberglass, On Which Components Are Mounted. So Called Because The Connections Between The Components Are Printed Onto The Board. Abbreviated Pcb.
Printer	A Printer Outputs Data That Is Seen On The Computer Screen. Most Printers Are Used Through A Parallel Port, But Some Newer Ones Use Usb Connections. Usb Is Somewhat Faster, But There's Not Much Of A Difference For Printers. Networked Computers Usually Print To A Printer Through The Network Card. The Most Crucial Printer Measurement Is Its Dots Per Inch Rating. Although This Can Be Misleading, A Higher Number Is Generally Better. Printers Are Best Chosen By Actually Seeing The Quality Of The Printer Output.
Processing	Using A Computer Program To Manage Data, Either Sorting It, Storing It Or Changing It In Some Way.
Processor	The Part Of The Computer That Controls The Execution Of Program Instructions. See Cpu.
Processor (cpu)	The Logic Circuitry That Responds To And Processes The Basic Instructions That Drive A Computer.
Program	A Complete Sequence Of Computer Software Instructions Necessary To Provide An Application, Solve A Specific Problem, Perform An Action, Or Respond To External Stimuli In A Prescribed Manner. As A Verb, It Means To Develop A Program.
Program Counter (pc)	A Special-purpose Register In The Cpu Which Contains The Address Of The Next Instruction To Be Fetched And Executed.
Programmable Logic Array (pla)	An Unprogrammed, General-purpose Logic Structure In Monolithic Ic Form Consisting Of An Array Of Similar, And/or Compatible Logic Gates. Also Called Programmable Array Logic (pal).
Programmable Read-only Memory (prom)	A Blank Read-only Memory (rom) That Is Programmed With External Programming Equipment After Manufacture. Once Programmed, It Is Not Re-programmable And Is Considered To Be A Rom.
Propagation Delay	The Time Required For The Output Of A Logic Gate To Respond To A Combination Of Input Pulses.
Protocol	An Agreed On Set Of Rules By Which Two Processes Interact. There Are Many, Many Protocols Used In Computers And Data Communications. Some Are Public Standards And Others Are Proprietary.
Push	The Instruction Used To Deposit A Word On Top Of A Stack.
Push-down Stack	A Dedicated Temporary Storage Register In A Computer, Sometimes Part Of A System Memory, Structured So That Data (words) In The Stack Are Retrieved In Reverse Order Of Entry. See Lifo.
Python	A Free, Open-source, Cross-platform Programming Language That Has Gained Popularity Because Of Its Clear Syntax And Readability.
Raid	(redundant Array Of Independent Disks Or Redundant Array Of Inexpensive Disks) A System Whereby Multiple Hard Drives Are Connected Together To Form A Single Large Drive For Storage That Offers Increased Performance And Fault Tolerance.
Ram	(random Access Memory), This Is The Memory Of The Computer That Will Store Data While It Processes And Performs Task Before Patching And Transferring Chosen Data To Be Written To The Hard Drive. Measured In Nano Seconds, The More Ram In Your System The Quicker It Will Be Able To Run Faster Most Noticeably When Doing Multitasking As The System Wont Need To Request The Hard Rive So Often. Data Will Be Lost Once The System Is Switched Off.
Ram Disk (disk Emulator)	A Portion Of A Hard Drive Configured To Emulate A Ram. It Accesses Information Quickly, But Its Data Must Be Saved In A Non-volatile Memory For Future Use. Otherwise, The Information Is Lost When Power Is Removed.
Random Access	A Technique Of Accessing (reading) A Word Of Data From A Memory Structure By The Cpu. Since A Word In The Memory Can Be Accessed Directly, The Time Required Is Independent Of Its Location (address) In The Memory Structure. It Is Sometimes Called A 'direct Access' Method.
Ras	Remote Access Services - Microsoft Dial-in Service For Remote Access.
Rdram	This Is The Intel-backed Form Of Memory That Is Competing With Pc133 Sdram. It Boasts Speeds Up To 800 Mhz For Very High Bandwidth, But Whether Or Not It Will Be Worth Its High Price Is A Tough Call. Rdram Comes In Rimms Which Will Not Fit In The Bx Motherboard Dimm Slots.
Read Head	A Head In A Disk Drive Used To Retrieve Data From The Platter.
Read-only Memory (rom)	A Semiconductor Memory Whose Data Cannot Be Erased, Or Overwritten; It Can Only Be Accessed (read) For Use By The Cpu. The Data In A Rom Is Of A Permanent Nature And Is Programmed By The Rom Manufacturer. In Many Cases, Its Programmed Information Identifies The Dedicated Function Of A Computer. A Rom Can Also Be In The Physical Form Of A Module (tape Or Disk) That Is Plugged Into A Computer To Change Its Operation From One Program To Another.
Real-time Clock	The Cmos Circuitry That Keeps Track Of The Year, Day And Time Of Day For The System. Abbreviated Rtc.
Real-time Data	Time-dependent Data Processed By A Computer Whose Output Data Is Capable Of Controlling Other Time-related Events, Such As Traffic Control. Real Time Is The Actual Time It Takes For An Event To Occur.
Redhat	A Linux Based Operating System Distribution.
Refresh	A Signal Fed To Ram Chips Periodically, To Keep Them Charged Up So That Data Is Not Lost.
Refresh Rate	This Is The Speed At Which The Monitor's Picture Is Redrawn Or Flashed In Front Of Your Eyes. Slower Refresh Rates Provide A Noticable Flicker. Higher Refresh Rates Create A Steady Picture (and Is Easier On Your Eyes). The Refresh Rate Is Determined By The Video Card, But Also Must Be Supported By The Monitor. The Maximum Refresh Rate Will Be Different For Different Resolutions. A Minimum Of 75 Hertz Is Recommended (tv Refresh Rates Are 30 Hz, Which Is Why There Is A Noticable Flicker).
Register	A Temporary Storage Unit For Quick, Direct Accessibility Of A Small Amount Of Data For Processing. Most Computers Include A Set Of Internal Registers That Can Be Accessed More Quickly Than The System's Main Memory.
Registrant	The Party That Legally Owns A Domain Name.
Registrar	A Party That Has Been Given Permission By Icann To Register Domain Names On Behalf Of A Registrant.
Registry	A Domain Name Database Containing Information Such As Registrant, Name, Expiration, Etc. For Every Domain Name That Registry Is Assigned To.
Removable Media	A Cartridge Or Cassette That Can Be Removed From The Drive.
Replication	Making A Copy Of A Directory, Database Or Message Store From One Server To Another To Make Them Identical.
Resident Software	The Program(s) Residing In The Main Memory Of A Computer System. For Convenience Of Operation, Several Software Programs Can Reside In Ram After The Computer Is Turned On And Booted, And They Can Be Accessed Quickly From Within Another Program.
Resolution	Similar To Dpi, The Resolution Is How Many Pixels Can Be Displayed On The Screen At Once. The Resolution Is Measured In The Number Of Pixels Wide And High That The Display Is. The Most Common Resolutions Are 640x480, 800x600, 1024x768, 1280x1024, And 1600x1200. Higher Resolutions Provide Sharper, Better Quality Pictures, But Also Make Type And Images Smaller Since More Information Is Squeezed Onto The Same Size Screen. The Size Of The Monitor Is Important When Considering The Resolution. A 14' Or 15' Monitor Is Best With An 800x600 Resolution. 1024x768 Is Best For 17' Monitors. 19' Monitors Can Use 1280x1024 Or 1024x768 Well. 1600x1200 Or Greater Is Recommended Only For 21' Or Larger Monitors. The Resolution Of A Tv Screen Is 640x480; Another Reason Why A Computer's Display Is Much Better Than A Tv's.
Resource Conflict	The Situation When Two Or More Devices Are Trying To Use The Same System Resources.
Resources	See System Resources.
Rimm	This Stands For Rambus Inline Memory (rdram), This Is Latest Incarnation Of System Memory And Is Capable Of Running At 800mhz Compared To The 66/100/133 Or So Standards Currently. At The Moment It Can Be Expensive When Compared And Is Mainly Suitable For High Demanding Applications. The Rambus Technology Is Used In The Pentium 4 Based Systems.
Riser Card	A Card That Plugs Into The Motherboard To Provide A Perpendicular Extension Of The Bus. Adapter Cards Are Then Plugged Into The Riser Instead Of The Motherboard, Allowing A Lower Profile To The Case. Most Often Used For Desktop Systems That Sit Under The Monitor.
Rj45 Connector	A Connector For Cat 5 Or Cat 5e Cable, With 8 Pins. It Looks Similar To A Typical Telephone Wire Connector That Only Has 4 Or 6 Pins, But It Is Larger In Size.
Rj45 Jack Module	A Module That Fits Into A Wall Plate For The Purpose Of Connecting Cat 5 Or Cat 5e Cable To The Back Of It And Plugging A Rj45 Connector Into The Front Of It.
Rom	Read Only Memory. Drives With A “-rom” Suffix Can Only Read Data From Discs. These Drives Cannot Burn Cds Or Dvds.
Rounded Cables Vs. Ribbon Cables	Rounded Cables Increase Airflow Inside Your System’s Case. Ribbon Cables Are Flat, Wide, And Obstruct Airflow.
Rpc	Remote Procedure Call - The Heart Of Client- Server Networking. Allows A Client To Initiate A Procedure On A Remote Server, Running It On The Server Instead Of On The Client As With Normal Networking.
Rpm	Revolutions Per Minute. Hard Drives Contain A Spindle Which Rotates The Magnetic Platters. The Spindle Speed Of The Hard Drive Is Measured In Rpm. Traditional Speeds Include 5400rpm And 7200rpm. Serial Ata Offers Speeds Of 10,000rpm.
Rs-232-c	Identifies An Interconnection Standard For Serial Operation. It Specifies The Configuration And Type Of Connectors In The Computer's Serial I/o Port(s) And Peripheral Serial Port(s).
Rtc	See Real-time Clock.
Sata/150 Or Serial Ata	Serial Advanced Technology Attachment. High-speed Interface For Connecting Hard Drives To The Motherboard. Sata Replaces Ata By Offering Increased Data Transfer Speeds (up To 150 Mbps), And Cables That Are Easier To Manage Inside A System's Case. Today's Motherboards Can Support 2 Serial Ata Drives In A Raid Configuration.
Satellite Usb Modem	Also Called 'adapter,' Indoor Transmit Unit (itu) And Indoor Receive Unit (iru). The Iru Is A Usb Hardware Device That Acts As An Interface Between Your Satellite Antenna And Your Host Computer.
Scanner	This Device Allows You To Read Images And Text Into Your Computer. Scanners Use A Variety Of Connection Formats Including Parallel Port, Usb, And Scsi. Usb Is Simple, Scsi Is Fast, And Parallel Port Is Extremely Slow. The Miscellaneous Page Discusses Scanner Suggestions.
Scratch Pad Memory	A Group Of Internal Registers Used For The Temporary Storage Of Data Being Collected And Sorted For Immediate Processing. It Is Analogous To A Pad Of Paper For Quickly Jotting Down Notes. Sector - A Section Of A Recording Track On A Magnetic Disk.
Scsi	This Acronym Is Pronounced 'scuzzy' And Stands For Small Computer Systems Interface. There Are Two Types Of Interfaces For Hard Drives, Cd-rom Drives, Etc. One Is Scsi, The Other Is Ide. Ide Is Much More Common And Less Expensive. Scsi Is More Expensive And Also More Flexible And Generally Faster. With A Single Scsi Card You Can Have 15 Or More Devices Whereas You Are Only Allowed To Have 4 Devices With An Ide System. The Fastest Hard Drives (and Generally Cd-rom Drives Too) Are Scsi-based. Examples Are The 10,000 Rpm Ibm 9lzx Hard Drive. The Fastest Ide Drives Run At 7,200 Rpm. To Have A Scsi-based Computer, You Have To Have A Scsi Card, Scsi Hard Drive, Etc. Scsi Is More Complicated To Configure And Should Not Be Taken On By Amateurs. There Is A Variety Of Connections Such As 25, 50, 68, 68 Lvd, 80 Sca, Etc. (where The Numbers Represent The Types Of Connections. See My Scsi Card Page.
Scsi (small Computer System Interface)	A Type Of Interface Between A Computer And Peripherals That Allows Faster Communication Than Most Other Interface Sandards. Scsi Provides A Very Fast Data Transfer Rate And Can Connect Up To 7 Devices Together.
Sdram	Synchronous Dram, This Memory Matches Itself In Synch With The Speed Of The Cpu Bus. At The Moment 133mhz Is The Fastest Cost Effective Standard. You Will Need To Insure That Your Board And Cpu Are Compatible To Get The Full Speed Out Of Your Ram, Most Have Backward Compatibility.
Search Engine	A Website That Serves As An Internet “search” Provider, Such As Google, Msn, Ask.com, Or Yahoo.
Search Engine Marketing	The Process Of Improving A Website’s Status In Major Search Engines Via Both Paid And Organic Search Terms.
Search Engine Optimization	The Process Of Improving A Website’s Status In Major Search Engines, With The Goal Of Getting A Website To The Top Of The Organic (non-sponsored) Results.
Secc	A Single Edge Contact Cartridge Is A Type Of Connection For The Cpu To Plug Into The Motherboard. It Is The Same As Slot 1. All Pentium Ii And Iii Cpus Are Slot 1, As Are Some Celeron Cpus. These Cpus Require A Slot 1 Motherboard Using The Bx Or Lx (older) Chipsets As Well As Newer Ones. They Plug Into The Motherboard Much Like A Pci Sound Card Or Other Component Would. Thus, They Sit Perpendicular To The Surface Of The Motherboard.
Second Level Domain	The Part Of A Domain Name Immediately Preceding The Tld. In Www.codero.com, The Word Codero Is The Second-level Domain. It Contains The Name Or Central Theme Of The Entire Site.
Sector	A Division Of A Disk Platter, Shaped Like A Piece Of Pie.
Seek	In A Disk Drive, The Process Of Finding A Specific Location, By Moving The Actuator Arm Over The Desired Track And Waiting Until The Correct Sector Comes Under The Heads.
Semiconductor Memory	Data Storage Devices Formed With Semiconductor Components (generally Monolithic Ics). See Ram, Rom, Prom, Eprom, Eaprom, Eeprom, And Flash.
Sequential Access	Data Must Be Read In The Order It Appears. This Method Applies To Tape, And To A Lesser Degree To Disks.
Serial Operation	A Method Of Data Transmission Where The Data Is Handled In Sequence, One Bit At A Time.
Serial Port	A Connection For Data Transfer, Using A Single Data Line.
Service Routine	A Set Of Instructions For Performing A Programmed Operation, Typically, In Response To An Interrupt Command.
Shared Hosting	Hosting In Which A Web Server Hosts Websites For More Than One Person Or Business (as Opposed To Dedicated Hosting).
Shift	A Computer Operation Consisting Of Moving A Group Of Adjacent Data Bits Either To The Left Or To The Right By A Prescribed Number Of Positions. The Move Is Done In A Shift Register For A Carry-over Operation.
Shopping Cart	A Web-based Application That Lets You Enable Online Shopping On Your Website, So That Customers Can Make Purchases Via Your Site.
Silicon	The Element Used To Make Transistors And Integrated Circuits.
Simm	Single Inline Memory Module, This Is An Older Type Of Memory Board Similar To Dimms Etc, It Has 72 Pins And Has To Be Used In Pairs Used Mainly In Early Pentiums And Some Boards Still Carry Some Simms, You Can Not Mix Simms With Dimms.
Simplex	A Data Transmission Mode That Provides Transmission In One Direction Only.
Simulation	The Imitation Of A Logical Operation Of One Computer By Another To Measure And Evaluate The Operation Of The Computer Being Designed. Simulation Is Primarily Intended To Provide An Analysis Of Program Logic, Independent Of Hardware Environment, And Is Extremely Useful For Debugging A New Software Program Prior To Committing It To Rom.
Slot 1	See Secc.
Slotket / Sloket	These Terms Are Used To Refer To An Adapter Card That Allows A Ppga Cpu (celeron) To Be Used On A Slot 1 Motherboard. Newer Ones Also Allow For Voltage Adjustment.
Smegabyte	A 1000 Kilobytes Is A Mb
Smtp (simple Mail Transfer Protocol)	A Simple Language Protocol Used In Sending And Receiving E-mail.
Sna	Ibm (systems Network Architecture) - Ibm's Mainframe Network. Still Plenty Important In Big Systems.
Snmp	Simple Network Management Protocol - Yet Another Unix Derived Protocol. Snmp Is A System Where All Conformant Devices Controlling Data Flow And System Health On The Network Can Be Polled For Status From A Central Management Console. Remote Configuration Is Also Sometimes Supported.
Socket 370	See Ppga.
Socket 7	This Is An Older Cpu Connection Format That Was Used By The Pentium, Pentium Mmx, All The Amd K6 And Later Cpus, And Several Cyrix Cpus. Slot 1 Cpus Cannot Be Used On These Motherboards, Nor Can Socket 370 Cpus. These Cpus Are Flat Squares That Sit Parallel To The Motherboard. Their Pins Plug Into The Motherboard.
Software	Programs, Languages, Procedures, And Documentation For A Computer System. Software Includes Operating Systems (system Software), Language Translators (assemblers, Interpreters And Compilers), Subroutine Libraries, Application Programs, And The Information In Instruction Manuals.
Sound Card	An Interface Card That Is Used To Transfer The Audio Signal Between The Computer And The Speakers.
Source Code (source Program)	A Set Of Computer Instructions In Hard-copy Or Stored Form. When Written In A Language Other Than Machine Language, The Source Code Requires Translation By An Assembler (or Macroassembler), Interpreter, Or Compiler Into Object Code.
Spam Assassin	A Popular, Open Source Mail Filter That Is Installed On A Mail Server Which Is Used For E-mail Spam Filtering Based On Content-matching Rules.
Spam Filter	A Function Of A Web-based E-mail Application Or Personal Computer Software (like Outlook/eudora) That Filters Out Unwanted Junkmail From Your Inbox.
Sql	Interactive Database Management Language For Modifying Data. Useful In Creating And Managing Language Extensions. See Also Mysql.
Sse (kni)	Streaming Simd Extensions (formerly Known As Katmai New Instructions) Represent A Set Of Instructions Integrated Into Intel's Pentium Iii Cpus. Similar To Mmx And 3dnow!, They Are Intended To Speed Up Cpu Performance. While Mmx Did Not Have Much Of An Impact, Sse Appears To Offer Significant Improvements. Sse Is The Primary Difference Between The Pentium Ii And Pentium Iii Cpus.
Ssh (secure Shell)	A Unix-based Command Interface And Protocol For Securely Getting Access To A Remote Computer.
Ssi (server-side Include)	A Variable Value That A Server Can Include In An Html File Before It Sends It To The Requestor.
Ssl (secure Sockets Layer)	A Protocol That Encrypts And Protects Sensitive Information When Submitted For E-commerce Transactions (such As Credit Card Numbers). Ssl Addresses Are Usually Identifiable With The 'https' Prefix.
Stack	A Dynamic, Sequential Data List Usually Contained In The Computer System's Main Memory. It Has Special Provisions To Access Data From Either End. Storage And Retrieval Of Data From The Stack Is Performed Automatically By The Cpu.
Start Bit	A Zero Bit Marking The Start Of A Serial Port Data Byte.
State	The Logic Input Or Output Condition Of A Binary Digital Circuit - The State Is Either A '0' Or '1'.
Static Memory	A Type Of Semiconductor Read/write Memory (ram) That Does Not Require Periodic Refresh Cycles. As Long As Electrical Power Is On, The Data In A Static Memory Is Maintained.
Stepping Switch	A Push-button Switch On The Post-probe That When Pressed Shows The Code In The Post Sequence Immediately Previous To The One Currently Displayed.
Stop Bits	One Or More Bits Marking The End Of A Serial Port Data Byte.
Storage	Holding Of Program Instructions And Data For Use By The Computer. Temporary Storage While The Computer Is Running Is Provided By The Ram, And Permanent Storage Is Available On Disk And Tape.
Storage Capacity	The Amount Of Data That Can Be Retained In A Memory Unit. It Is Expressed Either By A Number Of Bits Or Bytes (8-bit Words).
Streamer/streaming Tapes	A Small Tape Recorder, Usually In Cassette Form, Is Used To Store Data From A Hard Disk For The Purpose Of Backing Up This Data.
Subdomain	Individual Web Addresses Built Upon A Pre-existing Domain Name.
Subroutine	A Short Program Segment That Performs A Specific Function And Is Available For General Use By Other Programs And Routines.
Supercomputer	The Largest Mainframe Computer Featuring Exceptionally High Speed Operation While Manipulating Huge Amounts Of Information.
Support Chips	Computer-related Circuits Other Than The Cpu. Examples Are Main Memory (ram And Rom), I/o Ports, And System Bus.
Svga	Super Video Graphics Array, The Enhanced Version Of Vga Used In Most New Pcs. Standard Resolution Is 800 X 600.
Switched, Connectionless	Network Transmission Behavior - The Telephone System Is A Switched System. An Actual Circuit Is Established Between Two Points And Remains Devoted To That Connection Until It Is Broken - Easy To Understand. Ip (internet Protocol) And Similar Data Networks Are Connectionless. Data Transactions Are Made Up Into Addressed Packets (think Letter In An Addressed Envelope). Let's Say Your Computer Wants To Send A Request To A Web Site For A Page. The Request Is Made Up Into A Packet, Addressed And Passed To The Nearest Router. Routers Read The Address And Pass The Packet On Towards Its Destination. The Web Site Recieves The Packet, Reads It, Makes Up The Page Into Packets, Addresses Them According To The Return Address In The Recieved Packet, And Sends Them Off To The Nearest Router. Then It Forgets About You Entirely Until It Recieves Another Request Packet.
Sxga	A High-end Video Standard, With 1280 X 1024 Resolution. It Stands For Super Extended Graphics Array.
Synchronization	Justifying Two Or More Directories, Databases Or Message Stores That Have Been Independently Updated To Make Them Identical Without Losing Data From Either Or Any Of Them.
Synchronous Communication	A Method Of Transferring Binary Data, In Serial Form, Between Computers Or Between A Computer And Its Peripherals. Transmission Of Data Is At A Rate Set By The Computer's Clock With Synchronization Bits Located At The Beginning Of Each Message Or Block Of Data.
Syntax	A Set Of Grammatical Rules Defining Valid Use Of Specific Commands Or Instructions In A Computer Language.
System	All Of The Parts That Work Together For A Particular Purpose. A Computer System Consists Of The Monitor, Keyboard, All Of The Components In The Cpu Cabinet And Any Peripherals Connected To It. An Operating System Is All Of The Routines And Utilities Needed For Control Of The Computer, Organized Into One Program.
System Board	Same As Motherboard.
System Resources	Motherboard Features Which Must Be Allocated Among Devices. These Include Irqs, Dma Channels, I/o Ports And Rom Addresses.
Systems Software	A General Term For Software That Supervises, Sequences, And Coordinates Programs. Systems Software May Include Programs, Such As Operating Systems, Assemblers, Interpreters, Compilers, Software Debugging Programs, Text Editors, Utilities And Peripheral Drivers.
Tape Drive	A Storage Device That Uses A Long Strip Of Magnetic Tape.
Tcp/ip (transmission Control Protocol/internet Protocol)	The Basic Communication Language Or Protocol Of The Internet.
Telnet	Terminal Emulation Over A Network - Terminals Are Traditionally Connected To Host Computers By Serial Data Cables Or Coax Cable (ibm) - One Cable From Each Terminal All The Way Back To The Computer Or To A Terminal Server. With Telnet, A Pc Running Terminal Emulation Software Attaches To The Host Computer Through The Same Network Cable It Uses For Normal Network Services.
Terminal Server	A Server Program Running On A Windows Operating System That Provides The Graphical User Interface (gui) Of The Windows Desktop To User Terminals That Don’t Have This Capability Themselves.
Terrabyte	A Terrabyte (tb) Is A Term Used To Describe 1000 Gigabytes (gb)
Text Editor	See Editor.
Tft	Thin Film Transistor, These Are A High Quality Crystal Display And Are Used In Laptop Screens And Pda's.
Third-party Software	Software Developed By A Software Company Rather Than By A Computer Manufacturer Or User.
Throughput	The Number Of Instructions Executed Per Second, Measured In Millions Of Instructions Per Second (mips) Or Billions Of Instructions Per Second (bips). Toggle - To Switch Back And Forth Between Two States Or Conditions Of Operation, As In A Toggle Switch.
Timeshare	Sharing A Large Computer - Generally Among A Number Of Companies. A Large Computer In A Centralized Location Slices Its Processing Time Among A Number Of Customers Who Have Terminals At Their Sites. Timeshare Was Wiped Out By The Pc, Which Could Put Similar Computing Power On The Individuals Desktop With No Need For A Large Central Computer And Communications Wiring.
Tld (top Level Domain)	The Industry Term For Domain Name Suffixes Like .com And .org. There Are Two Main Classifications: Generic Tlds, And Country Code Tlds (cctlds).
Token Ring	Ibm's Network Protocol. Theoretically Higher Performance Under Heavy Load Than Ethernet Because It Is Deterministic (no Collisions Possible), But It Has More Overhead. In Practice It Didn't Show Enough Performance Advantage To Offset Its Considerably Higher Price. Token Ring Comes In 4-mbs And 16-mbs Versions. Network Cards Are Cabled To A Mau (media Access Unit). A 'token' Is Passed From Card To Card Around The Ring, And Only The Card Holding The Token Is Allowed To Send Data Onto The Network Cable.
Tomcat	An Application Server From The Apache Software Foundation That Executes Java Servlets And Renders Web Pages That Include Java Server Page Coding.
Top-down Hierarchical Design	A Hardware And/or Software Design Approach That Starts At The Most General Level Of A Machine Or Software Program. It Proceeds, Step-by-step, To Lower Levels, Adding Detail As The Design Progresses.
Tops	Peer-to-peer - Netbios. Similar To Other Small Netbios Networks, But With Relatively High Security. It Saw A Period Of Significant Usage In Government Offices.
Track	A Ring On The Surface Of A Magnetic Disk. Tractor-feed - A Pin-fed Device For Advancing Continuous Form Paper Through A Computer Printer. Transistor-transistor Logic (t2l) - A Logic Gate Family That Provides Higher-speed And Higher-power Than The Obsolete Dtl Logic Family. The First Transistor In The Circuit Performs The Required Logic. Another Transistor Amplifies And Inverts The Output. Improved Pin-compatible Versions Of This Logic Family Are Called Ttl-schottky (t2l-s) And Low Power Ttl-s (lpt2l-s).
Transfer	See Bandwidth.
Transistor	An Electronic Device Used To Control The Flow Of Electricity.
Translator	See Assembler, Macroassembler, Interpreter, And Compiler.
Tri-state Logic	The Term That Designates The Possible Conditions Of A Specific Logic Gate Output '0', '1' Or 'undefined'.
Truncate	The Dropping Of Digits Or Characters From One End Of A Data Item Causing Loss Of Accuracy Or Information.
Truth Table	A Tabulation Of All Possible Combinations Of States At The Inputs Of A Logic Gate Which Will Result In A Specific Logic State At The Output Of The Gate.
Turnkey System	A Complete Computer System Ready To Operate Without Any Hardware Or Software Modification Or Addition.
Tweaking	This Is A Term Used To Describe Changing Settings, Adding Programs, Etc. In Order To Make Your Computer Run Faster Or More Efficiently. Visit My Tweaking Tips.
Typical Bandwidths
Uart	Universal Asynchronous Receiver/transmitter, The Control Chip Or Circuitry For A Serial Port.
Udma	Ultra Dma Is The Latest Eide Controllers That Support Transfer Rates Of 33/66/100mbps.
Ultra Dma / Ultra Ata	Also Known As Ata/33, This Is A Technology In Newer Ide Hard Drives That Allows For Greater Overall Throughput. Ata/66 Is Now Available With Many Hard Drives Which Is Even Faster. However, A 7200 Rpm Ata/33 Drive Will Generally Be Faster Than A 5400 Rpm Ata/66 Drive. That Is, The Speed Of The Drive Itself Is Much More Important Than The Ata/33 Or 66 Rating.
Unformatted (uninitialized) Disk	A Blank Magnetic Disk With No Track/sector Identification Recorded On It That Allows Users To Implement Their Own Track/sector Identifications.
Uniform Resource Locator (url)	The Identifier For Locating Sites On The Internet, Also Called The Web Address. Typically A Domain Name With Http:// Preceding It; For Example, Www.codero.com Is A Domain Name, And Http://www.codero.com Is That Domain Name’s Url.
Universal Post-probe	A Post Reader Card From Micro 2000 Containing Many Advanced Features, Including The Ability To Read Either Isa Or Pci With The Same Card.
Unix	General Operating System Written In The C Language.
Upper Memory Area	The 384kb Of Ram Between 640kb And 1mb, Reserved In Dos For Bios, Video And Adapter Card Roms.
Ups	This Stands For Uninterruptable Power Supply, And It Is A Device That Provides Continuous, Reliable Power To Your Computer. It Is A Device That Plugs Into Your Outlets And You Then Plug Your Computer, Monitor, And Other Components Into. It Uses A Battery To Make Sure That The Computer Will Stay On Even If There Is A Power Outage. These Are Generally Used Only For Critical Machines And Servers, But They Can Also Be Useful At Home If You Have Blackouts/brownouts Or Voltage Irregularities. Upss Made By Aps Or Opti-ups Are Generally Good Quality.
Usart	Universal Synchronous/asynchronous Receiver Transmitter - A Circuit That Converts Serial-to-parallel Or Parallel-to-serial Operation For Communication Between Two Computers Or Between A Computer And Its Peripherals.
Usb	Usb Stands For Universal Serial Bus And Is A New Technology Theoretically Capable Of Connecting A Very Large Number Of External Devices On A Computer. Usb Is Intended Primarily For Low Bandwidth (slow) Components Such As Mice, Keyboards, Modems, Joysticks, Etc., But Not Fast Devices Like Hard Drives. Usb Has Its Benefits And Its Problems, Which I Will Not Go Into Depth About. Most Computers Have 2 Usb Ports. Some Usb Devices Will Have Another Port So That Another Usb Device Can Be Plugged Into It. This Is Called 'daisy-chaining'. Otherwise You Run Out Of Ports Quickly, In Which Case You May Need A Usb Hub Which Will Add More Ports (usually 4).
Usb (universal Serial Bus)	A Bus Type That Is Used To Connect Devices Such As Keyboards, Mice, Cameras, Printers, Scanners Etc To A Computer. Most Newer Computers Have 4 Or More Usb Ports Installed. You Can Have Up To 127 Devices Attached Though These Ports.
Usb / Usb 2.0	Universal Serial Bus. Usb Is A Technology That Allows All Sorts Of Peripherals, From Printers And Scanners To Mice And Sound Cards, To Connect To Your System. Usb 2.0 Ports Improve Data Transfer Rate Over The Original Usb. Usb Devices Can Be Plugged And Unplugged While The System Is On.
Usb Device (universal Serial Bus)	A Computer Related Hardware Interface Device Such As A Modem, Keyboard, Joystick, Scanner, Printer, Etc. Usb Has A Maximum Bandwidth Of 12mbps.
User-friendly Program	A Software Program That Has Been Designed To Easily Direct The User Through The Operation Or Application Of A Program. A Menu-driven Program Is Considered To Be 'user-friendly'.
Utility	A Software Program Designed To Perform A Computer System's Routine Housekeeping Functions, Like Copying, Deleting Files, And/or Providing Techniques To Simplify The Execution Of A Program.
Utp Cable	Unshielded Twisted Pair Of Typical Telephone Cable.
Uxga	A High-end Video Standard. It Stands For Ultra Extended Graphics Array, And Has A Resolution Of 1600 X 1200.
V.21	300 Bps - Ccitt Standard.
V.22	1200 Bps - Ccitt Standard.
V.22bis	2400 Bps - Ccitt Standard.
V.29	9600 Bps Half Duplex - Ccitt Standard.
V.32	9600 Bps Half Duplex - Ccitt Standard.
V.32bis	14.4 Kbps - Ccitt Standard.
V.fast	Industry Proposed Standard For 28.8 Kbps.
Vga	A Video Standard For Unlimited Color Reproduction.
Video	Having To Do With The Visual Presentation Of Information, Usually On A Monitor Screen.
Video Capture / Output	This Is Generally Achieved With A Video Capture Card That Is Capable Of Taking Video In From A Tv Or Vcr And Recording It To A Computer Video File. Usually A Separate Device Is Required, But Some Of Today's Video Cards Have This Capability Built In. If You Want To Be Able To Do This, Be Aware That Your Video Card Must Support It, Or You Must Have A Video Capture Card. Computer Generated Videos Can Also Be Output To Vcr Tapes.
Video Card	This Component Is Used To Transfer Data To Your Monitor So That It Can Be Displayed. Today's Video Cards Have A Variety Of '3d' Capabilities. 3d Video Cards Are Only Needed For Playing Games Though. When Playing 3d Games, The Video Card Is The Most Important Component. See My Video Card Section For A More In-depth Discussion Of This.
Video Controller	The Circuitry Driving The Monitor Display. This Circuitry May Be On The Motherboard Or On A Video Adapter Card.
Vocabulary	A List Of Operating Codes Or Instructions Available To The Software Programmer For Writing A Program In A Specific Language.
Volatile Memory	A Memory Whose Contents Are Irretrievably Lost When Power Is Removed. If Data In Ram Must Be Saved After Power Shut-down, Back-up In Nonvolatile Memory (magnetic Disk, Tape, Or Cd-r) Is Essential.
Voltage	This Is The Amount Of Power Supplied To A Components. Cpu Voltage Is The Only One That We Ever Have Any Control Over. Increasing The Voltage Can Be Helpful In Overclocking Your Cpu To A High Speed. Most Motherboards Do Not Support This As An Option Though.
Volume	A Physical Unit Of Data Storage, Such As A Diskette, Tape Reel Or One Partition Of A Hard Drive.
Volume Boot Record	The First Sector Of A Partition, Containing The Disk Parameters Of That Volume.
Vps (virtual Private Server)	A Software Based Private Server Hosted In A Shared Environment.
Wait State	An Internal Condition Of Delay In Processing Time Executed By The Cpu When A Synchronizing Control Signal Is Not Present. Wait States Synchronize The Timing Of A Cpu With The Relatively Slower Access Time Of The Computer's Main Memory.
Wap	Wireless Application Protocol - A Set Of Protocols Based On Internet Protocols But Modified For Use With Wireless Devices That Have Long Latency, Imperfect Access Coverage, Small Screens And Low Power Processors. It Uses A Cut-down Version Of Xml Called Wml (wireless Markup Language).
Warm Boot	Restarting The Boot-up Without First Turning Off The Power.
Web	Web - Peer-to-peer - Ipx/spx Web 'reverse Engineered' Novell's 'netware Core Protocols' And Produced A Simple Small Business Network That Could Use Netware Nic Drivers. Web Was Bought Up By Microsoft To Get Their Ipx/spx Protocols And Instantly Liquidated.
Web Browser	See Browser.
Web Host	A Networked Computer Dedicated To Hosting Websites On The World Wide Web.
Web Hosting	When A Website Is Placed On The Internet Via A Web Server, That Server Is “hosting” The Website.
Web Hosting Provider	A Business That Provides Web Hosting Servers To “host” Client’s Websites.
Web Page	A Single Page Of A Larger Website.
Web Statistics	The Statistics That Detail What Kind Of Traffic And Visits Your Site Is Getting.
Webalizer	A Web Server Log File Analysis Program (website Statistics Software).
Webmail	A Web-based Email Program.
Webmin	A Web-based Interface (control Panel) For System Administration For Unix That Supports Tables And Forms (and Java For The File Manager Module), You Can Setup User Accounts, Apache, Dns, File Sharing, Etc.
Website	The Most Basic Term For The Identity Of A Web Address, A Website Is A Collection Of Web Pages Residing On A Web Server, Accessible Through An Internet Browser. Usually The Collected Pages Of One Domain Name, A Website Can (and Often Does) Encompass More Than A Single Domain Name.
Whois	A Database That Indexes Information About Domain Names And Their Registrants, Such As Owners, Expiration Dates, Points Of Contact, Etc. Whois Is Also A Tool/command Used For Accessing These Various Databases To Find Contact Information On The Owners And Managers Of Various Domain Names.
Winchester Drive	See Hard-disk Drivewindowing - The Ability Of A Program To Divide A Display Screen Into Smaller Sub-units That Permit Portions Of Different Sections Of A Program, Or Different Programs, To Be Displayed On The Screen, Edited, And Copied Independently.
Windows	A Widespread Operating System From Microsoft, Used On Approximately 80% Of All Pcs.
Word	The Set Of Binary Bits Handled By A Computer As A Primary Unit Of Data. The Width (number Of Bits) Of A Computer Word Depends On The Hardware Design. Wider Words Imply Higher Levels Of Precision, Higher Speed, And More Intricate Instructions. Typically, Each Location In Memory Contains One Word.
Word Processing (wp)	The Term Refers To A Program, That Allows Creating, Editing, Formatting, Displaying, Printing, And Storage Of Text With Great Flexibility And Ease. Different Wp Programs Provide Different, And Sometimes, More Desirable Capabilities Than Others.
Workstation	The Work Area And/or Equipment Used For Computer Operations, Including Computer-aided Design (cad). The Equipment Generally Consists Of A Monitor, Keyboard, Printer And/or Plotter, And Other Output Devices.
Worm (Write-once, Read-many)	A High-density Optical Disk Memory Available In A Variety Of Formats From 5.25' To 14'. The Worm Can Be Programmed Once, Permanently Saving A User's Data. It Then Becomes An Optical Disk Read-only Memory Having Essentially The Same Features As A Cd-rom. Also Called Cd-r (cd-recordable).
Write	The Process Of Storing Data Into A Memory.
Write Head	A Small Electromagnet In A Disk Drive That Puts Data Onto The Platter.
Www	World Wide Web
X.25	A Telecommunications Protocol For Transmission Over Certain Types Of Leased Lines. Popular In Europe.
X.400	Ccitt/iso Standard For A Mail Transfer Protocol Similar In Purpose To Smtp Which Is Replacing It Due To The Popularity Of The Internet And It's Protocols. X.400 Standards Have Been Absorbed Into Other E-mail Systems Like Microsof Exchange. Some Components Of X.400 Are Ua (user Agent), Mta (message Transfer Agent (moves Mail Among Servers An Mailboxes)) And Ms (message Store (maintains Message Databases)).
X.500	Itu/iso Standard For E-mail Directory Services. It Is Large And Complex And Has Not Been Widely Adopted. Ldap (lightweight Directory Access Protocol) Is A Simplified Internet Standard Based On X.500 That Is Gaining Popularity.
Xga	Extended Graphics Array, A Video Standard With A Resolution Of 1024 X 768 At 256 Colors, Or 640 X 480 With 16-bit Color.
Xml (extensible Markup Language)	A Flexible Way To Create Common Information Formats And Share Both The Format And The Data On The World Wide Web, Intranets, Etc.
Xor (exclusive Or)	If Any Of The Inputs Are In A '1' State, But Not If Two Or More Inputs Are '1', The Output Is In A '1' State.
X-y Plotter	A Computer-driven Printing Mechanism That Draws Coordinate Points In Graph Form.
Zero-wait State	A Condition That Results When No Delays Are Inserted Into The System Software To Deliberately Detain Operation Of The Cpu. This Can Be Done With High-speed Memory And Proper Design Of Computer Architecture. Zero-wait State Is Desirable For The High-speed Operation Of A Computer.
Zip Drive	A High-density Removable-media Drive. Each Diskette Holds Either 100 Or 250 Megabytes.
Zoom	The Process Of Proportionately Enlarging Or Reducing An Image Displayed On A Computer Monitor.