|
|
Welcome to our Technical Glossary. Here you can find the definitions of many of the technical terms that you may hear when dealing with computers, in plain English. This is by no means a complete glossary, nor is it intended to be, but it should be able to help you with most common computer related situations.
If you keep a sharp eye out, you will also find many helpful and useful tips about that particular term that you may not have known. Also, take note that many terms you hear are acronyms or slang of some sort. If a word is underlined and in blue, you can click on it to learn more about it.
Note: You will notice only some of the definitions have clickable terms. We are currently working in this feature. IF a word is linked and when you click on it, nothing happens, that means the word is currently not in the Glossary but it will be soon.
This Glossary will be a constant work in progress since new terms are coined almost everyday as new technologies are created and discovered. The Glossary is organized in alphabetical order. Use the Alphabar below to navigate. If you don't see a term listed and you would like to know what it means, contact us and we will add it to this section. Also feel free to link to any of these definitions if you would like.
Please note: all of the definitions located here were written by us. The ideas, facts, and information in these definitions were obtained through various public printed works, whether on paper or on the Internet, or from our experiences and education. If you have any questions about the validity of a definition, where we got it from, or a correction or addition to something we have posted, please contact us. Thank you.
| Number of current terms: |
264 |
A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | 0-9
|
|
| Active Matrix |
| Active Matrix, also called TFT (thin film transistor), is type of flat panel display or monitor that has a very high refresh rate, thus creating smooth video. The display itself is a grid of wires and where each wire intersects, there is a pixel. In Active Matrix displays, each pixel is controlled by an individual transistor. There are thousands of transistors in an Active Matrix display. Active Matrix displays are used mostly on laptop screens and are currently an industry standard. |
|
| AGP |
acronym for: Accelerated Graphics Port
AGP has become the standard for connecting video expansion cards (graphics cards) to computers. AGP itself is simply the standard by which graphics cards must perform and be physically created to fit the slot on the motherboard. It is a high speed way for data to be sent from the hard drive to the graphics card and then be interpreted and sent to the monitor. |
|
| AIFF |
acronym for: Audio Interchange File Format
AIFF is used mainly by Apple computers to store audio files. It is the audio file standard for Macintosh computers, however; PCs running Windows 95 and higher can run AIFF files using Windows Media Player, or some other compatible player. AIFF files will have a file extension of .aiff or .ief |
|
| Analog |
| You may hear the term analog when people are talking about audio or video, however, analog has everything to do with computers. Analog refers to the type of signal that is being transmitted over some type of medium, whether it is a wire or through the airwaves. For example, your telephone is an analog signal, which is why you need a Modem to modulate the analog signal to a digital signal that your computer can understand. Analog signals mean that the electrical signal on the wires increases and decreases in waves. The problem with analog is that because the signal is can have some fluctuation, the data traveling across it can be corrupted. Digital signals fix this problem because the signal is not in waves but rather pulses which are more distinct and less likely to be recieved incorrectly. |
|
| ANSI |
acronym for: American National Standards Institute
ANSI is similar to the IEEE except they create standards for the computer industry and several other technical areas other than computers. Their standards cover almost all comptuer programming languages, communications protocols, and nanotechnologies to name a few. ANSI is comprised of approxiamtely 1,000 organizations that constitute many of the major industry leaders in each area that ANSI creates the standards for. |
|
| ASCII |
acronym for: America Standard Code for Information Interchange, pronounced Ask-E
ASCII simply put is a character set for the English language which includes numbers and symbols such as the ! sign. ASCII is a standardized code in which each letter, number, and symbol has a corresponding code and this code is a standard so all computers can communicate properly. The code can be 7 or 8 bits long depending on what operating system you have. For example, DOS used the 8-bit ASCII code, so there were 255 different symbols. You can still use them today in Windows as well. Open up Notepad or Microsoft Word if you have it, now hold down the ALT key and type 0167, then release the ALT key. Watch what you get, then try it with different numbers from 0001 to 0255. |
|
| AT |
| An older style computer case form factor in which the motherboard did not have the PS/2 keyboard ports on-board and the power supply needed a physical switch to turn the computer on and off. The power connector to the motherboard was a two-piece connector and the power could not be controlled by the software. AT is rarely used today. |
|
| ATX |
| The current computer case form factor that most systems use today which typically involves on-motherboard PS/2 mouse and keyboard ports and the power supply can be controlled by the motherboard, so no physical switch is needed to turn the computer on or off. The power connector is also one piece as apposed to two as it was in the form factor. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Backup |
| This terms refers to the process of taking data and copying it on to some other media, whether it is a tape backup drive, another computer, or to a network for redundancy. Most businesses backup their data on a daily basis as a preventative means, in the situation of a complete computer system failure, so they do not loose important data. The term itself literally means to revert to a previous version of data. |
|
| Bandwidth |
| This is a term used to describe the throughput of data over a certain medium. The higher the bandwidth, the faster the connection. Bandwidth is usually measured in Megabytes per second or Mbps for short. Typically bandwidth is used when referring to Internet or data connections. For example, a dial-up Internet connection is considered to have very low bandwidth, while a cable or DSL Internet connection is considered to have high bandwidth. |
|
| Baud |
| Baud is a unit of measure for data being sent between two devices, not just modems. The word baud comes from its founders name, who was J.M.E. Baudot. Baud is typically measured as bps or Bits Per Second. Bps and baud are directly relational, most of the time. For example, 600 baud means data is being sent at 600bps. This is always the same until you get in to higher baud speeds, such as 4,800 baud or higher. At these speeds, it is possible to transmit more than 1bit per baud, so you might a device operating at 2,400 baud but sending data at 9,600bps. |
|
| Binary |
| Binary is the counting system that almost all computers are based on. It is a Base 2 system (0,2,4,8,16,32...etc.). The value are calculated on an exponential basis. For example, 2^1=1, 2^2=4, 2^3=8, 2^4=16, 2^5=32, etc. The U.S. system is a Base 10 counting system (0,1,2,3,4....etc.) Binary uses two symbols, 1's and 0's, to describe a unit of data. Combinations of these symbols equal other larger values called Bits and Bytes. A Bit and a Binary digit are the same thing and a Byte is comprised of 8 Bits. Therefore, Binary is most commonly viewed in groupings of 8 values which can be calculated to equal some character. For example, 10101101 is equal to 346 in decimal notation. See Bit and Byte |
|
| BIOS |
acronym for: Basic Input Output System
The BIOS is the very first piece of software that loads when a computer is turned on, before any other software including the operating system. This software is built-in to the motherboard and almost always comes with a new computer. It tells the motherboard what type hardware is in the computer and how to communicate with it. On most computers, the BIOS is masked by the manufacturers logo when the BIOS loads, such as the Hewlett Packard symbol that shows up when an Hewlett Packard computer is turned on or Award written in plain text across the top of the screen for Award brand BIOS's. The two most commonly seen companies for BIOS's are Phoenix and Award. |
|
| Bit |
| A bit is a measurement of data. A bit is the smallest unit of data used in computers and can only have one of two values, 0 or 1; or off or on respectively. The on or off sets the value of a microscopic transistor located on the CPU to either on or off. Combinations of these settings result is actual data, such as the number 1 or the letter A. Bits are usually grouped together in combinations of 8, which is called a Byte. |
|
| Bluetooth |
| Bluetooth is a newer technology that has never really taken off to its full potential. It is essentially a short-range radio standard that allows Internet devices, such as laptops, PDAs and cellphones, to communicate wirelessly. The original purpose of Bluetooth was to simplify synchronization between these Internet devices and other Internet devices. Today Bluetooth has expanded to keyboards, mice and soon, even full-time networking, instead of the small segmented networks that can use bluetooth now. Did you know that many new cell phones now have Bluetooth technology built in which allows for wireless earpieces? |
|
| Boolean |
pronounced boo-lee-ann
Boolean refers to several things, however, the most common is boolean logic. Named for its creator, George Boole, boolean is a form of mathematics where all sums and values are reduced to either ones or zeros. These values of 1 or 0 happen to fit very nicely with the binary system in place for most computers where a 1 equals ON or TRUE and a 0 equals OFF or FALSE. It is the latter of the two values, True and False, that boolean logic uses to define an equation. This is a very large premise in computer programing, especially when creating loop statements that repeat the same functions until a Boolean expression of true or false is established, then the expression terminates. For example, an IF, THEN, ELSE program function uses boolean. It states that IF condition A exists, THEN do condition B. If condition A does not exist (ELSE), do condition C. It can also be stated DO A until B is TRUE or FALSE, then DO C. There are many ways this type of logic can be implemented, however this is all we are going to say about this definition to keep it simple. |
|
| Boot |
slang
This term is derived from the phrase, "To pull ones self up by his boot-straps". This meant to pull up ones boots using a leather strap. In this same manner, to boot a computer is pull the computer up or simply, to turn a computer on. There are two types of booting:
1) A cold-boot completely removes power from the computer. Once it is completely turned off, it is then powered back on.
2) A warm-boot does not remove power from the computer, it simiply drops the voltage enough to reset the circuitry, which causes the system to restart. |
|
| Bps |
abbrevation for: Bits Per Second
Bps is the standard measure of data transmition. Simply put, it is the measure of how long it takes one bit of data to be transferred from one node on a network to another node, measured in seconds. |
|
| Browser |
abbreviation for: Internet Browser
A browser is a computer program that is used to locate and then display web sites. The main type of browser is a graphical browser. Internet Explorer and Netscape are both graphical browsers. They can both display graphics and text. Newer versions of each can also display various forms of multimedia including video, audio, and animations. Some mutlimedia requires additional software called plug-ins to be installed in order to view this multimedia. |
|
| Bus |
| This term is usually used when describing the speed of circuity, such as a motherboard or RAM. The bus itself is the channel through which data flows on the circuitry. The bus speed refers to the maximum data throughput that a certain component can support and is usually expressed in Megahertz (MHz). There are several types of buses, the most common is the front-side bus, which is used when describing motherboards. For example, a new computer with an Intel Pentium 4 processor might have a front-side bus of 800MHz which means that the RAM for that computer should also support an 800MHz bus. A bus can also described in width, which is measured in bits. Most buses are either 8 or 16 bits wide, meaning that 8 or 16 bits of data can flow through the bus at one time. The wider the bus, the faster it is. Think of a Bus like an interstate highway. The more lanes a highway has, the more traffic can flow freely without congesting. The idea holds true for a Bus. The more bits wide it is, the faster data can move through it. |
|
| Byte |
| A byte is the second smallest unit of measure for data. A byte is comprised of exactly 8 bits. A byte is technically represented by a series of 1's and 0's, when it is viewed as binary. Typically, a byte is represented as a single character, such as a letter of the alphabet or a number, but not a double number. For example, the letter F is exactly 1 Byte of data as is the number 9, but the number 35 is two Bytes of data that are combined. In the Microsoft Windows XP operating system, when viewing the properties of files, the size of the file is expressed in bytes. A byte is not the same as kilobyte. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Cable |
| A cable is commonly called a wire which is incorrect. When dealing with computers, it is important to realize the difference between the two. A cable is a group of wires (more than 1) bound together, usually in a rubber sheathing that has at least one connector on either end of it. For example, the cable going to your keyboard is a cable and not a wire because there are many wires inside of it, even though you can not see them individually. There are only a few actual wires when dealing computers, since most are cables. This holds true for most electronics. |
|
| Cable Modem |
| A cable modem is a device used for converting signals from a coaxial cable (the cable that Cable TV is carried over) from an analog signal to a digital signal that the computer can understand. Cable modems are used typically for high-speed Internet connections that are "always on". Cable modems typically have a maximum throughput or bandwidth of 10Mbps. |
|
| Cache |
pronounced Cash
Cache is high-speed temporary memory that a computer uses to store small amounts of data as it is written to and from the CPU and hard drive. Think of cache as a type of ultra-short term memory like a person has when they cram for a test just minutes before it starts and then completely forget the information they studied once they answer the question on the test. Cache is constantly being written to, cleared, and re-written during the normal operation of the computer and requires no interaction from the user. There are three levels of cache; L1 and L2 which are usually on the processor itself and L3 which is usually on the motherboard. The more cache a computer has, the faster it can process commands. Most new computers have a total of 512Kb of cache. |
|
| CAT Cable |
acronym for: Category Cable
CAT cable is usually referred to as CAT3,CAT5,CAT5e, or CAT6 cable. The most frequently used it CAT5. CAT5 cable is used when networking computers together and consists of 8 wires bundled together in a rubber sheath in four pairs of colors (usually orange, orange-white, blue, blue-white, green, green-white, and brown, brown-white) with an 8-pin RJ-45 plug on either end that looks very similar to the plugs on a telephone. The wires are twisted inside the cable. The number after the cable (i.e. CAT3, CAT5) refers to the number of twists in the wires per foot. For example, in CAT5, for 1 foot of cable, the wire inside the cable has five twists. CAT3 = 3 twists per foot. If a CAT cable has too few or too many twists per foot, then it will not perform properly or not at all. CAT cable is also somtimes called UTP cable for Unshielded Twisted Pair cable. The unshielded part of the name refers to shielding against EMI. CAT cable is rarely shieled against EMI, so UTP is acceptable when referring to most CAT cable. |
|
| CD Burner |
| A special type of disk drive that can write to (create) CD-Rs (Recordable) and usually to CD-RWs (ReWritable). It is called a "burner" because it literally burns small grooves in to the CD using a laser. Most CD burners can burn at 32x (150KB per second x 32 or 4800KB/s) or faster, which is the same speed that data can be read from a hard drive and sent to the CD burner. A burner that is faster that 32x is typically overkill and is already writing to the blank CD as fast as the computer can handle, unless your hard drive is faster than 5,400 RPMs (Revolutions per Minute), which in most computers is not the case. |
|
| CD-R |
abbreviation for: CD-Recordable
A CD-R is a disc that can be used with a CD Burner to write data on to it. A CD-R can only be used once. Once the data has been written or burned to the disc, it can not be removed. The great thing about CD-Rs are they are now very cheap; you can typically buy 100 brand name discs for around $40USD. AVOID NO-NAME BRAND CD-Rs!!! A good quality CD-R will last 100 years if treated right, these no-name brand CD-R that can be bought for pennies are garbage. They will last weeks if you are lucky. The polycarbonate and metal layers tend to fall off over time on cheap CD-Rs very quickly. A good test to see if a CD is good quality is to take a peice of Scotch brand tape or similar, a apply it firmly to the label side of a blank disc. Let it sit overnight, then the on the next day, rip it off quickly. If the polycarbonate does not come off, then it is a well made CD. |
|
| CD-RW |
abbreviation for: CD-ReWritable
A CD-RW is very similar to a CD-R. The only difference is that a CD-RW can be written to, erased, and written to again. These are great for backing up data. The only downfall of these discs is that most audio CD players do not support CD-RWs so they make poor audio discs. Instead, use a CD-R, they work great for audio. |
|
| CD-ROM |
|
abbreviation for: Compact Disc - Read Only Memory, abbreviated to CD
A CD-ROM can be one of two things:
- This refers to a piece of hardware for a computer that can read the data stored on a CD and send the data to the controller to be processed. This data can be in any format, such as a document or music or video. The ability to decipher to data depends on the software installed on the computer. CD-ROMs can be located either internally in a computer or externally on the outside of computer as a separate component.
- This refers to a circular, thin, plastic disc that is used to store data on it. CD-ROMs, also called CDs or Discs for short, can hold a maximum of up to 650MB or 700MB depending on the CD itself and are used for a wide variety of applications, such as music, movies, and of course, raw data, such as a text document.
|
|
| Character |
| A character is NOT a person in a novel or play. It is a single digit or Byte of data that is comprised of exactly 8 Bits of data. The letter Q is a character, as is the number 6. A blank space is also technically a character. The spaces between all of these words are characters as is the punctuation of these sentences. Characters can be in any language or any symbol just as the + or ? symbols. A character can most easily be defined as any single symbol that you can type from your keyboard. |
|
| Client |
| A client is a program that runs on a workstation or PC, which needs to be attached to a server to run properly. A client is the users side of a network program. For example, many businesses use e-mail clients, such as Microsoft Outlook, to allow their users to send and recieve e-mail through their system. Clients will run on their own, however fuctionality may be limited if there is no server present. A client is also another name given to any user or program that accesses a host to use its resources. A host is the counterpart to a client. |
|
| CMOS |
acronym for: Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor, pronounced See-Moss
The CMOS is usually the type of chip that a computers' BIOS is stored on. It uses a small battery that allows the CMOS chip to store system information such as hardware configuration and date and time. The information stored on this chip is also known as the computer's firmware. This allows a computer to store this information even when not hooked up to a power source for long periods of time. |
|
| Command Line Interface |
| A command line interface, also called a C-L-I is an interface in which the user must type commands after some type of prompt to execute and interact with programs. DOS and UNIX both utilize this type of interface. There are no mice and no graphics in a CLI and some people will agrue that a user has more control over a computer system using a CLI rather than a GUI (graphical user interface), such as the Windows operating system. |
|
| Computer |
| A piece of electronic equipment that combines many pieces of circuitry and different components to take structured input from a user and output useful information and formatted data. A computer was original a person who performed mathematical equations. The term computer was not used to define a machine until the early part of the 20th century when the first computer was built by Alan Turing to perform mathematical equations quickly and without error. Today, computers are everywhere. They are in cell phones, cars, trains, planes, even some household appliances have computers in them. |
|
| Controller |
| A controller is piece of hardware that can either be integrated with a motherboard or a separate expansion card that controls drives, such as hard drives, CD-ROMs, or disk drives, that are connected to a computer. Most computers have three built-in controllers; a primary, a secondary, and a floppy disk controller. Typically, each controller can handle up to two devices, however, additional controllers can be added for more capacity. |
|
| Cookie |
| A cookie is small text file that is sent to your Internet browser from a web site that contains information about the user. For example, when you use a online banking service and you log in, it is very likely that that website has now created a cookie with your login information in that cookie, so if you choose to, the web site can "remember" you and login you in automatically. The cookie will be stored on your computer until you decide to delete it or it expires, whichever happens first. Everytime you visit a site that has sent you a cookie, that same cookie is sent back to the server, so it can identify you. The most common usage for cookies are to remember frequent users of web site, such as Yahoo.com or Hotmail.com. Both sites use cookies to keep track of their users. Despite popular belief, cookies do not invade your privacy. They are simply text files that can be deleted at any time and they can not spread viruses, access your hard drive, or run programs. The only way it could threaten your privacy is if it stores your credit card number when you buy something online, but even in this case you can just delete your cookies, hence removing the threat. |
|
| CPU |
acronym for: Central Processing Unit, pronounced C-P-U
The CPU is the "brain" of the computer. The CPU is typically a small piece of silicon wafer that has millions of microscopic transistors on it that can be turned on or off by variations in electrical current. Combinations of these transistors being turned on and off allows the CPU to perform basic mathematical and logical equations which powers the "thinking" aspect of a computers capabilities. Most CPU's have three parts to them, the arithmetic logic unit (ALU), the control unit, and registers. Most computers only have one CPU. Some computers, called Servers, can have 64 CPU's or more.
See Microprocessor |
|
| Crash |
slang
Crash is a term used to describe that state of a computer when it is not longer responsive to user commands. This term is commonly used to decribe any computer failure, however it actually specifically refers to only one type of hardware failure. When the reading heads in a hard drive actually the touch the internal disk, called the platter, it is said that head has "crashed" in to the platter. These heads are not supposed to actually touch they disk ever, they ride on a cushion of air. When they do touch, this is an actual, physical crash. When software fails, it is simply and software error or bug. When a hard drive crashes, typically all data is lost on that disk. |
|
| CRT |
acronym for: Cathode Ray Tube
This is what most Televisions and older monitors have inside of them. It refers to the type of glass tube that a screen is made out of and the cathode ray that is in the back of the monitor. The Cathode Ray draws line across the screen from right to left and top to bottom so fast, you can not see it. By overlapping these lines, the Cathode Ray draws the pictures that you see on the screen. If your TV or monitor is not an LCD, flat panel, or High-Definition, then it is a CRT. See, computer terms don't just apply to computers. ;-) |
|
| Cyberspace |
slang
Cyberspace is another term used to describe the Internet. Cyberspace is the Internet. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Data |
| Data is anything that is stored on a disk. It does not have to be formatted in any specific way. 1 byte is considered data. This web site is comprised of data. In fact, everything on a computer is data. Data is what computers are designed to handle and manage. Data can also mean a file, however a file is data that has been formatted for use, where plain data does not have to be formatted in any specific manner. Data can also be infomation entered in to a computer, such as statistics or numbers. This is the type of data that is used by most. They enter words, numbers and sentences. This is all considered. The plural form of data is datum, however it is accepted to use data as the plural form as well. |
|
| Database |
| A database is a heirarchal system where data is collected and stored where it is organized and can be pulled by another program or a user easily and quickly. Databases are everywhere in computers. The Windows operating system is run from a database called the registry. Credit cards companies maintain databases of all of their customers and accounts. In fact every company that obtains customer, product, or other mass amounts of data stores this data in a database for easy access and utilization. Databases make utilizing data much easier. A database does not need a lot of data to work efficently, however they work better when more data is available. |
|
| DDR |
acronym for: Double Data Rate
DDR is a term used when talking about computer memory or RAM, specifically DDR-SDRAM (Double data rate synchronous dynamic RAM). It refers to the speed at which data can be transferred both to and from the memory to the CPU which is twice the speed of normal SDRAM. To do this, both sides of the connector on the motherboard can send and receive data, as apposed to the traditional chips, in which only one side can do this. DDR memory can also be called DDRAM for short. Ther is also a newer type of DDR, called DDR-2. The major difference between the two is DDR-2 is capable of faster bus speeds. |
|
| Defrag |
abbreviation for: Defragmentation
A process in which the data on a hard drive is reorganized so that files that were broken up and stored on physically different location on the hard drive are made contiguous. Defrag also refers to the Microsoft utility that does this. As a computer is used (i.e. files are created, deleted, modified) pieces of individual files tend to become scattered, this is normal. The files themseleves actually get broken up in to small pieces that get scattered across the hard drive, even thougth the user would never know the difference. Defragmenting put these files back together to improve the speed at which the files are accessed, since the hard drive does not have to go all over the disk to find the pieces of one file. Defragmentation is a routine maintenance procedure that should be done at least once every couple months, depending on usage. |
|
| Degauss |
| Degaussing is a process in which magnetism is removed from a device, usually computer CRT monitors or Televisons. A monitor creates a magnetic field inside of the tube and sometimes the Earths magnetic fields or a magnet can cause distortion within the magnetic field in the tube. Degaussing re-aligns these inside magnetic fields to corrcet problems in the picture (i.e. discoloration, wavey lines). Degaussing uses a very strong magnetic field to do this. Most modern monitors have a built-in freature to do this, however, there are external degaussers that you can purchse, or even make on your own, although we do not recommend this. When deguassing, be careful not to put any disks too close because it will erase all of th data on the disk. |
|
| Delete |
| Delete means to remove data from a storage medium such as a hard drive. It can be used as an adjective or verb. Deleting data means to erase it. In some operating systems, when you delete something, it is gone forever and unretrievable. However, in most operating systems, when you execute the delete command on a single file or a set of data, the data is not actually compeletely erased. It is simply marked by the operating system as available free space so other data can be written over that same section of the disk. It is only when this data is over written that it is truely erased. Some operating system even give you a chance to not delete the data moving it to another location. The Windows operating system, for example, intially moves deleted data to a "Recylce Bin" and in order to completely remove the data, it must be again deleted from the Recycle Bin. There are programs out there that are capable of recovering data that has been marked as deleted by an operating system, although it is tedious to do since the entire volume must be scanned. We can retrieve most data from a disk if it has been marked as deleted, not over written, and the disk is not physically damaged. If you are interested in the service, please contact us. |
|
| Digital |
| Digital can be called the technical opposite analog. Digital refers to the way a signal is sent from one device to another. Prior to the 1980's almost everything was analog. Television, radio, and even cars. Now everything is considered "Digital". What this really means is the signals are sent from one device to another are sent in pulses instead of waves. It is still sent in the same manner they used to be, which is variations in electrical current that look like waves, except now, instead of rounded waves, the pulses are boxes and are more defined. If you were to look at a digital signal on an oscilliscope, the would appear like the teeth of a zipper, where as analog would look like the rolling waves of the ocean. Digital signal are easier to determine extactly is being sent, which results in less data loss and a stronger, clearer signal. This allows digital television and radio to be possible. The signals sent to these devices is much more clear than it used to be which is why the clarity and quality of the output it so much better. The same goes for data being sent on circuitry. |
|
| Disk |
Also spelled "disc"
This term can refer to many things. Primarily it refers to a round storage medium to which data can be stored. All disks are either magnetic or optical. Examples of magnetic disks are; hard drives, removable disks (such as a ZIP disks) and floppy disks (the brown or black plastic piece under the metal part of the disk). These disks are encoded by magnetism by arranging tiny "needles" in different ways. This is why computers are so sensitive to magnets, NEVER bring a magnet near a disk or you many destroy the data on the disk. Optical discs store data just like a record. A laser burns tiny "holes" on to the disc in patterns that a computer can decipher. Optical discs include CD's and DVD's and are read by lasers. They are not affected by magnetism. |
|
| Disk Drive |
also called: a Drive
A disk drive is simply a device that spins a disk and can read and usually write to a disk. A Floppy Disk Drive, for example, can read and write to floppy disks; however, a CD-ROM drive can only read CDs and not write to them. To do that, you would need a CD burner. Most disk drives contain heads that can read and/or write to a disk. |
|
| DHCP |
acronym for: Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol
This is a complicated subject, however, to keep things simple we will say that DHCP is protocol which usually runs as a type of computer program on a server that can distribute and keep track of IP addresses on its network. The protocol determines how the IPs address are assigned and handled. |
|
| DIMM |
acronym for: Dual Inline Memory Module
A DIMM refers to a specific type of RAM chip. The circuity physically has memory chips on both sides, instead of one, thus increasing its capcity and speed. Almost all modern computers use DIMMs. |
|
| DNS |
acronym for: Domain Naming Service
DNS simply put is the software that runs on servers that converts IP addresses to domain names. Every website on the Internet actual has one or more IP address that actually points to it. DNS allows users to type in a domain name, such as www.dccon.com, and have it point them to that site. This makes it a lot easier for users to remember how to get to a web site. Try memorizing 66.11.130.191 instead of dccon.com. It is not that easy. This is the purpose of DNS, to make it easier to go back to the same resource that you were once at, which out having to memorize long series of IP addresses. |
|
| Dongle |
| This is a funny sounding term, and it refers to two seperate things. First and most commonly, a dongle is an adapter that was used for expansion cards on laptop computers. It usually had a small connector that went to the expansion card on one end, and a jack on the other for an ethernet cable or a telephone cable. These were cumbersome, since they would become lost or broken very easily due to their small size. This is why they are more rare today.
Dongle can also refer to a device that attaches to any computer, usually via the parallel port, to prevent unauthorized use of an application. If the program can not find the hardware on the port, thr program will not run. This is a very effective means of preventing software piracy and is typically used to lock high end software. For that reason, these dongles are usually fairly expensive.
|
|
| DOS |
abbreviation for: Disk Operating System
Originally used in the 1960's as an acronym for IBM's Disk Operating System, DOS is more widely known as Microsoft's first operating system, also called Disk Operating System. IBM bought DOS from Microsoft in 1981 to put on their personal computers and thanks to IBM, Microsoft is what it is today. A little known fact is that the very first version of DOS, called QDOS (for Quick and Dirty Operating System) was purchased from Tim Patterson by the then Seattle Computer Products which would later become Microsoft. |
|
| Dot Pitch |
also called: Phosphor Pitch
This is an important measurement when it comes to determining the quality of monitor. It refers to the distance between the like-colored phosphor dots on the screen and is a good measure of an images clearness. The closer together the dots, the clearer the image. A typical dot pitch for a good monitor is between .23mm and .26mm. Dot Pitch is measured in millimeters |
|
| Download |
| Download is the opposite of upload. People will sometimes use the term download to describe copying data to or from a disk to a computer, which is correct; but more often you will hear people use the term when they are referring to downloading data from the Internet, which is correct. To download is to copy and/or move data from another computer or server to your computer. Thats all there is to it. |
|
| DPI |
acronym for: Dots per Inch
This term is used in reference to the image quality of monitors and printers. This applies to CRT monitors and flat panel monitors and all printers. The larger the number, the more dots of the image are packed in to one square inch of the display, the higher the resolution and the clearer the image. A typical DPI for many monitors is .26 or .27 and most printers print at 600dpi. Most color photo printers print at 1200dpi. At this dpi, a picture looks like it was processed at a photo lab. |
|
| Driver |
| A driver is not a golf club, it a program installed on a computer that controls a piece of hardware. Every single piece of hardware that is connected to a computer, both internally and externally, must a have a driver installed in order to work properly. The driver tells the operating system how to communicate with a particular device and without the driver, the device is useless, hence the driver software drives the hardware device. Every device has one, even the mouse, keyboard, and even the monitor, although these drivers are usually a generic driver that is installed with the operating system, making the installation invisible to the user. |
|
| DSL |
abbreviation for: Digital Subscriber Line
DSL simply put is a normal telephone line, except the electricity sent over the line is split in to a high area and low area, or high and low bandwidth. The upper part, or high bandwidth section of the line becomes dedicated to data, as in an Internet connection. The lower part, or low bandwidth, is dedicated to voice communications or fax transmissions only, as it is much slower than the high bandwidth section of line. DSL is typically used for an "always on" Internet connection that has a maximum throughput of data of about 10Mbps for most people. |
|
| DVD Burner |
| This drive is exactly the same as a CD Burner except that it can burn DVDs. DVDs have two different formats, plus and minus. Some burners can only do one or the other, while newer ones are capable of doing both. |
|
| DVD-ROM |
abbreviation for: Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc
These discs are exactly the same as CD-ROMs; however, data is encoded to them differently than CDs and they have a totally capacity of 4,700MB to 17,000MB depending on the format and if data compression is used. Most DVD-ROMs are used for movies since 4,700MB or 4.7GB is just enough for 2.5 hours of video. There are also many formats in which DVDs can be formatted in; such as, plus, minus, DVD-RAM, DVD-RG, and DVD-RA, but mostly only plus or minus discs are used. Did you know that the video signal from digital cable and DVDs is just data that is interpreted as video which is why dark blacks on the screen from DVDs and digital cable may not always appear perfectly dark black. |
|
| DVD-R |
abbreviation for: DVD-Recordable
DVD-Rs are just like CD-Rs except that they have a greater capacity . There are also two types of DVD-Rs you may hear or see of. They are DVD minus Rs (DVD-R) and DVD plus Rs (DVD+R). The difference, for the most part, is simply compatibility with different manufacturers equipment. It should be noted that DVD ± burners are quickly becoming a standard so it will soon make no difference which type of disc you buy. Did you know that the ± sign is ASCII code ALT+0177, when using the Arial character set ;-) |
|
| DVD-RW |
abbreviation for: DVD-ReWritable
These discs are exactly the same as DVD-Rs except they can be written to, erased, and written to again. They also have two different formats, the plus and minus standards. Again, that is just a compatibility issue with different manufactures of DVD Burners. |
|
| DVI |
acronym for: Digital Video Interface
DVI is a standard for hardware interfaces that allows analog video signals to be converted to digital signals in order to accomodate both analog and digital monitors from the same interface. The standard requires a single plug and connector to be able to connect both newer, all digital interfaces, as well as older, legecy VGA interfaces. DVI is quickly becomming the video standard for computer displays. It even supports HDTV for combination monitors that double as a computer monitor and a television! |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Echo |
| Echo is exactly what it says it is. Echo was used mostly in the days of DOS and was used so that when you typed in a command, DOS outputted what you were typing. It echoed the users input. It is also used today on some computers, in the computers startup files, so that the user does not see what is happening in the background. The command that is used is to do this is usually ECHO OFF, so the system does not display what is happening. Did you know that Microsoft used this in earlier versions of DOS, and now they use a graphic called a splash screen instead to hide what is happening during startup? In Windows 98 and lower, you can hit the ESC key to clear this splash screen, but in Windows 2000 and higher, you can not clear the splash screen. |
|
| E-commerce |
abbreviation for: Electronic-Commerce
E-commerce is every where today. This web site is an e-commerce site. E-Bay is an e-commerce site. E-commerce is simply business that is conducted over the Internet using a wide variety of means, including HTTP, FTP, shopping carts, and EDI (Electronic Data Interchange, which is used mostly for business to business transactions). As such, e-commerce is not limited to just business to comsumer (B2C) transactions. It also includes business to business (B2B), and consumer to consumer (C2C), like E-Bay. E-commerence in no way implies that a business is solely web-based either. Many companies are called clicks-and-bricks companies that have a physical office or store and a web site. An example of this would be Best Buy. |
|
| E-Mail |
acronym for: electronic mail
E-mail is a form of communication that has revolutionized the world. It has changed the way we live forever. The premise behind E-mail is the same as that of traditional mail, which is now sometime referred to as "snail mail" due to its slow speed compared to E-mail. In E-mail, a formatted message is sent from one computer to another utilizing a computer network, most commonly the Internet, and an E-mail address. The E-mail address acts the same as an address on a traditional envelope and tells the computers that recieve the mail where to sent it. This is done using a universal and large database on the Internet. For example, if your ISP is Optimum Online (optonline.net) and you want to send an E-mail to sales@dccon.com, here is how it works. First you write your E-mail and put sales@dccon.com in the To: field in your E-mail client, then you click the send button. That message then gets sent to Optimum Online's servers which look at the 'dccon.com' part of the message and send that to on to the Internet to the next server or router also called a "hop", and then that hop sends it to the next one and so on and so forth. On every "hop" that the message takes, the server or router that recieves the message looks up the domain, the dccon.com part of the address, on the Internet master database and sends the message onward until it reaches it destination on our server which is located in Chicago. The message could make as many as 60 hops, and all of this could happen in less than 10 seconds. Of course you can send almost anything you want through e-mail and it always usese this same method to get to its destination. This is why E-mail will be the preferred communication methos for a while to come. Its fast, cheap, and now its portable, thanks to E-mail enhanced cellphones and devices like Blackberry's. |
|
| EMI |
acronym for: Electromagnetic Interference
EMI is interference that is cause by a magnetic field. The field is generated by wires or cables that have a lot of electricity flowing through them. When you move one of those cables near a cable carrying data, such as a CAT cable, the data flowing through the cable can be lost or distorted by the magnetic fields. Did you know the most common cause for this problem is the ballasts that florescent lights use, such as those in offices or schools. |
|
| Emoticon |
| An emoticon is this: :-) The word comes from two different words, emotion and icon, that were smeared together to get emoticon. These little symbols are used usually in electronic conversations between people, called Instant Messages, to express feelings and emotion without having to type it out. They can also be used in other forms of communication, such as E-mail and web sites. There is a whole slew of emoticons that people use, an they can be used in different contexts depending on the conversation at hand. A few examples are:
:-) smiling/happy
:-P sticking my tounge at you
:-( sad
:-/ uncertain about something
;-) winking
|
|
| ESD |
acronym for: Electrostatic Discharge
Have you ever dragged your feet along a carpet and then touched a metal door knob and gotten shocked? That is ESD. ESD is when one object, such as your body, becomes charged with a positive electric charge and then comes in contact with something that has a weaker negative charge. The two objects then exchange charges to equal each other. This is called discharging or grounding out. ESD can damage a computer when someone is working on it without having grounded themselves first. When they touch an IC (integrated circuit, such as a motherboard), the shock delivered to the board is more than enough to short out the circuits and destroy the board. The easiest way to avoid this is to wear an ESD wrist strap which grounds from building a high charge and then ruining your equipment. NEVER work on the inside of your computer if you are not familiar with what you are doing. Instead, call the experts and let us do it for you! |
|
| Ethernet |
| Ethernet is a computer networking standard that is the most widely used today. It sets the standard for the hardware, the cabling, and the software that is used to build a computer network. Ethernet networks include Ethernet networking cards (NICs), switches, routers, hubs, and will work on any Windows computer that has Windows 95 or higher installed. |
|
| Expansion Card |
| An expansion card, or just card for short, is a circuit board that has a connector on one side that is inserted in to a matching slot on a motherboard, which then expands the capabilities of the computer. Expansion cards are typically associated with three common types of cards: AGP, PCI, and the obsolete version, ISA; however, any circuit board that is not permenantly attached to a motherboard, that can be removed is considered an expansion card, including memory (RAM). |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| FAT |
acronym for: File Allocation Table
Think of the File Allocation Table or FAT, as it is more commonly refered to, as a table of contents for a computer. When a computer is first built, the hard drive must be initalized. To accomplish this, the hard drive is partitioned in to section, which creates the FAT. The FAT simply tells the operating system where on the hard drive data is physically stored. Data is rarely stored on a drive in a contiguous manner and is usually scattered throughout the drive at random. If the FAT is corrupted or damaged, usually all data on that disk is lost, but not always. Windows 2000 and XP have ways to recover the FAT. There are three main types of FATs used for Windows based computers, FAT16, FAT32, and NTFS (New Technology File System). |
|
| FDISK |
abbreviation for: Fixed Disk
FDISK is a DOS based utility for Windows computers that is used to paritition a hard drive. It is the program that creates the FAT. In newer versions of Windows, such as Windows XP, FDISK is no longer used during the installation of Windows. Instead, it is done automatically during the installation process, however, it can still be used instead of the installer if you want to. |
|
| File |
| A file is data that is stored in a group that has formatting in some way so it can be used by a program or user. Any formatted data can be considered a file. File sizes can be 1 byte or 1 gigabyte, it does not matter. If that data is to be used by a program or a user in some way then it can be categorized as a file. Even plain data can be callled a file as long as it is usable by some program. Data that is loose or random on a disk can not be considered a file since it has no meaning to a program or a user. Everything useful on a computer is stored in a file in one way or another, from this web site to a Word document, to the operating system itself, everything is stored in files. |
|
| File Extension |
| A file extension is the three letters, numbers, and/or symbols that appear after a file name that associates that file with a certain program or programs. Every file has one, although in Windows XP by default, you don't see file extensions because Windows hides them. An example of a file extension would be filename.txt. The ".txt" is the extension that tells the user and the computer that this is a text file that can opened with whatever program is associated by the operating system to do so. However, the associated program is not the only program that can open the file. You can try to open any file with almost any program, the program just might not know what to do with the file and give you an error, or it might not even let you try. For example, a common file extension is .doc for Microsoft Word documents. It can be opened with a multitude of programs other than Word; however, some of the formatting contained in the file itself may not appear properly or appear at all in any other program other than Word. |
|
| Firewall |
| A firewall is called such because, like a firewall in a car, it is meant to keep bad stuff out and good stuff in. A computers firewall is a peice of hardware and/or a software program that only lets data pass through it if it is authorized to do so. Firewalls are typically associated with Internet connections and are used to keep unauthorized users out, while allowing users "behind" or on a computer protected by the firewall to receive data and send data. There several ways firewalls can do this but the most common type, the type that many people are now buying, is to share a hi-speed Internet connection. This works by basically closing all unused ports and hides all of the IP addresses of connected computer behind the firewall so that no one can make a connection directly to any of the computers it protects, thereby making it very difficult to break in to these protected systems. Did you know that Windows XP has a built-in firewall that does just that, and can be turned on in a matter of seconds? In Windows XP, service pack 2, this feature has be expanded upon and is now turned on by default. |
|
| FireWire |
synonymous with: 1394
Firewire is another name for the IEEE1394 standard of data transfer. The name firewire refers to the very high speed data transfer rates that can be achieved through the 1394 standard. It got the name firewire becuase the data is moving so fast, the wire should be on fire, hence firewire (hey, we are not making this stuff up). Most digital video cameras and some MP3 players use firewire to transfer data to and from these devices. Firewire is also used for some external hard drives. Firewire has an average throughput of up to 800Mbps, can support up to 63 devices at the same time. The name firewire was first coined by the Apple Computer Company. |
|
| Firmware |
| Firmware, which is a piece of hardware - usually a ROM, EPROM (erasable programmable read-only memory) or EEPROM (electrically erasable programmable read-only memory) chip, that has a program or peice of software that has been written as read-only memory (ROM). Many hardware components now use firmware so that the user can update it with the newest software available. A computer's BIOS is a good, commom example of firmware. |
|
| Flash Memory |
| Flash memory is becoming more and more popular. It refers to a type of programmable memory that can be written to and re-written to when exposed to higher than normal surges of electricity. Originally, it was only used for the BIOS chips on computers, however, in the last few years, removable flash memory sticks that have a USB connector attached to them have become increasingly popular. These allow a person to copy data to and from these USB flash memory sticks very quickly and very easily thus giving the user the ability to go from computer to computer with ease. These flash sticks are as small as a silver dollar and can hold data up to 8GB of data (at the time of this writing, 8GB flash sticks are $1,200USD) They have come a long way from when they could only hold 512Kb. |
|
| Font |
| A font is a way of categorizing the look of text. Fonts allow many different style of text, all with different looks and sometimes, even different characters, to be stored and the used effectively by a user. For exmaple, Windows XP comes preloaded with several dozen fonts. When the user selects, for example the "Times New Roman" font, the text looks like all of the writing on this page. Everything you see written here is in Times New Roman. There thousands of fonts available, all with different looks. Our logo is done in the "BankGothic Md BT" font. These fonts are also referred to as font faces, since it puts a "face" on the plain text. You will also hear the term font size, which obviously refers to the size of the font. Fonts can also be modified to have different colors, and attributes such as italics or bold or underline, as well as various others. These attributes apply to almost any Windows-based programs and they are fairly universal. |
|
| Format |
Format can refer to two seperate things:
- The term format is used when talking about preparing a disk for use. Floppy disks, hard drives, CDs, and DVD must all be formatted in some way before data can be written to them. Formatting is done once a disk is partitioned. The format utility then writes address information to the disk, as well as tests the disk to make sure it is usable. It also marks parts of the disk that may be unusable due to physical imperfections, so no data is written to that part. Did you know that there are two types of formatting and that most formatting that people do is called high-level formatting and does not actually erase any data off the disk, instead it simply erases the addresses pointing to the data. The data is still on the disk! Low-level formatting, on the other hand, wipes everything clean and writes zeros to the entire disk, effectively erasing all data that was on the disk.
- Format can also be used when refering to text, as in to format the text of a Microsoft Word document by adding color or aligning the margins.
|
|
| Form Factor |
| Form factor refers to the way a computers case is designed and how a motherboard must be designed to fit inside the case. Current there are 4 major form factors in use. They are: ATX, which is the most common and most widely used; baby-ATX, which is used for smaller versions of full size PCs; AT, which is pretty much obsolete; and ITX which is used for dedicated workstation PCs. Each form factor is standardized and dictactes the physical dimensions of a motherbarod, the shape of the power plug and how the PC's power is controlled (whether by the motherboard or the power supply). |
|
| Freeware |
| Freeware is a type of computer software that is copyrighted and given out free of charge by its author. Typically, the author will maintain the copyright and forbid other to modify the software. Sometimes the software is distributed under the GNU and/or GPL, which specifies the Do's and Dont's of using freeware in resepect to redistribution, modifying the software, copyright disclaimers, etc. |
|
| FTP |
acronym for: File Transfer Protocol
FTP is the networking protocol that specifies how files are to be transferred directly from one computer to another using a server, similar to the way HTTP works. It utilizes the TCP/IP protocol to perform these functions. The most common use of FTP is for file downloading from a web site or uploading files to a server, such as when making a web site, like this one ;-) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Game Pad |
| Game pads are used by only a small perecent of most computer users, although you can find them in just about any computer store. A game pad is simply a controller for computer games. It is very similar to the controllers you might find on a console gaming system, like Nintendo or Play Station. It is simply another type of input device for a computer that allows the user to control the computer without the keyboard. |
|
| Gateway |
| A gateway can be a piece of hardware or a computer that allows one computer network to connect to another computer network. Gateway used to refer to what is now called a router. They both do the same thing. When someone goes out and buys a router so they can split their hi-speed Internet connection, such as a cable or DSL modem, that router is functioning as a gateway. Any computer that is connected to the router is on one network, and the Internet the other network. |
|
| GHz |
abbreviation for: Gigahertz
You hear this term almost always when someone describes a computer. "Yeah, I have a 2.2GHz computer." A gigahert also abbreviated as GHz which describes the speed of the frequency of a CPU cycle. For example, a computer that runs at 1.0GHz has a computing cycle of 1,000,000,000 cycles per second. 1GHz = 1,000,000,000 cycles per second. The abbreviation giga means 1,000,000,000. Just like a gigabyte is 1,000,000,000 bytes, a gigahert is 1,000,000,000 cycles. The 2.2GHz is actually describing the speed at which the CPU can compute data in cycles. You may also hear GHz when describing wireless networks. For example, a 2.4GHz wireless router is the most common type sold today. What that means is that the radio frequency that the router operates at is at least 2,400 Megahertz. It is the same thing for the radio in your car except instead of being in the low frequencies, like 100.3 FM which is 100.3 Megahertz, it is in the higher end of the frequency spectrum. In otherwords, if your router was a radio station, it would be operating at 2400 FM or 2.4 GHz. Did you know that 2.4GHz cordless telephones and 2.4GHz wireless routers sometimes operate on a very close frequency and can cause interference between eachother? To prevent this most new routers have a "channel" feature that lets you select between 12 channels, all of which are in the 2.4Ghz range. |
|
| GIF |
acronym for: Graphics Interchange Format, pronounced like "if" only with a hard g
The gif format is the most popular fomat used for graphics on the Internet. It is capable of representing pictures in 256 colors and also supports compression, making it optimal for producing graphics with a small file size. A gif has the file extension of .gif. Did you know our logo as well as almost all of the graphics on this site are in the gif format? |
|
| Gigabyte |
| A gigabyte is the second largest commonly used unit of measure for data. A gigabyte is 1,000 megabytes or 1,000,000,000 bytes and is abbreviated GB. Most computers that are sold today come with hard drives that are anywhere from 40GB to 250GB. That's a lot of storage capacity. Most people never use anything over 50 or 60GBs, unless you are making digital movies, since they take up a lot of space. To put this in perspective, when you watch a DVD movie, the movie (which is usually in high definition and surround sound) takes up no more than 5GB, so if you were to make 4 home movies on your computer that were 2 hours in length, you would have 20GBs just in video. This is usually the only time normal users need more storage than the average 60GBs. Windows XP alone usually occupies approximately 2GB of space, where as most other programs use less than 500MB. |
|
| GNU |
| The term is self-referential. GNU really stands for GNU's Not Unix. GNU is the name of a software program. This is a little strange, but what is refers to is a software developed by the Free Software Foundation who had the philosiphy to created and distribute software that anyone can download, modifiy, and redistribute. The GNU itself is just that philosiphy and people who wirte their own programs, who create and distribute their software based on the GNU typically say so somewhere with in the program. The Linux operating sytem relies heavily on the GNU for most of its software and typically, the Linux kernel falls under the GNU so anyone can modifiy it an customize Linux. |
|
| Gopher |
| Gopher is a system that was around before the World Wide Web, which is now obsolete. It was developed at the University of Minnesota and was named for the school's mascot. It was started when the Internet was first gaining steam with the general public.Gopher was a system for organizing and displaying files on Internet servers. Much like the way Windows Explorer, displays information, Gopher servers also displayed its contents as a hierarchically structured list of files and directories. When the WWW started to gain popularity, many of the gopher systems were converted from raw data to web sites which are more easily accessible to Internet search engines. |
|
| Gbps |
acronym for: gigbytes per second
Gpbs is the fastest standard by which data can be transferred. 1Gbps is equal to approximately1,000 mbps. Most networks never surpass 100 mpbs. To put it in perspective, the fastest cable or DSL line available to the general public runs at only 10 mbps. Networks that can transfer data this fast are usually fiber optic networks that are specialized for high speed data processing. There is currently a new new standard called gigabit ethernet which will allow consumers to have in home networks that can transfer data up to 1 gbps. This new technology is already on the market, however it is still expensive. In time though, these prices will drop. |
|
| GPL |
abbreviation for: General Public License
The GPL is a software licensing agreement that states software written under the GPL is free for distribution, copying, and modification. Any software that is written under the GPL is called Open Source, meaning the programs underlying code is free for anyone to look at. The most popular version of the GPL is the GNU GPL which covers most versions of Linux. As in the GNU philosiphy, the GNU GPL states that whomever aquires software that was written under the GNU GPL must make the software available to anyone else under those same terms. As a play on words, the GPL is somtimes called a copyleft instead of a copyright. :-D |
|
| GPU |
acronym for Graphical Processing Unit
A GPU is very similar to a CPU except that a GPU is for a graphics adapter. Almost all AGP cards and all higher end graphics cards have one. A GPU is a CPU for a graphics adapter. Its purpose it so take the load off of a computers CPU so that it can process graphics at much faster speeds while not burdening the CPU with graphics rendering. This increases the graphics adapters performance, especially when rendering a lot of frames per second; such as in done in 3D games and video editing. |
|
| Graphic |
| The term graphic has several meanings. First, a graphic can be a picutre or image. For exmaple, pictures that a user may take with a digital camera and then copy to their computer is considered a graphic. All pictures and images on a computer are considered graphics. The term graphics can also refer to a computers overall ability to display images, both the quality and the perforamce of the images. The faster the computer can display images, the better graphics the computer is said to have. The same applies to the quality of the images. |
|
| Graphics Adapter |
synonomous with: Graphics Card or Video Card or AGP Card
Now you might be asking yourself, why is this catagorized under graphics adapter? Isn't it called a video expansion card? Well, technically speaking yes; however, the correct techinical term is Graphics adapter. A graphics asdapter does pretty much what the name says; it takes a signal sent from the computers bus and converts or adapts that signal in to a signal that a monitor can interpert and then the monitor takes that signal and turns in to a picture or text or whatever the signal is. For a computer to be connected to a monitor it must have a graphics adapter and almost all computers do have a graphics adapter (Yes, there are computers without monitors, hence no graphics adapter) |
|
| GUI |
acronym for: Graphics User Interface
The Windows operating system is a run via a GUI. Any programs that run in Windows, which you can use your mouse with, is a GUI. Simply put, a GUI is any programs' interface that allows the user to interact with it using a mouse and keyboard, rather typing in commands, like as is necessary for DOS and Unix. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Hacker |
| Now we know that we might get people wondering why we would define this term and the answer is this. By definition, a hacker is NOT a criminal. Although hackers generally have a bad name, there is only a handful of them that actually do harm, most hackers are good. The original definition of a hacker is a person who is good at writing computer code (creates computer programs). By that definition, the world is full of hackers. However, a more modern definition could be: A computer expert who uses his knowledge and skills to overcome or circumvent limitations (i.e. a web site or a computer networks security features). This is what most people view hackers as, otherwise known as black hats, these guys are essentially the "bad hackers". There is an elite class of hackers known as white hats or ethical hackers who are paid by large corporations to hack in to these companies networks to reveal the companies vunerabilites and they can close those vunerabilites before malicious hackers (black hats) find these holes and exploit them. White hats are the "good hackers". We feel it is important that people realize that even though hackers have gotten a bad name over the years, a hacker is not a bad person...usually. Enough about that. |
|
| Hard Drive |
also called: Hard Disk Drive or Hard Drive; abbreviated HDD or HD
A hard drive is the main data storage device in a computer. It is a round metal disk encased in an aluminum housing that is usually located inside of the computer although external hard drives are available. Think of a hard drive as your long term memory, only theroetically, a hard drive will never forget data that is written to it as long as it isn't exposed to any strong magnetic fields. Hard drives are described by their capacity and their speed. Most hard drives are between 40GB and 120GB in size and operated at 5,400RPMs. There are many types of hard drives including IDE (5,400 - 7,200RPMs), SCSI (10,000RPMs) and the newest type which are called S-ATA (serial-ATA) which is available in speeds ranging from 5,400 - 10,000RPMs. The most common type is IDE which is found is almost all PC's. Higher end computers, such as servers, usually have SCSI drives. S-ATA is starting to be installed in both PCs and servers since it is faster than IDE and a little slower than SCSI. |
|
| Heat Sink |
| A heat sink is a a device that placed on top of a circuit or a chip to disipate heat that is generated by that circuit or chip. Heat sinks for computers come in all shapes and sizes and can almost always be found on the CPU of a computer and usually on the GPU of a graphics adapter as well. They are always made of some sort of metal and may or may not have a fan attached to them to help them dissapate heat faster. Heat sinks look like a metal porcupine or grill. Did you know that running a fast computer (Pentium II class or higher) without a heat sink attached will almost always burn out the CPU. NEVER turn on a computer if the heat sink is not properly attached. |
|
| Host |
| A host is any computer that offers a service of some sort to other computers. It hosts programs and services for other computers. A server can also be referred to as a host. If you share files that are on your computer with anyone else, then you are a host. The counterpart to a host is client. Anyone who accesses a host is a client of that host. Host can also have several other meanings. A host can be a computer that is infected with a virus. That computer is said to be hosting that virus. Most people do not know if they are hosting a virus except the person(s) that put it there. Once these computers become hosts to these viruses, others can maliciously access that infected PC and take advantage of it resources. Another good example of a host is this web site. This site hosts files that are accessable to anyone on the Internet, for example this glossary. |
|
| HotSpot |
| A hotspot is not a place to pick up on the opposite sex. :-) A hotspot is a place where people can access Internet wirelessly from a Wi-Fi capatible device such as a laptop or PDA, usually in a public place and usually for free. Hotspots can be found everywhere from coffee shops to airport terminals to schools to random street corners in New York City. Some hotspots require you to be a subscriber in order to use the Internet from that hotspot, such as Verizon HotSpots and most schools and universities. Eventually, you won't be able to go anywhere without there being a hotspot close to you. Did you know that if you have a wireless router and you do not have the proper security in place, your house essentially becomes a free hotspot that any passer by can use, including your neighbors! Your neighbors could be using the Internet you are paying for, for free! |
|
| HTML |
acronym for: HyperText Markup Language
HTML is the computer programming language in which most web pages are written. HTML uses structure markers, called tags to identify the part of the document. For example, <head> marks the beginning of the documents headers and </head> marks the end of the documents headers. There are many tags that are used in HTML. Did you know that in most web browsers, you can right click on a web site and select View Source or Source and see the HTML code for that web page. (Just not our site ;-) ) |
|
| HTTP |
acronym for: HyperText Terminal Protocol
HTTP is the protocol that specifies how the WWW works. It defines how a browser and web server communicate and what action each should take in response to another. It also defines how messages are formatted and transmitted. HTTP is sometimes called a stateless protocol since, unlike most other protocols, it executes commands one at a time, regardless of the other commands it runs. Thus, the state of the computer which the protocol is running on can not change states based on the protocol, it can only read it. This is why there is JavaScript and other languages that are used to supplement the HTTP protocol. |
|
| Hub |
| A hub is piece of hardware that is used for connecting multiple computers together to share resources. Hubs can be purchased at most computer stores and are usually fairly inexpensive. They can connect anywhere from 4 to 32 computers together depending on the hub itself. Think of a hub as a splitter. Hubs are commonly confused with switches but they are not the same. A hub can not perform data handling in the same way that a switch does. A hub just allows computers or peripherals connected directly to it to communicate with eachother, nothing more. Any device connceted to a hub is either pre-assigned or given an IP address. The major difference between and hub and a switch is that a hub does not deligate IP addresses. |
|
| Hypertext |
| Hypertext in short is a 40 year old databasing system. This might come as a shock to some people, but this is a system that was developed in the 1960's and is still around today It is the backbone of how the World Wide Web works. Basically, hypertext is text that can contain links or buttons to other objects which allows you to move from one object to another, depsite what either object is. This includes text documents, pictures, programs, video, and audio. The page you are looking at right now is hypertext, since it contains both links and buttons to other objects, like the Alphabar which allow its users to jump around from one object to the next or the links in most definitions that let you jump to another definition. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Icon |
| An icon is graphical representation of a file or an object. They are the principle feature used in a GUI and are the basis of the Windows and Masintosh operating systems. They allow the user to use a mouse to simply point and click on icons to run programs, switch between programs, and control the computer. |
|
| IEEE |
acronym for: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
The IEEE (I triple E) was formed in 1963 and is responsible for creating many of the computer and electronics standards that are in place today. For example, IEEE1284 is a standard for a printer cable and IEEE1394 is the standard for FireWire, which is why it is called 1394 cable. |
|
| iLink |
| See FireWire |
|
| IMAP |
acronym for: Internet Message Access Protocol
IMAP is a newer protocol that is used to retrieve E-mail from an E-mail server. IMAP was developed at Stanford University in 1986 and is currently in its fourth revision, called IMAP4. Most newer E-mail clients support this newer version of IMAP which is similar to POP3, only it has more advanced features than POP3. IMAP is usually used with SMTP to send and recieve E-mail messages. |
|
| Instant Message |
| Instant messages are messages that one user can send to another using a client program such as America Online, MSN Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger or ICQ. When an instant message is sent, it requires both the sender and recipient to be logged in to the client program. The message is sent over the Internet and when the message arrives at the recipients computer, the message pops up in a window. Once the window is up, the recipient can respond and a two way converstation can be held in this manner. Instant messaging, as it is known, has become widely popular, both with younger people and older people alike. All instatnt messaging programs are free and very easy to use, making it very popular among college bound kids and their parents. Most instant messaging programs also have features that allow its users to have audio and/or video conferences, as well as share files. Instant messaging has grown so big that it is now available on some cell phones. Instant messaging will continue to grow in popularity in use over time. |
|
| Internet |
| This definition could be a book thick, however, we will just cover some basics. The Internet in its simplest form is a bunch of computers, servers, and related devices connected to other computers, that are connected to other computers, that are connected to other computers, and so on and so forth. Basically, its a bunch of computers that are all connected together in one way or another to share resources. Many times, the Internet is graphically represented by a cloud. This is because the Internet is a big mesh of computers. It is the largest computer network in the world. There are many parts to the Internet. For example, the World Wide Web, is one part. Gopher, FTP, Usenet, and IRC are other parts of the Internet. The Internet is governed by protocols which define how data is transferred through the Internet. For simplicity sake, we will leave it at that. |
|
| Intranet |
| An intranet is a computer network that is based on the TCP/IP protocol and is closed off to any external users, except in certain cases where a user may be able to use a VPN or something similar to gain access to an intranet. Intranets are just like the Internet and are used to share resources and information, the difference is that they are typically gaurded by a firewall and only authorized users have access to it. Many companies and universities have large and extensive intranets that are critical to their day to day activities. |
|
| IP |
acronym for: Internet Protocol
This term is heard almost always when talking about anything that has to do with computer networking. The best way to think of an IP is to compare it to a Social Security number, such that no two computers that are on the Internet at the same time can have the same IP address, at least in theory. Every computer that is connected to a computer network or the Internet has an IP or IP address (same thing). An IP address is a number, also referred to as a dotted quad, that is comprised of 4 groups of 3 numbers seperated by periods (123.456.789.012). For example, 192.168.1.1 (pronounced 192 dot 168 dot 1 dot 1) is a very common IP address for many routers. These numbered groups do not need a full 3 numbers in each group except for the first group which must have a value of 10 or higher. There are many rules that dictate what an IP can and can not be, but we are not going to get in to that here. IP itself is usually combined with another protocol called TCP (Trasmition Control Protocol) to get TCP/IP, which allows two computers to link up and "talk" to each other. It essentially specifies the "language" in which the computers can communicate with. As more things get connected, i.e. cell phones, household appliances, etc. more and more things are being connected to computers and given IP addresses. Did you know that if you have a cell phone that can connect to the Internet, it already has an IP address, even if you don't use the Internet, that theoretically could be used to hack in to your phone? |
|
| IRC |
acronym for: Internet Relay Chat
IRC is a part of the Internet that allows users to log in to servers that host programs that allow users to have text conversations with eachother, called chat sessions. In order to do this, the user must have a chat client installed which allows them to connect to and communicate with these servers. These chat sessions can be private conversations between two people or enormous chat rooms where hundreds of users are all chatting at the same time. As you can imagine, it creates very interesting situations where you have that many people typing all at once about different topics. Emoticons made their first appearance in these chat rooms.
;-) |
|
| IRQ |
acronym for: Interrupt Request
An IRQ is a channel that is assigned by the motheboard to most internal components of a computer, which they must have in order to work properly. An IRQ allows that piece of hardware to request an interrupt from the CPU so it can send a command to the CPU. Some pieces of hardware can share one IRQ, while others must have their own, otherwise the computer will not function correctly. Most computers have a total of 16 IRQ available (0-15) for its hardware. |
|
| ISA |
acronym for: Industry Standard Architecture
ISA was the old standard for connecting expansion cards to computers. It used an 8-bit bus connection to transfer data and was fine for computers in the 1980's, however, as computers became faster, the 8-bit bus became too slow and PCI soon replaced ISA. Today, there are almost no devices that still utilize ISA, with the exception of some old internal modems. |
|
| ISDN |
acronym for: Integrated Services Digital Network
ISDN is a type of data network similar to a DSL line, however, ISDN has been around much longer than DSL. ISDN is a communication standard for trasmitting video, voice, and data over a telephone line, just like DSL. ISDN, however, is typically slower than DSL since it has a maximum throughput of 64Kpbs. In general, there are two types of ISDN. One is called Basic Rate Interface(BRI) and constist of two actual data channels and one channel for trasmitting control information. The other type is called Primary Rate Interface (PRI) and has 23 data channels. This was a popular system for businesses and still is used today, however, other forms of connectivity are quickly replacing it. |
|
| ISP |
abbreviation for: Internet Service Provider
Right now, you are connected to the Internet. Ask yourself, "How am I connected to the Internet?" What we mean by this is, the company that you use to connect. For example, America Online, MSN, or on the East coast; Cablevision, Comcast, or on the West coast Cox@Home or US West/Qwest? These are all ISPs. They provide their customers a connection to the Internet, whether it is through the phone lines or through their cable, any company that provides its customers a connection to the Internet is an ISP. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Java |
| Java is the name of a fast growing computer programming language on the Internet today. Java was created by Sun Microsystems and was originally created for handheld devices. However Java never caught on, so Sun redesigned it to take advantage of the Internet. Java is an object-oriented programming language, meaning that a programmer can create a virtual "object" which can be modified with the same logic that a physical object can be modified. Java is one of the most versitile programming languages available becuase it is support by almost all operating systems. This is due to the way Sun developed Java. Java can be converted directly in to a computer language that your computers hardware can understand, making it extremely useful. Did you know that the software on most cell phones is written in Java, which is why so many phones are compatible with eachother? |
|
| JavaScript |
| JavaScript is not the same as Java. JavaScript was developed by Netscape (which is now owned by America Online) and even though it follows most of the features of Java, it is much smaller and was developed completely independently of Java itself. JavaScript was designed to interact with HTML so web site designers could make their web sites more dynamic and more interesting. Did you know that our web site uses JavaScript extensively for our navigation system, as well as many other feature of this site. |
|
| Jumper |
| A jumper is a little piece of metal, usually encased in platic that bridges two metal pins together to change the configuration of circuitry. In computers, jumpers are typically found expansion cards and motherboards to control the settings of that particular device. Most newer electronics can do this with out jumpers, but there is still some equipment out there that utilizes jumpers. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Kbps |
acronym for: Kilobytes per Second
Kpbs is a unit of measure for measuring the speed at which data is transferred. One kilobyte per second is equal to sending 1,000 bits of data per second. This is a little confuzing since one kilobyte is equal to 1,024 bytes. Kpbs is most commonly used to measure the speed of modems. A modem that can send data at 56Kbps (or more commonly, 56K) can send data at 56,000 bits per second, or 7,000 bytes per second, so it really should be 7Kpbs, but its not.We said it was a little confuzing. |
|
| Kerberos |
| Kerberos is a system used by two computer systems to authenticate each other over an open network securely. Each user on that network is assigned a unique key called a 'ticket'. Whenever a user sends a message to someone else, their ticket is embedded in the message, thereby assuring the receiving user that the message is really from the user who sent it. This system is not used too much any more, but it was used for e-mail systems and other systems that required high security. |
|
| Kernel |
| The kernel is the main part of any operating system. Is the core module and typically controls the systems memory, processes, tasks, and disks. In Windows 98 and DOS, the kernel is called command.com. Without this one file, niether operating system will work at all. In Windows NT and XP, as well as other various operating systems, these files vary. For example, in Linux the user can directly edit the kernel and have complete control over the operating system, whereas in Windows, if you try to edit the kernel, you will most likely corrupt the operating system making it unusable. |
|
| Keyboard |
| A keyboard is an input device for a computer that allows the user to input data in to the computer via buttons on a circuit board that is usually encased in a plastic rectangular box. The standard U.S. keyboard has 101 keys representing all the letters of the English alphabet as well 0-9 and 49 specials keys that do other functions such as insert a blank space (the space bar) or enter a break to the next line (the Enter or Return key). Almost all computers must have a keyboard in order to operate properly. |
|
| Kilobyte |
| A kilobyte, also abbreviated Kb, is the third smallest common unit of measure for data. A kilobyte is equal to 1,024 bytes. Now most people know that, normally, a kilo is equal to a thousand; however, that is in the decimal system which is a base 10 system. Since computers operate on a binary system, which is a base 2 system, a kilobyte is 1,024 bytes (2 to the 10th power) and not 1,000 bytes (10 to the 3rd power), as in the decimal system. To put this in perspective, think of this, a megabyte is 2 to the 20th power (1,000,000) and a gigabyte is 2 to the 30th power (1,000,000,000 - do you notice a pattern?) To make things easier, one Kb is typically rounded off to 1,000 bytes for computational simplicity. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| LBA |
abbreviation for: Logical Block Addressing
LBA is used when formatting IDE and SCSI hard drives. It is a method that uses the different specifications of a hard drive to calculate the physical addresses of where data is stored on a hard drive. This is then used by many BIOSs to access data in a more efficent manner. LBA can only be used with hard drives that are 528MB and larger. |
|
| LAN |
acronym for: Local-Area Network
A LAN is a type of computer network that usually is confined to a geographically small area. This is typically a small group of computers, a single building, or a group of buildings. LANs enable its users to share resources, such as databases and printers, and to help provide control to the managment. There are many types of LANs. LANs are catagorized by three things: topology, protocols, and the media (cables) that the LAN uses. |
|
| Latency |
| Latency is the time that one component of a system has to wait while another part of the same systemis finishing with that same resource. In computer terms, latency is the time it takes for one packet of data to go from its source to its destination. Latency is used in conjuction with bandwidth to determine the speed and capacity of a computer network. The higher the latency of a network, the slower it is. Latency of a Windows based network can be determined by executing a command called Ping which sends data from your computer to another computer you specify. It then returns the total time it took for your message to get from your computer to the other computer and back to you. It is measured in miliseconds. The higher the number, the worse the connection. |
|
| Laptop |
| A laptop, also called a notebook or portabable computer, is an entire computer system that uses smaller than normal components to make it easy for a person to carry their entire computer with them from place to place without needing to carry multiple components. Laptop have become just as powerful as a regular computer and are also dropping in cost, making it the choice of many consumers. Some day, laptops will most likely become more popular than desktops, however they will never replace them since the cost to repair them and upgrade them is substantially higher than that of a regular computer due to the specialized components needded. |
|
| LCD |
acronym for: Liquid Crystal Display
An LCD is a device that used to display images that is comprised of two sheets of materials that have a magnetic charges, which sandwich a liquid crystal solution between them. When electricity flows through the liquid, it makes the crystals in the fluid align so that light can or can not pass throught it, depending on the voltage. Combinations of these alignments produce images that are shown through a thin membrane, that is seen as a picture. LCDs are typically used on digital electronics, as well as all notebook computers and now even small TV's! |
|
| Linux |
pronounced Lye-nucks
Linux is an operating system that is free to distribute and modify, that is based on the GPL. Linux is named for its founder, Linus Torvalds, who originally created the Linux kernel. What makes Linux so popular, other than the fact that is mainly free, it that is runs on so many different computers, whether it is an IBM, a PC, or a Macintosh, Linux works on them all. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| MAC Address |
| A MAC address has nothing to do with Apple computers. A MAC address is a piece of networking hardware's built-in network address. Every device that is meant to be a node on a network has a MAC address. Every MAC address is unique. They are physically endcoded on the devices circuitry and can not be changed. A MAC address is formatted in the following pattern: 00:12:17:3A:A0:25. This is the MAC address is for a Linksys Wireless G ethernet card. Much like IP addresses, MAC addresses uniquely identify a computer on a network. The first 6 digits of the MAC address specifies manufacturer and model, while the second 6 are similar to a unique serial number for that specific device. Manufacturers may duplicate MAC addresses on devices, however devices with the same MAC address are not sold in the same country. For exaxmple, the MAC address above may be on a Linksys card here in the United States, and if one were to be purchased in Japan, it may have the same MAC address, however you will not find two with the same address in the U.S. |
|
| Mainframe |
| A mainframe is term that is seldom used today. It refers to a large comptuer system that support hundreds or thousands of users simultaneously. It is similar to modern server, however, mainframes typically did all of the data storage and data processing, where as in todays servers, they may or may not do any storage or processing, depending on the network. Mainframes in general are outdated. They have been replaced now by servers, although some large databases still use mainframe computers. |
|
| MAN |
acronym for: Metropolitan Area Network
A MAN is similar to a LAN only that it is larger. It is designed for a small town or city, similar to the networks that ISPs use for cable modems or DSL. A MAN is smaller that a WAN but larger than a LAN. |
|
| Mbps |
acronym for: megabytes per second
Mpbs is standard unit of measure for the speed at which data is transferred over a computer network. Almost all standard computer networks are measured in Mbps. It literally means how fast 1 megabyte of data can be transferred from one node on a network to another node under ideal conditions in one second. The two most common types of networks are 10Mbps and 100Mbps. 10Mbps networks can move 10 megabytes of data in one second and 100Mbps networks can move 100MB in one second. Certain pieces of networking hardware can do both are are expressed as 10/100 meaning it can do 10Mbps or 100Mbps depending on the rest of the network. The newest standard, which is also the fastest, is 1000Mbps which is also called Gigabit ethernet. There is already networking hardware capable of all three standards and this is expressed as being10/100/1000 compatible. Eventually, all networks will support the 1000Mbps standard, but for now, most are 10Mbps or 100Mbps. |
|
| Megabyte |
| A megabyte, also commonly abbreviated MB, is the fourth smallest unit of measure of data. It is equal to 1,048,576 bytes of data, usually rounded to 1,000,000 for computational sake. A MB is the most common used unit of measure for data on PCs. Most computer data is measured in MBs. For example, a 1.44MB floppy disk, or a 700MB CD-ROM. The megabyte is the standard measure for computers. Soon, though, this will probably change to gigabytes. |
|
| Media |
Media does not refer to your local newspaper or news station. In reference to computers, media can refer to several things:
1) It can refer to anything on which data can be stored, also called a storage medium. This includes floppy disks, CD-ROMs, and hard drives.
2) The other meaning is in reference to computer networks. Media refers to the cables that are used to connect computers and their devices, such as printers, together. These cables are called a medium. Networking medium includes many different things, such as RJ-45 cable (the most common medium used for networks), fiber optic cable (used mostly for high speed trasmissions), and coaxial cable (which is just like the cable used for T.V.).
When talking about media, it is very important which context it is being used in, since it could get confusing pretty quickly. For example, "When I tried to put the media in the computer, it wouldn't fit." Is this about a disk or a cable?
|
|
| Medium |
| See defintion 2 for media |
|
| MHz |
abbreviation for: Megahertz
Megahertz is a unit of measure for speed. In computers, MHz is the measure of speed at which the the processor and other components can process data. It measures the CPU by how fast it can cycle data; this called the CPU's clock speed. One MHz is equal to 1,000,000 cycles per second. If you have a 500MHz CPU, then its performs 500 million cycles per second. This essentially determines the speed of a computer, along with the bus speed of the computer, and how many bits the CPU can handle at one time. The bus speed in computers, as well as the speed of RAM, is measured in MHz. |
|
| Memory |
In a computer, memory can refer primarily to two seperate components, which people often confuze. There are two primary types of memory in a computer.
The first is the RAM. Think of RAM as a short term, temporary memory that gets erased every time the computer is turned off or reset. By the literal definition of memory, RAM is the only component that should be called memory.
The other component people usually call memory is the Hard Drive (HD). Think of the HD as a long term, permanent memory that does not get erased, whether or not the computer has power. It can only be erased if someone wants to erase it. Since the HD is where all the data is actually stored, it should really be refered to as storage and not memory, since memory is easily erased and storage is not. |
|
| Microprocessor |
| A microprocessor is basically a silcon chip that has many transistors on it. CPU and microprocessor refer to the same hardware component in a computer. It is the "brain" of the computer, the same as the CPU. A microprocessor is typically classified by three major characterisitics. The first is the clock speed, which is how fast the microprocessor can process instructions sent to it by other components of the computer. The clock speed is measured in MHz. The second is the instructions themselves, called the instruction set. There are two main types of instruction sets in used today, RISC and CISC. The last characteristic is the bandwidth of the microprocessor, which is how many bits of data is can process in a single instruction. The overall speed of the microprocessor is determined by both the clock speed and the bandwidth. The higher the numbers, the better. For example, a 1000Mhz (1GHz) processor operating at 64-bits is better than a 1GHz processor operating at 32-bits. |
|
| MIDI |
acronym for: Musical Instrument Digital Interface, Pronounced Middy
MIDI is the standard for synthesized computer music. It was the original MP3 of the Internet. In its basic form MIDI allows electonic instruments, such as keyboard and drum pads to be connected to a computers MIDI interface, if it has one, and record MIDI files, which can be played back on any other computer that supports MIDI. All Windows-based computers can play back MIDI by default. MIDI sounds like it is synthesized, however, recently the technology has improved to where now a MIDI sounds almost as good as the real thing, almost. |
|
| Modem |
acronym for: MOdulate DEModulate
A modem is simply a piece of hardware or software that allows a computer to trasmit data over some type of medium, whether it is a telephone line or a coaxial cable. Most commonly, a modem is used via a telephone line to connect a computer to another computer. However, more recently, they are becoming very popular for use over T.V. cable lines for high-speed Internet access. A computer sends signals digitally, which is usually in 1's and 0's (See Binary). In order for that signal to pass over telephone or cable lines, it must be converted an analog signal, which tramsmits the same signal, just in a different way. To do this, a modem modulates the digital signal to analog, then sends it, while it also receives analog signals from the other computer and demodulates them to make it a digital signal again. Modems can be either inside of a computer or external, depending on the physical setup of the modem and are categorized by several characterisitics. They are the transmition protocols that the modem supports, its baud rate, whether it supports voice and data or just data, if it has facsimile (fax) capability or not, whether it can automatically answer the phone or not, if it supports data compression, and lastly if the modems built-in software can be updated. As you can see that there is a lot to modems, but to keep it simple, we will leave it at this. |
|
| Monitor |
| A monitor is a device which can take electrical signals and turn them in to an image. There are currently two types of monitors in use for computers; CRT and LCD monitors. Both do the same thing, they take electric signals from a computers graphics adapter and convert them in to an image that the user can see to work on the computer. Monitors come in all sizes from 12 inches to 22 inches. Now that LCD, DLP, and plasma TV's are becoming more popular, these also can be used as computer monitors, since manufacturers of these devices have incorporated the proper connectors to connect them to a computer. This means you could play a computer game on a 50 inch DLP TV. Sounds like fun, doesn't it? CRT monitors are the older standard and are quickly being replaced by LCD monitors, which in the last 3 years have dramatically decreased in price, making them much more affordable. Additionally, since LCD's take up much less space than a CRT, and the are capable of yielding the same performance of CRT''s, LCD will very soon be the only type of monitors available. Your television, whether it is a CRT or LCD, is also a monitor. It does the exact same thing as a computer monitor - it takes an electrical signal and converts it to an image, just prior to LCD's, manufacturers did not include the proper plugs to hook a TV up to a computer. |
|
| Motherboard |
| The motherboard, also called a main board or system board, is the main piece of circuity in a computer. Just to clear this up now, there is no such thing as a father board or a sister, daughter, son, or brother board either. There is only a motherboard. The motherboard brings all of the components of computer together. The motherboard holds the CPU, the RAM, the controller for the hard drive and floppy drive as well as their applicable slots, expansion slots for expansion cards, the BIOS, and on most modern motherboards; the USB ports, standard ports (such as the parallel and serial ports, as well as the mouse and keyboard ports), sometimes an on-board graphics adapter and/or an onboard NIC, and the plugs for the lights on the front of the computer. Power for the motherboard is derived from a plug that comes from the power supply, the motherboard itself does not distribute power to the other components other than the RAM, CPU, expansion cards, and any onboard devices such as an onboard NIC or graphics adapter and the case lights. |
|
| Mouse |
| A mouse, in computer terms, is a small device that is moved by the hand to control the cursor or pointer on the screen. As you move the mouse, the pointer moves in the same direction. Most mice have two buttons on them while some only have one, and others can have up to three. The buttons do different things depending on the software that you are using. Mice allow people to use GUIs; without mice, a GUI would be very hard to navigate. Just try to operate Windows without your mouse. It is possible, but it is slow unless you have used it extensively without the mouse. Did you know that the mouse was invented in 1963 and was originally packaged with Xerox computers in the 1970s, and then used by Apple Computer, which was then adapted by IBM, which caused the mouse to become what it is today. |
|
| MPEG |
acronym for: Moving Picture Experts Group, pronounced M-Peg
MPEG is actually a working group of the ISO (the International Organization for Standardization). MPEG, however, is more widely known as a very popular file format and for digital video compression standards that were developed by the Group. MPEG essentially compresses video by only saving the changes that occur in one frame of video to the next instead of the entire next frame. This does result in some degredation of video quality, however, it is usually not noticable. There are three major standards for MPEG, they are: MPEG-1 which provides video at 30 frames per second (fps) and a screen resolution of 352 pixels by 240 pixels (352x240).MPEG-1's quality is just below that of a VCR. MPEG-2 provides video at 60fps with a screen resolution of either 720x480 or 1280x720 with CD quality sound. This is the format used for HDTV and DVDs. Thats right, a DVD is NOT the highest possible quality video, despite what the industry tells you, nor is HDTV, although it is almost impossible to tell. :-D Lastly, MPEG-4, which is used mostly for animations and not so much for video. |
|
| MP3 |
acronym for: MPEG Audio Layer 3
MP3 is the file extension of the popular audio format used to encode music. What that means is it is the third in three coding schemes used for compressing audio data. Basically what MP3 does is it removes all of the non-essential data from the audio file, thus compressing the file size with very minimal quality loss. For example, a 4 minute song at CD quality is approximately 50 megabytes in size; after being compressed to MP3, that same song is now only 5 megabytes. These small file sizes enable files to be easily transferred over the Internet, even using a slow Internet connection such as over the phone lines. Did you know that the MP3 format was created by a college student in his dorm room so he could transfer music files to his friends more easily? |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Network |
| A computer network is computers that are connected together to share resources, such as raw data, printers, and Internet access, among many others. A network can consist of 2 computers or 2,000 computers, it does not matter. There are many types of computer networks, such as a SAN, LAN, WAN, or MAN. Every network is catagorized by several characterisitics. For starters the physical layout of the network, or topology, is the main factor in how a network is classified. (See Topology) Networks are also classified by their architecture, such as client/server architecture or peer-to-peer. Lastly, they are categorized by which protocols are in use, such as ethernet or token-ring. On a computer network, computers and peripherals can also be called a node. The computer(s) that controls a networks resources and its devices are called servers.Without computer networks, the world would not work the way it does today. Did you know that if you have a router installed in your home then you have a computer network setup in your house and you can use it to share your files and printers? |
|
| NIC |
acronym for: Network Interface Card
A NIC is an expansion card that enables a computer to connect to other computers via a network. The NIC controls what type of network the computer can connect to since it must know how to read the different protocols that the network might use and also support the type of media in use on that particular network. A computer can have more than one NIC installed at a time, but that usually requires some amount of special configuration, which is usually found only in servers. |
|
| NNTP |
acronym for: Network News Transfer Protocol
NNTP is the protocol used on the Internet to post and receive messages on USENET, which is a virtual posting board available to anyone with an Internet connection. If you go to google.com and click on Groups, that is USENET, which utilizes the NNTP protocol. |
|
| Node |
| A node is any device that is connected to a computer network. A node can be a computer, a server, or a printer and each node must have its own unique network address, usually called a MAC address, which is a unique ID that is physically coded on to a components NIC and it almost impossible to change. |
|
| NOS |
abbreviation for: Network Operating System
An NOS is an operating system that is specifically designed for being on a computer network and usually has special features built-in to help connect that computer to conenct to a network. Windows 2000, Novell Netware, and Windows Server 2003 are all examples of Network Operating Systems. |
|
| NTFS |
acronym for: New Technology File System
NTFS refers to a type of file system that is used primarily in Windows 2000 and higher which is more reliable than FAT and more secure. When a hard drive is formatted using NTFS, the user can then set permissions for who can access what data on the hard drive. It allows for easier recovery of files and recovery from crashes. NTFS is also faster than FAT when using larger hard drives. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| OC |
acronym for: Optical Carrier
OC is used to specify the speed at which fiber optic networks that adhere to the SONET standard operate. Common OC levels and data transmission speeds are: OC-1 = 51.85 Mbps, OC-3 155.52Mpbs, and OC-12 = 622.08Mpbs and so forth. There are other levels such as 24,48, and 192. To calculate those speeds, its simply a variable of OC-1. For example, OC-12 is equal to 51.85 * 12, which equals 622.2 which is its approximate speed. |
|
| OCR |
acronym for: Optical Character Recognition
OCR is the process by which a scanner or similar device can read text from something it scans, such as a book or a very, very, neat hand-written document and then creates an image from that scan. Then, sofisticated OCR software attempts to extract letters, numbers, and symbols and export the image in to a document which the user can then edit as if they had typed the entire document from scratch. OCR is very helpful if you have printed a document and then lost the original file and do not want to re-type an entire document. It can be scanned in and run through OCR software in a fraction of the time it would take to re-type it. |
|
| OEM |
acronym for: Original Equipment Manufacturer
This term is heard frequently when purchasing parts for computers on the Internet and/or buying in bulk. The term itself is a bit misleading since it refers to a company that has a relationship with another company that produces the computers originally. The OEM takes an already manufactered product and then modifies it for one specific purpose and then the OEM resells these modified computers under their own name. OEMs are not the manufacturers, just the people the customize and resell already manufactered computers. |
|
| Online |
slang
Online is a slang term that refers to being connected to a computer network, specifically the Internet, although it can be used for any network. To be online means to be connected to a network and able to interact with the services the network provides. You can be connected to a computer network, but if you are not interacting with that network (sending any data back and forth) then you are not online. This term has also come to refer to logging in and out of a networks services, for example an Instant Messaging program. While you are logged in to the program, you are considered to be online, however once you log off, you are considered offline, ever though you may still connected to the Internet. |
|
| Offline |
slang
Offline is the exact opposite of online. Offline refers to the state of not being connected to a computer network, specifically the Internet, although the term can be user for any network. To be offline means not being connected to a network and no data is being sent between you and the network. If you are not on a computer, but it is still sending data back and forth between the network, then you are still online. This term has also come to refer to logging in and out of a networks services, for example an Instant Messaging program. While you are logged in to the program, you are considered to be online, however once you log off, you are considered offline, ever though you may still connected to the Internet. |
|
| OpenGL |
| OpenGL is a 3-Dimensional graphics computer programming language that was developed by Silicon Graphics Inc (SGI). There are two versions of the language, the most popular and wide-spread is Microsoft OpenGL which is packaged with Windows 98 and NT; and then there is Cosmo OpenGL which was developed by SGI and is only used for computer that do not have graphics adapters. Microsoft's OpenGL is also now widely supplemented by Direct3D. |
|
| Operating System |
| An operating system is the core software that is installed on a computer. Also called the OS or O/S, the operating system controls all of the systems hardware and all other software that is installed on the computer. A computer can, however, have multiple OSs installed at the same time, and each OS has no control over the other OSs. It is the job of the operating system to determine which programs get access to which system resources in what order and when. Examples of operating systems are any version of Microsoft Windows, DOS, O/S2, Linux, UNIX, MacOS, etc. If a computer does not have some type of operating system, then the computer is of no use to most users. There are two main types of OS's; a graphical interface OS (or GUI), such as Windows or Linux, and a command line OS, such as DOS or UNIX. The OS is critical to the operation of any comuter and most software problems that occur on a computer arise from the OS iteself or other software or hardware conflicting with the OS. |
|
| OSI Model |
acronym for Open System Interconnection, also known as the OSI Reference Model
The OSI, which was developed by ISO, is a seven layer model which splits up the different aspects of computer networks in to seven parts and defines the basic framework for networking protocols in seven layers. This allows the different areas of a computer network to be categorized for easier comprehension and troubleshooting. The OSI consists of the following layers from bottom to top: application, presentation, session, transport, network, data link and physical. These layers each represent a segment of a computer network where data must travel from one node to another to make a complete connection. The data would start at the application layer of one node, go down the all seven layers, where it would then be tranported over a channel of some sort and then reach the physical layer of the other node and work its way back up until the data was again usable by the receiving node. This process happens for every bit of data sent across a network, between every node and the whole process can only take a couple of milliseconds. The OSI can be found in almost all communications systems although, some of the layers maby combined as one layer.OSI is also referred to as the OSI Reference Model or just the OSI Model. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Packet |
| In computer networks, data is sent in small pieces called Packets. Most data is too large to be sent as one piece, so it is broken up in to many packets that ususally contain where the packet came from, where it is going, and its order in the piece of data it came from so it can be re-assembled when it is received at its destination. Every thing you see on the Internet is sent to you in packets. This web page, for example, came to your computer in hundreds of packets that your computer re-assembled to display what you now see. |
|
| Parallel Port |
| A parallel port is an external plug that allows external devices, most commonly printers, to be connected to a computer. It is called parallel because it is capable of sending multiple bits of data at the same time, or in parallel to each other. Most computers have parallel ports built-in to their motherboards and there are several types of parallel ports. The port itself is a 25-pin connector and is sometimes called a Centronics interface, named for the company that designed the original interface. Most newer computers have a newer type of parallel port that is called ECP or EPP (Extended Capabilities Port and Enhanced Parallel Port respectively). Both of these ports are faster than the original Centronics port and both allow data to be sent to and from the computer simultaneously. |
|
| Partition |
| Think of paritioning like slicing up a pizza. Partitioning is done to hard drives to split up the one hard disk in to many drives. For example, if you have a 60GB hard drive and you want to have a separate area on the drive, one for work and one for personal, you can partition the hard drive in to two sections of any size you choose. The computer will see two hard drives instead of one and assign each its own drive letter, such as C and D. This allows the user to have two completely separate and distinct storage areas. A hard drive must have at least one partition to operate for Windows and two for Unix/Linux. When a hard drive is partitioned, typically all partitions must be formatted which means that all data is lost. One program that can do partitioning is Microsoft's FDISK. There are programs that can partition hard drives with out formatting them, but they are not guaranteed to work and you could still lose data. |
|
| PC |
acronym for: Personal Computer
The term PC originally came from IBM, since that is what they called there first computer, the PC. PC eventually became synonymous with IBM brand computers and IBM-clones, which were comptuers that operated just like IBMs but where manufactered by different companies. In general, PC now refers to any computer that is based on an Intel-compatible CPU, this exlcudes certain computers, such as the Macintosh, which is considered a personal computer, but not a PC. |
|
| PC Card |
| A PC card is a device that is typically used to expand the capacity and/or capability of a laptop computer that is about the same size as a credit card. To be called a PC Card, the device must conform to the PCMCIA standard. |
|
| PCI |
acronym for: Peripheral Component Interconnect
PCI is type of bus that was developed by Intel and is now standard on all PCs. PCI is the means by which most computers can have expanded capabilities via internal PCI expansion slots which allows a circuit board with a PCI connector to be plugged in, thus expand the capabilities of the computer. PCI is a 64-bit bus, however, most systems are designed with PCI running at 32-bit to match the CPU. PCI has a maximum throughput of 133Mpbs. There are two newer implementations of PCI that are emerging called PCI-X and PCI Express. PCI-X will work with existing PCI components while improving the throughput of PCI up to 1Gbps. This will allows high speed devices, such as NICs that operate at 1Gbps, to operate at their maximum speed. PCI Express changes the actual architecture of PCI and will allows a throughput of up to 200MB per second. This is being done to allow other high speed components, such as 1394 and USB 2.0 devices to operate at their full speeds, which is currently limited by the 133Mbps throughout of regular PCI. |
|
| PCMCIA |
acronym for: Personal Computer Memory Card International Association, pronounced P-C-M-C-I-A
PCMCIA is an organization that developed a standard for expanding the capabilities and capacity of portable computers (Laptops) using small, credit card size devices, called PC Cards. The standard originally was for expanding only memory but now it has been expanded and includes many different devices, such as NICs, modems, and disk drives. There are three types of PC cards, all of which are 85.6mm by 54mm, but they have different widths. Type I is up to 3.3mm thick and is used primarily for memory. Type II can be up to 5.5mm thick and is used mostly for NICs and modems. Type III can be up to 10.5mm thick and is used for disk drives. Each type has its own slot, however, the slots are interchangable. A Type I slot only supports Type I cards, Type II slots support Type I and II, and Type III slots support all three. |
|
| PDA |
acronym for Personal Digital Assitant
PDAs are becomming increasing popular and more useful as they get better and better. A PDA is a handheld device that can combine a cellular telephone, computer, organizer, address book, fax, the Internet, and many networking features like Wi-Fi and Bluetooth all in one device. Most PDAs use a pen like stylus which is just a plastic or metal pointer with a plastic tip to navigate and most PDAs use a hand writing recognition technology and now some even use voice command to navigate as well. The most popular PDA is the Palm Pilot from Palm Inc. PDAs can also be called palmtops, pocket computers or pocket PCs. |
|
| PDF |
acronym for Portable Document Format
This is the only definition like this you will find in this glossary. PDF has changed the way people do desktop publishing. A PDF is a file format (type of file), and also that file type's file extension, that was developed by Adobe Systems Inc. What a PDF does is essentially preserve the exact look and feel of an original document exactly the way its creator intended, so anyone who views a PDF is seeing it exactly as it was meant to. This means that the document will not be different from computer to computer. PDFs are created in a program called Adobe Acrobat, which allows a user to import a file from just about any source and create a PDF from it. In order to view a PDF document, you would the free Adobe Acorbat Reader which Adobe distributes freely on their website. PDFs can be found everywhere now, including this web site. The printer version of our Rates sheet is in PDF format and there is a link on the Rates page to obtain the free Acrobat viewer. |
|
| Ping |
| Ping is not short for anything. At least thats what we found in our research. Ping is a utility that sends a signal to a specific network address or IP and listens for a response to see if that IP is accessable. The ping utility is mostly used for troubleshooting and is available through a wide variety of different interfaces. The most common one used is the PING command that is used at a DOS prompt in all versions of Windows. Some people will say that ping is short for Packet INternet Groper, but according to Ping's author, it is named so because of the sound that a sonar pulse makes. *PING* |
|
| Pixel |
acronym for: Picture Element, where the Pic makes the Pix sound
A pixel is the smallest part of an image that you see on your monitor. A typical monitor has thousands or millions of pixels that compose the images you see and are so close together that they seem to be connected. Image quality is controlled by many factors, but most importantly screen resolution - the number of pixels there are on the screen. A screen is divided in to rows and columns of pixels, the more there are, the clearer the image. The greater the resolution, the more pixels there are and the better the picture. For example, a screen resolution of 640 x 480 pixels will produce approximately 300,000 pixels on the screen, which makes for a nice image. A resolution of 800 x 600 pixels, creates about 480,000 pixels and a much smoother image. Most computers can display from 640 x 480 pixels up to 1600 x 1200 pixels. Now thats a lot of pixels. |
|
| POP |
acronym for: Post Office Protocol
POP is a network protocol is used to retrieve E-mail from an E-mail server. POP is typically used in conjunction with SMTP, which is another network protocol for sending E-mail to an E-mail server. POP was orginally developed in the 1980's and was called POP2, however since then a new version, called POP3, has become the standard. Most E-mail clients, such as Eudora or Outlook support POP3 and SMTP. If you are using one of these two clients, chances are you using POP3. |
|
| Port |
| In computers, the word port has triplicate meaning. First, a port can be a physical plug in to which you would connect some type of device, like a printer. There are many ports on an average computer both internally and externally. Internally there are expansion ports (slots), hard drive ports, and disk drive ports. Externally, there are the printer port (parallel port), the serial ports, the video port, and some computers also have a SCSI port. Another type of port in computers is a virtual port for computer networking; that is, a port that does not physically exist. It is a logical end-point to a network connection. Each endpoint is given a port number. For example, port 80 is used for viewing web sites and is the port to which data from your Internet connection probably goes to your computer. The last type of port refers to moving a computer program from one type of computer to another. For example, taking software that was written for a PC and "porting" it so that it will run on a Macintosh means that the program is re-written so it will run properly on the Mac. Programs that this can be done to easily are considered "portable". |
|
| P2P |
acronym for: Peer-to-Peer, where to is replaced by 2
P2P is a type of computer network where every computer on the network has the same exact capabilities and responsibilities. That means that all of the computers on the network can access every other computer to some extent, thus P2P offers very poor security. P2P also peforms very poorly when there is heavy network usage, since there there is no main computer or server that can monitor the network and control it. P2P networks are easy to setup, however, they are usually a bad alternative due to the aforementioned reasons. A good example of P2P networking is Napster. Napster was a gigantic worldwide network that used its servers to directly connect many users on a P2P level. |
|
| PPP |
abbreviation for: Point-to-Point Protocol
PPP is mostly commonly seen when using a dial-up telephone conncetion to connect to the Internet. PPP is fairly basic and is widely used for dial-up Internet that sends packets from your computer to another computer or server that then sends them off to the Internet. This same computer then send the returned packets from the Internet, back to you. |
|
| Printer |
| A printer is an external device for a computer which takes data and converts it to a physical output, usually on to a piece of paper. Printers are an essential part of any computer system. They allow the user to take what they see on the their monitor and put that on a piece of paper or other type of print media, such as cloth. Some printers even allow printing to thin sheets of metal. Printers can connect directly to a single computer or they can connect to hundreds over a network. They can be connected via a parallel or SCSI port, a USB port, an RJ-45 port or even wirelessly. There are 2 main types of printers. They are impact and non-impact. Examples of non-impact printers are inkjet, laser, dye sublimation printers, and thermal printers. Impact printers include dot matrix printers and printers. The difference is obivious. On impact printers, a print head actually strikes the paper whereas in non-impact printers, nothing except the ink or toner makes contact with the paper. The three most common printers in user today are inkjet, laser, and dot matrix. The first two are obvious, dot matrix is not. Inkjet and Laser found almost everywhere, in homes, businesses and schools. Dot matrix printers, although old, are still used to print jobs that require carbon copies or the ability to make an imprint on the paper. Dot matrix printers are not going anywhere for a while. |
|
| Program |
| Program can either be a noun or a verb. As a noun, a program is an organized set of instructions that can be executed to cause a computer to behave in a predetermined (or progammed) manner. A program is what makes a computer work. Programs contain all of the information needed to make computer do a certain task. Programs are created in programming languages. Programming languages are broken down in to two types: high-level and low-level. The higher the level of the language, the easier it is to program in. Each command in a high-level langauage causes a computer to do more. For example, a clear screen command in a low-level language may require 3 seperate commands where as in a high-level language, the same task can be accomplished with just one. Some examples of high-level languages are Visual Basic, COBOL, Java, C++, and HTML. An example of a low-level langauage would be any number of assembly languages that are used, however high-level are the most widely used because they are easier to use. No matter if a progam is created in a high-level or low-level language, all programs are translated in a machine langauge that the computer can understand. At the lowest level, this is binary. These translations are done by compilers and assemblers. Store bought programs that are already in machine language, are already compiled, and are ready to be executed.
As a verb, program means to write code or to create a program.
|
|
| Protocol |
| In terms of computers, a protocol is a format of sending and receiving data between two devices that has been determined a standard by some governing body, such as the IEEE or ISO. The protocol that a device uses determines: the way(s) in which the data being sent is check for errors upon being received, how the receiving end of the transmittion will acknowledge it has received the data, how the sending end of the transmittion will signal it is done sending, and what type, if any, of data compression is used. There are many protocols out there and each is used for different things. When a programmer is creating a program, the programmer must choose which protocols to utilize. Like all choices in life, each protocol has it pros and cons, some are faster, more efficient, more secure, or more reliable. One thing remains the same, no matter which protocol is being used, both ends of the transmittion must support the correct protocols, whether it is a software protocol, such as TCP/IP or a hardware protocol like OC-3, both ends must support it. |
|
| PS\2 |
| PS/2 comes up when talking about keyboards and mice. Developed by IBM, PS/2 is a type of connectivity port for connecting a mouse or keyboard to a computer. A PS/2 port uses a connection called a mini DIN plug, which has 6 pins. Almost all newer computers have a PS/2 port. The alternative to a PS/2 port is a serial port which is slowly becomming obsolete. PS/2 ports are also called the mouse port. PS/2 is also becomming obsolete thanks to USB ports. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| QWERTY |
pronounced: Kwur-tea
If you are in the United States, look at the top left side of your keyboard, starting at Q. You will notice that the first 6 letters spell out QWERTY. Qwerty refers to the way in which the keys are layed out an a standard 101-key U.S. keyboard. The man who invented this, Christopher Sholes, did so in 1868. It is said he layed the keyboard out in this manner to avoid jamming of the letter bars on old typewriters, however, there is no evidence to support this claim. There is another type of keyboard out there, called a Devorak keyboard which lays the keys out in such a manner so that the most commonly typed letter are on the same line, however, this design has never received wide spread use. Qwerty rules the keyboard world, for now. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| RAID |
acronym for Redundant Array of Inexpensive (or Independent) Disks
RAID is a system in which a computer uses more than one hard drive to increase system performance and/or provide fault tolerance (protection against data loss). RAID is typically found on servers and not on personal computers due to the complexity of setting up RAID and the cost involved. A good RAID controller can run in excess of $600 USD. There are several levels of RAID, each with their own pros and cons. They are:
RAID 0: Uses data striping across multiple disks where data is written across multiple hard drives to decrease the amount of time it takes to read data from the disks. RAID 0 provides a performance enhancement, however it provides no fault tolerance. If one disk dies, all the data is lost.
RAID 1: Utilizes disk mirroring. What this means is when data is written to one hard drive, it is copied in duplicate to another disk, this way should the main drive fail, the second drive picks up where the main drive left off with almost no interuption in data flow. This provides no performance enhancement, and infact it can slow the system down, however it provides excellent fault tolerance.
RAID 3: Also called RAID 0+1, does the same thing as RAID 0 but it also uses one hard drive specifically for error correction. This provides speed and some fault tolerance, so that if one disk fails, the extra disk should pick up where the failed disk left off. If more than one drive dies at the same time, all data is lost.
RAID 5: Uses a minumum of 3 drives and does the same thing as RAID 0 in that the data is stripped across multiple drives but RAID 5 also maintains error correction information on all drives so even if multiple drives fail, there is no data loss. RAID 5 provides excellent performance and good fault tolerance.
There is another level of RAID called RAID 10, but it is too complex to describe here and it is rarely used, so we will leave it at that, just so you are aware of it. |
|
| RAM |
acronym for: Random Access Memory
RAM is the memory in a computer. Any data that gets processed by the CPU of a computer is almost always stored in RAM first. RAM is high speed; much faster then a hard drive, and the more RAM you have in a computer, the more data that the RAM can store and the faster the computer can process data. There are two primary types of RAM used in computers. The first is called DRAM. DRAM works by constantly having an electic charge refreshing the status of the circuits. As soon as the circuit looses power, all data stored in the memory is lost. This is called volitile memory and most computers use this type of memory. The other type is called SRAM or Static RAM. SRAM is different than DRAM because it does not require a constant charge to work. The data in SRAM memory is only changed when the user wants it to and becuase of this, it is non-volitile, also called NVRAM. Since it does not require a constant charge, SRAM is faster than DRAM and because of this, it is more expensive. SRAM is typically used for cache on a computer. |
|
| RDRAM |
acronym for: Rambus DRAM
RDRAM is a newer type of memory that was developed by Rambus Inc. The aspect that differeniates RDRAM from other RAM is the speed at which it operates, which is around 800MHz. Most standard SDRAM operates at a maximum of 133MHz. As you can see RDRAM is must faster. As computers become faster and faster, technologies similar to RDRAM will become more and more popular, however, due to the high price of RDRAM, it is still not the preferred type of memory by most users until the price goes down. Only people looking for very high performance on their computers will spend the extra money to get RDRAM now. |
|
| Rambus RAM |
| See RDRAM |
|
| Registry |
| The registry is the backbone of the Windows operating system. The registry is database used by Windows to store many of the configuration settings of Windows itself; including most of the programs that can be installed on Windows. Almost every program designed for Windows will create some kind of entry in the registry, whether that program is dependent on that entry or not, it is still there. Anyone can edit the registry, however, if you do not know what you are doing, you can DESTROY Windows, and make your computer unusable. |
|
| RGB |
abbreviation for: Red, Green, and Blue
If you have a color CRT monitor, then it is an RGB monitor. What RGB refers to is the way in which the monitor operates. In the back of the monitor, there are three electron guns; red, green, and blue, that shoot electron beams at the screen. When this beam his the screen, which is coated in a reactive phosphorus material, the phosphors glow. Depending on which beam hits the phosphor, the phosphor will glow a different color. Combine beams and you have every color of the rainbow. This is how all CRT/RGB monitors work. Did you know that all non-hi definition Televisions also work this way and if you look at a TV screen up close, you can see the red, green, and blue stripes? |
|
| RISC |
acronym for: Reduced Instruction Set Computer
RISC refers to a microprocessor that uses a limited number of instructions, as apposed to a CISC (complex instruction set computer) processor that uses many more instructions. Since a RISC processor uses fewer instructions, it requires fewer transistors, hence they are smaller and cheaper to build than CISC processors. Another benefit is that RISC processors are very fast. The downside is that they are more reliant on the software running on the computer to do more work, which could ultimately result in a slower computer. There has been a long debate whether RISC or CISC chips are better, but now the two types are slowly becoming more like eachother to the point where the differences are becoming less and less. Eventually there will probably only be one type of processor in use. |
|
| RJ-11 |
acronym for: Registered Jack-11
Look at the cable that goes into your telephone. It is a four-pin cable that you will find in most phones. That is an RJ-11 cable. The cable itself is comprised of 4 wires that are punched into a plastic jack. Some RJ-11 cables have colored wires inside, are are usually Red, Green, Yellow, and Black. At minimum, most RJ-11 cable consist at least of a Red and Green wire. An RJ-11 cable is the standard in the U.S. for telephone cabling. Sometime RJ-11 is 6 pin and can be used for some LANs but this is unusual as most networks utilize RJ-45 cable instead |
|
| RJ-45 |
acronym for: Registered Jack-45
RJ-45 cable is the standard cable used for computer networks, particularly Ethernet networks. It is an eight wire cable that has an 8-pin plastic jack on either end. It looks very similar to RJ-11 cable, only the cable is a little thicker and the connector is wider. |
|
| ROM |
acronym for: Read Only Memory
ROM a type of computer memory that all computers have. Unlike RAM, ROM does not lose its contents when power is removed from the circuitry. This means that ROM is non-volitile (NV). ROM typically comes pre-programmed and is usually found in a computer as the BIOS chip which contains the program that boots the computer. There is a variation of the ROM chip that is reprogrammable. This is called an EEPROM chip (electronically erasable programmable read-only memory, try saying that 5 times fast :-D ) and most BIOS chips in most computers these days are EEPROMs. |
|
| Router |
| A router is a networking device that is located at the connection point of two networks. Typically this is a WAN and a LAN or two WANs. The router takes packets sent to a computer on one side of the network and distributes them accordingly, passing the packets on their destination. Routers can communicate with each other using their own protocols, such as ICMP (Internet Control Message Protocol) to determine the best path for data to travel, since for data to get from one computer to another, the data packet could pass through a dozen routers. A more familiar setting for most typical users is to use a router to share a home networking connection, where the router is plugged in to a cable or DSL modem, thus allowing the end user to connect as many computers as they want to their high-speed Internet connection. In this case, the Internet connection would be the WAN and the computers in the users house make up the LAN. |
|
| RS-232C |
acronym for: Recommended Standard-232C
Most commonly called RS-232; it is an interface connection standard used for connecting serial devices, such as printers, older mice, and monitors. The standard has actually been renamed twice since its inception and is now the EIA's (Electronic Industries Alliance) 232-E standard, however, most people still refer to is as RS-232. The standard supports two distinct interfaces, one is a 9-pin D shaped connector, the other is a 25-pin D connector. These connectors are most commonly found older mice and printer cables. There is now a new connection standard that has replaced the 232 standard which is called RS-422. The new standard supports faster tranfer rates, connectivity with Macintosh computers, and is backward compatibility with the older standard. |
|
| RTF |
acronym for: Rich Text Format
RTF is a standard that was created by Microsoft as a way of specifying the formatting for text documents. RTF is a basic formatting language that takes ASCII and uses special commands to create formatting such as fonts, font sizes, and character formatting (underline, bold, italicize, etc.). RTF is completely compatible with all of Mircosoft's word processing software including all version of Word and Works. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| SAN |
acronym for: Storage Area Network
A SAN is basically a network of high-speed storage devices that is connected to a WAN or LAN in such a way that when the storage devices are connected to the SAN, they are available to all of the servers on the LAN or WAN. By utilizing a SAN, the servers on the LAN or WAN can be used fully for processing network traffic instead of storage. This enables the entire network to run faster. |
|
| Scanner |
| A scanner is a device that can scan in text and/or graphics from paper and convert it in to data that a computer can understand. Scanners take whatever is scanned in to it and then runs it through a process called digitizing; which is, it divides the content in to a grid and each box in the grid is represented by either a one or zero, depending on whether the box has something in it. If the scanner does color, it does the same process but instead of a single one or zero for each box, it can have up to 36, which is also know as 36-bit. The now digitized data, in its matrix form, is called a bit map. This bit map can then be turned in to a file and used by programs to do whatever with. When a document with text is scanned, the scanner itself does not know that it is scanned and everything is turned in to a bit map. If a bit map has text the user wants to edit it, they have to run the bit map through OCR (optical character recognition) software which then translates the picture of the text in to editable text. Most scanners sold today come with some type of OCR software for this purpose. Scanners are classified by 3 main points: technology used, resolution and bit depth of the scanned images. Most scanners on the market today use a device called a charge-coupled device (CCD) array which can detect variations in light intensity and frequency on a scanned image. The CCD is the key factor in determining the quality of the scanned bit map. Commercial scanners use different technology to scan, which uses a photomultiplier tube, but this is much more costly. A scanners resolution and bit depth are the two most commonly advertised aspects of a scanner. The higher the resolution, then denser the bit map, the better quality of the bit map. New scanner support from 72 to 3600 dpi (dots per inch). The bit depth is basically the number of ones and zeros used to describe the contents of each of the boxes on the grid. The more bits per box, the more colors that scanner can reproduce. Most newer scanners support from 2-bits to 36-bits. |
|
| SCSI |
acronym for: Small Computer System Interface, pronounced scuzzi
SCSI is a parallel interface standard that is used by almost all computer systems including PCs and Macintosh. In fact, almost all Macinstosh's come standard with a SCSI port, excluding the most recent iMacs. SCSI is similar to IDE, except it physically has a different interface and supports much faster throughput ranging from 4Mpbs to as much as 160Mbps on high-end SCSI devices. SCSI can also support many devices on one SCSI port, whereas IDE only supports up to 2 devices. Even though SCSI is an ANSI standard, there are many variations of it, for example it can have a bus that is 8 or 16 bits wide, and it can use a 25-pin, 50-pin, or 68-pin plug. There is also three main versions of SCSI; SCSI-1, SCSI-2, and SCSI-3 which is also called Ultra SCSI. In short, SCSI is simply a very high-speed connectivity standard for internal and external devices, usually hard drives and scanners. |
|
| SDRAM |
acronym for: Synchronous Dynamic RAM
SDRAM is the most common type of RAM found in most PCs today, although DDR-RAM is quickly replacing it. SDRAM is a type of memory that actually synchronizes itself to the CPU's bus speed, with a maximum speed of 133Mhz. SDRAM has become so popular due to its low price. SDRAM is always a 168-pin DIMM. |
|
| Serial |
| The term serial refers to how data is transfered. Serial means one bit of data at a time. Many older peripherals, like older mice, are serial, meaning that data is sent from the mouse to the computer 1 bit at a time. The opposite of serial would be parallel, in which more than 1 bit is sent at the same time. |
|
| Serial ATA |
abbreviated S-ATA or SATA
Serial ATA is the next generation of the Parallel ATA physical storage interface, which is usually IDE. Serial ATA is a serial link. which uses a single cable, that has at least four wires which creates a direct connection between two or more devices. The speeds at which SATA can transfer data is at least 150Mpbs. The best part of SATA is the size of the cable used. SATA cables are much small than IDE cables, allowing for more airflow inside a computer which means better cooling and smaller cases. IDE cables are much wider and have a maximum length of 40cm where as SATA cables can be as long as 3.2ft. Like IDE, SATA can support all ATA and ATAPI devices (all hard drives, CD/DVD-ROM's, CD/DVD-Burners, etc.) It is likely that SATA will soon replace IDE as the standard storage interface. |
|
| Server |
| A server is a computer or a device on a computer network that contains resources for other devices on the network to use. For example, a print server is typically a computer or device that enables multiple people to print things at the same time to the same printer by managing all of the print jobs and letting one print at a time. Another common type of server is a file server, which is a computer that stores data for other comptuers on that network to access. The primary purpose of a file server is to manage the data stored on it. All servers are typically very powerful computers that are fairly expensive to buy, with low-end servers usually starting around $2,000 USD. |
|
| Shareware |
| Shareware refers to software that is typically distributed freely and without charge as a trial basis. Most shareware programs are written so people can try a program before buying it. Shareware programmers usually require a fee if the user is to continue using it beyong a certain time frame. Shareware can be copied and distributed freely however, it is usually copyrighted and so it can not be edited. It also usually is delivered by the programmer directly and usually has little or no packaging. |
|
| SIMM |
acronym for: Single Inline Memory Module
SIMMs are a type of memory that is now obsolete. A SIMM is a small circuit board that can typically hold up to 8 or 9 RAM chips and their capcity is measured in bytes. SIMMs have now been replaced by DIMMs, which are physically similar to the SIMMs, only their connector is slighty thinner and longer and they have a wider bus and a faster maximum speed. |
|
| SMART |
acronym for: Self-Monitoring and Reporting Technology
SMART is standard that is used in disk drives and for software that automatically monitors the status of a disk drive and reports any potential problems. The purpose of SMART is give a user warning before a hard drive crashes. SMART technology can usually be found in most modern hard drives and BIOS's and can be enabled or disabled in the computer's BIOS. |
|
| SMTP |
acronym for: Simple Mail Transfer Protocol
SMTP is the most widely used protocol on the Internet for sending E-mail. SMTP is typically used to send E-mail from an E-mail client to an E-mail server. That mail can then be retrieved from the server using the POP or IMAP protocols by the E-mail accounts owner. If you use a program such as Qualcomm's Eudora or Microsoft's Outlook, chances are your E-mail provider uses SMTP. |
|
| Software |
| Software is anything that can be electronically stored.Software itself is a set of instuctions for a computer (a program) or raw data. Devices that store and display the software are considered hardware. Both software and hardware can be used as nouns and adjectives. For example, you can say that a piece of software is written badly, or that a problem is a software problem. This can get confuzing depending on how it is stated and in what context. Differentiating hardware and software can also be confuzing since the there is a fine line that the two share. For example, when you go to the store and buy software, you are getting the software, but you are also getting the hardware, that is the disc, that the software is stored on. When you say I am purchasing software, you are actually purchasing the software and the hardware, but the two are are combined, in this case, just to mean software. There are two main types of software: systems software and applications software. Systems software is the operating system, utilites, drivers and any other software that is required to make a computer function. Applications software is any other software, specifically any software that a user must have to be productive, such as word processing software or graphics programs. |
|
| SONET |
abbreviation for: Synchronous Optical Network
SONET is standard for connecting fiber-optic transmition systems. SONET was developed in the mid-1980's by a company called Bellecore and SONET has now been adopted by ANSI as a standard. SONET defines the physical interface standard at first layer of the 7-layer OSI model, which is the phyiscal layer. Basically, it establishes the hierarchy of an interfaces transmition rates so that data streams at different speeds can be multiplexed or combined. SONET covers OC lines from 51.8Mpbs to 2.48Gpbs. SONET allows communications carriers worldwide to connect their existing networks together, making Earth a more rapidly connected planet. |
|
| Spam |
Slang
Another term for Unsolicited Commerical E-mail
See UCE |
|
| Spyware |
| See Spyware, Spyware, Everywhere! |
|
| SQL |
abbreviation for: Structured Query Language
SQL is the standard programming language used to request data from a database. Before SQL, there was SEQUEL, which stands for Structured English Query Language and was developed by IBM in the mid-1970's. SQL on the other hand was developed by Oracle in the late 1970's. There are many versions of SQL, which is commonly called Sequel for short, even though that is technically another product. In the mid-1980's, ANSI adopted a basic version of the language. The adoptation has since been updated to include many extensions to that language that have been added over the years. Currently, SQL is the closest thing there is a to a standardized database query language. |
|
| Switch |
In terms of computers, a switch can mean several things:
First, a switch can, of course, be a power switch to turn a computer on
A switch is also a device which is used in computer networking to take a single network signal and actively split it among several computers so they can share the connection. This is the most common meaning. A switch, however, should not be confused with a hub. A hub just splits a network signal and that is it whereas a switch can have the ability to control the flow of data and where it goes. Switches can be managed or unmanaged. If a switch is managable, a user can actually connect to the switch's built-in software, called firmware, using a login ID and password and change the way the switch operates. Unmanaged switches are configured at the factory and those settings can not be changed. Switches are used in almost every large computer network around today. Also, it should be noted that switches are not the same thing as a router as the 2 function completely differently. |
|
| Systray |
abbreviation for: System Tray, also called Notification Area
The system tray is a component of the Windows GUI. Located in the lower right hand corner of the screen by default, the system tray usually contains a clock and any number of miniture icons that programs put there for easy access to their features. The system tray first appeared in Windows 95 and is now become common place for many programs to add icons to. Several versions of Linux also have an area similar to the system tray, but with different functionality. In Windows XP and Windows 2000, the system tray is now referred to as the notifiction area. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| T1 |
| A T1 is a dedicated high-speed data line that supports data throughput up to 1.544Mbps. A T1 is comprised of 24 individual channels that each have an individual throughput of 64Kpbs which can each be configured to carry a voice or data signal. Many service providers allow businesses and individuals to lease some of these channels, which is known as fractional T1 access. T1 lines are typically connected to a T3 line which then connects directly to the Internet backbone, but that depends on how the service provider has their end of the line configured. |
|
| T3 |
| A T3 is the exact same thing as a T1 line, except that a T3 has 672 individual lines, each with a throughput of 64Kpbs, giving a T3 a total throughput of 43Mpbs. T3's are used primarily by Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to connect directly to the Internet backbone. |
|
| Tape Drive |
| A tape drive is similar to a disk drive since it can be used to record and read data from a disk, but tape drives use spooled magnetic tape instead of a hard or floppy disk. Tapes can vary in storage capacity from a few hundred kilobytes to several gigabytes. Tapes and tape drives are also very inexpensive, making them excellent for backup purposes. However, there are two major problems with tape drives: the speed of tape drives varies greatly and data is recorded to the tape sequentially, which makes finding data very slow since the tape has to go back and forth, since it can not just jump to where the data is, like a disk can. This is why tape is not used anymore for most data storage, except for long-term backup. It is very slow when compared to disks. Optical storage and magnetic disks have quickly replaced any tape storage that was in use, with the exception of very large databases which still rely on tape for most storage. |
|
| TCP |
abbreviation for: Transmition Control Protocol
TCP is one of the major protocols used in TCP/IP networks and the Internet. TCP allows two hosts to make a connection with each other and exhange data. The role of TCP is to ensure that data gets from one host to another and to make sure that the data packets that are sent, are re-assembled properly on the recieving end. IP just takes care of the packets themselves and not their actual transmition. |
|
| Telnet |
| Think of Telnet like a chat room. You log in with a user name and password, then send text to a user and finally, you recieve a response. Telnet is similar to this logic. Telnet is a program that allows a user to connect to another computer or server over a TCP/IP network or the Internet and run commands on it as if the user where physically in front of that computer. Telnet is a command line interface, meaning all communication is done via text. There are no graphics. All versions of Windows from Windows 95 and up have a telnet client already installed. Try it! Go to your Start menu and then "Run". Then type in "telenet" and press Enter. This is Microsoft's telnet client and should allow you to connect to any site that supports telnet. (This site does not, sorry) |
|
| Terabyte |
| A terabyte is the largest commonly used measure of data. It is equivalent to approximately 1,000 gigabytes or 1,099,511,627,776 bytes of data. Only very large systems need this type of storage which is usually accomplised using a tape drive of some sort. There is no such thing as a terabyte hard drive, at least not yet. :-D |
|
| Terminal |
| A terminal is a type of computer that has no CPU or hard drive and relies completely on a network to work. Terminals are sometimes called "dumb" terminals, since they can not do any computing on their own and need s mainframe or a server to do it for them. A terminal gives its user access to the resources of a computer network. A terminal typically consists of a monitor, keyboard, and a mouse and that is it. Terminals are not around too much today. Since the price of PC's have dropped so much over the past decade, owners of large computer networks now use PCs in place of a terminal, since they can reduce the load on a network. |
|
| Text |
| Text refers to words, sentences, paragraphs. Text usually refers to unformatted ASCII text, but it can be formatted. Text does not include graphics, programming code and numbers. |
|
| TFT |
acronym for: Thin Film Transistor
TFT is used when describing a particular type of LCD screen. The term TFT refers to how the pixels are controlled by the monitor. In TFT monitors, each pixel is controlled by up to four seperate tranisitors, thus yielding the highest resolution of all LCD monitors, however, it is also the most expensive. TFT screens are also called Active Matrix LCDs and the standard for laptop monitors. |
|
| Token |
| Here, we use the term token in reference to computer networks, not money. A token is a special group of bits that travels around a token-ring network. As the token crosses a computer that is connection to the network, that computer can capture the token and add data to the end token, so it can send a message to another computer. When the token and the data reach the computer that the message is intended for, that computer strips the token off the data and can then add its own data to the token. This cycle repeats itself for all computers on the network. There is only one token on a token-ring network at a time, so there is no possibility for two computers to send messages simoultaneously. This makes the network highly reliable and relatively fast, since data can not bottleneck anywhere. The token itself acts as a right to communicate on the network and the token goes in a circle from one computer to the next. It can not skip any computers, or the network would cease to function. |
|
| Topology |
| Topology is the physical or logical layout of a computer network, (LANs) or similar communication systems. There are four main topologies in use today. They are:
Bus: A bus topology is where each node is connected to each other via a central cable in a chain-like formation. The problem with a bus topology is if one links in the chain goes down, the whole network goes down. Bus networks are the most inexpensive of the four topologies and it requires the signal to be terminiated on both ends of the cable. The most common type of this topology is a coaxial network (called 10BaseT).
Ring: A ring topology is just that, a cicle. All computers are connected to each other in a loop so that each device is connected to two others. Ring topologies tend to be more complex to install and more expensive. The most common type of this topology is a token-ring network.
Star: A star topology is where all of the devices are connected to a main hub or switch. Networks that use a star topology are generally inexpensive and easy to install. They can be a little slow, however, since data can get bottlenecked at the hub or switch since all network data must pass through the hub or switch, slowing down the entire network. This is the most common type of network where multiple star networks are linked together. If you have a router at home to share your hi-speed Internet connection, then you have a star network.
Tree: A tree topology is a combination of both the bus and star topologies. It is several star networks connected together via a central backbone cable that has the same characterisitics of a bus network, so that each star network is equal to one node on the backbone. If the central backbone cable should cut, each individual star network will continue to function, however, they will not be able to talk to eachother.
|
|
| TWAIN |
| Twain is not a person. Twain is the standard interface for computer scanners. TWAIN sets the standard for the software used with the scanner and almost all scanners come with their own TWAIN driver. On a Windows-based computer, TWAIN is usually called the TWAIN source. There a few scanners that do not adhere to this standard, though they are rare. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| UCE |
acronym for: Unsolicited Commercial E-Mail, also known as SPAM
UCE is the third worst thing to happen to the Internet since viruses and spyware were first created. UCE has become a major problem over the past 5 years as more and more people are connceted to the Internet. The true definition of UCE or SPAM is somewhat in debate. Some people think that UCE is ANY e-mail that is unrequested, however, if someone were to E-mail you to tell you that they are your long lost twin, that would not be UCE, even though it is unsolicited. UCE does not have to be commercial either, although it almost always is. The real problem with UCE, other than it is very annoying to have to delete it, is that it takes up a lot of storage space on E-mail servers and it uses up bandwidth on networks. There have been/are many ideas going around on how to deal with SPAM, the most effective thus far is SPAM filters. Some companies are also proposing a type of Internet postage for E-mail to disuade spammers from sending thousands of E-mails, however this would not be fair to real, normal users of E-mail systems, since they would also have to pay this postage on top of the fee they pay to have the Internet service in the first place. The war on UCE continues and hopefully soon there is a good resolution. |
|
| UDP |
acronym for: User Datagram Protocol
UDP is a protocol that is similar to the TCP protocol, except that it does not have nearly as many error recovery features. UDP is primarily used to send broadcast messages over a network, such as "The server is being rebooted, please log off." UDP piggy backs on IP networks to accomplish this task. It delivers IP packets directly to their destination. |
|
| UDMA |
acronym for: Ultra DMA
UDMA is a protocol that was developed by Intel and Quantum to support data throughput speeds of up to 33.3Mpbs for data transfers from hard drives to their controllers. The original DMA was only 1/2 as fast, operating at approximately 15Mbps. If a controller supports UDMA, the hard drive attached must also be an Ultra ATA drive, which is a hard drive that supports data transfer rates of 33.3Mpbs. |
|
| UNC |
acronym for: Uniform Naming Convention
The UNC is simple a format for locating networked resources. It enables a user to enter a path name (location of a file) instead of an IP address to locate something on a network. For example, a server might have a directory on it called "Data" that a user needs access to. Instead of the user typing "12.3.43.233:343", he could enter "\\server-name\data". This same theory works with other resources such as printers. The UNC is supported by most Network Operating Systems including most versions of Windows and Unix. |
|
| Unix |
pronounced: U-Nix
Unix is a versatile and very popular operating system used primarily for workstations (computer connected to a network). Unix was developed in the early 1970's by Bell Labratories in the C programming language. Unix was the first of its kind. Its original purpose was to be used by programmers as a solid development platform that other programs could be made in. However, since Unix was written in C, it was very portable, meaning it could run on any computer with a C compilier. Bell Labs decided to release Unix in its open source form so that anyone who got a copy of it, could modify it to suite their needs. In 1982, AT&T started to market Unix, and at the same time, began an attempt to standardize the O/S. Since Unix is so flexible, it has become the preferred operating system for network workstations. As a result of AT&Ts attempts to standardize Unix, there are four Unix specifications; Unix 93, Unix 95, Unix 98, and Unix 03, with Unix 03 being the newest one. The Unix trademark is now owned by The Open Group who has seperated the name Unix from the actual code, allowing users of Unix to still be able to modify the OS to their needs and not violate any copyrights. |
|
| Upload |
| Upload means to copy and/or move one or more data from your computer to another. This can be sending data, such as a picture, to a friend via an Instant Messaging program, or copying data from your computer to a server. If the data is going from your computer to another, then it is being uploaded from your computer. This is the exact oppposite of download. |
|
| URI |
acronym for: Uniform Resource Identifier
A URI is a term that is given to all names and addresses that refer to anything on the World Wide Web. For example, a URL, such as http://www.dccon.com, is one type of URI. 64.34.124.56 is also a URI. |
|
| URL |
abbreviation for: Uniform Resource Locator
A URL is a global addressing scheme for all resources on the World Wide Web. The scheme says that the address consists of two parts, the first is the protocol that the resource uses and the second is the IP address or domain name where the resouce is located. For example, this web site is located at http://www.dccon.com which uses the HTTP protocol, and then dccon.com is the actual resource. Another example would be ftp://dccon.com/file.zip where FTP is the protocol and dccon.com/file.zip is the resource. |
|
| USB |
acronym for: Universal Serial Bus
USB is an external bus standard that utilizes a external port to connect up to 127 peripheral devices to a computer. USB is plug-and-play, meaning that usually no drivers need to be installed for USB devices and that the operating system the will automatically recognize the new device, without restarting the computer. USB is also hot plugable, meaing that devices can be plugged in or removed without turning off the computer. This makes USB very versatile and very convienient to use. There are 2 versions of USB currently in the use. The original standard, called USB 1.1 is capable of a data transfer rate of up to 12Mpbs, where as the second revision of the standard, called USB 2.0 is capable of up to 480Mpbs and is completely compatible with USB 1.1 devices. USB will eventually completely replace serial and parallel ports. |
|
| Usenet |
| Usenet is a part of the Internet. Also called, News Groups, Usenet allows subscribers to post messages and files to a huge bulletin board system that has existed since the beginning of the Internet. Almost all ISP's allow their users to have at least 2 concurrent connections to Usenet and these come with the service. To access Usenet, you need a view of some sort. Netscape comes with a decent one, however there are many free viewers tha you can find on the Internet. Once on Usenet, you can post your own messages in tens of thousands of different groups, create your own group or reply to other people's posts. Usenet groups are defined using an address scheme similar to that of a URL. For example, a bulletin about web site would be located at an address similar to "nntp://alt.movies.action". In this example, there could also be "nntp://alt.movies.horror" and so on. These bulletin boards are created by just about anyone, so they have the potential to have any name. Usenet servers are all named starting with news.server.com or nntp://, just like http://. |
|
| User |
| A user is anyone who uses a computer to the extent that they simply use programs already created by others. Just about everyone who uses a computer is a user. Being called a user is not derogitory, it is simply a quick way of referring to someone who is using a computer. For example, "The user is having printing problems." A user has operational knowledge of how to use a computer and uses programs on a computer and thats it. Someone who does not know how to even use the programs on a computer is still a user however sometimes referred to as a new person which is commonly abbreviated "newbie" or "n00b". This term can be used in a derogatory manner. Someone who creates things on a computer is more than a user, however there is no technical term to define this type of person. A person who specifically creates programs for others to use can be called a programmer, coder, or even hacker in the traditional sense of the word. Since most programmers use some sort of program like Borland C++ to make other programs, they are a user as well as a programmer since they are using a program to create other programs. A person who is exceptional when working with computers can also be called "Elite", however this word is mostly used in the computer underground. All of these are considered one type of user or another. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Virtual Reality |
also called: VR
Virtual Reality is an artificial environment that is created by computer hardware and software that is designed to imerse the user in a virtual world that anything can happen in, as long as the computer can programmed to do so. Virtual reality is accomplished when the user puts on a special set of goggles that tracks the users eyes to reproduce imagery based on where the user looks, a set of headphones for surround audio, and sometimes a special set of gloves that the computer system can track and reproduce in the users field of vision so the user can interact with the virtual environment. Currently, virtual reality systems, or VR systems, are very complex and very expensive. Both the software and hardware required to produce a VR environment are very expensive and requires special programming. Perhaps one day, all computers will use VR instead of a GUI but those days are not going to be here any time soon. :-( |
|
| Virtual Machine |
| A virtual machine is a software program that is a self-contained operating system that behaves as if it was an entirely seperate computer. The most popular virtual machine is the Sun Microsystem's Java virtual machine. For example, when a java program is running, it uses is own resources, completely independent of the computers operating system. The good side to this is it is very secure and it will run the same way on every computer it is run on, despite the hardware or software that is on that computer. The down side is that because the virtual machine runs on its own, it can not take advantage of any of the features of the computers installed operating system, such as Windows. |
|
| Virus |
| A virus is the worst to happen to the Internet since its creation. A virus is a computer program or a piece of computer code that is loaded on a computer that will execute with or without a users knowledge and run against the users will. There are various catagories of viruses, all which do different things. Most notable is a worm, which is a type of virus that is capable of spreading itself across a network, bypassing security features, and doing a host of different things to infected computers. Worms have to run on their own and can not piggy back on another program. The second most popular type of virus is called a trojan horse, which a program that, like the Greek myth, is loaded on to a computer system when the user loads what they think is a legitamate program. Today, there are many programs available to help remove and prevent viruses from spreading however, they require constant updating to detect the most recent viruses, since anyone can make a virus and becuase of this new viruses are coming out literally every day. It is our belief, and many computer professionals opinions', that if you have a computer, it should have an Anti-Virus program installed, such as Symantec's Norton Anti-Virus. |
|
| Volume |
| In our use of this term, it is not in reference to audio, it is in reference to data storage. A volume is a set amount of storage space on a disk. For example, on all computers, there is the at least one volume called the primary partition or the "C: drive". All computers must have at least one volume. It is possible to have many volumes on one drive. Also, a volume can span more than one disk, such as is the case in a RAID 5 array. |
|
| VPN |
acronym for: Virtual Private Network
A VPN is a network that is created using a public network to create a private network within that public network. For example, many VPN's are created over the Internet. VPNs on the Internet create a "tunnel" through the Internet that is encrypted and uses other forms of security to make the VPN private and unaccessable to anyone that does have the proper authority to log in to the VPN. VPNs can be easy or difficult to setup, depending on how secure it is. |
|
| VRML |
acronym for: Virutal Reality Modeling Language, pronounced Ver-mul
VRML is a specification for creating 3-dimensional objects on the World Wide Web. It is a programming language that uses a special viewer or plug-in to view the 3D objects. In order to create 3D objects, the program creates a hyperspace, which is a virtual space, in which the user can manipulate the environment around themselves by moving around as if they were in actual in the hpyerspace. Some web sites use this to allow people to look around the inside of a car or a house that is for sale. One of the most popular programs used for viewing VRML programs is Apple's Quicktime VR. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| WAIS |
acronym for: Wide Area Information Server, pronounced Ways
WAIS is a term seldomly heard today but it was once a very big deal on the Internet. WAIS is a basic program that allows its users to find documents on the Internet. WAIS has since been replaced by many search engines that have many more capabilities, such as Google. |
|
| WAN |
acronym for: Wide Area Network
A WAN is a network that covers a large geographical area, about the size of a town or city. WANs usually consist of at least two or more LANs. WANs are typically connected over telephone lines or television cable lines. They can also be over leased lines, such as a T1 or via satellites. |
|
| Web Page |
| You are looking at a web page. A web page is a document on the Internet. Every web page has a unique URL. Web pages are written in a markup langauge, such as HTML or XML. |
|
| Web Site |
| A web site is a location or site on the Internet that contains a homepage, which is the first page a user sees when going to the site, like ours. A web site usually contains other web pages as well which may includes files, such as video, audio, or files that users can download. A web site is owned and run by an individual or a company. This glossary is in the Digital City Consulting web site. |
|
| Webmaster |
| A webmaster is someone who manages a web site. Since web sites vary in size, there many be more than one webmaster, and a webmaster may be responsible for many things, including: running the server which the site is physically on, designing and creating the web pages within the site, replying to feedaback from viewers, and montoring people that visit the site. Yes, there is such a thing as real-time web site monitoring where a webmaster can see what are you are doing on a web site as you do it. Most United States Government web sites that have the .gov extension are monitored in real-time by webmasters, so be careful what you type on them. ;-) |
|
| WEP |
acronym for: Wired Equivalent Privacy
WEP is a security protocol that is used for wireless LANs (WLANs) that is defined in the 802.11b standard (Wi-Fi), which is the standard for wireless LANs. WEP is supposed to give WLANs the same security that wired LANs have. WLANs are inherently not as secure as wired LANs since they operate over open airwaves instead of a closed wire and are therefore a less secure. WEP, unfortunately, has proved to be not as secure as originally thought and other protocols are being developed to increase the effectiveness of security for WLANs. |
|
| White Paper |
| You might hear this term when talking about a new product from a technology company such as Microsoft or Intel. A white paper is a report that is written by a person or group of people that have knowledge about that topic .The purpose of a white paper is to explain a new or emerging technology. White papers vary in content but usually they have an explaination of the new technology including, how it was developed, who developed it, who it is designed to be used for, how it performs versus other technologies, what the technology is used for, and other types of similar information. Manfacturers will even use white papers as a means of marketing a product from time to time. |
|
| WHOIS |
| WHOIS is a utility that can be run on certain networks to find out the indentity of a user on that network. For example, on a Unix based network, if you were to type at the shell prompt, WHOIS <username> it would return that users IP address or other identifying information. WHOIS is also used on the Internet to discover information about the owner of a web site. Network Solutions Inc. has a WHOIS utility on their web site, located at http://www.networksolutions.com/en_US/whois/index.jhtml which is an excellent free resource for this type of information. Try it for yourself. |
|
| Wi-Fi |
acronym for: Wireless-Fidelity
Wi-Fi is simply an easier way of refering to a wireless LAN (WLAN), rather than saying a IEEE 802.11 network. The Wi-Fi name was created by the Wi-Fi alliance and the term Wi-Fi now applies to all WLANs, whereas when it was first coined, it was meant specifically for 802.11b networks, which is still the primary standard for non-commercial WLANs. Certain products have been deemed Wi-Fi certifited which means that any products that are Wi-Fi Certified will work together, regardless of brand. However, since most WLAN products operate at the same frequency (2.4Ghz for 802.11b or 802.11g and 5Ghz for 802.11a), products that adhere to the IEEE 802.11 standard should work together, regardless of whether or not they are Wi-Fi Certified. |
|
| Windows |
abbreviation for: Microsoft Windows Operating System
Windows is a Microsoft operating system (abbreviated OS or O/S) family that currently dominates the PC operating system world. According to various sources, the Windows operating system is on approximately 90% of all PCs, while the remaining 10% are reportedly Macintosh, Linux and other computers. Windows uses a graphical user interface (GUI) to allow its users to interact with the O/S, which coincidently is remarkably similar to the Mac OS desktop - which was developed first. Windows provides complete hardware support, memory support, disk managment utilities, and the ability to multitask between programs. |
|
| Workstation |
| A workstation is any computer that is connected to a network that shares or utilizes any resources on that network, whether it is a database, applications, or a printer. Workstations can be MAC or PC. A workstation must have its own CPU and hard drive. If it does not, it is called a terminal, also known as a "dumb" terminal, since terminals can not function with out being connected to a server or mainframe. Workstations, on the other hand, can be used with or without a network, but as soon as it is disconnected from the network, it is then considered a regular PC. Did you know that if your computer at home is connected to the Internet, then technically your computer is a workstation since the Internet is a gigantic computer network. |
|
| WPA |
acronym for: Wi-Fi Protected Access
WPA is a Wi-Fi security standard which was designed to improve upon the security of WEP. WPA works on any networked device that has WEP enabled. WPA adds to the WEP by making two improvements. First, it improves on the encyption methods by including a integrity-check feature to make sure that the encyption key that two computers send back and forth to authenticate each other has not been tampered with. Second, WPA utilizes user authentication, which is present in WEP, although it is not very secure in that form. WPA improves on this by not using a computers MAC address (the physically built-in network address on the NIC), but rather using a secure public-key encryption system, that is less vunerable to exploits. It should be noted, although it is currently available in newer networking hardware, it is not completed; and when the WPA protocol is completed, it will be implemented as the 802.11i standard. |
|
| WWW |
acronym for: World Wide Web
The WWW is the most frequently used part of the Internet. The WWW is not the same as the Internet, but rather the WWW is a part of the Internet.The WWW is specifically a group of servers that support specially formatted docuemts written in HTML, that support links to other pages, graphics, and related media. In order to view documents on the WWW, you need a special application called web browser (i.e. Internet Explorer, Netscape, Opera, Mozilla). |
|
| WYSIWYG |
acronym for: What You See Is What You Get, pronounced Wis-e-wig
Wysiwyg is a term that refers to how a document or file will appear when printed or in some cases published to another program. For example, when you print a web site from inside your web browser, it prints using wysiwyg. What you see on the monitor is what will print out on the printer. This is also used for certain programs that create publications, such as web site authoring programs, like Microsoft Frontpage or Adobe GoLive! which allows its users to create a web page visually instead of using raw code and then save it. As they create the web page, they see exactly as it will appear on the Internet when they publish it. Another more common use of wysiwyg is the "Print Preview" feature of many programs. If your document looks wrong in the Print Preview, it will almost always print wrong. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| XML |
acronym for: Extensible Markup Language
XML is how the Internet of tomorrow will be created. XML is similar to HTML except that in XML, objects within the XML document can be linked to applications that are running on the same or different server that the web site is on. Furthermore, it allows webmasters to create their own customized programming code so they can fully control their web site. The XML specification was developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Y2K |
abbreviation for: Year 2000 Bug
The Y2K bug was hypothesized to be a very big problem, that ended up not being a problem at all. The Y2K bug itself was a problem with the way computers keep time. Prior to the year 1997 (when the problem first became evident), computers were manufactered with clocks that did one of two things; when the clock hit 1999, it either rolled back to 1900, or the computer did not use the 19 at all. The date of the year was only expressed in two digits, in which case when the clock hit 99, it would again just roll to 00. Thus going from 1999 to 1900. This created a big problem for a lot of people. For example, credit card comapanies. If their computers were to roll back to the year 1900, suddenly no one one would have credit card debt, since they would have 100 years before any payments would be due. Another example would be the stock market, trades that are set to go through on a particular day would not happen and a lot of money could be lost. End users, that is the people at home, did not really have to worry about this, since most computers built after 1997 were not effected by this problem. It was the older computer systems that proved to be a problem. The fix was simple, but tedious. Companies had to go through all of their computer programs and rewrite them or patch them to make sure that when 31 December 1999 came around, the clock would go to 1 January 2000, instead of 1 January 1900. Needless to say, on New Years of 2000, the world did not come to a grinding halt as some had predicted and almost all business went on a normal. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Zip |
| Zip refers to a file type call a .zip file, which was allows multiple files to "zipped" up in one file. It is essentially a file archive. This allows multiple files to be sent easily as a single file. Zip files can also compress a file using a mathematical formula to remove the blank spaces from a file, hence making the file smaller and faster and easier to send, whether by e-mail or other methods. |
|
| ZIP Drive |
| The term ZIP drive refers to a disk drive created by the Iomega Company who designed a high capcity storage drive for use with PCs or Mac's. The orignal ZIP drive used a disk that was slightly larger that a standard 3.5 inch floppy disk but had capacity of 100MB, as apposed to a floppy disks 1.44MB capacity. ZIP drives were also considerably faster than regular disks, even though they originally connected via the computers parallel port. After a couple years, when USB became popular, ZIP drives started to become slightly smaller and they started to use USB instead of parallel, making the drives very handy. Now these drives are also available in 250MB and 750MB formats and are only available in USB. Both of the newer formats are compatible with the 100MB disks. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
