Product guide
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Appendix C Glossary
Hard Disk:
An internal or external, high-capacity, high-storage
medium. Most hard disks are permanently connected to the
drive (fixed disks).
Hertz (Hz):
A unit of frequency equal to one cycle per second.
Hot Plugging:
The ability to add and remove devices to a
computer while the computer is running and have the operating
system automatically recognize the change. Two new external
bus standards-Universal Serial Bus (USB ) and firewire-support
hot plugging.
I / O Port:
A connector that allows external and some internal
peripherals to communicate with the computer system (i.e.,
serial ports and parallel ports).
I / O:
Input / Output. A generic term that refers to the devices
and processes involved in the computer’s reading and writing
data.
IDE:
Integrated Drive Electronics. A protocol and circuitry for
communication between a computer and a Hard Drive.
Currently the most popular type of hard drive used in PCs. A
standard IDE adapter can handle a maximum of two hard drives
total.
Integrated Circuit:
An electronic device that combines
thousands of transistors on a small chip of silicon or other
semiconductor. Such devices are the building blocks of
computers.
Interface:
The connection between you and the computer, or
between the computer and peripheral devices.
ISA:
Industry Standard Architecture. The standard bus interface
that was implemented in the IBM AT.
Isochronous:
Equal in duration; Characterized by or occurring at
equal intervals of time.
Joystick:
This input device plugs into the game/midi port and
allows you to control elements of some computer games.
Especially beneficial with flight simulators and some action/
adventure games.
Jumper:
On a printed circuit board, a patch cable or wire used to
establish a circuit.
LAN:
Local Area Network. LANs are data communications
networks which are geographically limited, allowing easy
interconnection of terminals, microprocessors and computers
within adjacent buildings.
LBA:
Logical Block Addressing. Allows the system to address
from 504 MB to 8.4 Gigabytes on the IDE hard drive.
LVDS:
Low-Voltage Differential Signal.
MAU:
In a Token Ring network, a device to attach multiple network
stations in a star topology, internally wired to connect the stations
into a logical ring. The MAU contains relays to short out
nonoperating stations. Multiple MAUs can be connected into a
larger ring through their Ring In / Ring Out connectors.
MBps:
Megabytes per second.
Megahertz (MHz):
A frequency of 1 million cycles per second.
Memory:
Devices used to hold information and programs while
they are being accessed by the microprocessor. Also see, RAM,
ROM, Hard Disk, Floppy Disc, and Removable Storage.
Microprocessor:
An integrated circuit that contains the circuits
the computer needs to calculate and to communicate with the
other parts of the system. Also see, CPU.