Quick Reference Guide

Glossary 297
PCMCIA
Personal Computer Memory Card International
Association. An international trade association that has
developed standards for devices, such as modems and
external hard drives, that can be plugged into
portable computers.
PERC
Acronym for PowerEdge ™ Expandable RAID controller.
peripheral device
An internal or external device—such as a printer, a disk
drive, or a keyboard—connected to a system.
PGA
Abbreviation for pin grid array, a type of microprocessor
socket that allows you to remove the microprocessor chip.
physical memory array
The physical memory array is the entire physical memory
of a system. Variables for physical memory array include
maximum size, total number of memory slots on the
motherboard, and total number of slots in use.
physical memory array mapped
The physical memory array mapped refers to the way
physical memory is divided.
For example, one mapped area may have 640 KB and
the other mapped area may have between 1 MB and
127 MB.
PIC
Acronym for programmable interrupt controller.
PIP
Acronym for peripheral interchange program.
pixel
A single point on a video display. Pixels are arranged in
rows and columns to create an image. A video resolution,
such as 640 x 480, is expressed as the number of pixels
across by the number of pixels up and down.
PKCS #7
Abbreviation for Public Key Cryptography
Standard #7. PKCS #7 is an RSA Data Security, Inc.,
standard for encapsulating signed data such as a
certificate chain.
PKIS
Abbreviation for Novell Public Key Infrastructure
Services.
PLCC
Abbreviation for plastic leaded chip carrier.
PEF
Abbreviation for Platform Event Filter.
A PEF is a function that compares an event against a
set of configurable event filters and triggers a selectable
action, such as, an alert on a match.
Plug and Play
An industry-standard specification that makes it easier
to add hardware devices to personal computers.
Plug and Play provides automatic installation and
configuration, compatibility with existing hardware,
and dynamic support of mobile computing environments.
PME
Abbreviation for Power Management Event. A PME is
a pin on a peripheral component interconnect that
allows a PCI device to assert a wake event.
POST
Acronym for power-on self-test. Before the operating
system loads when you turn on your system, the POST
tests various system components such as RAM, the disk
drives, and the keyboard.
power supply
An electrical system that converts AC current from the
wall outlet into the DC currents required by the system
circuitry. The power supply in a personal computer
typically generates multiple voltages.