Quick Reference Guide

298 Glossary
power unit
A set of power supplies in a system chassis.
ppm
Abbreviation for pages per minute.
PPP
Short for Point-to-Point Protocol; it is a method of
connecting a computer to the Internet.
PQFP
Abbreviation for plastic quad flat pack, a type of
microprocessor socket in which the microprocessor
chip is permanently mounted.
program diskette set
The set of diskettes from which you can perform a
complete installation of an operating system or
application program. When you reconfigure a program,
you often need its program diskette set.
protected mode
An operating mode supported by 80286 or higher
microprocessors, protected mode allows operating
systems to implement:
• A memory address space of 16 MB to 4 GB
• Multitasking
• Virtual memory, a method for increasing addressable
memory by using the hard drive
provider
A provider is an extension of a CIM schema that
communicates with managed objects and accesses data
and event notifications from a variety of sources.
Providers forward this information to the CIM Object
Manager for integration and interpretation.
PS/2
Abbreviation for Personal System/2.
PXE
Abbreviation for Pre-boot eXecution Environment.
QFP
Abbreviation for quad flat pack.
RAC
Acronym for remote access controller.
RAID
Acronym for redundant array of independent drives.
RAM
Acronym for random-access memory. A system's primary
temporary storage area for program instructions and
data. Each location in RAM is identified by a number
called a memory address. Any information stored in
RAM is lost when you turn off your system.
RAMDAC
Acronym for random-access memory digital-to-analog
converter.
RAM disk
A memory-resident program that emulates a hard drive.
RAS
Acronym for remote access service, which is a service
provided by some Microsoft Windows operating
systems that allows most of the services that would be
available on a network to be accessed over a modem.
The service includes support for dial-up and logon tasks
and presents the same network interface as the normal
network drivers used for the NIC.
RBAC
Abbreviation for role-based access control.