Quick Reference Guide

Glossary 317
FAT
Acronym for file allocation table. FAT and FAT32 are file systems that are defined
as follows:
• FAT — A file system used by MS-DOS, Windows 3.x, Windows 95, and
Windows 98. Windows NT
®
and Windows 2000 also can use the FAT file
system. The operating system maintains a table to keep track of the status of
various segments of disk space used for file storage.
• FAT32 — A derivative of the FAT file system. FAT32 supports smaller cluster sizes
than FAT, thus providing more efficient space allocation on FAT32 drives.
• FAT16 — A derivative of the FAT file system. A volume using FAT16 can hold a
maximum of 65,526 clusters. FAT16 is used for hard disk volumes ranging in size
from 16 MB to 2,048 MB.
FEPROM
Acronym for flash erasable programmable read-only memory. Flash memory is a
kind of nonvolatile storage device similar to EEPROM, but the erasing is done
only in blocks or the entire chip.
Fibre Channel
A data transfer interface technology that allows for high-speed I/O and networking
functionality in a single connectivity technology. The Fibre Channel Standard
supports several topologies, including Fibre Channel Point-to-Point, Fibre
Channel Fabric (generic switching topology), and Fibre Channel Arbitrated Loop
(FC_AL).
firmware
Software (programs or data) that has been written onto read-only memory
(ROM). Firmware can boot and operate a device. Each controller contains
firmware which helps provide the controller's functionality.
flash BIOS
A BIOS that is stored in flash memory rather than in ROM. A flash BIOS chip
can be updated in place, whereas a ROM BIOS must be replaced with a
newer chip.
flash memory
A type of EEPROM chip that can be reprogrammed from a utility on diskette
while still installed in a system; most EEPROM chips can only be rewritten with
special programming equipment.