Compatibility Guide

Glossary 99
noninterlaced
A technique for decreasing screen flicker by
sequentially refreshing each horizontal line on the
screen.
ns
Abbreviation for nanosecond(s), one billionth of a second.
NTFS
Abbreviation for the Windows NT File System option in
the Windows NT operating system. NTFS is an advanced
file system designed for use specifically within the
Windows NT operating system. It supports file system
recovery, extremely large storage media, and long file
names. It also supports object-oriented applications by
treating all files as objects with user-defined and system-
defined attributes. See also FAT and FAT32.
NTLM
Abbreviation for Windows NT LAN Manager. NTLM
is the security protocol for the Windows NT operating
system.
NuBus
Proprietary expansion bus used on Apple Macintosh
personal computers.
NVRAM
Acronym for nonvolatile random-access memory.
Memory that does not lose its contents when you turn
off your system. NVRAM is used for maintaining the
date, time, and system configuration information.
OID
Abbreviation for object identifier. An implementation-
specific integer or pointer that uniquely identifies an
object.
online access service
A service that typically provides access to the Internet,
e-mail, bulletin boards, chat rooms, and file libraries.
OTP
Abbreviation for one-time programmable.
PAM
Acronym for Pluggable Authentication Modules.
PAM allows system administrators to set an
authentication policy without having to recompile
authentication programs.
parallel port
An I/O port used most often to connect a parallel
printer to your system. You can usually identify a
parallel port on your system by its 25-hole connector.
parameter
A value or option that you specify to a program.
A parameter is sometimes called a switch or an argument.
partition
You can divide a hard drive into multiple physical
sections called partitions with the fdisk command.
Each partition can contain multiple logical drives.
After partitioning the hard drive, you must format each
logical drive with the format command.
PC card
A credit-card sized, removable module for portable
computers standardized by PCMCIA. PC Cards are
also known as "PCMCIA cards." PC Cards are 16-bit
devices that are used to attach modems, network
adapters, sound cards, radio transceivers, solid state
disks and hard disks to a portable computer. The PC
Card is a "plug and play" device, which is configured
automatically by the Card Services software.
PCI
Abbreviation for Peripheral Component Interconnect.
The predominant 32-bit or 64-bit local-bus standard
developed by Intel Corporation.
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.