Users Guide

174 Glossary
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.
FCC
Abbreviation for Federal Communications Commission.
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.