Users Guide

Glossary 163
online access service
A service that typically provides access to the Internet,
e-mail, bulletin boards, chat rooms, and file libraries.
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.
PERC
Acronym for Expandable RAID controller.
peripheral device
An internal or external device—such as a printer, a disk
drive, or a keyboard—connected to a system.
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.
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.
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.
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.
power unit
A set of power supplies in a system chassis.
ppm
Abbreviation for pages per minute.