Users Guide

166 Glossary
DRAM
Acronym for dynamic random-access memory. A system's RAM is usually made
up entirely of DRAM chips. Because DRAM chips cannot store an electrical
charge indefinitely, your system continually refreshes each DRAM chip in the
system.
ERA
Abbreviation for embedded remote access.
ERA/MC
Abbreviation for embedded remote access modular computer. See modular
system.
ERA/O
Abbreviation for embedded remote access option.
expansion-card connector
A connector on the system's system board or riser board for plugging in an
expansion card.
extended memory
RAM above 1 MB. Most software that can use it, such as the Microsoft
®
Windows
®
operating system, requires that extended memory be under the
control of an XMM.
external cache memory
A RAM cache using SRAM chips. Because SRAM chips operate at several times
the speed of DRAM chips, the microprocessor can retrieve data and instructions
faster from external cache memory than from RAM.
F
Abbreviation for Fahrenheit.
FAT
Acronym for file allocation table. FAT and FAT32 are file systems that are defined
as follows:
• FAT — 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.