User's Manual

Appendix C. Glossary
XC6 User’s Handbook 72
Megahertz (MHz). a unit of wave frequency that equals 1 million
cycles per second.
Modem. A device that connects your computer to a telephone line,
allowing it to communicate with another computer at another location.
Pen. See stylus.
Peripheral device. An input/output device that is external to the
central processor and/or main memory such as a printer or scanner.
Pixel. Picture elements (tiny dots) that compose a screen image.
Port. The electrical connection through which the computer sends and
receives data to and from devices or other computers.
Program. A set of instructions a computer can execute to tell the
system what to do and how to do it.
RAID 0. Two drives appear in Windows as one larger drive (two
80GB drives appear as one 160GB drive).
RAID 1. One drive has information mirrored to a duplicate drive. For
example, information from one 80GB drive is mirrored to another
80GB drive. The two drives appear in Windows as a single drive.
Random Access Memory (RAM). A hardware component of your
computer that temporarily stores active program code and data.
Reset. The act of hard stopping/shutting down the operating system.
Resolution. The number of pixels displayed on the screen. A higher
resolution provides greater clarity and allows more information to be
displayed on the screen at once.
Restart. Resetting a computer without turning it off (also called
warm boot or soft reset).
Resume. The act of returning the computer to an active, operational
state.
Read Only Memory (ROM). The portion of your computer’s memory
that contains permanent instructions, and which cannot be modified.
Sleep mode. A power conservation mode in which electrical current is
removed from most components of the computer.
Solid State Drive (SSD). A sealed mass storage device used for storage
and fast retrieval of programs and data. The SSD is contained in a drive