| Glossary - A to Z of technical terms |
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Q W E R T Y U I O P
A S D F G H J K L
Z X C V B N M
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A |
AAUI 15 Ethernet Connector Port -
Active TFT Colour Display -
A type of display used in Notebook and LCD monitors. It uses a Thin Film Transistor (TFT) to colour light passed through it from a source behind the film.
ADB port or Apple Desktop Bus -
A type of connector used to attach peripherals to Macintosh computers.
AGP or Accelerated Graphics Port - Technology developed by Intel, a high-bandwidth path from the graphics controller to the system memory that allows a graphics controller to execute texture maps, the display list, or video data directly from system memory during rendering. The result is faster graphics performance.
Analogue - An electrical signal or wave form in which the amplitude and/or frequency vary continuously
ASP or Active Server Pages - Web pages with the .asp extension and contain Visual Basic Scripting which are processed on the server before sent to the client browser.
AT - Standard type of power supply for the computer.
Attenuation - The dissipation of the power of a transmitted signal as it travels over the copper wire line.
ATM or Asynchronous Transfer Mode, a high-speed packet-switching technology used in Internet and corporate network backbones.
ATX - A type of power supply for a computer which offers some advanced features.
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B |
Backbone - A high-speed line or series of connections that forms a major pathway within a network. The term is relative as a backbone in a small network will likely be much smaller than many non-backbone lines in a large network.
Bandwidth - How much data you can send through a connection. Usually measured in bits-per-second. A full page of English text is about 16,000 bits. A fast modem can move about 15,000 bits in one second. Full-motion full-screen video would require roughly 10,000,000 bits-per-second, depending on compression.
Bit - A contraction of "binary digit." A bit is the smallest element of information in the digital system. A single digit number in base-2, in other words, either a 1 or a zero. Bandwidth is usually measured in bits-per-second.
Bps or Bits Per Second - A measurement of how fast data is moved from one place to another. A 28.8 modem can move 28,800 bits per second.
Browser - A Client program (software) that is used to look at various kinds of Internet resources.
Byte - A byte is a collection of bits that represent a single character, usually there are 8 Bits in a Byte.
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C |
Cable Modem - A modem designed to operate over cable TV lines; used to achieve extremely fast access to the Internet.
Cache - A fast storage buffer, of high performance memory, in the central processing unit of a computer.
CD-ROM - Compact Disk - Read Only Memory. A method of delivering digital audio, video, image and text data intended for computer playback.
Client Program - A software program that is used to contact and obtain data from a Server software program on another computer. Each Client program is designed to work with one or more specific kinds of Server programs, and each Server requires a specific kind of Client. A Web Browser is a specific kind of Client.
CPU or Central Processor Unit - The CPU is the brains of the computer. Sometimes referred to simply as the processor or central processor, the CPU is where most calculations take place. In terms of computing power, the CPU is the most important element of a computer system.
CRT or Cathode Ray Tube - Large glass tube in the computer monitor or television.
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D |
DAT or Digital Audio Tape - A method of storing audio and/or any form of digital information on a special cassette. Used for computer backup purposes.
DHCP or Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol - A protocol that provides a means to dynamically allocate IP addresses to computers on a local area network . The system administrator assigns a range of IP addresses to DHCP and each client computer on the LAN has its TCP/IP software configured to request an IP address from the DHCP server. The request and grant process uses a lease concept with a controllable time period.
Dial Up - The process of initiating a switched connection through the network; when used as an adjective, this is a type of communication that is established by a switched-circuit connection.
Digital Camera - With the look and feel of a 35 mm film camera, the digital camera stores its images on removable flash cards, tiny floppy diskettes or a removable hard drive.
Digital Subscriber Line - A general term for any local network loop that's digital in nature; technically, DSL equates to ISDN, but this is decreasingly enforced terminology.
DIMM or Dual Inline Memory Module, a modular way to add system memory like a SIMM, but with several key advantages. DIMMs typically hold twice as much memory as a SIMM, can be added to a system one at a time (SIMMs have to be added in pairs), and can be mixed and matched when upgrading.
DLT or Digital Linear Tape - A kind of magnetic tape drive originally developed by DEC and now marketed by Quantum. DLT drives implement the Digital Lempel Ziv 1 (DLZ1) compression algorithm in a combination of hardware and firmware. They use a popular chip by Stac (now hi/fn) to do the string searching. Counting, sorting and Huffman encoding are done in firmware (with hardware support for the Huffman algorithm?)
DPI or Dots per Inch - Used to measure the detail of graphics in image files and also in printers and scanners
DRAM or Dynamic Random Access Memory - A form of RAM that must be continuously refreshed because it stores information in integrated circuits that contain capacitors.
D Sub -
DVD or Digital Versatile Disk - A standard for supplying video on CD with MPEG2. The disk is the same diameter as a CD-ROM, but can be recorded on both sides. Each side holds a 4.7GB, equivalent to seven CD-ROMs. DVD players are compatible with audio CDs, CD-ROMs, CD-I disks and Video CDs.
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E |
EIAA - Exhibitions Industry Association of Australia
Ethernet - A popular local area network (LAN) system from which the IEEE 802.3 standard was developed. Uses a bus or star topology. Network nodes can be linked by coaxial cable, fiber-optic cable, or by twisted-pair wiring. The Ethernet standard provides for baseband transmission at 10 megabits per second (Mbps).
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F |
Fiber Optic Cable - A transmission medium composed of glass or plastic fibers; pulses of light are emitted from a laser-type source. Fiber optic cabling is the present cabling of choice for all interexchange networks,and increasingly for the local exchange loops as well; it is high security, high bandwidth, and takes little conduit space. Considered the physical medium of all future, land-based communications.
Full Duplex - Refers to the transmission of data in two directions simultaneously.
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G |
GB or Gigabyte - A unit of measure for data. One Gigabyte equals 1024 Megabytes.
GUI or Graphical User Interface - A program interface that takes advantage of the computer's graphics capabilities to make the program easier to use.
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H |
Hertz - The basic unit of frequency measurement; one cycle per second.
HTML or Hyper Text Markup Language -
Hub - A multiport device which is used to connect and centralize a network.
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I |
IDE or - Standard for connecting harddrives and other devices inside a computer. The IDE drive has it's controller card on board and is connected to the motherboard via a 40pin ribbon cable. Some new drives can reach burst transfer speeds of up to 66.6 mbps using ATA/66 technology
Inkjet - A type of printer which uses
Internet - World's largest computer network; sprung out of a research effort initiated by the US government. Initially used to connect defense contractors and US Universities. Today its nature is more commercial and is becoming the preferred method of linking businesses' and individuals' computers to one another.
Internet Access - The physical telephone circuit connection between the subscriber and the nearest Internet access node.
ISA or Industry Standard Architecture - A 16-bit bus design specification that allows components to be added as cards and plugged into standard expansion slots. Data is transferred only two bytes at a time at a speed of 8MHz.
ISDN or Integrated Services Digital Network - Cable specification which provides two B channels at 64kbps each, offering users faster data transfer speeds than they would have with normal phonelines.
ISP or Internet Service Provider - The telecommunications company providing subscriber access into the Internet.
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J |
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K |
KB or Kilobyte - A unit of measure for data. One Kilobyte equals 1024 bytes.
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L |
LAN or Local Area Network - A data communications network covering a small area, usually within the confines of a building or floors within a building; a relatively high-speed computer communications network for in-building data transfer and applications. Common LAN protocols are Ethernet and Token Ring.
Laserjet - A type of printer which uses laserjet technology
LCD or Liquid Crystal Display - Used in laptops and New flat display screens.
Lumen - The International Standard for measuring light intensity.
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M |
MB or Megabyte - A unit of measure for data. One Megabyte equals 1024 Kilobytes.
MIA - The http://www.microhire.com.au/meetings.html Industry of Australia
MMX(r) Technology - Acronym for Multimedia Extension, an enhancement to the architecture of Intel Pentium(r) processors that improves the performance of multimedia and communications applications.
Modem - MOdulator/DEModulator, device used to connect from computer to computer over phone lines. A modem converts analog waveforms into digital data and vice versa.
MPEG1 - Compression scheme for full motion video. Compression algorithm introduced by MPEG in 1991, the common goal of MPEG is to compress 7.7 Meg down to about 150 Kbytes. MPEG1 is designed to provide a resolution of 352 by 240 pixels at 30 frames per second.
MPEG2 - Video compression standard selected by MPEG. Designed to provide a resolution of 720 by 480 pixels at 30 frames per second. Likely to be the leading compression algorithm for a range of video applications including video on demand.
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N |
Node - Any single computer connected to a network.
NTSC - The body defining the television video signal format used in the USA. The UK equivalent is PAL
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P |
PAL or Phase Alternating Line - UK and Australia television transmission format.
Parallel Port - A port that sends and receives data eight bits at a time over 8 separate wires, allowing data to be transferred very quickly.
Passive TFT Colour Display -
PCI or Peripheral Component Interconnect - A 32-bit local bus specification introduced by Intel that allows up to 10 PCI-compliant expansion cards to be installed in a computer.
PCMCIA or Personal Computer Memory Card International Association - PC Cards for notebooks
Pixel - A single dot displayed by a computer. E.g. your screen size has an 800 x 600 pixel resolution.
POP or Point Of Presence - A POP refers to a node of an ISP or other NSP. A POP is usually a network node.
Port - An interface for connecting devices. Ports can be internal or external.
POTS or Plain Old Telephone Service - This term commonly refers to standard telephony, as in placing and receiving telephone calls.
PPP or Point-to-Point Protocol - A common, layer two protocol used with Internet protocols and services.
PS/2 - A connection port in a computer for the mouse, keyboard and other devices which may require power.
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Q |
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R |
RAM or Random Access Memory -
RCA or Radio Corporation of America - standardised connection for stereo and radio leads.
Resolution - A measure of the size and depth of colours in an image. Commonly used to refer to the display settings of computer monitors.
RGB - Red, Green, Blue.
RJ-11 - Six-conductor modular jack used with four-wire cabling. Most common phone jack in the world and is used commonly on phones, modems, and fax machines.
RJ-45 - Eight-pin connector used to attach data transmission devices to standard telephone wiring. Commonly used in 10Base-T connections.
Router - A device that connects multiple computer networks, and whose function is to route packets via the shortest path to the destination address. Routers are responsible for passing most of the data on the internet. Packet information is read and the packets are forwarded to the appropriate end station.
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S |
SCSI or Small Computer Systems Interconnection - A port for connecting disk drives and peripheral devices such as scanners and printers to the computer. Offers a significant speed advantage over IDE through the ability to read/write simulataneously.
SDRAM with ECC - Designed to accommodate higher microprocessor speeds, provides faster memory operation and the capability of checking and correcting memory errors.
Serial Port - A full-duplex channel that sends and receives data at the same time. It consists of three wires, two that that move data one bit at a time in opposite directions and a third wire that is a common signal ground wire.
SIMM or Single Inline Memory Module - A 72pin Memory Module
SLIP or Serial Line Internet Protocol - An older layer two protocol used for Internet traffic; much less sophisticated than PPP.
SNMP or Simple Network Management Protocol - The network management protocol used with TCP/IP-based Internets.
SVGA or Super Video Graphics Adaptor - A specification of video display for computing devices. Displays digital information at 800 x 600 pixels.
S - Video - A video format offering a higher quality signal than composite video, but a lower quality than component video. This mid-level format divides the signal into two channels - luminance and chrominance.
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T |
T-1 - This is a Bell system term for a digital carrier facility used for transmission of data through the telephone hierarchy at a transmission rate of 1.544 Mbps.
T-3 - A leased-line connection capable of carrying data at 44,736,000 bits-per-second. This is more than enough to do full-screen, full-motion video.
TB or Terabyte - A unit of measure for data. One Terabyte equals 1024 Gigabytes.
Token Ring - A local area network (LAN) using a ring topology. Information is exchanged through "tokens" that travel around the ring from one station to the next. Uses twisted-pair wiring.
Touchscreen - A screen that can detect and respond to something, such as a finger or a stylus, pressing on it.
TCP/IP or Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol - The protocols (TCP/IP) are the result of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) project to interconnect disparate computer networks of the 1970s. Today the protocols are the basis of the Internet.
Twisted Pair - A common form of copper cabling used for telephony and data communications. It consists of two copper lines twisted around each other; the twisting protects the communications from electromagnetic frequency and radio frequency interference.
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U |
Ultra ATA - An interface developed by Intel and Quantum for primary and secondary storage on hard drives that doubles the burst data transfer rate to 33MB per second without the need for other hardware changes, making it fully backward compatible to traditional EIDE controllers. This technology also delivers improved data integrity and data protection verification.
URL or Uniform Resource Locator - An address on the world wide web. eg. www.microhire.com.au
USB or Universal Serial Bus - A method for connecting peripherals to personal computers.
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V |
VPN or Virtual Private Network - Usually refers to a network in which some of the parts are connected using the public Internet, but the data sent across the Internet is encrypted, so the entire network is "virtually" private. A typical example would be a company network where there are two offices in different cities. Using the Internet the two offices mereg their networks into one network, but encrypt traffic that uses the Internet link.
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W |
WAN or Wide Area Network - Private network facilities, usually offered by public telephone companies but increasingly available from alternative access providers that link business network nodes.
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X |
xDSL - A generic term for the suite of DSL services, where the "x" can be replaced with any of a number of letters, including "A," "H," "M," "RA,""S," and "V." EXamples are Asymmetrical DSL, High Bit Rate DSL, Moderate Speed DSL, Rate Adaptive DSL, Symmetric DSL, and Very High Data Rate DSL.
XGA or eXtended Graphics Array -
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Y |
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Z |
Zip - A form of digital compression used by computers to store information.
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