Computer Hardware User Manual

Glossary 133
Glossary
This section defines or identifies technical terms,
abbreviations, and acronyms used in your system
documents.
A — Ampere(s).
AC — Alternating current.
ACPI — Advanced Configuration and Power Interface. A
standard interface for enabling the operating system to
direct configuration and power management.
ambient temperature — The temperature of the area or
room where the system is located.
ANSI — American National Standards Institute. The
primary organization for developing technology standards
in the U.S.
application — Software designed to help you perform a
specific task or series of tasks. Applications run from the
operating system.
ASCII — American Standard Code for Information
Interchange.
asset tag — An individual code assigned to a system,
usually by an administrator, for security or tracking
purposes.
backup — A copy of a program or data file. As a
precaution, back up your system’s hard drive on a regular
basis. Before making a change to the configuration of your
system, back up important start-up files from your
operating system.
backup battery — A battery that maintains system
configuration, date, and time information in a special
section of memory when the system is turned off.
beep code — A diagnostic message in the form of a
pattern of beeps from your system’s speaker. For example,
one beep, followed by a second beep, and then a burst of
three beeps is beep code 1-1-3.
BIOS — Basic input/output system. Your system’s BIOS
contains programs stored on a flash memory chip. The
BIOS controls the following:
• Communications between the processor and
peripheral devices
• Miscellaneous functions, such as system messages
bit — The smallest unit of information interpreted by
your system.
blade — A module that contains a processor, memory, and
a hard drive. The modules are mounted into a chassis that
includes power supplies and fans.
BMC — Baseboard management controller.
boot routine — A program that clears all memory,
initializes devices, and loads the operating system when
you start your system. Unless the operating system fails to
respond, you can reboot (also called warm boot) your
system by pressing <Ctrl><Alt><Del>. Otherwise, you
must restart the system by pressing the reset button or by
turning the system off and then back on.
bootable diskette — A diskette that is used to start your
system if the system will not boot from the hard drive.
BTU — British thermal unit.
bus — An information pathway between the components
of a system. Your system contains an expansion bus that
allows the processor to communicate with controllers for
the peripheral devices connected to the system. Your
system also contains an address bus and a data bus for
communications between the processor and RAM.
C — Celsius.
cache — A fast storage area that keeps a copy of data or
instructions for quick data retrieval. When a program
makes a request to a disk drive for data that is in the
cache, the disk-cache utility can retrieve the data from
RAM faster than from the disk drive.
CD — Compact disc. CD drives use optical technology to
read data from CDs.
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