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Major Geeks - Glossary of IT terms Category: Technical and IT Date & country: 24/01/2013, USA Words: 260

Foot Print
The amount of physical space or memory a component will take up.

Format
Format is a command-line utility included in Microsoft DOS, IBM OS/2 and Microsoft Windows operating systems to produce disk formatting.

FSAA
Full Screen Anti Aliasing - What is done by videocard to remove the jagged edges in lines. The resulting image is much smoother on the eyes, though performance may suffer.

FSB
Front Side Bus - Which denotes the speed at which your processor interacts with the components on the motherboard. Typically the FSB is 100Mhz or 133Mhz, but overclockers often manipulate this value to increase the speed at which their processor runs. i.e. 100Mhz FSB X 5.0 clockmultiplier = 500Mhz processor.

FTP
File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is a standard network protocol used to transfer files from one host to another host over a TCP-based network, such as the Internet.

Full Duplex
Data transfer that allows a switch to send and receive data to a node at the same time. Also known as bidirectional communication.

Gateway
Hybrid device that translates data into different protocols, serves as network security and distributes high-speed internet connections.

GB
Giga Byte - Or 1 billion bytes of information.

Gbps
GigaBits Per Second - Refers to bits of information traveling at 1 billion bits per second. Gbps is usually associated with Gigabit Ethernet.

GFD
Golden finger device - This is the device that you attach to the Slot A Athlon to manipulate the clock multiplier and voltage.

Gigabit
1,000,000,000 (10 9 ) bits

Gigabit Ethernet
1000Mbps Ethernet connection. 10 times faster than fast Ethernet.

Gigabyte
1, 000,000,000 (10 9 ) bytes

GPU
Graphics Processor Unit - A GPU takes on the task of working with Transform and Lighting (T&L) away from the CPU so it can focus on more important things such as AI.

GUI
Graphical User Interface - A software interface that interacts with the user through color graphics and a mouse.

Hard Wired
This term is used to refer to actual pieces of your PC that are connected directly to the motherboard you can also hard wire your internet connection which will always be faster that wireless!

Half Duplex
Data transfer that only sends or receives data to a node. Hubs commonly perform in half duplex mode.

Hard Code
The actual text used to create a computer program.

HDMI cable
(High-Definition Multimedia Interface) is a compact audio/video interface for transmitting uncompressed digital data. It is a digital alternative to consumer analog standards, such as radio frequency (RF) coaxial cable, composite video, S-Video, SCART, component video, D-Terminal, or VGA. HDMI connects digital audio/video sources (such as set-top ...

Heatsink
Metal device used to cool processors and other components by means of convection or forced air.

Honeycomb
Honeycomb is an android based operating system originally released for tablets it is android tablets 3.0 version.3.0 Honeycomb was a tablet-oriented release which supports larger screen devices and introduces many new user interface features, and supports multi-core processors and hardware acceleration for graphics. The first device featuring this...

Hop
When accessing a WAN or Internet, data packets often have to travel through several places to reach it's destination, each place the packet lands on is called a hop.

Hot Plugging
The ability to add and remove devices to a computer while the computer is running and have the operating system automatically recognize the change. Two external bus standards -- Universal Serial Bus (USB ) and IEEE 1394 -- support hot plugging. This is also a feature of PCMCIA.

Hot Swapping
A method in which devices are plugged and unplugged into a computer, usually referring to USB, IEEE, 1394, and similar devices.

HSF
Heatsink and Fan combination.

HTML
HyperText Markup Language - The authoring language used to create documents on the World Wide Web. HTML defines the structure and layout of a Web document by using a variety of tags and attributes. This allows the HTML to be read as your reading this now, as a web page.

HTTPS
Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure is a combination of the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) with SSL/TLS protocol to provide encrypted communication and secure identification of a network web server. HTTPS connections are often used for payment transactions on the World Wide Web and for sensitive transactions in corporate information systems.

Hub
Network device that joins all the network devices centrally in a star configuration.

HyperTransport
An industry standard serial connection method pioneered by AMD for the internal connection of different buses inside of a PC or network device. It initially allows for connection speeds of up to 6.4GB/second. The first main consumer product using HyperTransport was the NVIDIA nForce2 chipset. AMD�s Opteron has up to three HyperTransport links, whi...

Hz
Hertz - unit of measurement for Frequency.

IBM
International Business Machines - IBM is the largest computer company in the world and the first to produce a computer back in 1953. Often IBM compatible is used still to refer to a computer running Windows.

Icon
A small picture on your screen which usually represents a program, folder, file or shortcut.

ICS
Internet Connection Sharing - A method in which 1 internet source can be shared with multiple computers. ICS can be setup with Windows XP or with software like Sygate/Wingate or hardware (routers).

IEEE 802.1
Standard for 11Mbps wireless network operation.

IEEE 802.11b
Standard for 11Mbps wireless network operation.

IEEE 802.1p
Standard for quality of service; network traffic prioritization.

IEEE 802.1Q
Standard relating to VLANs.

IEEE 802.2
Specifies the logical link control for various access methods.

Integrated
When intergrated is used, it means that 2 or more devices have been made into one device. For example, many motherboards have sound cards built into the board making it an integrated sound card.

IOS 5
iOS (formerly known as iPhone OS) is Apple's mobile operating system. Originally developed for the iPhone, it has since been extended to support other Apple, Inc. devices such as the iPod touch, iPad and Apple TV. Apple, Inc. does not license iOS for installation on third-party hardware. As of October 4, 2011, Apple, Inc.'s App Store contains more...

IP Address
Internet Protocol address - The address of a network node in the form of four sets of numbers up to 3 digits each and divided by periods, for example; 127.0.0.1. Everywhere you connect to, and even yourself when you login to your internet provider, is assigned an IP address.

Ipod
Ipod is a portable mp3 player (see also MP3) created by apple helping to fuel the apple comeback of the 2000's. Ipod's now are fulling functioning html readers meaning they can surf the web through your wifi connection and make video calls.

IPX
Novell network protocol that connects computers running NetWare.

IRC
Internet Relay Chat - A place where IRC clients connect to an IRC server to participate in real time test conversations.

IRQ
An IRQ is a signal from a piece of hardware (such as a keyboard or sound card) indicating that it needs the CPU to do something. The interrupt request signals run along the IRQ lines to an interrupt controller that assigns priorities to incoming IRQs and delivers them to the CPU.

ISA
A standard bus architecture associated with the IBM AT motherboards. It's a limited 8-bit and 16-bit bus, but widely compatible.

ISP
Internet Service Provider - If your reading this, you have an ISP. They are the backbone to the internet that you pay to connect to the internet, for example Earthlink, Road Runner, AOL and MSN to name a few larger ones.

Jack Daniels
Jack Daniels Tennessee Whiskey is a completely natural product. It is made from pure spring water, yeast and 100% whole natural grains: corn, rye and barley malt.

Java Virtual Machine
The Java Virtual Machine (VM) is a program that interprets Java bytecodes into machine code. The VM is what makes Java portable--a vendor such as Microsoft or Sun writes a Java VM for their operating system, and any Java program can run on that VM.

JavaScript
Designed by Sun Microsystems and Netscape as an easy-to-use adjunct to the Java programming language, JavaScript code can be added to standard HTML pages to create interactive documents. As a result, JavaScript has found considerable use in the creation of interactive Web-based forms. Most modern browsers, including those from Microsoft and Netsca...

JPG
Pronounced jay-peg, it is a graphics file format that can be compressed to save file size. Because they can be compressed, they are one of the most popular format of pictures found on websites and can be downloaded quickly at their compressed size, but can also be very high quality and large, when needed.

Jumper
An on/off switch used to alter hardware configurations. A jumper is made of wires and a small metal piece that can connect the wires to turn the jumper on. Jumpers are found on devices such as CD-ROM interface boards, bus expansion boards, controller boards, input/output cards, sound cards, graphics cards, modem cards, and motherboards.

Kbps
KiloBits Per Second, a unit of bits that is moved per second. Commonly found used to describe the throughput of analog modems, ie; 56kbps

Kermit
This is a protocol for transferring files during direct dial-up communications that's named after a Muppet (seriously). Kermit is sound but old and can be very slow, slower than Xmodem, Ymodem, and much slower than Zmodem.

Khz
Kilo Hertz - Unit of measurement for 1000 x Frequency.

KVM Switch
Console switch - Controls and scans multiple CPU's from one set of keyboard, video display and mouse.

LAN
Local Area Network - Network of interconnected workstations sharing the resources of a single processor or server, typically within the area of a small office building.

LCD
Liquid Crystal Display - Created by sandwiching an electrically reactive substance between two electrodes, LCDs can be darkened or lightened by applying and removing current. Large numbers of LCDs grouped closely together can act as pixels in a flat-panel display.

Liquid Cooling
Method of cooling processors and other devices by liquid cooled water blocks. Similar in operation to heatsinks, but more efficient due to the high thermal conductivity of water.

Lithium-ion
Name for an electrochemical cells whose voltages are derived from the electropotential difference of lithium in the anode and cathode. The electrolyte contains lithium ions that are transferred between the anode and cathode on charge and discharge. Unlike earlier systems, lithium-ion does not use unstable lithium metal as the anode material. Yeah,...

Linux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution.

LIF
Light Insertion Force - When installing a peripheral, requires light force to insert the device into it's slot/socket. Installing expansion cards (PCI cards and such) require LIF in order to seat it properly.

LVD
Low Voltage Differential - A form of SCSI signalling that was introduced with Ultra2 SCSI. Low Voltage Differential allows cable lengths of up to 12 meters with up to 15 devices. The devices need to be Ultra2 SCSI LVD devices in order to take advantage of the LVD signalling. LVD uses data high and data low signal lines to increase transmission dis...

Mbps
Megabits per second - Or one million bits per second. Referrs to how fast data packets travel, or network speed.

Megabyte
1,000,000 (10 6 ) bytes

Memory
Also referred to as RAM, memory is a temporary storage area for programs and data when your computer is on. Anything stored in memory (RAM) is lost when the computer is shut off. Most modern computers have 128, 256, 512 or 1 gig of memory.

MFLOPS
Mega-floating point operations per second - Used as a measure of how powerful your computer is, MFLOPS gauge the capability of your system to deal with floating-point math instead of raw instructions.

Mhz
A megahertz is 1 million complete cycles per second. This unit is most commomly used to measure transmission speeds of electronic devices, such as the clock speed of a microprocessor.

Millisecond (ms)
A millisecond is one-thousandth of a second. The term is most commonly used to measure data access speeds, such as the amount of time it takes to retrieve data from a hard disk. Milliseconds are sometimes confused with mbps (megabits per second), which describe data transmission speeds.

Mirror and/or Image
In computing, a mirror is an exact copy of a data set. This allows the user to create a second HDD (hard disk drive), Disk Drive without physically having said drive.

Moire
Moir� pattern describes the interference pattern you see when it appears there are ripples or waves on your monitor.

Motherboard
Everything attached to your computer connects to the motherboard directly or indirectly. It generally houses the CPU chip, the controller circuitry, the bus, and sockets for additional boards, which are called daughterboards.

MP3
A very popular compressed audio format. Millions of MP3's can be downloaded on the internet and played on your computer, and MP3 player or even converted to CD Audio to play in most CD players. A song that is 40 megs can often be downloaded as a 4-5 meg MP3 making it accessible to even dial up users.

MTBF
Mean Time Between Failures - The average time from start of use to failure in a large population of identical systems, computers, or devices.

Multimedia
The way computers display the use of any combination of text, graphics, animation and video.

Multiplier Lock
What is done to all modern CPU's to prevent overclocking. The multiplier of a locked CPU will remain the same even if it is changed in the BIOS.

Nano Seconds
NS for short, nano seconds refer to the speed of RAM. By looking at the last numbers usually right after a dash (-), it gives the timing fo the RAM. When refering with SDRAM, DDR or RDRAM, there sometimes are two numbers. A -75 doesn't mean 75 ns, it means 7.5 ns.

NAT
Network Address Translation - A method used by firewalls to keep a network behind under just one IP address for security reasons.

Newbie
A term for a person who is new to the given subject/topic.

Netbook
A very small laptop with a solid state drive rather than a hard drive and no cd drive. Designed mostly for surfing the internet with very nominal software features.

NetBEUI
Network BIOS Enhanced User Interface - IBM developed this standard protocol, which is a set of rules that an operating system uses to control how computers on a network to talk to each other. This protocol is now also used by Microsoft and Novell on many network operating systems including LAN Server, LAN Manager, Windows NT, and Windows 95.

NIC
Network Interface Card - Network cards connect to local area networks via ethernet cables or some other means of connectivity to bring computers together electronically.

NS
See Nano Seconds (Above)

OCR
Optical character recognition - When your computer gets a fax or scans in text, all it sees are graphical bits on a virtual page. That text is not usable, searchable, or editable. If you pass the page through an OCR program, the software converts the shapes on it into a text document. However, few documents are perfectly recognized and the errors ...

OEM
Original equipment manufacturer - Originally OEM was an adjective used to describe a company that produced hardware to be marketed under another company's brand. Mitsumi, for example, produced CD-ROM drives that dozens of companies would label as their own. When purchasing OEM products you usually get a great price, but little to no warranty, manu...

Operating System
The most important program that runs on a computer. Every general purpose computer must have an operating system to run other programs. Operating systems perform basic tasks, such as recognizing input from the keyboard, sending output to the display screen, keeping track of files and directories on the disk, and controlling peripheral devices such...

OSD
On Screen Display - How digital monitors can be configured.

Overclocking
Making a processor run at a higher then normal clock speed. For instance, changing the multiplier so that a 500Mhz chip runs at 667Mhz. This is a way to get more out of your chip then you paid for, but hardware failure is a risk.

PC Card
Three (soon to be four) types of credit-card-sized cards plug into portable computers (and some desktop models) to add and remove RAM, modems, network adapters, hard disks, and other devices without requiring that you open the box. These PC Cards conform to several standards set by the PCMCIA.

PCI
Peripheral Component Interconnect - Slot card interface. PCI is a standardized architecture that provides a high-speed data path between peripherals and the CPU.

PCMCIA
Personal Computer Memory Card International Association - Based in Sunnyvale, California, the PCMCIA's specifications for the PC Card enabled the computer industry to manufacture credit-card-sized removable cards to add RAM, modems, network adapters, hard disks, and even radio devices like pagers and global positioning systems to portable computer...

PDA
A personal digital assistant (PDA), also known as a palmtop computer, or personal data assistant, is a mobile device that functions as a personal information manager. Current PDAs often have the ability to connect to the Internet. A PDA has an electronic visual display, enabling it to include a web browser, but some newer models also have audio ca...

Peripheral
A hardware component you add to your computer, usually by a cable. When this word is used, it usually refers to hardware such as a mouse, keyboard, monitor or printer.

Peer-to-peer network
A network where there is no dedicated server. Every computer can share files and peripherals with all other computers on the network, given that all are granted access privileges. File sharing programs like Kazaa are a good example of this on a larger scale.

PGA
Pin Grid Array - The method in which the CPU uses to interact with the CPU socket.

Phishing
Spoofing an e-mail in an attempt to falsely solicit information from a user for either profit or identity

Pincushion
Corrects the curve at the vertical edges of a monitors display.

Plug And Play
The ability of certain operating systems to automatically detect a new device that has been added to the system, uniquely identify that device, and install the appropriate drivers and system files for that device. Identification is facilitated by means of predetermined identification numbers hard-coded into the device. When the operating system bo...

Port
A conduit for trasferring information between a computer and an external devide. Examples of these found on most computers are USB ports and serial ports. Some items that can be plugged into these include scanners, printers, joysticks modems and digital cameras.

POST
Power On Self Test - A quick test the BIOS does on the components in the computer to make sure everything is working when you first turn it on.