Dell 530 manual Pci, Pet, Pga, Pio, Pme, Post, Pxe

PCI

Peripheral Component Interconnect. A standard for expansion cards developed by Intel Corporation. PCI is a local bus that supports 32- and 64-bit data paths, providing a high-speed data path between the microprocessor and devices such as video, drives, network, and so on. PCI devices are PnP-compliant.

PET

Platform event trap. A platform event is an alarm or specified condition that originates directly from a computer’s BIOS or hardware components such as the microprocessor or a chip. The event occurs independently of the OS or system management software and hardware. The platform event trap is a format used for communicating a platform event in an SNMP environment.

PGA

Pin grid array. A type of socket for a computer chip. The PGA socket has all its pins lined up in even rows, as opposed to the SPGA socket, which has its rows staggered.

Pipeline Processing

A method of processing in which a task is performed in stages: the output of one stage is input to the next stage.This method speeds up processing by allowing several parts of multiple tasks to be run simultaneously.

PIO

Programmed input/output. A method of moving data between devices in a computer in which all data passes through the microprocessor. The most recent ATA/IDE standard specifies higher data transfer rates, mode 3 at 11.1 MBps and mode 4 at 16.6 MBps. A recent alternative to PIO is DMA.

Plug and Play

Often referred to as Plug-n-Playor PnP. A technology that can automatically configure devices at start-up to use or share certain IRQs. For this to work properly the computer’s BIOS and OS must both support PnP,

and all devices being configured must also be PnP- compliant. PCI devices are PnP-compliant.

PME

Power management event. An event that causes a computer to be remotely started, such as Remote Wake Up (WOL) or WOR.

PnP

See Plug and Play.

Port

A socket or plug on your computer that allows you to attach an external device by connecting its cable. See also Parallel Port and Serial Port.

POST

Power-onself-test. Diagnostic programs, loaded automatically by the BIOS during start-up, that perform basic tests on the major computer components, such as RAM, the hard drives, the keyboard, video, and so on. If there are no problems during the POST, the computer continues the start- up and loads the OS.

Product ID

Also referred to as Product Key. See COA.

Product Key

Also referred to as Product ID. See COA.

PS/2

Personal System/2. A mini-DINconnector on your computer that is typically used to connect keyboard or mouse cable connectors.

PXE

Pre-boot eXecution Environment. A standard of WfM that allows networked computers that do not have an OS to be configured and started remotely. PXE benefits include:

•The client computer does not necessarily need its own OS or even a hard drive.

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