Dell DR715, T605 owner manual 208, Celsius

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.

cm — Centimeter(s).

cmos — Complementary metal-oxide semiconductor.

component — As they relate to DMI, components include operating systems, computer systems, expansion cards, and peripherals that are compatible with DMI. Each component is made up of groups and attributes that are defined as relevant to that component.

COMn — The device names for the serial ports on your system.

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Glossary