Dell PRECISION WORKSTATION 450 manual Glossary, C D E F G H I K L M N P R S T U V W Z

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Glossary

Dell Precision™ Workstations 450 and 650 User's Guide

A B C D E F G H I K L M N P R S T U V W Z

A

AC — alternating current — The form of electricity that powers your computer when you plug the AC adapter power cable into an electrical outlet.

ACPI — advanced configuration and power interface — A power management specification that enables Microsoft® Windows® operating systems to put a computer in standby or hibernate mode to conserve the amount of electrical power allocated to each device attached to the computer.

AGP — accelerated graphics port — A dedicated graphics port that allows system memory to be used for video-related tasks. AGP delivers a smooth, true-color video image because of the faster interface between the video circuitry and the computer memory.

Antivirus software — A program designed to identify, quarantine, and/or delete viruses from your computer.

ASF — alert standards format — A standard to define a mechanism for reporting hardware and software alerts to a management console. ASF is designed to be platform- and operating system-independent.

B

Backup — A copy of a program or data file on a floppy disk, CD, or hard drive. As a precaution, back up the data files from your hard drive regularly.

BIOS — basic input/output system — A program (or utility) that serves as an interface between the computer hardware and the operating system. Unless you understand what effect the settings have on the computer, do not change the settings for this program. Also referred to as the system setup program.

Bit — The smallest unit of data interpreted by your computer.

Boot sequence — Specifies the order of the devices from which the computer attempts to boot.

Bootable CD — A CD that you can use to start your computer. In case your hard drive is damaged or your computer has a virus, ensure that you always have a bootable CD or bootable disk available. Your Drivers and Utilities CD is a bootable CD.

Bootable disk — A disk that you can use to start your computer. In case your hard drive is damaged or your computer has a virus, ensure that you always have a bootable disk or bootable CD available.

bps — bits per second — The standard unit for measuring data transmission speed.

BTU — British thermal unit — A measurement of heat output.

Bus — A communication pathway between the components in your computer.

Bus speed — The speed, given in MHz, that indicates how fast a bus can transfer information.

Byte — The basic data unit used by your computer. A byte is usually equal to 8 bits.

C

C — Celsius — A temperature measurement system where 0° is the freezing point and 100° is the boiling point of water.

Cache — A special high-speed storage mechanism which can be either a reserved section of main memory or an independent high-speed storage device. The cache enhances the efficiency of many microprocessor operations.

L1 cache — Primary cache stored inside the microprocessor.

L2 cache — Secondary cache which can either be external to the microprocessor or incorporated into the microprocessor architecture.

CD — compact disc — An optical form of storage media, typically used for audio and software programs.

CD drive — A drive that uses optical technology to read data from CDs.

CD player — The software used to play music CDs. The CD player displays a window with buttons you use to play a CD.

CD-R — CD recordable — A recordable version of a CD. Data can be recorded only once onto a CD-R. Once recorded, the data cannot be erased or written over.

CD-RW — CD rewritable — A rewritable version of a CD. Data can be written to a CD-RW, and then erased and written over (rewritten).

CD-RW drive — A drive that can read CDs and write to CD-RW (rewritable CDs) and CD-R (recordable CDs) discs. You can write to CD-RW discs multiple times, but you can write to CD-R discs only once.

Clock speed — The speed, given in MHz, that indicates how fast computer components that are connected to the system bus operate.

COA — Certificate of Authenticity — The Windows alpha-numeric code located on a sticker on your computer. You may need the COA to complete the operating system setup or reinstallation. Also referred to as the Product Key or Product ID.