Glossary

ordered set

In Fibre Channel protocol, four 10-bit characters (a combination of data and special characters) providing low-level link functions, such as frame demarcation and signaling between two ends of a link. It provides for initialization of the link after power-on and for some basic recovery functions.

original equipment manufacturer

OEM. A company that has a special relationship with computer producers. OEMs buy components and customize them for a particular application. They sell the customized computer under their own name. OEMs may not actually be the original manufacturers. They are usually the customizers and marketers.

OS

See operating system.

OS/390™

See Operating System/390.

OSI

See Open Systems Architecture.

OSMS

See open systems management server.

out-of-band management

Transmission of management information, using frequencies or channels other than those routinely used for information transfer.

P

packet

In Fibre Channel protocol, Logical unit of information (usually in the form of a data frame) transmitted on a network. It contains a header (with all relevant addressing and timing information), the actual data, and a trailer (which contains the error checking function, usually in the form of a cyclic redundancy check), and frequently user data.

panel

A logical component of the interface window. Typically, a heading and/or frame marks the panel as an individual entity of the window. Size and shape of the panel and its data depend upon the purpose of the panel and may or may not be modified.

PC

See personal computer.