7.1 Glossary

AHCI

AHCI stands for Advanced Host Controller Interface. This specification enables communication with an attached storage device. Think of it as a translator, allowing two devices (your host machine and the attached storage device) that speak slightly different languages to understand each other. AHCI mode must be enabled to use Native Command Queuing (NCQ) or Hot Plugging (aka Hot Swapping) functionality in SATA storage devices.

ATA

ATA Stands for Advanced Technology Attachment. First standardized by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), it has evolved into EIDE (Enhanced IDE) and PATA (Parallel ATA). It is a standard for connecting internal storage devices (HDD, CD-ROM, etc.) to PCs. It refers to a HDD with an integrated controller. It is also known as IDE, which stands for Integrated Drive Electronics).

Boot Disk

Within the context of this manual, the boot disk is a USB Flash Drive that allows the computer to restart in DOS mode. In this case, it also includes the Samsung SSD Secure Erase Utility or the Samsung SSD Firmware Update Utility.

BIOS

BIOS is an abbreviation of Basic Input/Output System. BIOS software is built into every PC and is the first program that runs when the system is powered on. Its primary function is to configure hardware and load the operating system. The BIOS software is stored inside the CMOS chip; as such, some vendors use the term BIOS and CMOS interchangeably.

CMOS

CMOS stands for Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor. These chips are characterized by their extremely low power consumption. Battery-powered CMOS semiconductors are used to hold the date, time and system setup parameters for your computer. Because the CMOS stores the BIOS, some vendors use the terms BIOS and CMOS interchangeably.

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