Toshiba A40 Series manual Capacity, Glossary-4

capacity

GLOSSARY

memory, which saves time. The computer has two cache levels. Level one is incorporated into the processor and level two resides in external memory.

capacity: The amount of data that can be stored on a magnetic storage device such as a diskette (floppy disk) or hard disk. It is usually described in terms of kilobytes (KB), where one KB

=1024 bytes and megabytes (MB), where one MB = 1024 KB.

card: Synonym for board. See board.

CardBus: An industry standard bus for 32-bit PC cards.

CD-ROM:A Compact Disc-Read Only Memory is a high capacity disc that can be read from but not written to. The CD-ROM drive uses a laser, rather than magnetic heads, to read data from the disc.

CD-R:A Compact Disc-Recordable disc can be written once and read many times. See also CD-ROM.

CD-RW:A Compact Disc-Read/Write disc can be rewritten many times.

character: Any letter, number, punctuation mark, or symbol used by the computer. Also synonymous with byte.

chassis: The frame containing the computer.

chip: A small semiconductor contain- ing computer logic and circuitry for processing, memory, input/output functions and controlling other chips.

Glossary-4

CMOS: Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor. An electronic circuit fabricated on a silicon wafer that requires very little power. Integrated circuits implemented in CMOS technology can be tightly packaged and are highly reliable.

cold start: Starting a computer that is currently off (turning on the power).

COM1,COM2,COM3andCOM4: The names assigned to the serial and communication ports.

commands: Instructions you enter at the terminal keyboard that direct the actions of the computer or its periph- eral devices.

communications: The means by which a computer transmits and receives data to and from another computer or device. See parallel interface; serial interface.

compatibility: 1) The ability of one computer to accept and process data in the same manner as another computer without modifying the data or the media upon which it is being trans- ferred. 2) the ability of one device to connect to or communicate with another system or component.

components: Elements or parts (of a system) which make up the whole (system).

computer program: A set of instruc- tions written for a computer that enable it to achieve a desired result.