AGP(Accelerated Graphics Port)
Bus that transmits data at very high speeds; designed to support video and three-dimensional (3-D) graphics. Why it’s important: An AGP bus is twice as fast as PCI bus and supports video and 3D graphics.
Arithmetic / Logic Unit (ALU)
Part of the CPU that performs arithmetic operations and logical operations and controls the speed of those operations: Why it’s important: Arithmetic operations are the fundamental math operations: addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. Logical operations are comparisons such as “equal to”, “greater than”, or “less than.”
ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange)
Binary code used on microcomputers. Beside having the more conventional characters, the Extended ASCII version includes such characters as math symbols and Greek letters. Why it’s important: ASCII is the binary code most widely used in microcomputers.
Binary System
A two-state system used for data representation in computers; has only two digits-o and 1. Why it’s important; In the computer, o can be represented by electrical current being of and 1 by the current being on. All data and program instructions that go into the computer are represented in terms of these binary numbers.
Bit
Short for “binary digit,” which is either a o or a 1 in the binary system of data representation in computer systems. Why it’s important: The bit is the fundamental element of all data and information processed and stored inside a computer system.
Bluetooth
Wireless technology that consist of short-range radio waves that transmits up to 30 feet. Why it’s important: It is used to connect cellphones to computers and also computers to printers, keyboards, headset, and other appliances.
Blu-ray
The Blu-ray optical format was develop to enable recording , rewriting, and playback of high-definition video, as well as storing of large amounts of data. Why it’s important: It’s possible to fit more data on Blu-ray disk even though it’s a same size as a CD / DVD.
Bus
Also called bus line; electrical data roadway through which bits are transmitted within the CPU and between the CPU and other components of the motherboard. Why it’s important: A bus resembles a multilane highway: The more lane it has, the faster the bits can be transferred.
Byte
Group of 8 bits. Why it’s important: A byte represents one character, digit, or other value. It is the basic unit used to measure the storage capacity of main memory and secondary storage devices (kilobytes and megabytes).
Cache
Special high-speed memory area on a chip that the CPU can access quickly. It temporarily stores instructions and data that the processor is likely to used frequently. Cache speeds up processing.
CD-R (Compact Disk-RecordabL) Disk
Optical-Disk form of secondary storage that can be written to only once but can be read many times. Why it’s important: This format allow consumers to make their own CD disks, though it’s a slow process. Once recorded, the information cannot be erased. CD-R is often used by companies for archiving- that is, to store vast amount of information. A variant is the Photo CD, an optical disk developed by Kodak that can digitally store photographs taken with an ordinary 35- millimeter camera.
CD-ROM (Compact Disk Read-Only Memory)
Optical-disk form of secondary storage that is used to hold prerecorded text, graphics, and sound. Why it’s important: Like music CDs, a CD-ROM is a read-only disk. Read-only means the disk’s content is recorded at the time of manufacture and cannot be written on or erased by the user. A CD-ROM disk can hold up to 650-700 megabytes of data, equal to over 300,000 pages of text.
CD-RW (Compact Disk Rewritable)
Also known as erasable optical-disk form of secondary storage that allows user to record or erase data, so the disk can be used over and over again. Special CD-RW drives and software are required. Why it’s important: CD-RW disks are useful for archiving and backing up large amounts of data or work in multimedia production or desktop publishing; however, they are relatively slow.
Chip
Also called a microchip; consists of millions of micro-miniature integrated electronic circuits printed on a tiny piece of silicon. Silicon is a an element widely found in sand that has desirable electrical (or “Semiconducting”) properties. Why it’s important: Chips have made possible the development of small computers.
Chipset
Groups of interconnected chips on the motherboard that control the flow of information between the microprocessor and other system components connected to the motherboard. Why it’s important: The chipset determines what types of processors, memory and video-card ports will work on the same motherboard. It also establishes the types of multimedia, storage, network, and other hardware the motherboard supports.
CMOS (Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor) Chip
Battery-powered chips that don’t lose their contents when the power is off. Why it’s important: CMOS chips contain flexible start-up instructions– such as time, date, and calendar–the chips, CMOS chips can be reprogrammed, as when you need to change the time for daylight savings time.
Control Unit
Part of the CPU that deciphers each instruction stored in it and then carries out the instruction. Why it’s important: The control unit directs the movement of electronic signals between main memory and the arithmetic / logic unit. It also directs these electronic signals between main memory and the input and output devices.
CPU (Central Processing Unit)
The processor, it follows the instructions of the software (program) to manipulate data into information. The CPU consists of two parts–(1) the control unit and (2) the arithmetic / logic unit (ALU), both of which contain registers, or high-speed storage areas. All are linked by a kind of electronic “roadway” called a bus. Why it’s important: The CPU is the “brain” of the computer.
DVD-R (DVD-Recordable) Disk
DVD disk that allow one time recording by the user. Why it’s important: Recordable DVDs offer the user yet another option for storing large amount of data.
DVD-ROM (Digital Versatile Disk or \ Digital Video Disk, with read-only Memory
CD type disk with extremely high capacity, able to store 4.7-18 or more gigabytes. Why it’s important: It is a powerful and versatile secondary storage medium.
DVI (Digital Video Interface)
A multimedia port on most newest monitors and multimedia devices such as TVs and DVD players. Why it’s important: The digital interface standard was created by the Digital Display Working Group (DDWG) to convert analog signals into digital signals to accommodate both analog and digital monitors.
EBCDIC (Extended Binary Coded Decimal Interchange Code)
Binary code used with large computers. Why it’s important: EBCDIC is commonly used in mainframes.
Ethernet
Network standard for linking all devices in a local area network (LAN). Why it’s important: It’s commonly used to connect microcomputers, cable modems, and printers. (To use Ethernet, the computer must have an Ethernet network interface card, and special Ethernet cables are required.)
Exabyte
Approximately 1 quintillion bytes–1 billion billion bytes (1024 petabytes –or 1,152,921,504,606,846,976 bytes). Why it’s important: Although this number is seldom used, it is estimated that all the printed material in the world represents about 5 exabytes.
Expansion
Way of increasing a computer’s capabilities by adding hardware to perform tasks that are beyond the scope of the basic system. Why it’s important: Expansion allows the user to customize and/or upgrade their computer systems.
Expansion Card
Also known as expansion board, interface card, plug-in board, controller card, add-in, or add-on; circuit board that provides more memory or that controls peripheral devices. Why it’s important: Common expansion cards connect to the monitor (graphics card), speakers and microphone (sound card), and network (network card). Most computers have four to eight expansion slots, some of which may already contain expansion cards included in your initial PC purchase.
Expansion Slots
Socket on the motherboard into which the user can plug an expansion card. Why it’s important: See Expansion Card
FireWire
A specialized serial-bus port intended to connect devices working with lots of data, such as digital video recorders, DVD players, gaming consoles, and digital audio equipment. Why it’s important: Whereas the USB 2.0 port handles only 480 megabits per second, FireWire handles up to 800 megabits per second.
Flash Memory Card
Also known as flash RAM cards; form of secondary storage consisting of circuitry on credit-card-size cards that can be inserted into slots connecting to the motherboard on notebook computers. Why it’s important: Flash memory is nonvolatile, so it retains data even when the power is turned off. Flash memory is used in digital cameras, smartphones, and other mobile devices.
Flash Memory Chip
Chip that can be erased and reprogrammed more than once (unlike PROM chips, which can be programmed only once). Why it’s important: Flash memory, which can range from 2 to 128 gigabytes in capacity, is used to store programs not only in personal computers but also in pagers, cellphones, printers, and digital cameras. Unlike standard RAM chips, flash memory is non-volatile-data is retained when the power is turned off.
Flash Memory Drive
Also called a USB flash drive, keychain drive, memory stick, or key drive; a finger-size module of flash memory that plugs into USB ports of nearly any PC or Macintosh. Why it’s important: They generally have storage capacities up to 256 gigabytes, making the device extremely useful if you’re travelling from home to office and dont want to carry a laptop. When you plug the device into your USB port, it shows up as an external drive on the computer.
Flops
Stands for “floating-point operations per second.” A floating-point is a special kind of mathematical calculation. this measure, used mainly with supercomputers. is expressed as megaflops (mflops, or millions of floating-point operation per second), gigaflops (gflops or billions), and teraflops (tflops, or trillions). Why it’s important: The measure is used to express the processing speed of supercomputers.
Gigabytes
Approximately 1 billion bytes (1,073,741,824 bytes); a measure of storage capacity. Why it’s important: This measure was formerly used mainly with “big iron” (mainframe) computers but is typical of the secondary storage (hard-disk) capacity of today’s microcomputers.