Asus P2B-F - Manual (Page 78)

ASUS P2B-F User’s Manual 78
VII. APPENDIX
VII. APPENDIX
Glossary
Byte (Binary Term)
One byte is a group of eight contiguous bits. A byte is used to represent a single
alphanumeric character, punctuation mark, or other symbol.
COM Port
COM is a logical device name used by to designate the computer serial ports. Point-
ing devices, modems, and infrared modules can be connected to COM ports. Each
COM port is configured to use a different IRQ and address assignment.
CPU (Central Processing Unit)
The CPU, sometimes called “Processor,” actually functions as the “brain” of the
computer. It interprets and executes program commands and processes data stored
in memory. Currently, there are socket 370 (for Pentium Celeron-PPGA), socket 7
(for Pentium, AMD, Cyrix, IBM), slot 1 (for Pentium II and III), and slot 2 (for
Xeon) processors.
Device Driver
A device driver is a special set of instructions that allows the computer’s operating sys-
tem to communicate with devices such as VGA, audio, ethernet, printer, or modem.
DOS (Disk Operating System)
DOS is the foundation on which all other programs and software applications oper-
ate, including Windows. DOS is responsible for allocating system resources such as
memory, CPU time, disk space, and access to peripheral devices. For this reason,
DOS constitutes the basic interface between you and your computer.
Endian
Endian is a byte order system used in data transfers. In big-endian architectures, the
lower addresses are most significant. In little-endian architectures, the higher bytes
are most significant. Mainframe computers, such as those by IBM, use a big-endian
architecture. Modern PCs use the little-endian system.
Hardware
Hardware is a general term referring to the physical components of a computer sys-
tem, including peripherals such as printers, modems, and pointing devices.
IDE (Integrated Drive Electronics)
IDE devices integrate the drive control circuitry directly on the drive itself, elimi-
nating the need for a separate adapter card (in the case for SCSI devices). UltraDMA/
33 IDE devices can achieve up to 33MB/Sec transfer.
LPT Port (Line Printer Port)
Logical device name reserved by DOS for the computer parallel ports. Each LPT
port is configured to use a different IRQ and address assignment.