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Glossary – Dell PowerEdge T310 User Manual

Page 179

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Glossary

179

Glossary

A — Ampere(s).

AC — Alternating current.

ACPI — Advanced Configuration and Power Interface. A standard interface for
enabling the operating system to direct configuration and power management.

ambient temperature — The temperature of the area or room where the
system is located.

ANSI — American National Standards Institute. The primary organization for
developing technology standards in the U.S.

asset tag — An individual code assigned to a system, usually by an administrator,
for security or tracking purposes.

backup — A copy of a program or data file. As a precaution, back up your system’s
hard drive(s) on a regular basis.

blade — A module that contains a processor, memory, and a hard drive. The modules
are mounted into a chassis that includes power supplies and fans.

BMC — Baseboard management controller.

bootable media — A CD, diskette, or USB memory key that is used to start your
system if the system will not boot from the hard drive.

BTU — British thermal unit.

bus — An information pathway between the components of a system. Your system
contains an expansion bus that allows the processor to communicate with controllers
for the peripheral devices connected to the system. Your system also contains an
address bus and a data bus for communications between the processor and RAM.

C — Celsius.

cache — A fast storage area that keeps a copy of data or instructions for
quick data retrieval.

cm — Centimeter(s).

COMn — The device names for the serial ports on your system.

control panel — The part of the system that contains indicators and controls,
such as the power button and power indicator.

controller — A chip or expansion card that controls the transfer of data between
the processor and memory or between the processor and a peripheral device.

coprocessor — A chip that relieves the system’s processor of specific processing tasks.
A math coprocessor, for example, handles numeric processing.

CPU — Central processing unit. See processor.

DC — Direct current.

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