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Dell PowerEdge C1100 User Manual

Page 130

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Glossary

PDU — Power distribution unit. A power source with multiple power outlets that

provides electrical power to servers and storage systems in a rack.
peripheral — An internal or external device, such as a diskette drive or keyboard,

connected to a system.
pixel — A single point on a video display. Pixels are arranged in rows and columns to

create an image. A video resolution, such as 640 x 480, is expressed as the number of

pixels across by the number of pixels up and down.
POST — Power-on self-test. Before the operating system loads when you turn on your

system, the POST tests various system components such as RAM and hard drives.
processor — The primary computational chip inside the system that controls the

interpretation and execution of arithmetic and logic functions. Software written for

one processor must usually be revised to run on another processor. CPU is a synonym

for processor.
PXE — Preboot eXecution Environment. A way of booting a system via a LAN

(without a hard drive or bootable diskette).
RAC — Remote access controller.
RAID — Redundant array of independent disks. A method of providing data

redundancy. Some common implementations of RAID include RAID 0, RAID 1,

RAID 5, RAID 10, and RAID 50. See also mirroring and striping.
RAM — Random-access memory. The system’s primary temporary storage area

for program instructions and data. Any information stored in RAM is lost when

you turn off your system.
R-DIMM — A registered DDR3 memory module.
readme file — A text file, usually shipped with software or hardware, that contains

information supplementing or updating the product’s documentation.
read-only file — A read-only file is one that you are prohibited from editing or

deleting.
ROM — Read-only memory. Your system contains some programs essential to its

operation in ROM code. A ROM chip retains its contents even after you turn off your

system. Examples of code in ROM include the program that initiates your system’s

boot routine and the POST.
ROMB — RAID on motherboard.
SAN — Storage Area Network. A network architecture that enables remote network-

attached storage devices to appear to a server to be locally attached.
SAS — Serial-attached SCSI.

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