Dell PowerEdge 400SC User Manual
Page 26
NMI
Nonmaskable interrupt. A device sends an NMI to signal the processor about hardware errors.
NTFS
The NT File System option in the Windows 2000 operating system
NVRAM
Nonvolatile random-access memory. Memory that does not lose its contents when you turn off your system. NVRAM is used for maintaining the date, time,
and system configuration information.
parity
Redundant information that is associated with a block of data
partition
You can divide a hard drive into multiple physical sections called partitions with the fdisk command. Each partition can contain multiple logical drives. You
must format each logical drive with the format command.
PCI
Peripheral Component Interconnect; a standard for local-bus implementation
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
PGA
Pin grid array; a type of processor socket that allows you to remove the processor chip
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.
protected mode
An operating mode that allows operating systems to implement:
l
A memory address space of 16 MB to 4 GB
l
Multitasking
l
Virtual memory, a method for increasing addressable memory by using the hard drive
The Windows 2000 and UNIX 32-bit operating systems run in protected mode. MS-DOS cannot run in protected mode.