Monday, September 28, 2009
Expansion card
An expansion card is a printed circuit board that can be installed in computer to add functionality to it. Also known as an add-on card, internal card or interface adapter. An audio engineer may add a professional sound card to his machine to increase the computer's audio input and output connections. Users that need more Firewire or USB ports can add Firewire or USB expansion cards, which provide additional connections. Inserted into an expansion slot of a computer motherboard to add additional functionality to a computer system.
Network interface card
NIC is also commonly referred to as a network adapter and is an expansion card that enables a computer to connect to a network such as a home network and/or the Internet using a Ethernet cable. Every Ethernet network card has a unique 48-bit serial number called a MAC address, which is stored in ROM carried on the card. Every computer on an Ethernet network must have a card with a unique MAC address. Normally it is safe to assume that no two network cards will share the same address, because card vendors purchase blocks of addresses from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and assign a unique address to each card at the time of manufacture.
Cache Memory
Cache memory is random access memory (RAM) that a computer microprocessor can access more quickly than it can access regular RAM. As the microprocessor processes data, it looks first in the cache memory and if it finds the data there (from a previous reading of data), it does not have to do the more time-consuming reading of data from larger memory. Cache memory is sometimes described in levels of closeness and accessibility to the microprocessor. Extremely fast memory that is built into a computer’s central processing unit (CPU), or located next to it on a separate chip.
Plug & Play
Plug and Play (PnP) is a capability developed by Microsoft for its Windows 95 and later operating systems that gives users the ability to plug a device into a computer and have the computer recognize that the device is there. The user doesn't have to tell the computer. Device specification, which facilitates the discovery of a hardware component in a system, without the need for physical device configuration, or user intervention in resolving resource conflicts.
Sockets
Sockets is a method for communication between a client program and a server program in a network. A socket is defined as "the endpoint in a connection." Sockets are created and used with a set of programming requests or "function calls" sometimes called the sockets application programming interface (API). Sockets can also be used for communication between processes within the same computer.
Chip (Computer Chips)
An opening in a computer where you can insert a printed circuit board. Slots are often called expansion slots because they allow you to expand the capabilities of a computer. The boards you insert in expansion slots are called expansion boards or add-on boards. In the most easy to understand terms, "ports" are holes used to plug external devices into your computer. They will be found largely in the back of the computer. "Slots" are holes used to plug internal devices (sound/video cards...etc) into your computer. These will be found on the inside of your computer and the devices you pug into the will have "ports" on them which will be able to be accessed from the back of the computer like the other ones.
Chip (Computer Chips)
A computer chip is a small electronic circuit, also known as an integrated circuit, which is one of the basic components of most kinds of electronic devices, especially computers. Computer chips are small and are made of semiconductors that is usually composed of silicon, on which several tiny components including transistors are embedded and used to transmit electronic data signals. They are small size, low cost, high performance and ease to produce.
Slots
Slots
An opening in a computer where you can insert a printed circuit board. Slots are often called expansion slots because they allow you to expand the capabilities of a computer. The boards you insert in expansion slots are called expansion boards or add-on boards. In the most easy to understand terms, "ports" are holes used to plug external devices into your computer. They will be found largely in the back of the computer. "Slots" are holes used to plug internal devices (sound/video cards...etc) into your computer. These will be found on the inside of your computer and the devices you pug into the will have "ports" on them which will be able to be accessed from the back of the computer like the other ones.Buslines
Device on a computer's motherboard that provides a data path between the CPU and attached devices (keyboard, mouse, disk drives, video cards, etc.). Like a vehicular bus that stops at designated stations to pick up or drop off riders, a computer bus receives a data signal from the CPU and drops it off at the appropriate device (for example, the contents of a file in RAM are sent, via the bus, to a disk drive to be stored permanently). Conversely, data signals from devices are sent back to the CPU. On a network, a bus provides the data path between the various computers and devices.
Serial port
A port, or interface, that can be used for serial communication, in which only 1 bit is transmitted at a time. Physical interface through which information transfers in or out one bit at a time (contrast parallel port). Throughout most of the history of personal computers, data transfer through serial ports connected the computer to devices such as terminals and various peripherals.Parallel Port
A parallel port is a type of interface found on computers (personal and otherwise) for connecting various peripherals. It is also known as a printer port or Centronics port. The IEEE 1284 standard defines the bi-directional version of the port.
Universal Serial Bus
Universal Serial Bus (USB) is a set of connectivity specifications developed by Intel in collaboration with industry leaders. USB allows high-speed, easy connection of peripherals to a PC. When plugged in, everything configures automatically. USB is the most successful interconnect in the history of personal computing and has migrated into consumer electronics (CE) and mobile products. A way of setting up communication between a computer and peripheral devices.
A firewire port is a connection type that is very common in Apple computers, and there are firewire 400s and firewire 800s. Firewire ports are forms of a serial port that make use of FireWire technology to transfer data rapidly from one electronic device to another. FireWire port has the ability to interact with a number of different devices.
Universal Serial Bus (USB) is a set of connectivity specifications developed by Intel in collaboration with industry leaders. USB allows high-speed, easy connection of peripherals to a PC. When plugged in, everything configures automatically. USB is the most successful interconnect in the history of personal computing and has migrated into consumer electronics (CE) and mobile products. A way of setting up communication between a computer and peripheral devices.
Firewire Port
A firewire port is a connection type that is very common in Apple computers, and there are firewire 400s and firewire 800s. Firewire ports are forms of a serial port that make use of FireWire technology to transfer data rapidly from one electronic device to another. FireWire port has the ability to interact with a number of different devices.