Dell PowerEdge 1600SC - Manual (Page 27)

boot routine
When you start your system, it clears all memory, initializes devices, and loads the operating system. Unless the operating system fails to respond, you can
reboot (also called warm boot) your system by pressing <Ctrl><Alt><Del>; otherwise, you must perform a cold boot by pressing the reset button or by turning
the system off and then back on.
bps
Abbreviation for bits per second.
BTU
Abbreviation for British thermal unit.
bus
An information pathway between the components of a system. Your system contains an expansion bus that allows the microprocessor to communicate with
controllers for all the various peripheral devices connected to the system. Your system also contains an address bus and a data bus for communications
between the microprocessor and RAM.
byte
Eight contiguous bits of information, the basic data unit used by your system.
C
Abbreviation for Celsius.
cache
A fast storage area that keeps a copy of data or instructions for quicker data retrieval. For example, your system's BIOS may cache ROM code in faster RAM.
Or, a disk-cache utility may reserve RAM in which to store frequently accessed information from your system's disk drives; when a program makes a request to
a disk drive for data that is in the cache, the disk-cache utility can retrieve the data from RAM faster than from the disk drive.
card-edge connector
The metal-contact section on the bottom of an expansion card that plugs into an expansion-card connector.
CD
Abbreviation for compact disc. CD drives use optical technology to read data from CDs. CDs are read-only storage devices; you cannot write new data to a CD
with standard CD drives.
CERC
Abbreviation for cost-effective RAID controller.
COMn
The device names for the first through fourth serial ports on your system are COM1, COM2, COM3, and COM4. The default interrupt for COM1 and COM3 is
IRQ4, and the default interrupt for COM2 and COM4 is IRQ3. Therefore, you must be careful when configuring software that runs a serial device so that you
don't create an interrupt conflict.
component
As they relate to DMI, manageable components are operating systems, computer systems, expansion cards, and peripherals that are compatible with DMI.
Each component is made up of groups and attributes that are defined as relevant to that component.
controller