Dell PRECISION 530 - Manual (Page 295)

Glossary 295
PCI
Peripheral Component Interconnect. A standard for
expansion cards developed by Intel Corporation. PCI
is a local bus that supports 32- and 64-bit data paths,
providing a high-speed data path between the
microprocessor and devices such as video, drives,
network, and so on. PCI devices are PnP -compliant.
PET
Platform event trap. A platform event is an alarm or
specified condition that originates directly from a
computer’s BIOS or hardware components such as
the microprocessor or a chip . The event occurs
independently of the OS or system management
software and hardware. The platform event trap is a
format used for communicating a platform event in
an SNMP environment.
PGA
Pin grid array. A type of socket for a computer chip .
The PGA socket has all its pins lined up in even rows,
as opposed to the SPGA socket, which has its rows
staggered.
Pipeline Processing
A method of processing in which a task is performed
in stages: the output of one stage is input to the next
stage.This method speeds up processing by allowing
several parts of multiple tasks to be run
simultaneously.
PIO
Programmed input/output. A method of moving data
between devices in a computer in which all data
passes through the microprocessor . The most recent
ATA / IDE standard specifies higher data transfer
rates, mode 3 at 11.1 MBps and mode 4 at 16.6 MBps.
A recent alternative to PIO is DMA .
Plug and Play
Often referred to as Plug-n-Play or PnP . A technology
that can automatically configure devices at start-up
to use or share certain IRQs . For this to work properly
the computer’s BIOS and OS must both support PnP,
and all devices being configured must also be PnP-
compliant. PCI devices are PnP-compliant.
PME
Power management event. An event that causes a
computer to be remotely started, such as Remote
Wake Up ( WOL ) or WOR .
PnP
See Plug and Play .
Port
A socket or plug on your computer that allows you to
attach an external device by connecting its cable. See
also Parallel Port and Serial Port .
POST
Power-on self-test. Diagnostic programs, loaded
automatically by the BIOS during start-up, that
perform basic tests on the major computer
components, such as RAM , the hard drives, the
keyboard, video, and so on. If there are no problems
during the POST, the computer continues the start-
up and loads the OS .
Product ID
Also referred to as Product Key . See COA .
Product Key
Also referred to as Product ID . See COA .
PS/2
Personal System/2. A mini-DIN connector on your
computer that is typically used to connect keyboard
or mouse cable connectors.
PXE
Pre-boot eXecution Environment. A standard of WfM
that allows networked computers that do not have an
OS to be configured and started remotely. PXE
benefits include:
• The client computer does not necessarily need its
own OS or even a hard drive.