Dell PowerEdge 7150 User Manual

Page 25

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Eight contiguous bits of information; the basic data unit used by your system.

C

Abbreviation for Celsius.

cache

To facilitate quicker data retrieval, a storage area for keeping a copy of data or instructions. 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

On the bottom of an expansion card, the metal-contact section that plugs into an expansion-card connector.

CD-ROM

Abbreviation for compact disc read-only memory. CD-ROM drives use optical technology to read data from compact discs. CDs are read-only storage devices; you
cannot write new data to a CD with standard CD-ROM drives.

CGA

Abbreviation for color graphics adapter.

cm

Abbreviation for centimeter(s).

controller

A chip or expansion card that controls the transfer of data between the micro-processor and a peripheral such as a diskette drive or the keyboard.

coprocessor

A coprocessor relieves the system's microprocessor of specific processing tasks. A math coprocessor, for example, handles numeric processing. A graphics
coprocessor handles video rendering. The Intel Pentium microprocessor includes an integrated math coprocessor.

cpi

Abbreviation for characters per inch.

CPU

Abbreviation for central processing unit. See also microprocessor.

dB

Abbreviation for decibel(s).

dBA

Abbreviation for adjusted decibel(s).

DC

Abbreviation for direct current.

device driver

A device driver allows the operating system or a program to interface correctly with a peripheral such as a printer or network card. Some device drivers—such as
network drivers—must be loaded from the config.sys file (with a device= statement) or as memory-resident programs (usually, from the autoexec.bat file). Others—
such as video drivers—must load when you start the program for which they were designed.

DHCP

Acronym for Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol.

diagnostics

See diskette-based diagnostics.

DIMM

Acronym for dual in-line memory module.

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