Dell PowerEdge 500SC - Manual (Page 27)

Acronym for dual in-line memory module. A small circuit board containing DRAM chips that connects to the system board.
DIN
Acronym for Deutsche Industrie Norm.
DIP
Acronym for dual in-line package. A circuit board, such as a system board or expansion card, may contain DIP switches for configuring the circuit board. DIP
switches are always toggle switches, with an ON position and an OFF position.
directory
Directories help keep related files organized on a disk in a hierarchical, "inverted tree" structure. Each disk has a "root" directory; for example, a C:\> prompt
normally indicates that you are at the root directory of hard-disk drive C. Additional directories that branch off of the root directory are called subdirectories.
Subdirectories may contain additional directories branching off of them.
DMA
Abbreviation for direct memory access. A DMA channel allows certain types of data transfer between RAM and a device to bypass the microprocessor.
DMI
Abbreviation for Desktop Management Interface. DMI enables the management of your system's software and hardware. DMI collects information about the
system's components, such as the operating system, memory, peripherals, expansion cards, and asset tag. Information about the system's components is
displayed as a MIF file or through the Dell Inspector program.
DPMS
Abbreviation for Display Power Management Signaling. A standard developed by the Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA®) that defines the
hardware signals sent by a video controller to activate power management states in a monitor. A monitor is said to be DPMS-compliant when it is designed to
enter a power management state after receiving the appropriate signal from a system's video controller.
DRAC
Acronym for Dell OpenManage Remote Assistant Card.
DRAM
Abbreviation for dynamic random-access memory. A system's RAM is usually made up entirely of DRAM chips. Because DRAM chips cannot store an electrical
charge indefinitely, your system continually refreshes each DRAM microprocessor in the system.
drive-type number
Your system can recognize a number of specific hard-disk drives. Each is assigned a drive-type number that is stored in NVRAM. The hard-disk drive(s) specified
in your system's System Setup program must match the actual drive(s) installed in the system. The System Setup program also allows you to specify physical
parameters (logical cylinders, logical heads, cylinder number, and logical sectors per pack) for drives not included in the table of drive types stored in NVRAM.
DTE
Abbreviation for data terminal equipment. Any device, such as a system, that can send data in digital form by means of a cable or communications line. The DTE
is connected to the cable or communications line through a data communications equipment (DCE) device, such as a modem.
ECC
Abbreviation for error checking and correction.
ECP
Abbreviation for Extended Capabilities Port.
EEPROM
Acronym for electrically erasable programmable read-only memory.
EIDE
Abbreviation for enhanced integrated drive electronics. EIDE devices add one or more of the following enhancements to the traditional IDE standard:
l Data transfer rates of up to 16 MB/sec
l Support for drives other than just hard-disk drives, such as CD-ROM and tape drives
l Support for hard-disk drives with capacities greater than 528 MB
l Support for up to two controllers, each with up to two devices attached
EISA
Acronym for Extended Industry-Standard Architecture, a 32-bit expansion-bus design. The expansion-card connectors in an EISA system are also compatible
with 8- or 16-bit ISA expansion cards.
To avoid a configuration conflict when installing an EISA expansion card, you must use the EISA Configuration Utility. This utility allows you to specify which
expansion slot contains the card and obtains information about the card's required system resources from a corresponding EISA configuration file.