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Terms for computer junkies
PUMP up your computer-related vocabulary! Load your brains with these frequenty used i-terms.
Scalable parallel processor: Abbreviated as SPP, a computer that utilizes parallel processing that can be upgraded by adding more CPUs to it, effectively increasing its computing power.
Standard parallel port: Abbreviated as SPP, another name for a parallel port.
Sequenced packet protocol: Abbreviated as SPP, a networking protocol that provides reliable transport of packets with flow control in environments where multiple transport connections are established. SPP uses destination ID reference numbers to identify the target end of a transport connection; sequence numbers to keep transmitted packets in the order in which they were sent; and acknowledge numbers that are assigned to the last packet in a sequence that a destination received properly to indicate that the transmission is complete and successful.
SSL: Short for Secure Sockets Layer, a protocol developed by Netscape for transmitting private documents via the Internet. SSL works by using a private key to encrypt data that's transferred over the SSL connection. Both Netscape Navigator and Internet Explorer support SSL, and many Web sites use the protocol to obtain confidential user information, such as credit card numbers. By convention, URLs that require an SSL connection start with https: instead of http:.
Another protocol for transmitting data securely over the World Wide Web is Secure HTTP (S-HTTP). Whereas SSL creates a secure connection between a client and a server, over which any amount of data can be sent securely, S-HTTP is designed to transmit individual messages securely. SSL and S-HTTP, therefore, can be seen as complementary rather than competing technologies. Both protocols have been approved by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) as a standard.
USB: Short for Universal Serial Bus, an external bus standard that supports data transfer rates of 12 Mbps. A single USB port can be used to connect up to 127 peripheral devices, such as mice, modems, and keyboards. USB also supports Plug-and-Play installation and hot plugging.
Starting in 1996, a few computer manufacturers started including USB support in their new machines. It wasn't until the release of the best-selling iMac in 1998 that USB became widespread. It is expected to completely replace serial and parallel ports.
USB 2.0: Also referred to as Hi-Speed USB, USB 2.0 is an external bus that supports data rates up to 480Mbps. USB 2.0 is an extension of USB 1.1. USB 2.0 is fully compatible with USB 1.1 and uses the same cables and connectors.
Hewlett-Packard, Intel, Lucent, Microsoft, NEC and Philips jointly led the initiative to develop a higher data transfer rate than the 1.1 specification to meet the bandwidth demands of developing technologies. The USB 2.0 specification was released in April 2000.
Hot plugging: Also known as hot swapping, is the ability to add and remove devices to a computer while the computer is running and have the operating system automatically recognize the change. Two external bus standards, Universal Serial Bus (USB) and IEEE 1394, support hot plugging. This is also a feature of PCMCIA.
Plug-and-play: Refers to the ability of a computer system to automatically configure expansion boards and other devices. You should be able to plug in a device and play with it, without worrying about setting DIP switches, jumpers, and other configuration elements.
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