Computer Acronyms and Definition

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) - is a broader term for Information Technology (IT),
which refers to all communication technologies, including the internet, wireless networks, cell phones,
computers, software, middleware, video-conferencing, social networking, and other media applications
and services enabling users to access, retrieve, store, transmit, and manipulate information in a digital
form.

Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) - is the electron beams in a monitor moving across your screen either
interlaced or non-interlaced, hitting phosphor dots inside the glass tube. The picture is an example of
the inside of a computer monitor that shows the CRT connected to the screen.

Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) - is a flat panel display technology commonly used in TVs and computer
monitors. It is also used in screens for mobile devices, such as laptops, tablets, and smartphones.

Basic Input/Output System (BIOS) - is software stored on a small memory chip on the motherboard. It's
BIOS that's responsible for the POST and therefore makes it the very first software to run when a
computer is started.

Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) - is a type of metal–oxide–semiconductor field-

effect transistor (MOSFET) fabrication process that uses complementary and symmetrical pairs of p-type
and n-type MOSFETs for logic functions.

Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) - is an electrical apparatus that provides emergency power to a
load when the input power source or mains power fails. A UPS differs from an auxiliary or emergency
power system or standby generator in that it will provide near-instantaneous protection from input
power interruptions, by supplying energy stored in batteries, supercapacitors, or flywheels.

Automatic Voltage Regulator (AVR) - is a hardware device used to maintain a voltage to electronic
devices.

Central Processing Unit (CPU) - It's one of the most important pieces of hardware in any digital
computing system – if not the most important. Inside a CPU there are thousands of microscopic
transistors, which are tiny switches that control the flow of electricity through the integrated circuits.

Universal Serial Bus (USB) - a standardized technology for attaching peripheral devices to a computer.

Floppy Disk Drive (FDD) - is a computer disk drive that enables a user to save data to removable
diskettes. Although 8" disk drives were first made available in 1971, the first real disk drives used were
the 5 1/4" floppy disk drives, which were later replaced with the 3 1/2" floppy disk drives.

A 5 1/4" floppy disk was capable of storing between 360 KB and 1.2 MB of data, and the 3 1/2" floppy
disk was capable of storing between 360 KB and 1.44 MB of data.

Compact Disk (CD) - are circular discs that are 4.75 in (12 cm) in diameter. The CD standard was
proposed by Sony and Philips in 1980 and the technology was introduced to the U.S. market in 1983.
CDs can hold up to 700 MB of data or 80 minutes of audio. The data on a CD is stored as small notches
on the disc and is read by a laser from an optical drive. The drives translate the notches (which
represent 1's and 0's) into usable data.
Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc (DVD) - is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was
invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can
store any kind of digital data and has been widely used for video programs (watched using DVD players)
or formerly for storing software and other computer files as well. DVDs offer significantly higher storage
capacity than compact discs (CD) while having the same dimensions. A standard DVD can store up to 4.7
GB of storage, while variants can store up to a maximum of 17.08 GB.

Hard Disk Drive (HDD) - is an electro-mechanical data storage device that stores and retrieves digital
data using magnetic storage with one or more rigid rapidly rotating platters coated with magnetic
material. The platters are paired with magnetic heads, usually arranged on a moving actuator arm,
which read and write data to the platter surfaces. Data is accessed in a random-access manner, meaning
that individual blocks of data can be stored and retrieved in any order. HDDs are a type of non-volatile
storage, retaining stored data when powered off. Modern HDDs are typically in the form of a small
rectangular box.

Integrated Drive Electronics (IDE) - It is a standard interface for IBM computers that was first developed
by Western Digital and Compaq in 1986 for compatible hard drives and CD (compact disc) or DVD (digital
versatile disc) drives.

Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA) - an interface for transferring data between a
computer’s central circuit board and storage devices.

Solid State Drive (SSD) - is a new generation of storage device used in computers. SSDs store data using
flash-based memory, which is much faster than the traditional hard disks they've come to replace. SSDs
also have no moving parts, and upgrading to one is a great way to speed up your computer and make it
more resilient.

Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) - is a hardware bus used for adding internal components to a
desktop computer.

Peripheral Component Interconnect Extended (PCI-X) - is a computer bus and expansion card standard
that enhances the 32-bit PCI local bus for higher bandwidth demanded mostly by servers and
workstations. It uses a modified protocol to support higher clock speeds (up to 133 MHz), but is
otherwise similar in electrical implementation. PCI-X 2.0 added speeds up to 533 MHz, with a reduction
in electrical signal levels.

Peripheral Component Interconnect – Express (PCIE) - is a high-speed serial computer expansion bus
standard, designed to replace the older PCI, PCI-X and AGP bus standards. It is the common
motherboard interface for personal computers' graphics cards, hard disk drive host adapters, SSDs, Wi-
Fi and Ethernet hardware connections. PCIe has numerous improvements over the older standards,
including higher maximum system bus throughput, lower I/O pin count and smaller physical footprint,
better performance scaling for bus devices, a more detailed error detection and reporting mechanism
(Advanced Error Reporting, AER),[3] and native hot-swap functionality. More recent revisions of the PCIe
standard provide hardware support for I/O virtualization.

File Allocation Table (FAT) - is a file system developed for hard drives that originally used 12 or 16 bits
for each cluster entry into the file allocation table. It is used by the operating system (OS) to manage
files on hard drives and other computer systems. It is often also found on in flash memory, digital
cameras and portable devices. It is used to store file information and extend the life of a hard drive.

New Technology File System (NTFS) - is a proprietary journaling file system developed by Microsoft.

Dynamic Link Library (DLL) - is a library that contains code and data that can be used by more than one
program at the same time. For example, in Windows operating systems, the Comdlg32 DLL performs
common dialog box related functions. Each program can use the functionality that is contained in this
DLL to implement an Open dialog box. It helps promote code reuse and efficient memory usage.

Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) - A programmable processor specialized for rendering all images on the
computer's screen. A GPU provides the fastest graphics processing, and for gamers, the GPU is a stand-
alone card plugged into the PCI Express (PCIe) bus. GPU circuitry can also be part of the motherboard
chipset or on the CPU chip itself.

Video Graphics Array (VGA) - a high-resolution standard for displaying text, graphics, and colors on
computer monitors.

Digital Visual Interface (DVI) - a standard for converting an analogue display into digital format

High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) - a brand name for a digital interface standard for
connecting peripheral devices to a high-definition screen, as a video game console to a television or
computer.

Non-Volatile Memory Express (NVMe) - It is an open logical device interface specification for accessing
non-volatile storage media connected via PCI Express (PCIe) bus. NVM Express enables host hardware
and software to take full advantage of the parallelism possible in modern SSDs. As a result, compared to
the previous logical device interface, NVM Express reduces I/O overhead and brings various
performance improvements, including multiple long command queues, and reduced latency.