System Fundamentals

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Data

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Distinct pieces of information, usually formatted in a special way. So that the software application can do its job.

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Infromation

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A collection of data.

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Hardware Components

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Pieces of a computer that you can touch, that are required to run software. Exmp: Hard drive cdrom drive printer scanner keyboard monitor

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Input Devices

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A device, such as a keyboard, used to enter information into a computer.

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Output Devices

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A device, such as a printer, video display, or speaker, that presents data from a computer to a user.

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Processing

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Further handling, manipulation, consolidation, compositing, and so on, of information to convert it from one format to another or to reduce it to manageable or intelligible information.

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Storage

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The act of storing goods or the state of being stored.

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Memory (RAM)

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A memory device in which information can be accessed in any order.

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Memory (ROM)

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Memory hardware that allows fast access to permanently stored data but prevents addition to or modification of the data.

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MHz

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A unit of frequency equal to one-thousandth of a hertz. Abbreviated mHz. Also known as millicycle (mc).

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dpi

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Dots per inch, a unit of measurement used to describe the Resolution of inkjet and laser printers.

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bit

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A small portion, degree, or amount: a bit of lint; a bit of luck.

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KB

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A unit of computer memory or data storage capacity equal to 1,024 (210) bytes.

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MB

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A unit of computer memory or data storage capacity equal to 1,048,576 (220) bytes.

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ASCII

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A standard for assigning numerical values to the set of letters in the Roman alphabet and typographic characters.

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GB

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A unit of computer memory or data storage capacity equal to 1,024 megabytes (230 bytes).

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TB

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A unit of computer memory or data storage capacity equal to 1,024 gigabytes (240 bytes).

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Compatibility

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The quality or power of being compatible or congruous; congruity; as, a compatibility of tempers; a compatibility of properties.

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OCR

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The electronic identification and digital encoding of printed or handwritten characters by means of an optical scanner and specialized software.

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OMR

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Optically sensing information encoded as a series of marks, such as lines or filled-in boxes on a test answer sheet, or some special pattern, such as the Universal Product Code. Abbreviated OMR.

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Bar Code

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A series of vertical bars of varying widths, in which each of the digits zero through nine are represented by a different pattern of bars that can be read by a laser scanner. The bars are commonly found on consumer products and are used especially for inventory control.

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Baud

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A unit of speed in data transmission equal to one bit per second.

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Verifications and Validation

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the process of checking that a product, service, or system meets specifications and that it fulfills its intended purpose. These are critical components of a quality management system such as ISO 9000. Sometimes preceded with "Independent" (or IV&V) to ensure the validation is performed by a disinterested third party.

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Encryption/ Decryption

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The reversible transformation of data from the original (the plaintext) to a difficult-to-interpret format (the ciphertext) as a mechanism for protecting its confidentiality, integrity and sometimes its authenticity. Encryption uses an encryption algorithm and one or more encryption keys. See encryption algorithm and cryptography.

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Firewall

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Any of a number of security schemes that prevent unauthorized users from gaining access to a computer network or that monitor transfers of information to and from the network.

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Virus

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A computer program that is designed to replicate itself by copying itself into the other programs stored in a computer. It may be benign or have a negative effect, such as causing a program to operate incorrectly or corrupting a computer's memory.

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Trojan Horse

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A program that appears to be legitimate but is designed to have destructive effects, as to data residing in the computer onto which the program was loaded.

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Worm

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A malicious program that replicates itself until it fills all of the storage space on a drive or network.

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Logic Bomb

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A computer virus that remains hidden until it is triggered when certain specific conditions are met.

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Platform

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A hardware and/or software architecture that serves as a foundation or base. The term originally dealt with only hardware, and it may still refer to only a CPU model or computer family.

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Peripheral

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A peripheral is a device attached to a host computer but not part of it, and is more or less dependent on the host. It expands the host's capabilities, but does not form part of the core computer architecture.