CNET50 Midterm Exam Notes: Serial Transmission: bits are sent sequentially on same channel wire which reduces

costs but also speed of transmission. Parallel Transmission: multiple bits (usually 8 bits) are sent on different channels within same cable and sync to a clock CMOS: a tech for constructing integrated circuits. Overclocking: process of making a computer or component operate faster than specified by the manufacturer by modifying system parameters. DVD: is an optical disc storage format, Capacity 4.7 GB (single-sided, single-layer common) 8.58.7 GB (single-sided, double-layer) 9.4 GB (double-sided, single-layer) 17.08 GB (double-sided, double-layer rare) Operating systems: is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. Motherboard Form Factors: The form factor of the motherboard describes its general shape, what sorts of cases and power supplies it can use, and its physical organization. Flash Memory: is a non-volatile computer storage chip that can be electrically erased and reprogrammed. Graphical User Interface: is a type of user interface that allows users to interact with electronic devices with images rather than text commands. Level 1 cache: Level 1 cache, often called primary cache, is a static memory integrated with processor core that is used to store information recently accessed by a processor. Checksum: is a fixed-size datum computed from an arbitrary block of digital data for the purpose of detecting accidental errors that may have been introduced during its transmission or storage. Blue-rays: Capacity 25 GB (single-layer) 50 GB (dual-layer) 100/128 GB (BDXL) IRQ: is used to refer to either the act of interrupting the bus lines used to signal an interrupt, or the interrupt input lines on a Programmable Interrupt Controller (PIC). SATA drives: is a computer bus interface for connecting host bus adapters to mass storage devices such as hard disk drives and optical drives. Primary Storage: is the only one directly accessible to the CPU. The CPU continuously reads instructions stored there and executes them as required. File system: is a means to organize data expected to be retained after a program terminates by providing procedures to store, retrieve and update data, as well as manage the available space on the device(s) which contain it.

Memory type: SDRAM, DDR, RDRAM, DIMM and RIMM Optical drives: is a disk drive that uses laser light or electromagnetic waves within or near the visible light spectrum as part of the process of reading or writing data to or from optical discs. Applet: an applet is any small application that performs one specific task that runs within the scope of a larger program, often as a plug-in. Level 2 cache: Level 2 cache, also called secondary cache, is a memory that is used to store recently accessed information. The goal of having the level 2 cache is to reduce data access time in cases when the same data was already accessed before. CD: capacity 700 MB and used to store data. SCSI drives: is a set of standards for physically connecting and transferring data between computers and peripheral devices. The SCSI standards define commands, protocols, and electrical and optical interfaces. SCSI is most commonly used for hard disks and tape drives. Troubleshooting: problem solving repair failed products BIOS: Defining a firmware interface Level 3 cache: Level 3 or L3 cache is specialized memory that works hand-in-hand with L1 and L2 cache to improve computer performance. Firmware: is a term often used to denote the fixed, usually rather small, programs and/or data structures that internally control various electronic devices. IEEE 1394: is a serial bus interface standard for high-speed communications and isochronous real-time data transfer. Video cards: is an expansion card which generates a feed of output images to a display. Joule: is a derived unit of energy or work in the International System of Units. Copyrights: is a legal concept, enacted by most governments, giving the creator of an original work exclusive rights to it, usually for a limited time. Generally, it is "the right to copy", but also gives the copyright holder the right to be credited for the work, to determine who may adapt the work to other forms, who may perform the work, who may financially benefit from it, and other related rights. Site license: is a type of software license and a legal agreement that allows users to run a software package simultaneously. RAID: is a storage technology that combines multiple disk drive components into a logical unit. Data is distributed across the drives in one of several ways called "RAID levels", depending on what level of redundancy and performance (via parallel communication) is required.