# Module 5 Glossary # ### **New terms and their definitions: Course 1 Week 5** **Application software:** Any software created to fulfill a specific need, like a text editor, web browser, or graphics editor **Assembly language:** A language that allowed computer scientists to use human readable instructions, assembled into code that the machines could understand **Automation:** It makes processes work automatically **Coding:** Translating one language to another **Compiled programming language:** A language that uses human readable instructions, then sends them through a compiler **Copyright:** Used when creating original work **.exe:** A file extension found in Windows for an executable file **Firmware:** Software that's permanently stored on a computer component **GIT:** A version control system that helps keep track of changes made to files and directories **Interpreted programming language:** A language that isn't compiled ahead of time **Programming:** Coding in a programming language **Programming language:** Special languages that software developers use to write instructions for computers to execute **Script:** It is run by an interpreter, which interprets the code into CPU instructions just in time to run them **Scripting:** Coding in a scripting language **Software:** The intangible instructions that tell the hardware what to do **Software bug:** An error in software that causes unexpected results **Software management:** A broad term used to refer to any and all kinds of software that are designed to manage or help manage some sort of project or task **System software:** Software used to keep our core system running, like operating system tools and utilities ### **Terms and their definitions from previous weeks** A **Abstraction:** To take a relatively complex system and simplify it for our use **Address bus:** Connects the CPU to the MCC and sends over the location of the data, but not the data itself **Algorithm:** A series of steps that solves specific problems **Android**: A mobile operating system based on Linux **Application:** A computer program designed for a specific use **ARPANET:** The earliest version of the Internet that we see today, created by the US government project DARPA in the 1960s **ASCII:** The oldest character encoding standard used is ASCII. It represents the English alphabet, digits, and punctuation marks **ATA:** The most common interface that hard drives use to connect to our system **ATX (Advanced Technology eXtended):** The most common form factor for motherboards B **Backward compatible:** It means older hardware works with newer hardware **Binary system:** The communication that a computer uses is referred to as binary system, also known as base-2 numeral system **BIOS (Basic Input Output Services):** The BIOS is software that helps initialize the hardware in our computer and gets our operating system up and running **BIOS/UEFI:** A low-level software that initializes our computer's hardware to make sure everything is good to go **Block storage:** It improves faster handling of data because the data isn't stored in one long piece but in blocks, so it can be accessed more quickly **Boot:** To start up a computer **Bootloader:** A small program that loads the operating system **BYOD (Bring Your Own Device):** Refers to the practice of allowing people to use their own personal devices for work **Byte:** A group of 8 bits C **Cache:** The assigned stored location for recently or frequently accessed data; on a mobile app it is where anything that was changed or created with that app is stored **Character encoding:** Is used to assign our binary values to characters so that we as humans can read them **Charge cycle:** One full charge and discharge of a battery **Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA):** Regulates the information we show to children under the age of 13 **Chrome OS:** A Linux-based operating system designed by Google **Clients:** A device that receives data from a server **Computer:** A device that stores and processes data by performing calculations **Chipset:** It decides how components talk to each other on our machine **Clock cycle:** When you send a voltage to the clock wire **Clock speed:** The maximum number of clock cycles that it can handle in a set in a certain time period **Clock wire:** When you send or receive data, it sends a voltage to that clock wire to let the CPU know it can start doing calculations **Command Line Interface (CLI):** A shell that uses text commands to interact with the operating system **Computer file:** Data that we store and a file can be anything, a word document, a picture, a song, literally anything **CPU:** Central processing unit **CPU sockets:** A CPU socket is a series of pins that connect a CPU’s processor to the PC’s motherboard **Cryptography:** The overarching discipline that covers the practice of coding and hiding messages from third parties D **DARPA:** A US government project in the 1960s that went on to create the earliest version of the Internet that we see today **Data blocks:** Data that can be broken down into many pieces and written to different parts of the hard disk **Data sizes:** Metrics that refer to data sizes including bit, byte, kilobyte, kibibyte, and megabyte **DDR SDRAM (Double Data Rate SDRAM):** A type of RAM that is faster, takes up less power, and has a larger capacity than earlier SDRAM versions **Decimal form- base 10 system:** In the decimal system, there are 10 possible numbers you can use ranging from zero to nine **Desktop:** The main screen where we can navigate our files, folders, and applications **Digital divide:** The growing skills gap between people with and without digital literacy skills **DIMM:** Dual Inline Memory Module **Display port:** Port which also outputs audio and video **Distributions:** Some common Linux distributions are Ubuntu, Debian, and Red Hat **Domain name:** A website name; the part of the URL following www. **Domain Name System (DNS):** A global and highly distributed network service that resolves strings of letters, such as a website name, into an IP address **DRAM:** Dynamic Random Access Memory **Drivers:** The drivers contain the instructions our CPU needs to understand external devices like keyboards, webcams, printers **DVI:** DVI cables generally just output video E **Electrostatic discharge:** Electrostatic discharge is a sudden and momentary flow of electric current between two electrically charged objects caused by contact, an electrical short or dielectric breakdown **Etcher.io:** A tool you can use to load an install image onto your USB device and make it bootable **Ethernet cable:** It lets you physically connect to the network through a cable **External Data Bus (EDB):** It's a row of wires that interconnect the parts of our computer F **Factory reset:** Resetting a device to the settings it came with from the factory **Fiber optic cable:** Fiber optic cables contain individual optical fibers which are tiny tubes made of glass about the width of a human hair. Unlike copper, which uses electrical voltages, fiber cables use pulses of light to represent the ones and zeros of the underlying data **File extension:** The appended part of a filename that tells us what type of file it is in certain operating systems **File handling:** A process of storing data using a program **File system:** A system used to manage files **Finder:** The file manager for all Macs **Folders/Directories:** Used to organize files **Form factor:** A mathematical way to compensate for irregularities in the shape of an object by using a ratio between its volume and height G **Globalization:** The movement that lets governments, businesses, and organizations communicate and integrate together on an international scale H **Hard drive:** It is a long term memory component that holds all of our data, which can include music, pictures, applications **Hardware:** External or internal devices and equipment that help you perform major functions **Hardware resource deficiency:** It refers to the lack of system resources like memory, hard drive space, et cetera **HDD (Hard disk drive):** Hard disk drives, or HDDs, use a spinning platter and a mechanical arm to read and write information **HDMI:** A type of cable that outputs both video and audio **Heatsink:** It is used to dissipate heat from our CPU **HFS+/APFS:** HFS+ is a journaling system developed by Apple Inc. and APFS is another but more encrypted Apple journaling system **Hostname:** Used to identify the computer when it needs to talk to other computers **Hubs:** Devices that serve as a central location through which data travels through I **Information technology**: The use of digital technology, like computers and the internet, to store and process data into useful information **Input/Output device:** A device that performs input and output, including monitors, keyboards, mice, hard disk drives, speakers, bluetooth headsets, webcams, and network adapters **Install image:** A downloadable operating system image used to install an operating system on a device **Instruction set:** A list of instructions that our CPU is able to run **Internet:** A worldwide system of interconnected networks **Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN):** Where website names are registered **Internet of Things (IoT):** The concept that more and more devices are connected to the internet in a smarter fashion such as smart thermostats that turn off the air conditioner when you leave and turn it on when you come back **Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4):** An address that consists of 32 bits separated into four groups **Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6):** An address that consist of a 128 bits, four times the amount that IPv4 uses **Internet service provider (ISP)**: A company that provides a consumer an internet connection **I/O management:** Anything that can give us input or that we can use for output of data **iOS:** A mobile operating system developed by Apple Inc. **IP address:** The most common protocol used in the network layer, used to helps us route information **ITX (Information Technology eXtended):** A form factor for motherboards that is much smaller than ATX boards K **Kernel:** The main core of an operating system that creates processes, efficiently schedules them, and manages how processes are terminated L **Land Grid Array (LGA):** It is a type of CPU socket that stick out of the motherboard **Lightning adaptor:** One of the standard power, data and display connector types used in mobile devices **Linux OS:** Linux is one of the largest an open source operating system used heavily in business infrastructure and in the consumer space **Logic gates:** Allow transistors to do more complex tasks, like decide where to send electrical signals depending on logical conditions **Logs:** Files that record system events on our computer M **MAC address:** A globally unique identifier attached to an individual network interface. It's a 48-bit number normally represented by six groupings of two hexadecimal numbers **Mac OS:** Apple's operating system **Mb/s:** megabit per second, which is a unit of data transfer rate **Memory controller chip (MCC):** A bridge between the CPU and the RAM **Memory management:** One of the functions that a kernel performs; it optimizes memory usage and make sure our applications have enough memory to run **Metadata:** Tells us everything we need to know about a file, including who created it, when it was last modified, who has access to it, and what type of file it is **Micro display port:** One of the standard power, data and display connector types used in mobile devices **Microsoft Terminal Services Client:** A client program used to create RDP connections to remote computers **Micro HDMI:** One of the standard power, data and display connector types used in mobile devices **Micro USB:** One of the standard power, data and display connector types used in mobile devices **Mini HDMI:** One of the standard power, data and display connector types used in mobile devices **Mini USB:** One of the standard power, data and display connector types used in mobile devices **Motherboard:** The body or circulatory system of the computer that connects all the pieces together N **Network:** The interconnection of computers **Network Address Translation (NAT):** A mitigation tool that lets organizations use one public IP address and many private IP addresses within the network **Networking:** Managing, building and designing networks **Networking protocols:** A set of rules for how we transfer data in a network **Network stack:** A set of hardware or software that provides the infrastructure for a computer **Northbridge:** interconnects stuff like RAM and video cards O **Open SSH:** The most popular program to use SSH within Linux **Open source:** This means the developers will let other developers share, modify, and distribute their software for free **Operating system:** The whole package that manages our computers resources and lets us interact with it **Overclocking:** it increases the rate of your CPU clock cycles in order to perform more tasks P **PC:** Personal computer, which technically means a computer that one person uses **PCI Express:** Peripheral Component Interconnect Express **PDA (Personal Digital Assistant):** Allows computing to go mobile **Peripherals:** the external devices which we connect to our computer that add functionality, like: a mouse, a keyboard, and a monitor **Pin Grid Array (PGA):** CPU socket where the pins are located on the processor itself **Plink (PuTTY Link):** A tool built into the command line after PuTTY is installed that is used to make remote SSH connections **Ports:** Connection points that we can connect devices to that extend the functionality of our computer **POST (Power On Self Test):** It figures out what hardware is on the computer **Powershell:** A shell (program that interprets text commands) for Windows **Power supply:** Converts electricity from our wall outlet onto a format that our computer can use **Power user:** Above average computer users **Process management:** The capacity to manage the many programs in a system - when to run them, the order they run in, how many resources they take up, how long they run, etc. **Programs:** Basic instructions that tell the computer what to do **Punch cards:** A sequence of cards with holes in them to automatically perform calculations instead of manually entering them by hand Q **Qwiklabs:** An online platform which provides training in cloud services R **RAM:** Random Access Memory **Registers:** An accessible location for storing the data that our CPU works with **Reimaging:** The process of reimaging involves wiping and reinstalling an operating system using a disk image which is a copy of an operating system **Remote connection:** The ability to connect an authorized person to a computer or network remotely; allows us to manage multiple machines from anywhere in the world **Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP)**: A secure network communication protocol developed by Microsoft that allows a user to connect to another device remotely **Return merchandise authorization (RMA):** The process of receiving returned merchandise and authorizing a refund **RGB model:** RGB or red, green, and blue model is the basic model of representing colors **ROM chip (Read Only Memory):** A read-only memory chip where the BIOS is stored **Router:** A device that knows how to forward data between independent networks **RPM:** Revolutions per minute S **Safe operating temperature:** The temperature range in which rechargeable batteries must be kept in order to avoid demanage **SATA:** The most popular serial ATA drive, which uses one cable for data transfers **Scalability:** The measure of a system’s ability to increase or decrease in performance and cost in response to varying loads in system processing demands **SDRAM:** It stands for Synchronous DRAM, this type of RAM is synchronized to our systems' clock speed allowing quicker processing of data **Server logs:** Text files that contains recorded information about activities performed on a specific web server in a defined period of time **Servers:** Devices that provide data to other devices that request that data, also known as a client **Shell:** A program that interprets text commands and sends them to the OS to execute **SOC (System On a Chip):** Packs the CPU, Ram, and sometimes even the storage onto a single chip **Southbridge:** It maintains our IO or input/output controllers, like hard drives and USB devices that input and output data **SSD:** Solid State Drive **SSH (Secure shell):** A protocol implemented by other programs to securely access one computer from another. **SSH authentication key:** A secure authentication method for accessing a computer from other device **SSH client:** A program you must have installed on your device in order to establish an SSH connection with another device **SSH server:** Software installed on a machine that allows for that device to accept an SSH connection **Standardization:** A systematic way of naming hosts **Standoffs:** Used to raise and attach your motherboard to the case **Swap space:** The allocated space where the virtual memory is stored on the hard drive when the amount of physical memory space is used up or full **Switches:** Devices that help our data travel **System:** A group of hardware components and software components that work together to fun the programs or processes in the computer **System settings:** Settings like display resolution, user accounts, network, devices, etc. T **Task bar:** It gives us quick options and shows us information like network connectivity, the date, system notifications, sound etc **Terminal:** A text based interface to the computer **Thermal paste:** A substance used to better connect our CPU and heat sink, so the heat transfers from to the other better **Time slice:** A very short interval of time that gets allocated to a process for CPU execution **Transfer Control Protocol (TCP):** A protocol that handles reliable delivery of information from one network to another **Type-C connector:** A type of USB connector meant to replace many peripheral connections U **Ubuntu:** The most popular Linux consumer distribution **UEFI:** United Extensible Firmware Interface **Uniform Resource Locator (URL):** A web address similar to a home address **USB (Universal Serial Bus):** A connection standard for connecting peripherals to devices such as computers **USB-C adapter:** One of the standard power, data and display connector types used in mobile devices **User name:** A unique identifier for a user account **User space:** The aspect of an operating system that humans interact with directly like programs, such as text editors, music players, system settings, user interfaces, etc. **UTF-8:** The most prevalent encoding standard used today V **Virtual Box:** An application you can use to install Linux and have it completely isolated from your machine **Virtual machine (VM):** An application that uses physical resources like memory, CPU and storage, but they offer the added benefit of running multiple operating systems at once **Virtual memory:** A combination of hard drive space and RAM that acts like memory which our processes can use **VPN (Virtual private network)**: A secure method of connecting a device to a private network over the internet W **WannaCry Attack:** A cyber attack that started in Europe and infected hundreds of thousands of computers across the world **Wireless networking (Wi-Fi):** Networks you connect to through radios and antennas **World Wide Web (WWW):** The information system that enables documents and other web resources to be accessed over the Internet