AC

Alternating Current

ACPI

Advanced Configuration and Power Interface

ACT

Activity

(Activity Lights - Amber, Green, Red)

ADSL

Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line

AGP

Advanced Graphics Port 

AMD 

Advanced Micro Devices 

AMR 

Audio Modem Riser

APIPA

Automatic Private Internet Protocol Addressing 

APM

Advanced Power Management 

ARP 

Address Resolution Protocol 

ASR 

Automatic System Recovery 

AT 

Advanced Technology 

ATA 

Advanced Technology Attachment 

ATAPI 

ATA Packet Interface

ATM 

Asynchronous Transfer Mode 

ATX 

Advanced Technology Extended 

BIOS 

Basic Input/Output System 

BNC 

British Navel Connector 

BRI 

Basic Rate Interface 

BTX 

Balanced Technology Extended 

CCD 

Charged Couple Device 

CD 

Compact Disc

CD-ROM 

Compact Disc Read Only Memory

CD RW 

Compact Disc Re-writeable

CDFS

Compact Disc File System

CMOS

Complimentary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor 

CNR 

Communication Network Riser 

COM1 

Communication port 1 

CPU 

Central Processing Unit 

CRIMM 

Continuity Rambus Inline Memory Module 

CRT 

Cathode Ray Tube 

DAC 

Discretionary Access Control 

DB-25 

Serial Communications D-shell 

25 pin

DB-9 

D-shell connector 9-pin  

DC 

Direct Current 

DDoS

Distributed Denial of Service 

DDR 

Double Data Rate 

DDR RAM 

Double Data Rate Random Access Memory 

 DDR SDRAM

Double Data Rate Synchronous Dynamic RAM

DFS

Distributed File System 

DHCP

Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol 

DIMM 

Dual Inline Memory Module 

DIN

Deutsche Industrie Norm 

DIP

Dual Inline Package 

DLT 

Digital Linear Tape 

DMA 

Direct Memory Access 

DNS 

Domain Name Service or Domain Name Server 

DOS 

Disk Operating System or Denial of Service 

DPMS 

Display Power Management Signaling 

DRAM 

Dynamic Random Access Memory 

DSL

Digital Subscriber Line 

DVD 

Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc 

DVD-RAM 

Digital Video Disc Random Access Memory 

DVD-ROM 

Digital Video Disc Read Only Memory

DVD-R 

Digital Video Disc Recordable 

DVD-RW 

Digital Video Disc Re-writable

DVI 

Digital Visual Interface 

ECC 

Error Correction Code 

ECP 

Extended Capabilities Port 

EEPROM 

Electrically Erasable Programmable

Read-only Memory

EFS 

Encrypting File System 

EIDE 

Enhanced Integrated Drive Electronics 

EISA 

Extended Industry Standard Architecture 

EMI 

Electromagnetic Interference 

EMP 

Electromagnetic Pulse 

 EPROM

Erasable Programmable Read-only Memory 

EPP 

Enhanced Parallel Port 

ERD 

Emergency Repair Disk 

ESD 

Electrostatic Discharge 

ESDI 

Enhanced Small Device Interface 

EVGA

Extended Video Graphics Adapter/Array

EVDO

Evolution Data Optimized or

Evolution Data Only 

FAT 

File Allocation Table 

FAT12

12-bit File Allocation Table

FAT16 

16-bit File Allocation Table

FAT32 

32-bit File Allocation Table

FDD 

Floppy Disk Drive 

FERPA 

Family Education Rights & Privacy Act 

Fn 

Function (Function Key) 

FPM 

Fast Page Mode 

FQDN 

Fully Qualified Domain Name 

GB 

Gigabyte 

GDI 

Graphics Device Interface 

GHz 

Gigahertz 

GUI 

Graphical User Interface 

GPRS 

General Packet Radio System 

GSM 

Global Systems for Mobile Communications 

HAL 

Hardware Abstraction Layer 

HCL 

Hardware Compatibility List 

HDD 

Hard Disk Drive 

HDMi

High Definition Media Interface 

HPFS 

High Performance File System 

HTML 

Hypertext Markup Language 

HTTP 

Hypertext Transfer Protocol 

HTTPS 

Hypertext Transfer Protocol over

Secure Sockets Layer 

I/O 

Input/Output 

ICMP 

Internet Control Message Protocol 

ICS 

Internet Connection Sharing 

ICR 

Intelligent Character Recognition 

IDE 

Integrated Drive Electronics 

IEEE 

Institute of Electrical & Electronics Engineers 

IIS 

Integrated Information Services 

IMAP 

Internet Mail Access Protocol 

IP 

Internet Protocol 

IPCONFIG 

Internet Protocol Configuration 

IPP 

Internet Printing Protocol 

IPSEC 

Internet Protocol Security 

IPX 

Internetwork Packet Exchange 

IPX/SPX 

Internetwork Packet Exchange

Sequenced Packet Exchange 

Infrared

IrDA

Infrared Data Association 

IRQ

Interrupt Request 

ISA

Industry Standard Architecture 

ISDN 

Integrated Services Digital Network 

ISO 

Industry Standards Organization 

ISP 

Internet Service Provider 

KB 

Kilobyte 

LAN 

Local Area Network 

LBA 

Logical Block Addressing 

LC 

Lucent Connector 

LCD 

Liquid Crystal Display 

LDAP 

Lightweight Directory Access Protocol 

LED 

Light Emitting Diode 

LIP or LiPoly 

Lithium-ion Polymer 

Li-on 

Lithium Ion

LPD/LPR 

Line Printer Daemon/

Line Printer Remote 

LPT 

Line Printer Terminal 

LPT1 

Line Printer Terminal 1 

LPX 

Low Profile Extended 

LVD 

Low Voltage Differential 

MAC 

Media Access Control 

MAN 

Metropolitan Area Network 

MAPI 

Messaging Application Programming Interface 

Mb 

Megabit 

MB 

Megabyte 

MBR 

Master Boot Record 

MBSA 

Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer 

MCR 

Multi-variant Curve Resolution 

MFD 

Multifunction Device 

MFP 

Multifunction Product 

MHz 

Megahertz 

MicroDIMM 

Micro Dual Inline Memory Module 

MIDI 

Musical Instrument Digital Interface 

MIME 

Multipurpose Internet Mail Extension 

MLI 

Multiple Link Interface 

MMC 

Microsoft Management Console 

MMX 

Multi-media Extensions 

MP3 

Moving Picture Experts Group

Layer 3 Audio 

MPEG 

Moving Picture Experts Group 

MSCONFIG 

Microsoft Configuration 

MSDS 

Material Safety Data Sheet 

MUI 

Multilingual User Interface 

NAS 

Network-Attached Storage 

NAT 

Network Address Translation 

NetBIOS 

Networked Basic Input/Output System 

NetBEUI 

Networked Basic Input/Output Extended User Interface

NFS 

Network File System 

NIC 

Network Interface Card 

NiCd 

Nickel Cadmium 

NiMH 

Nickel Metal Hydride 

NLI 

Not Logged In

or Natural Language Interface 

NLX 

New Low-Profile Extended 

NNTP 

Network News Transfer Protocol 

NTFS 

New Technology File System 

NTLDR 

New Technology Loader 

NWLINK 

Netware Link 

OCR 

Optical Character Recognition 

OEM 

Original Equipment Manufacturer 

OMR 

Optical Mark Recognition 

OS 

Operating System 

OSR 

Original Equipment Manufacturer

Service Release 

PAN 

Personal Area Network 

PATA 

Parallel Advanced Technology Attachment 

PC 

Personal Computer 

PCI 

Peripheral Component Interconnect 

PCIe 

Peripheral Component Interconnect Express 

PCIX

Peripheral Component Interconnect Extended 

PCL 

Printer Control Language 

PCMCIA

Personal Computer Memory Card International Association 

PDA 

Personal Digital Assistant

PGA 

Pin Grid Array

PGA2 

Pin Grid Array 2

PIN 

Personal Identification Number

PKI 

Public Key Infrastructure

PnP 

Plug and Play

POP 

Post Office Protocol

POP3

Post Office Protocol 3 

POST 

Power On Self Test

POTS 

Plain Old Telephone Service

PPP 

Point-to-Point Protocol

PPTP

Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol

PRI

Primary Rate Interface

PROM 

Programmable Read-only Memory

PS/2 

Personal System/2 Connector

PSTN 

Public Switched Telephone Network

PVC 

Permanent Virtual Circuit

PXE 

Pre-boot Execution Environment

QoS 

Quality of Service

RAID 

Redundant Array of Independent

(or inexpensive) Discs

RAM 

Random Access Memory

RAS 

Remote Access Service

RBAC 

Rule-based Access Control

RDRAM 

RAMBUS Dynamic Access Memory

RF 

Radio Frequency

RFI 

Radio Frequency Interference

RGB 

Red Green Blue 

RIMM 

RAMBUS Inline Memory Module

RIP 

Routing Information Protocol

RIS 

Remote Installation Service

RISC 

Reduced Instruction Set Computer

RJ 

Registered Jack

RJ-11 

Registered Jack Function 11

RJ-45 

Registered Jack Function 45

RMA 

Returned Materials Authorization

ROM

Read Only Memory

RS-232 

Recommended Standard 232

 RTC

Real-time Clock

SAN 

Storage Area Network

SATA 

Serial Advanced Technology Attachment

SC 

Subscription Channel

SCSI 

Small Computer System Interface

SCSI ID 

Small Computer System Interface Identifier

SD Card 

Secure Digital Card 

SDRAM 

Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory

SEC 

Single Edge Connector

SFC 

System File Checker

SGRAM 

Synchronous Graphics Random Access Memory

SIMM 

Single Inline Memory Module

SLI 

Scalable Link Interface

SMB 

Server Message Block 

SMTP 

Simple Mail Transport Protocol 

SNMP 

Simple Network Management Protocol

SoDIMM 

Small Outline Dual Inline Memory Module

SOHO 

Small Office/Home Office

SP 

Service Pack

SP1 

Service Pack 1

SP2 

Service Pack 2

SPDIF 

Sony-Phillips Digital Interface Format

SPGA 

Staggered Pin Grid Array

SPX 

Sequenced Package Exchange

SRAM 

Static Random Access Memory

SSH 

Secure Shell 

SSID 

Service Set Identifier

SSL 

Secure Socket Layer

ST 

Straight Tip

STP 

Shielded Twist Pair

SVGA 

Super Video Graphics Array

SXGA 

Super Extended Graphics Array

TB