CIS 105 Survey of Computer Information Systems

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CIS 105

Survey of Computer Information Systems

Essential Concepts and Terminology

Study Unit Three

CIS 105 Concepts and Terminology Unit 3

File.

A named collection of data (such as a computer program, document, or graphic) that exists on a storage medium such as a hard disk, floppy disk, or CD-ROM.

CIS 105 Concepts and Terminology Unit 3

Directory.

A list of files contained on a computer storage device.

CIS 105 Concepts and Terminology Unit 3

Folders.

PC. The subdirectories that can contain files or other folders.

Macintosh. Same as directories on a PC.

CIS 105 Concepts and Terminology Unit 3

Memory.

The computer circuitry that holds data waiting to be processed.

CIS 105 Concepts and Terminology Unit 3

Storage.

The area in a computer where data is retained to be used again later.

Storage devices retain information after the device is turned off.

CIS 105 Concepts and Terminology Unit 3

Volatile Memory.

Memory contents that are erased when a computer is shut off.

CIS 105 Concepts and Terminology Unit 3

Saving.

Transfer of data to a storage device.

CIS 105 Concepts and Terminology Unit 3

Read-Write Media.

Storage disks that allow a computer to both read and store

(write) data. Examples are CD-RW and floppy disks.

CIS 105 Concepts and Terminology Unit 3

Sequential Access.

A form of data storage (such as a computer tape) that requires a device to read or write data one record after another starting at the beginning of the medium.

CIS 105 Concepts and Terminology Unit 3

Random-Access.

The ability of a storage device to go directly to a specific location rather than searching sequentially from a beginning location.

Magnetic disks are random-access storage media.

CIS 105 Concepts and Terminology Unit 3

Pits.

Microscopic indentations on optical storage media used by laser beams to read patterns of data on the surface of disks. The lightsensing reading device receives no light from a pit and returns a "0" signal.

CIS 105 Concepts and Terminology Unit 3

Land.

Flat, reflective areas on optical storage media the bounces laser light, returning a "1" signal.

CIS 105 Concepts and Terminology Unit 3

Online Storage.

Immediately available storage which does not require a user action, such as inserting media.

Typically, a hard disk is a personal computer's online storage device.

CIS 105 Concepts and Terminology Unit 3

Near-Online Storage.

Secondary storage that requires insertion of media. Storage readily made available by user action.

CIS 105 Concepts and Terminology Unit 3

Access Time.

The estimated time for a storage device to begin reading data on a disk, usually measured in milliseconds for disks and nanoseconds for RAM.

CIS 105 Concepts and Terminology Unit 3

Nanosecond.

One-billionth of a second.

CIS 105 Concepts and Terminology Unit 3

Solid State Disk.

A high-capacity storage device with rapid access time, comparable to hard disks. The device stores up to 8 GBs of data and uses batteries to provide data involatility.

CIS 105 Concepts and Terminology Unit 3

Double-Density (DD)

Floppy Disk.

A type of disk with a higher storage capacity (800 K) due to increased disk density.

CIS 105 Concepts and Terminology Unit 3

High-Density (HD) Floppy

Disk.

A disk that stores more data than a double-density disk, up to 1.44

MB.

CIS 105 Concepts and Terminology Unit 3

Write-Protect Tab.

A sliding notch on floppy disks that, when open, protect disks from being overwritten or deleted.

CIS 105 Concepts and Terminology Unit 3

Tracks.

Concentric or spiral storage areas created in series during formatting on storage medium.

CIS 105 Concepts and Terminology Unit 3

Sectors.

Pie-shaped subdivisions of tracks on storage media.

CIS 105 Concepts and Terminology Unit 3

Clusters.

Groups of sectors on a storage medium that, when accessed as a group, speed up data access.

CIS 105 Concepts and Terminology Unit 3

File Allocation Table (FAT).

A table of information recording the physical location of files on storage medium.

CIS 105 Concepts and Terminology Unit 3

Fragmentation.

Storage of a data file in noncontiguous clusters.

CIS 105 Concepts and Terminology Unit 3

Activity Light.

An indicator that illuminates while the head is reading or writing data on a disk, indicating not to press the eject button.

CIS 105 Concepts and Terminology Unit 3

Formatting.

The process of preparing a magnetic disk to store information.

The process of a disk drive's head laying down the magnetic pattern of tracks and sectors.

CIS 105 Concepts and Terminology Unit 3

Hard Disk.

One or more magnetic disk platters providing high-capacity, high-speed online storage.

CIS 105 Concepts and Terminology Unit 3

Platters.

Fixed, rapidly-rotating magnetic storage component disks of a hard disk.

CIS 105 Concepts and Terminology Unit 3

Head Crash.

A collision between the read-write head and the surface of a hard disk platter, resulting in disk damage.

CIS 105 Concepts and Terminology Unit 3

Partition.

A section of a disk established to operate as if it were a separate disk.

CIS 105 Concepts and Terminology Unit 3

Positioning Performance.

The speed at which a drive can position the read/write head to begin transferring data.

CIS 105 Concepts and Terminology Unit 3

Transfer Performance.

The speed at which a drive can transfer data.

CIS 105 Concepts and Terminology Unit 3

Spindle Speed.

The number of revolutions per second at which hard disk platters rotate.

CIS 105 Concepts and Terminology Unit 3

Hard Disk Controller.

A circuit board on the mother board, on an expansion card, or in a hard drive that acts as an interface between the CPU and the hard disk.

CIS 105 Concepts and Terminology Unit 3

Small Computer System

Interface (SCSI).

An interface standard used for attaching peripheral devices such as drives, scanners, and other peripherals. Pronounced "scuzzy."

CIS 105 Concepts and Terminology Unit 3

Disk Cache.

A type of RAM used to temporarily store information read from a disk, dramatically improving up hard disk performance.

CIS 105 Concepts and Terminology Unit 3

Archiving.

The process of moving data off a primary storage device to a longterm storage medium such as a

CD-ROM or removable magnetic medium.

CIS 105 Concepts and Terminology Unit 3

Backup.

A duplicate copy of data.

CIS 105 Concepts and Terminology Unit 3

CD-ROM.

A read-only, optical disk storage medium that uses laser technology to read data. An acronym for compact disc read-only memory.

CIS 105 Concepts and Terminology Unit 3

CD-ROM drive.

A device that uses laser technology to read data from a

CD-ROM. CD-ROM drive speed is stated in multiples of 150,000 bits per second, such as 2x or 4x.

CIS 105 Concepts and Terminology Unit 3

Multisession CDs.

A CD that allows a device to write

(burn) data during more than one session.

CIS 105 Concepts and Terminology Unit 3

CD-R.

An optical disk technology used to create CD-ROMs and audio CDs.

An acronym for compact discrecordable.

CIS 105 Concepts and Terminology Unit 3

CD-RW.

An optical disk technology that allows data to be written onto a

CD, then changed much like on a floppy or hard disk. An acronym for compact disc-rewritable.

CIS 105 Concepts and Terminology Unit 3

DVD.

An optical storage medium similar to CD-ROM, except with higher storage capacity (up to 17 GB).

The acronym for "digital video disc" or "digital versatile disc.”

DVD-ROM drives are downwardly compatible with CD-ROM.

CIS 105 Concepts and Terminology Unit 3

PC Card (PCMCIA Card).

A credit-card-sized circuit board, typically used to connect a modem, memory, network card, or storage devices to a notebook computer.

CIS 105 Concepts and Terminology Unit 3

End of Study Unit 3.

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CIS 105 Concepts and Terminology Unit 3 Created by James Q. Jacobs

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