General
General Computing Terminology
Living in the "computer age," we are encountering more and more computing terminology everyday. Whether it is through the media or just through regular conversations, you have probably realized by now that computing terminology has entered into our everyday vocabulary. In a non-technical manner, this document will help you understand some basic computer terms.
NOTE: The terms in this document are defined within a campus context. Therefore, many definitions will not apply to your home computer setup or any other non-campus situation.
Backup/Restore: A backup is somewhat misleading in that it only makes a copy of all pertinent information on your computer. Pertinent refers to anything that you or your co-workers have created using your computers. Things like documents, spreadsheets, programs, artwork or graphics. The programs like Microsoft Office or Windows XP are all part of the “Base” load and can be reloaded from scratch without losing any information. Restore is also a bit misleading. When we restore a PC what we are doing is putting back all the stuff that was not on the original load (i.e., when it came out of the box). We attempt to put it back as close as we can to what you are used to.
Computer, PC, CPU, Work Station: This is the large, usually black or beige, box that sits on the floor under or near your desk. This unit will generally have some lights on it that indicate if it is turned on or not.
Hard Drive: Contrary to popular belief, this piece of hardware goes inside of your computer; it is not the computer itself. The hard drive is a mechanical device where all of your programs are stored, as well as the OS or Operating System.
Memory/RAM: This is often confused with the hard drive as they are both referenced by their size in megabytes, or gigabytes, and are both a type of storage. This type of memory helps speed up the activity of your computer by allowing programs to store certain things there temporarily. It is electronic (not mechanical like the hard drive) and is somewhat volatile. Unlike the hard drive, this type of memory is usually erased when you power off your computer.
Monitor, Display, CRT, LCD: This is the TV looking thing on your desk. This can be either a CRT (cathode-ray tube) or an LCD (liquid crystal display). The CRT is the older style that is usually as deep as it is tall and takes up a lot of your desk. An LCD is the sleeker looking thin type that takes up considerably less desktop space.
Network card/cable: This little unit is what allows you to access the Internet. It is also what lets your PC communicate with other computers and computer equipment here on campus. The cable is how we plug into that world. Some computers (especially laptops) are “wireless." All this really means is that they do not need a physical connection (cable) to the network. It works on the same principle as your AM/FM radio.
Network: A network consists of two or more computers that are linked in order to share resources.
Operating System/OS: This is the most important program on your computer. It monitors your computer's resources and acts as a platform that other programs can run on. Most campus computers are currently using Windows XP. The Macintosh computers on campus are currently using Mac OS X.
Printer: There are two different types of printers, a network printer and a local printer. Many of you have a personal printer connected to your computer, meaning that there is a cable running from the printer to your computer. This is what is called a “local” printer. Almost all users have a printer connected to their computers, and the majority of them are “network printers." A network printer is not physically attached to your PC but rather it is connected via a network cable attached to the printer at one end and a jack in the wall at the other. It is a network resource that anyone can print to if they are part of your network.
Server: You can think of a server as a very large filing cabinet. Even though a server is filled with many hard drives divided up many different ways serving many different purposes, their basic function is storage. It is on these units that your “H, S, & W” drives reside. This is where your “network shares” are, and you access them through the network. The most important reason for having a server is BACKUP. Having everything in one place on one machine makes backing up much more efficient, and retrieving accidentally removed items far easier. If we left each computer to store all of your documentation within itself, we would have to run around and backup all of your workstations every day. There are over 1000 computers on campus. Can you imagine how well that would work?
Shares/share drive: You are used to seeing this as any one of the following: S-drive, H-drive, W-drive and so on. In general it is your “H” drive where all of your documentation (and favorites) are stored even though you did not direct them there. All of these drives are not physically on your computer but rather on the “network”. They physically reside on one of many servers.
