Glossary-1
Glossary
AC input box
Receives single or three-phase AC power and outputs that to the power regulators.
The system circuit breaker and a Dranetz port are on the AC input box. See also
Power.
Address space
See Physical address space and Virtual address space.
AlphaBIOS
The firmware subsystem that provides facilities for setup and maintenance of
Windows NT systems.
Alpha primary boot program
The Alpha primary boot program (APB.EXE) that boots OpenVMS. APB is the
primary bootstrap program and is stored on the boot device.
Asymmetric multiprocessing
A multiprocessing configuration in which the processors are not equal in their
ability to execute operating system code. In general, a single processor is
designated as the primary, or master, processor; other processors are the slaves.
The slave processors are limited to performing certain tasks, whereas the master
processor can perform all system tasks. Contrast with Symmetric multiprocessing.
Bandwidth
The data transfer rate measured in information units transferred per unit of time
(for example, Mbytes per second).
Battery backup
Provides power to the entire system cabinet (or to an expander cabinet) in the
event of a power failure. An AlphaServer 8400 system with three-phase power
can maintain power for approximately 11 minutes and an AlphaServer 8200
system for 3 to 4 minutes.
Boot device
A storage device that holds the software that carries out the system bootstrap
process.
Boot processor
The CPU module that boots the operating system and communicates with the
console; also known as the primary processor.
