Exabyte VXA-2, Product Manual, Page: 81 / 90

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LOSSARY
Adaptive Lossless Data Compression (ALDC) An advanced data compression
algorithm that provides an average compression ratio of 2:1 across multiple
data types. See also Compression.
Advanced Metal Evaporated (AME) media A state-of-the-art tape technology
designed for data storage. VXAtape cartridges use AME media.
American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Organization that sets
standards for SCSI and the safety of electrical devices.
ATA bus The ATA bus, also known as the IDE bus, was designed as a
communication interface for hard disk drives. ATA is short for AT-attached,
referring to the original IBM AT computer. The signals on the 40-pin ATA
ribbon cable follow the timings and constraints of the ISA system bus on the
IBM PC AT. See also ATAPI.
ATAPI (ATA Packet Interface) protocol A method of passing SCSI command
descriptor blocks (CDBs) over an ATA bus. This protocol preserves the
integrity of the original IDE interface (the ATA protocol) while allowing both
ATA and ATAPI devices to be used on the same interface.
Bit error rate (BER) The probability that a transmitted bit will be received in
error. The BER is expressed as a ratio of error bits to total number of bits.
Buffer A temporary storage area, usually in Random Access Memory (RAM).
The tape drive’s read and write buffers act as holding areas that enable the
tape drive to balance the rate at which it transfers data to or from tape with the
data transfer rate of the host. The VXA-2 drive has a 2-MB buffer.
Bus In a network, the electrical pathway between a computer and other
devices.
Compression The reduction in size of data to save space. Either the backup
application or the tape drive can perform compression. See also ALDC.
Cyclic redundancy check (CRC) The error detection technique that checks
for uncorrected data during a read operation.