122 - Glossary
DIMM
Dual-in-line memory module.
Disk
A spinning platter of magnetic data storage media. If the platter is very stiff it is a hard drive, if it is
highly flexible it is a floppy disk, if it is a floppy disk in a hard housing with a shutter it is commonly
called a diskette.
Disk Drive
The hardware which spins the disk and has the heads and control circuitry for reading and writing the
data on the disk.
Diskette
A floppy disk in a hard housing with a shutter.
DMA
Direct Memory Access. Special circuitry for memory to memory transfers of data which do not require
CPU action.
DMI
Desktop Management Interface. A standard that provides PC management applications with a
common method of locally or remotely querying and configuring PC computer systems, hardware and
software components, and peripherals.
DNS
Domain Name System. A function to control the association between the IP address and the name
assigned to the computer. If you do not know the IP address but if you know the computer name, you
can still communicate to that computer.
