Glossary
Glossary - 7
mass storage device
An input/output device on which data is stored. Typical mass storage devices include
disks, magnetic tapes, and CD-ROM.
MAU
Medium attachment unit. On an Ethernet LAN, a device that converts the encoded data
signals from various cabling media (for example, fiber optic, coaxial, or ThinWire) to
permit connection to a networking station.
memory interleaving
The process of assigning consecutive physical memory addresses across multiple memory
controllers. Improves total memory bandwidth by overlapping system bus command
execution across two or four memory modules.
menu interface
One of two interfaces in the AlphaServer operator interface. The menu interface allows
users to boot and configure the Windows NT operating system by selecting choices from a
simple menu. The EISA Configuration Utility is also run from the menu interface.
MOP
Maintenance Operations Protocol. A transport protocol for network bootstraps and other
network operations.
NFS
Network File System protocol that allows a user to remotely access a host file system as if
it were the user's local file system.
node
A device that has an address on, is connected to, and is able to communicate with other
devices on a bus. Also, an individual computer system connected to the network that can
communicate with other systems on the network.
NTFS
Windows NT file system, a high-performance file system.
NVRAM
Nonvolatile random-access memory. Memory that retains its information in the absence
of power.
