31
Host Bus Adapter (HBA) –
A printed circuit board that installs in a standard
microcomputer and an interface between the device controller and the
computer. Also called a controller.
Hot-plug, -gable –
The ability to plug in a cable or connector while the
computer and peripheral are powered-on without danger of system errors.
Both FireWire and USB interfaces are hot-pluggable, while SCSI is not.
Hub-
A device which links several peripherals together onto the same bus.
Active hubs, which regenerate and retransmit signals down the cable, require
a power supply. Passive hubs only interconnect various components.
Initialize, -ed, Initialization –
After a hard drive (or other storage device)
is formatted and partitioned, some special data needs to be written to it that
helps the Mac and Windows create files and save data. The process is called
initialization. This process, like formatting, causes all user data on the storage
device to be lost.
Integrated Drive Electronics (IDE)
– The standard electronic interface
used between a computer motherboard's data paths, or bus, and the
computer's disk storage devices. The IDE interface is based on the IBM PC
Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) 16-bit bus standard, but it is also used in
computers that use other bus standards. Most computers sold today use an
enhanced version of IDE called Enhanced Integrated Drive Electronics (EIDE).
In today's computers, the IDE controller is often built into the motherboard.
IDE was adopted as a standard by American National Standards Institute
(ANSI) in November, 1990. The ANSI name for IDE is Advanced Technology
Attachment (ATA).
Interface –
The protocol data transmitters, data receivers, logic and wiring
that link one piece of computer equipment to another, such as a hard drive to
an adapter or an adapter to a system bus. Protocol means a set of rules for
operating the physical interface, such as: do not read or write before the drive
is ready.
I/O (Input/Output) –
Refers to an operation, program or device whose
purpose is to enter data into or to extract data from a computer.
Kb (Kilobit) –
Equivalent to 1,000 bits.
Kb/s –
Kilobits per second. 480Kb/s is equal to 60KB/s.
KB (Kilobyte) –
Basically, this means 1,000 bytes, but it is actually 1,024
bytes.
