Reference Guide

90 Glossary
baud rate
A measurement of data transmission speed.
For example, modems are designed to transmit data at
one or more specified baud rate(s) through the COM
(serial) port of a system.
beep code
A diagnostic message in the form of a pattern of beeps
from your system's speaker. For example, one beep,
followed by a second beep, and then a burst of three
beeps is beep code 1-1-3.
BGA
Abbreviation for ball grid array, an integrated circuit
(IC) package that uses an array of solder balls, instead
of pins, to connect to a system board.
binary
A base-2 numbering system that uses 0 and 1 to
represent information. The system performs
operations based on the ordering and calculation of
these numbers.
BIOS
Acronym for basic input/output system. Your system's
BIOS contains programs stored on a flash memory chip.
The BIOS controls the following:
• Communications between the microprocessor and
peripheral devices, such as the keyboard and the
video adapter
• Miscellaneous functions, such as system messages
bit
The smallest unit of information interpreted by
your system.
BMC
Abbreviation for baseboard management controller,
which is a controller that provides the intelligence in
the IPMI structure.
boot routine
When you start your system, it clears all memory,
initializes devices, and loads the operating system.
Unless the operating system fails to respond, you can
reboot (also called warm boot) your system by pressing
<Ctrl><Alt><Del>; otherwise, you must perform a
cold boot by pressing the reset button or by turning the
system off and then back on.
bootable diskette
You can start your system from a diskette. To make a
bootable diskette, insert a diskette in the diskette drive,
type
sys a: at the command line prompt, and press
<Enter>. Use this bootable diskette if your system will
not boot from the hard drive.
bpi
Abbreviation for bits per inch.
bps
Abbreviation for bits per second.
BTU
Abbreviation for British thermal unit.
bus
An information pathway between the components of a
system. Your system contains an expansion bus that
allows the microprocessor to communicate with
controllers for all the various peripheral devices
connected to the system. Your system also contains an
address bus and a data bus for communications
between the microprocessor and RAM.
byte
Eight contiguous bits of information, the basic data
unit used by your system.
C
Abbreviation for Celsius.
CA
Abbreviation for certification authority.