Reference Guide

682 Glossary
PME
Abbreviation for Power Management Event. A PME is
a pin on a peripheral component interconnect that
allows a PCI device to assert a wake event.
POST
Acronym for power-on self-test. Before the operating
system loads when you turn on your computer, the
POST tests various system components such as RAM,
the disk drives, and the keyboard.
power supply
An electrical system that converts AC current from the
wall outlet into the DC currents required by the computer
circuitry. The power supply in a personal computer
typically generates multiple voltages.
power unit
A set of power supplies in a system chassis.
ppm
Abbreviation for pages per minute.
PQFP
Abbreviation for plastic quad flat pack, a type of
microprocessor socket in which the microprocessor
chip is permanently mounted.
protected mode
An operating mode supported by 80286 or higher
microprocessors, protected mode allows operating
systems to implement:
• A memory address space of 16 MB (80286
microprocessor) to 4 GB (Intel386 or higher
microprocessor)
• Multitasking
• Virtual memory, a method for increasing addressable
memory by using the hard drive
Windows, OS/2, and UNIX
®
32-bit operating systems run
in protected mode.
provider
A provider is an extension of a CIM schema that
communicates with managed objects and accesses data
and event notifications from a variety of sources.
Providers forward this information to the CIM Object
Manager for integration and interpretation.
PS/2
Abbreviation for Personal System/2.
PXE
Abbreviation for Pre-boot eXecution Environment.
QFP
Acronym for quad flat pack.
RAID
Acronym for redundant array of independent drives.
RAM
Acronym for random-access memory. The computer’s
primary temporary storage area for program instructions
and data. Each location in RAM is identified by a
number called a
memory address . Any information stored
in RAM is lost when you turn off your computer.
RAMBUS
Acronym for Rambus DRAM, a type of memory
(DRAM) developed by Rambus, Inc.
RAMDAC
Acronym for random-access memory digital-to-analog
converter.
RAW
Unprocessed. The term refers to data that is passed
along to an I/O device without being interpreted. In
contrast,
cooked refers to data that is processed before
being passed to the I/O device.
It often refers to uncompressed text that is not stored
in any proprietary format. The term comes from UNIX,
which supports cooked and raw modes for data output
to a terminal.