ACRONYMS OF PARTS OF

COMPUTER SYSTEMS SERVICING

NC II

K-12 GRADE 11
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 ACRONYMS OF PARTS OF A COMPUTER SYSTEM SERVICING GRADE 11

➢ WHAT IS COMPUTER?

▪ COMPUTER - an electronic device for storing and processing data, typically in binary form, according
to instructions given to it in a variable program.

SYSTEM UNIT - Also known as a "tower" or "chassis," is the main part of a desktop
computer. The system unit also includes the case that houses the internal components of the
computer.

❖ Power supply ( PSU ) - power supply unit converts mains AC to low-

voltage regulated DC power for the internal components of a computer..

MASS STORAGE DEVICE ( MSD) - is any storage device that makes it possible to store and
port large amounts of data across computers, servers and within an IT environment. MSDs are
portable storage media that provide a storage interface that can be both internal and external to
the computer.
o A mass storage device may also be referred to as an auxiliary storage device. The term is
commonly used to describe USB mass storage devices.

OUTPUT DEVICE -is any peripheral that receives data from a computer, usually for display,
projection, or physical reproduction.

INPUT DEVICE - is a piece of computer hardware equipment used to provide data and control
signals to an information processing system such as a computer or information appliance.
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 ACRONYMS OF PARTS OF A COMPUTER SYSTEM SERVICING GRADE 11
MOBO – Motherboard. A motherboard is one of the most essential parts of
a computer system. It holds together many of the crucial components of a computer,
including the central processing unit (CPU), memory and connectors for input and output
devices.

MOBO CPU

1. CPU - Central Processing Unit of the computer. This is like the computer’s brain.
2. RAM - Random Access Memory which is the space inside the computer that can be accessed at one
time. If you increase the amount of RAM, then you will increase the computer’s speed.

ROM RAM
3. ROM - Read Only Memory which is the instruction for the computer and can not be altered.
4. BIOS - Basic Input/Output System which controls the computer, telling it what operations to perform.
These instructions are on a chip that connects to the motherboard.

BIOS CMOS BATTERY

5. CMOS BATTERY- Complimentary Metal Oxide Semiconductor A battery that maintains the time,
date, hard disk and other configuration settings in the CMOS memory. CMOS batteries are small and
are attached directly to the motherboard.
6. CACHE MEMORY Cache memory, also called CPU memory, is high-speed static random access
memory (SRAM) that a computer microprocessor can access more quickly than it can access regular
random access memory (RAM).

EXPANSION BUS
The Level 2 Cache Memory on an Old Motherboard

7. EXPANSION BUS - An expansion bus is an assortment of wires that allows for computer expansion
with the use of an expansion board, a printed circuit board inserted into an expansion slot on the
motherboard or backplane that provides additional features to a computer system.
8. CHIPSETS - a collection of integrated circuits that form the set needed to make an electronic device
such as a computer motherboard or portable telephone.

CHIPSETS NORTH & SOUTHBRIDGE

➢ A computer has got two main chipsets:
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 ACRONYMS OF PARTS OF A COMPUTER SYSTEM SERVICING GRADE 11
✓ The NORTHBRIDGE (also called the memory controller) is in charge of controlling transfers
between the processor and the RAM, which is why it is located physically near the processor. It is
sometimes called the GMCH, for Graphic and Memory Controller Hub.

✓ The SOUTHBRIDGE (also called the input/output controller or expansion controller) handles
communications between slower peripheral devices. It is also called the ICH (I/O Controller Hub).
The term "bridge" is generally used to designate a component which connects two buses.
9. CPU Clock – central processing unit clock, also called clock rate, the speed at which a
microprocessor executes instructions.

CPU CLOCK RDRAM

10. RDRAM: Rambus Dynamic Random Access Memory. A very fast, very expensive, proprietary type of
RAM manufactured by a company named Rambus.
11. ATE/ ATX- Advance Technology Extended.
12. AT - Advance Technology.
AT - ATE OR ATX

13. Memory Slot - it allows the computer memory (ram chip/stick to be inserted into the computer.
MODEM CARD

14. modem card - use for internet connection, A modem card is an internal type of modem that is
plugged into the PCI slot of a PC motherboard. A modem is a communications device that allows a
computer to send and receive data through telephone or cable lines.
15. PCI slot- Peripheral component inter-connect. is a local computer bus for attaching hardware
devices in a computer.

16. ISA slot - industry standard architecture, is a standard bus (computer interconnection)
architecture that is associated with the IBM AT motherboard. It allows 16 bits at a time to flow between
the motherboard circuitry and an expansion slot card and its associated device(s).
17. AGP slot - accelerated graphic port. Where you would plug in a graphics card
18. SATA - serial advance technology attachment. A way to connect hard drives to the
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motherboard for data transfer. A faster, more reliable interface designed to replace the older PATA
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technology used to connect ATA hard drives to the computer's motherboard.

 ACRONYMS OF PARTS OF A COMPUTER SYSTEM SERVICING GRADE 11
19. ATA - Advanced Technology Attachment was approved on May 12, 1994, and is an interface that
connects hard drives, CD-ROM drives, and other drives, 4 pin.

20. Pata - parallel advance technology attachment. NEW

21. Scsi - small computer system interface. . Pronounced "skuzzy." A very fast, very reliable interface
used to connect hard drives to a computer's motherboard. Usually used only in high-end servers.

SCSI - FLOPPY DISK

22. floppy disk - relatively slow and have small capacity but they are portable,inexpensive and
universal.
23. Hard Disk - a very fast and with more capacity than floppy disk but more expensive. Hard disk
HARD Disk

24. Optical Disk - have very large storage capacity, but they are not fast as hard disks.

✓ OPERATING SYSTEMS AND DATA STORAGE

BYTE - A byte is a storage unit for data.

"K" is a Kilobyte which is 1024 bytes.
"MB" is a Megabyte which is a million bytes.
"GB" is a Gigabyte, which equals 1000 megabytes.
MAC - This is an acronym for Macintosh, which is a type of personal computer made by the Apple
Computer company.
OS - This is the Operating System of the computer. It is the main program that runs on a computer
and begins automatically when the computer is turned on.
PC - This is the abbreviation for personal computer. It refers to computers that are IBM compatible.
PDF - This represents the Portable Document Format which displays files in a format that is ready
for the web.
VGA - The Video Graphics Array is a system for displaying graphics. It was developed by IBM.
FTP - This is a service called File Transport Protocol which moves a file between computers using
the Internet.
HTML - HyperText Markup Language formats information so it can be transported on the Internet.
HTTP - Hypertext Transfer Protocol is a set of instructions for the software that controls the
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movement of files on the Internet.

 ACRONYMS OF PARTS OF A COMPUTER SYSTEM SERVICING GRADE 11
IP - This stands for Internet Protocol which is the set of rules that govern the systems connected to
the Internet. IP Address is a digital code specific to each computer that is hooked up to the Internet.
ISP - The Internet Service Provider is the company which provides Internet service so you can
connect your computer to the Internet.
LAN - This stands for Local Area Network which is the servers that your computer connects to in
your geographic area.
PAN – Personal Area Network. A personal area network is a computer network for interconnecting
devices centered on an individual person's workspace
WLAN –Wireless Local Area Network. is a wireless computer network that links two or more devices
using wireless communication within a limited area such as a home, school, computer laboratory, campus,
office building etc.
CAN – Campus Area Network. is a computer network made up of an interconnection of local area
networks within a limited geographical area
MAN –Metropolitan Area Network. is a computer network that interconnects users with computer
resources in a geographic area or region larger than that covered by even a large local area network but
smaller than the area covered by a wide area network.
WAN – Wide Area Network. is a telecommunications network or computer network that extends over a
large geographical distance/place. Wide area networks are often established with leased telecommunication
circuits.
POLAN- Passive Optical Local Area Network. are adapted to indoor network architectures, and can
decrease the amount of cable and equipment required to deploy a network.
SAN - Storage-Area Network. A storage area network or storage network is a Computer network which
provides access to consolidated, block level data storage.
EPN- Enterprise Private Network. is a computer network built by a business to interconnect its various
company sites (such as production sites, offices and shops) in order to share computer resources.
VPN-Virtual Private Network. A virtual private network extends a private network across a public network,
and enables users to send and receive data across shared or public networks as if their computing devices
were directly connected to the private network
PPP - Point-to-Point Protocol is the set of rules that allow your computer to use the Internet
protocols using a phone line and modem.
URL - This is the Uniform Resource Locator which is a path to a certain file on the World Wide
Web.
USB - The Universal Serial Bus is used for communications between certain devices. It can connect
keyboards, cameras, printers, mice, flash drives, and other devices. Its use has expanded from
personal computers to PDAs, smartphones, and video games, and is used as a power cord to
connect devices to a wall outlet to charge them.
VR - Virtual Reality simulates a three-dimensional scene on the computer and has the capability of
interaction. This is widely used in gaming.
VRML - Virtual Reality Mark-up Language allows the display of 3D images.
AGP: “Accelerated Graphics Port”. A type of video interface introduced in 1996 as an improvement to PCI. It
has now been largely replaced by PCI-e.

AGP
CD: Compact Disc. A type of optical media, so called because it uses light to read the data stored on the disk.
CD-R: Compact Disc Recordable. A CD that can be recorded, but from which data cannot be deleted so the
space can be re-used. You can record on a CD-R multiple times, but the remaining space will be reduced by
whatever's already occupying space on the disk.
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 ACRONYMS OF PARTS OF A COMPUTER SYSTEM SERVICING GRADE 11

CD-R CD-ROM CD-RW

CD-ROM: Compact Disc Read-Only Memory. Basically the same as any other CD, except referring
specifically to a disk that contains computer data rather than music.
CD-RW: Compact Disc Re-Writable. A CD that can be recorded multiple times, and from which data can be
deleted and the space re-used.
DDR: Double Data Rate. A type of memory that sends and receives data twice every clock cycle, and
therefore is capable of twice the data transfer rate of standard SDRAM.

DDR2: Double Data Rate 2.

DDR3: Double Data Rate Type 3.
DIMM: Dual In-Line Memory Module. A type of memory chip that uses a 64-bit bus, as compared to SIMM
chips, which used a 32-bit bus.

DRAM
DRAM: Dynamic Random Access Memory." A type of RAM that stores each bit of data on separate
capacitors.
DV: Digital Video. A protocol for the storage and transfer of audio-visual information, often used to transfer
information from a camcorder to a computer, usually over a Firewire interface.
DVD: Digital Versatile Disc. A type of optical media that allows far more storage than a CD.
DVD+R: Digital Versatile Disc Recordable. A type of DVD that can be recorded, but from which information
cannot be deleted and the space it occupied re-used.
DVD+RW: Digital Versatile Disk Rewritable. A DVD that can be recorded, and from which information can
be deleted and the space it occupied re-used.
DVD-R: Digital Versatile Disc Recordable. A type of DVD that can be recorded, but from which information
cannot be deleted and the space it occupied re-used.
DVD-RAM: Digital Versatile Disc Random Access Memory. A DVD that can be written, erased, and re-
written, and which also are capable of error-checking and other advanced sorts of stuff that RAM can do,
making them suitable for us as RAM. They are much slower than real RAM, however, and are starting to fade
from use.
DVD-RW: Digital Versatile Disk Rewritable. A DVD that can be recorded, and from which information can be
deleted and the space it occupied re-used.
DVI: Digital Video Interface. A type of digital video interface that can be used by computers and other video
devices. It was an improvement over VGA, but is starting to be obsolesced by HDMI.
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 ACRONYMS OF PARTS OF A COMPUTER SYSTEM SERVICING GRADE 11
ECC: Error Correction Code. ECC Memory uses a parity bit to insure that data has been transmitted
correctly. It is both slower and more expensive than non-ECC memory, but it's more reliable. In order to use
ECC memory, your motherboard must support it, and all of the memory on-board must be ECC. It's mainly
used in high-end servers.
EIDE: Enhanced Integrated Drive Electronics. EIDE was an improvement over IDE, which used to be the
standard protocol for hard drive communications in most computers intended as workstations (as opposed to
servers). EIDE supported data transfer rates of up to 16.6 Mbps, which was twice as fast as IDE, and required
an 80-conductor cable (as opposed to the 40-conductor cables used for IDE). EIDE drives are being
obsolesced by SATA, but there are still a bunch of them in service.
FAQ: Frequently Asked Questions.
FSB: Front Side Bus. The part of a computer motherboard that allows the computer's processor to
communicate with the RAM and the other components on the motherboard.
GPU: Graphics Processing Unit. The chip on a video card that processes graphics and video. Sometimes
integrated on the motherboard, and sometimes on the CPU itself.
HDD: Hard Disk Drive. An array of magnetic disks that store data until it is intentionally deleted by the user,
the system, or a program.
HDMI: High-Definition Multimedia Interface. A digital standard for transmitting high-definition video and
audio using a single cable. HDMI is rapidly becoming the standard interface for computers and home
entertainment devices.
HDTV: High-Definition Television. The over-the-air television standard that replaced NTSC in the United
States. Tuners are available that allow HDTV signals to be captured and processed on a computer, enabling
the user to watch TV on his or her computer.
I/O: Input/Output. Kind of a generic term for data moving into or out of a computer or component.
IDE: Integrated Device Electronics. See EIDE above.
IEEE: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. The highly-educated geeks who came up with most
of these standards and acronyms.
IGP: Integrated Graphics Processor. A video processing unit or video "card" that's integrated onto a
computer motherboard, or sometimes onto the CPU.
IRQ: Interrupt Request. This gets complicated, but basically it's a way for a component of a computer to get
the processor's attention. Back in the old days, we had to assign each component an IRQ. Although there were
standards that were used by default, sometimes conflicts would arise when two or more devices tried to share
the same IRQ, and we'd have to reassign IRQs to eliminate the conflicts. Nowadays, it's all pretty much
automatic and pretty much reliable; so unless you're an engineer, knowing about IRQs is mainly a nice way to
impress people.
ISA: Industry Standard Architecture. An obsolete expansion interface, which began to be replaced by PCI
and AGP in the mid-1990's.
LCD: Liquid Crystal Display. A type of solid-state display technology used in computer monitors and other
electronic displays.
LED: Light-Emitting Diode. A semiconductor that emits light. Often used for indicator lights, panel lights, and
to illuminate LED computer monitors.
LUN: Logical Unit Number. Used to identify SCSI devices. Each device is assigned LUN ranging from 0 to 7,
which identifies the device within the particular computer. Can also be used as an address for a virtual hard
drive partition in a RAID array.
MAC: Address: Media Access Control Address. The unique identification of any network connection device,
such as a network card or modem.
MBR: Master Boot Record. The section of the hard drive located in the boot sector, which contains (at a
minimum) the partition table and the bootstrap code.
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MCA: Micro Channel Architecture. An obsolete, IBM-proprietary expansion interface. Few devices were
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manufactured for the MCA interface because of its proprietary nature.

 ACRONYMS OF PARTS OF A COMPUTER SYSTEM SERVICING GRADE 11
NIC: Network Interface Card.
NTFS: New Technology File System. The preferred file system for Windows NT, 2000, XP, Vista, and 7.
NVRAM: Non-Volatile Random Access Memory. NVRAM retains its data even when the computer is
powered down.
OEM: Original Equipment Manufacturer. The company that manufactures a computer (or some other thing).
If you build your own computer, then YOU are the OEM.
OSD: On Screen Display. Information that is outputted via the computer's monitor, such as the settings for the
monitor itself.
PCB: Printed Circuit Board. Generic term for any printed circuit board, not just one in a computer.
PCI: Peripheral Component Interconnect. One of the expansion interfaces that replaced ISA. Many devices
are still available for PCI, and most motherboards still contain at least one or two PCI slots. But slowly, PCI is
being replaced by PCIe.
PCIe: Peripheral Component Interconnect Express. A newer expansion interface designed to replace the
PCI, PCI-X, and AGP interfaces. Not to be confused with PCI-Extended (PCI-X).
PCI-X: Peripheral Component Interconnect Extended. A higher-bandwidth, 64-bit version of PCI used
mainly in servers. Not to be confused with PCI-Express (PCIe).
PCMCIA: Personal Computer Memory Card International Association. In practice, defines the interface for
laptop expansion cards. In theory, was supposed to set many other standards for portable computers, but
never got around to most of them.
PMU: Power Management Unit. The circuitry on a Macintosh computer than controls power-related functions.
PROM: Programmable Read-Only Memory. Read-only memory that is programmed after manufacture.
PS/2: Personal System/2. An historical IBM designation that still defines certain computer hardware, most
notable the familiar purple and green mouse and keyboard connectors.
RAID: Redundant Array of Independent Disks. An array of disk drives that are arranged to increase data
access speed (striping) and/or improve fault tolerance (mirroring).
SCSI: Small Computer System Interface. Pronounced "skuzzy." A very fast, very reliable interface used to
connect hard drives to a computer's motherboard. Usually used only in high-end servers.
SIMM: Single In-Line Memory Module. An obsolete type of memory chip that used a 32-bit bus, as compared
to DIMM chips, which use a 64-bit bus.
SMART: Self-Monitoring Analysis And Reporting Technology. A technology to monitor a hard drive's
performance and warn the user of any problems.
SO-DIMM: Small Outline Dual In-Line Memory Module. The form-factor standard for memory used in
laptops and other small form-factor computers.

SRAM
SRAM: Static Random Access Memory. Pronounced "ESS-ram." A type of RAM that holds data statically
rather than dynamically. Faster and much more expensive than DRAM, SRAM is used mainly as cache
memory on hard drives and processors.
sRGB: Standard Red Green Blue. The color standard now used by most image-related hardware, such as
monitors, scanners, printers, and so forth.
SSD: Solid State Drive. A mass-storage device with no moving parts, which stores data in arrays of flash
memory. Better-quality ones have better data access speed than hard disk drives. In addition, because they
are not sequential devices, there is no degradation of access speed when the drives become fragmented.
However, SSDs are more expensive the HDDs, have a limited duty life, and may be difficult to recover data
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from in the event of failure.

 ACRONYMS OF PARTS OF A COMPUTER SYSTEM SERVICING GRADE 11

UPS: Uninterruptible Power Supply.

VGA: Video Graphics Array. The analog interface standard for attachment of monitors and other VDUs to a
computer.

VDU: Visual Display Unit. A monitor, projector, or other device used to display or project a computer's visual
data.
VRAM: Video Random Access Memory. Memory used by the video processor to store image data being
processed and sent to the monitor.

NETWORK INTERFACE CARD (NIC)

➢ HUB - A hub is a device that connects a number of computers together to make a LAN.
o The typical use of a hub is at the centre of a star network (or as part of a hybrid network) -
the hub has cables plugged into it from each computer

➢ SWITCH - A switch, like a hub, is a device that connects a number of computers together to make
a LAN.
o The typical use of a switch is at the centre of a star network (or as part of a hybrid network)
- the switch has cables plugged into it from each computer.

➢ ROUTER - A router is a network device that connects together two or more networks.
o A common use of a router is to join a home or business network (LAN) to
the Internet (WAN).

➢ PROXY SERVER - A proxy server is a computer setup to share a resource, usually an Internet
connection.
➢ BRIDGE - a bridge is a network device that typically links together two different parts of a lan.

➢ FIREWALL - A firewall is a device, or a piece of software that is placed between your computer and the
rest of the network (where the hackers are!)
➢ MODEM - Before the days of broadband Internet connections, most computers connected to the Internet
via telephone lines (dial-up connections).
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