A mainframe (also known as “big iron”) is a high-performance computer used for large-scale computing purposes that require greater availability and security than a smaller-scale machine can offer. Historically, mainframes have been associated with centralized rather than distributed computing, although that
DEFINITION of master-slave
In computer networking, master/slave is a model for a communication protocol in which one device or process (known as the master) controls one or more other devices or processes (known as slaves). Once the master/slave relationship is established, the direction of control is always from the master to the slave(s). The County of Los
DEFINITION of firewall
A firewall is a set of related programs, located at a network gateway server, that protects the resources of a private network from users from other networks. (The term also implies the security policy that is used with the programs.) An enterprise with an intranet that allows its workers access to the wider Internet installs a
DEFINITION of fast packet technology
In data transmission, a fast packet is one that is transmitted without any error checking at points along the route. Assurance that the packet arrived without error is the responsibility of the receiver. Fast packet transmission is possible because of the extremely low incidence of error or data loss on fiber optic media and is a characteristic of high bandwidth transmission technologies such as ATM .
DEFINITION of HTTPS
HTTPS (HTTP over SSL or HTTP Secure) is the use of Secure Socket Layer (SSL) or Transport Layer Security (TLS) as a sublayer under regular HTTP application layering. HTTPS encrypts and decrypts user page requests as well as the pages that are returned by the Web server. The use of HTTPS protects against eavesdropping and
DEFINITION of IRQ
An IRQ (interrupt request) value is an assigned location where the computer can expect a particular device to interrupt it when the device sends the computer signals about its operation. For example, when a printer has finished printing, it sends an interrupt signal to the computer. The signal momentarily interrupts the computer
DEFINITION of megaflop
A megaflop is a measure of a computer’s speed and can be expressed as:
• A million floating point operations per second
• 10 to the 6th power floating-point operations per second
• 2 to the 20th power FLOPS
DEFINITION of interrupt
An interrupt is a signal from a device attached to a computer or from a program within the computer that causes the main program that operates the computer (the operating system ) to stop and figure out what to do next. Almost all personal (or larger) computers today are interrupt-driven – that is, they start down the list of
DEFINITION of extranet
An extranet is a private network that uses Internet technology and the public telecommunication system to securely share part of a business’s information or operations with suppliers, vendors, partners, customers, or other businesses. An extranet can be viewed as part of a company’s intranet that is extended to users outside
DEFINITION of glitch
In several usages in information technology, a glitch (pronounced GLIHTCH ) is a sudden break in function or continuity, sometimes of a transient nature, with a varying degree of seriousness. According to Eric Raymond, author of The New Hacker’s Dictionary , glitch is from the German ‘glitschen,’ meaning ‘to slip,’ via Yiddish ‘glitshen,’ meaning ‘to slide or skid.’ In different contexts, the term has different meanings.
