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Glossary

Dell™ Remote Access Controller Racadm User's Guide


AGP

Abbreviation for accelerated graphics port, which is a bus specification that allows graphics cards faster access to main system memory.

ANSI

Abbreviation for American National Standards Institute.

API

Abbreviation for application program interface, which is a set of routines, protocols, and tools for building software applications that act as an interface between the operating system and application programs.

ARP

Acronym for Address Resolution Protocol, which is a method for finding a host's Ethernet address from its Internet address.

ASCII

Acronym for American Standard Code for Information Interchange, which is a code representation used for displaying or printing letters, numbers, and other characters.

BIOS

Acronym for basic input/output system, which is the part of system software that provides the lowest-level interface to peripheral devices and which controls the first stage of the system boot process, including installation of the operating system into memory.

BMC

Abbreviation for baseboard management controller, which is the controller interface between the RAC and the managed system's ESM.

bus

A set of conductors connecting the various functional units in a computer. Busses are named by the type of data they carry, such as data bus, address bus, or PCI bus.

CD

Abbreviation for compact disc.

CHAP

Acronym for Challenge-Handshake Authentication Protocol, which is an authentication method used by PPP servers to validate the identity of the originator of the connection.

CLI

Abbreviation for command-line interface.

console redirection

Console redirection is a function that directs a managed system's display screen, mouse functions, and keyboard functions to the corresponding devices on a management station. You may then use the management station's system console to control the managed system.

CSR

Abbreviation for customer service representative.

DHCP

Abbreviation for Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol, which is a protocol that provides a means to dynamically allocate IP addresses to computers on a local area network.

DRAC III

Abbreviation for Dell Remote Access Card III.

DRAC III/XT

Abbreviation for Dell Remote Access Card III/XT.

DSU

Abbreviation for disk storage unit.

ERA

Abbreviation for Embedded Remote Access.

ERA/O

Abbreviation for Embedded Remote Access Option.

ESM

Abbreviation for embedded systems management, which is a set of instruction coding in system software and firmware that notifies a user about potential hardware problems on a Dell system.

GMT

Abbreviation for Greenwich Mean Time, which is the standard time common to every place in the world. GMT nominally reflects the mean solar time along the prime meridian (0 longitude) that runs through the Greenwich Observatory outside of London, UK.

GUI

Abbreviation for graphical user interface, which refers to a computer display interface that uses elements such as windows, dialog boxes, and buttons as opposed to a command prompt interface, in which all user interaction is displayed and typed in text.

hardware log

Records events generated by the RAC and ESM.

ICMB

Abbreviation for Intelligent Chassis Management Bus.

ID

Abbreviation for identifier, commonly used when referring to a user identifier (user ID) or object identifier (object ID).

IP

Abbreviation for Internet Protocol, which is the network layer for TCP/IP. IP provides packet routing, fragmentation, and reassembly.

IPMB

Abbreviation for intelligent platform management bus, which is a bus used in systems management technology.

IPMI

Abbreviation for Intelligent Platform Management Interface, which is a part of systems management technology.

Kbps

Abbreviation for kilobits per second, which is a data transfer rate.

LAN

Abbreviation for local area network.

LED

Abbreviation for light-emitting diode.

MAC

Acronym for media access control, which is a network sublayer between a network node and the network physical layer.

MAC address

Acronym for media access control address, which is a unique address embedded in the physical components of a NIC.

Mbps

Abbreviation for megabits per second, which is a data transfer rate.

MIB

Abbreviation for management information base.

NIC

Acronym for network interface controller, which is an adapter circuit board installed in a computer to provide a physical connection to a network.

PCI

Abbreviation for Peripheral Component Interconnect, which is a standard interface and bus technology for connecting peripherals to a system and for communicating with those peripherals.

PCMCIA

Abbreviation for Personal Computer Memory Card International Association, which is a technology standard for connecting PCMCIA devices to systems.PCMCIA devices are about the size of a credit card and are mainly used in notebook computers, although the DRAC III supports an optional PCMCIA modem.

POST

Acronym for power-on self-test, which is a sequence of diagnostic tests that are run automatically by a system when it is powered on.

PPP

Abbreviation for Point-to-Point Protocol, which is the Internet standard protocol for transmitting network layer datagrams (such as IP packets) over serial point-to-point links.

RAC

Abbreviation for remote access controller.

RAM

Acronym for random-access memory. RAM is general-purpose readable and writable memory on systems and the RAC.

RAM disk

A memory-resident program which emulates a hard drive. The RAC maintains a RAM disk in its memory.

RAS

Acronym for remote access service, which is a service provided by some Microsoft® Windows® operating systems that allows most of the services that would be available on a network to be accessed over a modem. The service includes support for dial-up and logon tasks and presents the same network interface as the normal network drivers used for the NIC.

RFB

Abbreviation for remote floppy boot.

ROM

Acronym for read-only memory, which is memory from which data may be read, but to which data cannot be written.

RPM

Abbreviation for Red Hat Package Manager, which is a package-management system for Red Hat Linux that helps installation of software packages. It is similar to an installation program.

RSA

Abbreviation for Rivest, Shamir, and Adleman, the inventors of a public key encryption technology developed by RSA Data Security, Inc.

SNMP

Abbreviation for Simple Network Management Protocol, which is a protocol designed to manage nodes on an IP network. RACs are SNMP-managed devices (nodes).

SNMP trap

A notification (event) generated by the RAC or ESM that contains information about state changes on the managed system or about potential hardware problems.

SSL

Acronym for Secure Sockets Layer, a protocol designed by Netscape to provide encrypted, authenticated communication across the Internet. SSL is used primarily for sending communications between Web browsers and Web servers. Web addresses using an SSL connection begin with "https."

TAP

Abbreviation for Telelocator Alphanumeric Protocol, which is a protocol used for submitting requests to a pager service.

TCP/IP

Abbreviation for Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol, which represents the set of standard Ethernet protocols that includes the network layer and transport layer protocols.

TFTP

Abbreviation for Trivial File Transfer Protocol, which is a simple file transfer protocol used for downloading boot code to diskless devices or systems.

UPS

Abbreviation for uninterruptible power supply.

UTC

Abbreviation for Universal Coordinated Time. See GMT.

VNC

Abbreviation for virtual network computing.

VT-100

Abbreviation for Video Terminal 100, which is used by the most common terminal emulation programs.

WAN

Abbreviation for wide area network.


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