Secondary Storage

File Compression:
The process of reducing the overall number of bits and bytes in a file (making the file smaller) so it can be sent faster over a slow internet connection or increasing storage capacity by reducing the amount of space required to store the data in storage devices.

Head Crash:
A hard-disk malfunction that is caused by the collision of the read-write head and the magnetic recording surface. It usually means that the head has scratched or burned the disk, resulting in permanent and usually fatal damage to the disk surface.

Internet Hard Drive:
The internet hard drive is a low cost online storage system, where files, documents and other digital items can be stored online and can be accessed at any location on a computer with an internet connection.

Optical Disc Drive:
A disk drive that can retrieve or store data by reading or writing the information on to or from optical discs like CDs, DVDs, Blu-Ray and more by laser.

Solid-State Storage:
A removable data storage device that can store information. The data stored can be retrieved or stored electronically directly to and from the device. It is different from secondary storage devices because unlike secondary storage, solid-state storage has no moving parts.

Input And Output

Ergonomic Keyboard:
A keyboard designed for ergonomic purposes as in to suit human hands, make typing more comfortable and to avoid or minimize repetitive strain injury.

Ink jet Printer:
A type of computer printer that creates digital images by spraying or propelling variable-sized droplets of ionized ink on to a sheet of paper.Magnetized plates in the ink's path direct the ink on to the paper in the desired shape.

Laser Printer:
Similar to a photocopy machine, it is type of computer printer that utilizes a laser beam to produce high quality text and graphics on to a sheet of paper. It uses a dry photocopying technique but is different from a photocopier in that the image is produced by direct scanning of a laser beam.

Magnetic - ink character reader (M.I.C.R.):
An input device widely used by banks to process large volumes of checks and deposit forms written everyday. It consist of special ink used not only for writing characters but the ink contains magnetic particles to allow the reading of printed characters by the (M.I.C.R.).

Optical – character recognition (OCR):
The mechanical or electronic recognition/translation of scanned images of handwritten, typewritten or printed text into machine-encoded text . Widely used to convert books, documents and others into electronic files which can then be manipulated or edited through computer.

Optical – mark recognition (OMR):
The technology/process of electronically extracting human-marked data from check-boxes and fill-in fields from printed forms like surveys and tests.

The System unit

Flash Memory:
It is a non-volatile computer storage chip that can be electrically erased and reprogrammed.Can retain data even if power is disrupted .For digital video camera, mobile phone, portable computers (PDA). A computer chip with a read-only memory that retains its data when the power is turned off and that can be electronically erased and reprogrammed without being removed from the circuit board, often used in fax machines.

Graphic Cards:
They are expansion cards whose function is to generate output images to a display. A piece of hardware installed in a computer that is responsible for rendering the image on the computer’s monitor or display screen.

Sound Cards:

A sound card  (also known as an audio card) is a computer expansion card that facilitates the input and output of audio signals to and from a computer under control of computer programs.

Network interface card (NIC):

NIC, an expansion board you insert into a computer so the computer can be connected to a network. Most NICs are designed for a particular type of network, protocol, and media, although some can serve multiple networks. . Referred to as a network adapter and is an expansion card that enables a computer to connect to a network such as a home network or the Internet using an Ethernet cable with a RJ-45 connector.

Plug & Play:

A term used to describe the characteristic of a universal serial bus or device specification, which facilitates the discovery of a hardware component in a system, without the need for physical device configuration, or user intervention in resolving resource conflicts. The ability to add a new component to a system and have it work automatically without having to do any technical analysis or manual configuration.

 

Bus Line:
Device on a computer's motherboard that provides a data path between the CPU and attached devices (keyboard, mouse, disk drives, video cards, etc.). Like a vehicular bus that stops at designated stations to pick up or drop off riders, a computer bus receives a data signal from the CPU and drops it off at the appropriate device (for example, the contents of a file in RAM are sent, via the bus, to a disk drive to be stored permanently). Conversely, data signals from devices are sent back to the CPU. On a network, a bus provides the data path between the various computers and devices.

HDMI:
HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) is a compact audio/video interface for transmitting uncompressed digital data. A digital interface for audio and video that provides a single-cable solution for home theater and consumer electronics equipment. Introduced in 2002, one HDMI cable commonly replaces from two to five cables, and in some cases even as many as 11 cables, when connecting devices such as TVs, DVD players, set-top boxes and A/V receivers.

Cache Memory:
Cache memory is random access memory (RAM) that a computer microprocessor can access more quickly than it can access regular RAM. As the microprocessor processes data, it looks first in the cache memory and if it finds the data there (from a previous reading of data), it does not have to do the more time-consuming reading of data from larger memory.