LaCie Mobile Drive User Manual - page 28
LaCie Mobile Drive User’s Guide 04/17/2003 v.2
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Operating System (OS) – Software that controls the assignment and use of hardware resources such
as memory, processor time, disk space and peripherals. An operating system is the basis on which
software (applications) run. Windows, Mac OS and UNIX are among the most common.
Overwrite – To write data on top of existing data thus erasing the original data.
Partition, -ing – After formatting, the hard drive is not yet ready to store files. It must be divided into
sections that will contain special information required for a Mac or PC to operate and other sections
that will contain the files. This process of dividing up the hard drive is called partitioning. A partition is
just one section of the hard drive that will contain either special data put there by Silverlining or other
files and data.
Peripheral – A generic term applied to printers, scanners, mice, keyboards, serial ports, graphics
cords, disk drives and other computer subsystems. This type of peripheral often relies on its own
control software, known as a peripheral driver.
Port, hardware – A connection component (SCSI port, for example) that enables a microprocessor to
communicate with a compatible peripheral.
Port, software – A memory address that identifies the physical circuit used to transfer information
between a microprocessor and a peripheral.
RAM (Random Access Memory) – Generally referred to as a computer’s “memory.” An integrated
circuit memory chip that allows information to be stored and retrieved by a microprocessor or
controller. The information can be stored or accessed in any order, and all storage locations are
equally accessible.
Seek Time – The amount of time (in thousandths of a second, or milliseconds) that it takes a hard
drive’s read/write head to move to a specific location n the disk. Average seek, then, is the average of
a large number of random samplings all over the disk. Seek time is CPU independent, meaning that
seek time is the same for a disk drive, whether it is attached to a computer or not.
Software – In a nutshell, software is a set of instructions for the computer. A set of instructions to
perform a particular task is called a program. There are two main types of software: system software
(an operating system such as Mac OS or Windows) which controls the operation of the computer and
application software (programs such as Word or Excel) which enable users to perform tasks such as
word processing, spreadsheet creation, graphics, etc.
Storage – In computers, any equipment in which information may be kept. PCs generally use disk units
and other external storage media (diskettes, CD-ROMs, magnetic disks, etc.) for permanent storage of
information.
Striping – Spreading data evenly over multiple disk drives to enhance performance. Data striping can
be performed on a bit, byte or block basis for optimum application performance.
Transfer Rate – The rate at which the drive sends and receives data from the controller. Transfer rates
for reading data from the disk drive may not be the same as the transfer rate for writing data to the
disk drive. Transfer rates are CPU dependent, meaning that regardless of how great a transfer rate
your drive is capable of, the actual transfer rate can only be as fast as the slowest of your hard drive
and computer.
Volume – A desktop mountable storage area, may be a partition of a hard drive, a removable disk or
a cartridge. Typically measured in Megabytes or Gigabytes.
Utility – Software designed to perform maintenance tasks on the system or its components. Examples
include backup programs, programs to retrieve files and data on disk, programs for preparing (or
formatting) a disk or and resource editors.