Module 3

 Operating system

The whole package that manages our computers resources and lets us interact with it.

Block storage

Improves faster handling of data because the data is not stored as one long piece and can be accessed quicker.

File extension

The appended part of a filename that tells us what type of file it is in certain operating systems.

Process

A program that executing ,like our internet browser or text editor.

Program

An application that we can run, like chrome

Time Slice

A very short interval of time that gets allocated to a process for CPU execution.

Kernel

Creates processes, efficiently schedules them, and manages how processes are terminated.

Virtual memory

The combination of hard drive space and RAM that acts like memory that our processes can use.

I/O devices

Devices that perform input and output.

Shell

A program that interprets text commands and sends them to the OS to execute.

Logs

File that record system events on our computer, just like a system diary

BIOS/UEFL

A low-level software that initializes our computer hardware to make sure everything is good to go.

Bootloader

A small program that loads the operating system

Virtual machine (VM)

Just a copy of a real machine.

Android:

A mobile operating system based on Linux

Application: A computer program designed for a specific use

BIOS/UEFI: A low-level software that initializes our computer's hardware to make sure everything is good to go

Block storage: It improves faster handling of data because the data isn't stored in one long piece but in blocks, so it can be accessed more quickly

Boot: To start up a computer

Bootloader: A small program that loads the operating system

Chrome OS: A Linux-based operating system designed by Google

Command Line Interface (CLI): A shell that uses text commands to interact with the operating system

Computer file: Data that we store and a file can be anything, a word document, a picture, a song, literally anything

Data blocks: Data that can be broken down into many pieces and written to different parts of the hard disk

Distributions: Some common Linux distributions are Ubuntu, Debian, and Red Hat

Etcher.io: A tool you can use to load an install image onto your USB device and make it bootable

File extension: The appended part of a filename that tells us what type of file it is in certain operating systems

File handling: A process of storing data using a program

File system: A system used to manage files

Finder: The file manager for all Macs

Folders/Directories: Used to organize files

Hardware resource deficiency: It refers to the lack of system resources like memory, hard drive space, et cetera

HFS+/APFS: HFS+ is a journaling system developed by Apple Inc. and APFS is another but more encrypted Apple journaling system

Hostname: Used to identify the computer when it needs to talk to other computers

Input/Output device: A device that performs input and output, including monitors, keyboards, mice, hard disk drives, speakers, bluetooth headsets, webcams, and network adapters

Install image: A downloadable operating system image used to install an operating system on a device

I/O management: Anything that can give us input or that we can use for output of data

iOS: A mobile operating system developed by Apple Inc.

Kernel: The main core of an operating system that creates processes, efficiently schedules them, and manages how processes are terminated

Logs: Files that record system events on our computer

Mac OS: Apple's operating system

Memory management: One of the functions that a kernel performs; it optimizes memory usage and make sure our applications have enough memory to run

Metadata: Tells us everything we need to know about a file, including who created it, when it was last modified, who has access to it, and what type of file it is

Microsoft Terminal Services Client: A client program used to create RDP connections to remote computers

Open SSH: The most popular program to use SSH within Linux

Operating system: The whole package that manages our computers resources and lets us interact with it

PC: Personal computer, which technically means a computer that one person uses

Plink (PuTTY Link): A tool built into the command line after PuTTY is installed that is used to make remote SSH connections

Powershell: A shell (program that interprets text commands) for Windows

Power user: Above average computer users

Process management: The capacity to manage the many programs in a system - when to run them, the order they run in, how many resources they take up, how long they run, etc.

Qwiklabs: An online platform which provides training in cloud services

Remote connection: The ability to connect an authorized person to a computer or network remotely; allows us to manage multiple machines from anywhere in the world 

Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP): A secure network communication protocol developed by Microsoft that allows a user to connect to another device remotely

Scalability: The measure of a system’s ability to increase or decrease in performance and cost in response to varying loads in system processing demands

Shell: A program that interprets text commands and sends them to the OS to execute

SSH (Secure shell): A protocol implemented by other programs to securely access one computer from another.

SSH authentication key: A secure authentication method for accessing a computer from other device

SSH client: A program you must have installed on your device in order to establish an SSH connection with another device

SSH server: Software installed on a machine that allows for that device to accept an SSH connection

Standardization: The process of developing and implementing common technical standards for IT products, systems, and processes.

Swap space: The allocated space where the virtual memory is stored on the hard drive when the amount of physical memory space is used up or full

System: A group of hardware components and software components that work together to run the programs or processes in the computer

System settings: Settings like display resolution, user accounts, network, devices, etc.

Task bar: It gives us quick options and shows us information like network connectivity, the date, system notifications, sound etc

Terminal: A text based interface to the computer

Time slice: A very short interval of time that gets allocated to a process for CPU execution

Ubuntu: The most popular Linux consumer distribution

User name: A unique identifier for a user account

User space: The aspect of an operating system that humans interact with directly like programs, such as text editors, music players, system settings, user interfaces, etc.

Virtual Box: An application you can use to install Linux and have it completely isolated from your machine

Virtual machine (VM): An application that uses physical resources like memory, CPU and storage, but they offer the added benefit of running multiple operating systems at once

Virtual memory: A combination of hard drive space and RAM that acts like memory which our processes can use

VPN (Virtual private network): A secure method of connecting a device to a private network over the internet

Terms and their definitions from previous modules

A

Abstraction: To take a relatively complex system and simplify it for our use

Address bus: Connects the CPU to the MCC and sends over the location of the data, but not the data itself

Algorithm: A series of steps that solves specific problems

ASCII: The oldest character encoding standard used is ASCII. It represents the English alphabet, digits, and punctuation marks

ATA: The most common interface that hard drives use to connect to our system

ATX (Advanced Technology eXtended): The most common form factor for motherboards

B

Backward compatible: It means older hardware works with newer hardware

Binary system: The communication that a computer uses is referred to as binary system, also known as base-2 numeral system

Bios (Basic Input Output Services): The BIOS is software that helps initialize the hardware in our computer and gets our operating system up and running

BYOD (Bring Your Own Device): Refers to the practice of allowing people to use their own personal devices for work

Byte: A group of 8 bits

C

Cache: The assigned stored location for recently or frequently accessed data; on a mobile app it is where anything that was changed or created with that app is stored

Character encoding: Is used to assign our binary values to characters so that we as humans can read them

Charge cycle: One full charge and discharge of a battery

Computer: A device that stores and processes data by performing calculations

Chipset: It decides how components talk to each other on our machine

Clock cycle: When you send a voltage to the clock wire

Clock speed: The maximum number of clock cycles that it can handle in a set in a certain time period

Clock wire: When you send or receive data, it sends a voltage to that clock wire to let the CPU know it can start doing calculations

CPU: Central processing unit

CPU sockets: A CPU socket is a series of pins that connect a CPU’s processor to the PC’s motherboard

Cryptography: The overarching discipline that covers the practice of coding and hiding messages from third parties

D

Data sizes: Metrics that refer to data sizes including bit, byte, kilobyte, kibibyte, and megabyte

DDR SDRAM (Double Data Rate SDRAM): A type of RAM that is faster, takes up less power, and has a larger capacity than earlier SDRAM versions

Decimal form- base 10 system: In the decimal system, there are 10 possible numbers you can use ranging from zero to nine

Desktop: The main screen where we can navigate our files, folders, and applications

Digital divide: The growing skills gap between people with and without digital literacy skills

DIMM: Dual Inline Memory Module

Display port: Port which also outputs audio and video

DRAM: Dynamic Random Access Memory

Drivers: The drivers contain the instructions our CPU needs to understand external devices like keyboards, webcams, printers

DVI: DVI cables generally just output video

E

Electrostatic discharge: Electrostatic discharge is a sudden and momentary flow of electric current between two electrically charged objects caused by contact, an electrical short or dielectric breakdown

External Data Bus (EDB): It's a row of wires that interconnect the parts of our computer

F

Factory reset: Resetting a device to the settings it came with from the factory

Form factor: A mathematical way to compensate for irregularities in the shape of an object by using a ratio between its volume and height

H

Hard drive: It is a long term memory component that holds all of our data, which can include music, pictures, applications

Hardware: External or internal devices and equipment that help you perform major functions

HDD (Hard disk drive): Hard disk drives, or HDDs, use a spinning platter and a mechanical arm to read and write information

HDMI: A type of cable that outputs both video and audio

Heatsink: It is used to dissipate heat from our CPU

I

Information technology: The use of digital technology, like computers and the internet, to store and process data into useful information

Instruction set: A list of instructions that our CPU is able to run

ITX (Information Technology eXtended): A form factor for motherboards that is much smaller than ATX boards

L

Land Grid Array (LGA): It is a type of CPU socket that stick out of the motherboard

Lightning adaptor: One of the standard power, data and display connector types used in mobile devices

Linux OS: Linux is one of the largest an open source operating system used heavily in business infrastructure and in the consumer space

Logic gates: Allow transistors to do more complex tasks, like decide where to send electrical signals depending on logical conditions

M

Mb/s: megabit per second, which is a unit of data transfer rate

Memory controller chip (MCC): A bridge between the CPU and the RAM

Micro display port: One of the standard power, data and display connector types used in mobile devices 

Micro HDMI: One of the standard power, data and display connector types used in mobile devices 

Micro USB: One of the standard power, data and display connector types used in mobile devices 

Mini HDMI: One of the standard power, data and display connector types used in mobile devices 

Mini USB: One of the standard power, data and display connector types used in mobile devices

Motherboard: The body or circulatory system of the computer that connects all the pieces together

N

Northbridge: interconnects stuff like RAM and video cards

O

Open source: This means the developers will let other developers share, modify, and distribute their software for free

Overclocking: it increases the rate of your CPU clock cycles in order to perform more tasks

P

PCI Express: Peripheral Component Interconnect Express

PDA (Personal Digital Assistant): Allows computing to go mobile

Peripherals: the external devices which we connect to our computer that add functionality, like: a mouse, a keyboard, and a monitor

Pin Grid Array (PGA): CPU socket where the pins are located on the processor itself

Ports: Connection points that we can connect devices to that extend the functionality of our computer

POST (Power On Self Test): It figures out what hardware is on the computer

Power supply: Converts electricity from our wall outlet onto a format that our computer can use

Programs: Basic instructions that tell the computer what to do

Punch cards: A sequence of cards with holes in them to automatically perform calculations instead of manually entering them by hand

R

RAM: Random Access Memory

Registers: An accessible location for storing the data that our CPU works with

Reimaging: The process of reimaging involves wiping and reinstalling an operating system using a disk image which is a copy of an operating system

Return merchandise authorization (RMA): The process of receiving returned merchandise and authorizing a refund

RGB model: RGB or red, green, and blue model is the basic model of representing colors

ROM chip (Read Only Memory): A read-only memory chip where the BIOS is stored

RPM: Revolutions per minute

S

Safe operating temperature: The temperature range in which rechargeable batteries must be kept in order to avoid damage

SATA: The most popular serial ATA drive, which uses one cable for data transfers

SDRAM: It stands for Synchronous DRAM, this type of RAM is synchronized to our systems' clock speed allowing quicker processing of data

SOC (System On a Chip): Packs the CPU, Ram, and sometimes even the storage onto a single chip

Southbridge: It maintains our IO or input/output controllers, like hard drives and USB devices that input and output data

SSD: Solid State Drive

Standoffs: Used to raise and attach your motherboard to the case

T

Thermal paste: A substance used to better connect our CPU and heat sink, so the heat transfers from to the other better

Type-C connector: A type of USB connector meant to replace many peripheral connections

U

UEFI: Unified Extensible Firmware Interface

USB (Universal Serial Bus): A connection standard for connecting peripherals to devices such as computers

USB-C adapter: One of the standard power, data and display connector types used in mobile devices

UTF-8: The most prevalent encoding standard used today