The Techie Glossary
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Letter
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A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z |
2nd |
A B D E F I O P T |
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Ra    |
Radio
buttons
are mouse driven user
input mechanisms found within dialog
boxes or in forms on the web. They are
made for computers with GUI environments.
Each radio button within a set is mutually exclusive, so only one can
be turned on at a time. RAM
is an acronym for Random Access Memory. This is the primary temporary
memory system for a computer.
The RAM chips are housed on the motherboard
and are accessed directly by the CPU. The
RAM stores the information displayed on the screen.
RARE
is an acronym for Reseaux Associes pour la Recherche Europeenne. European
association of research networks located
in France. RARP
stands for Reverse Address Resolution Protocol. This Internet
protocol is used to map a physical hardware
device to an Internet address at login.
RARP is the reverse of the ARP protocol. Raster
is a term used to describe the horizontal pattern of lines that can be
used to form the image on a computer
screen.
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RB
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RBOC
stands for Regional Bell Operating Companies. These are a series of locally
operated regional phone companies across the country that provide backbone
Internet connectivity. They are commonly
known as baby bells. They are also known as a Bell
Operating Companies.
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RD
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RDF
stands for Resource Description Framework. It is a framework for representing
web information recommended by the W3C.
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Re |
Read-only
disks are
ones with data that can be extracted, but
cannot be written on. The data on the
disk cannot be overwritten or deleted so it is good media for permanent
memory storage. A read-only disk is the same thing as a ROM
disk. Read-Only
Memory
(ROM) is a disk or chip
that retains data in memory
that can be read, but not written
over or deleted. ROM
can also be part of the computers primary
storage in the CPU. ROM
chips and CD-ROMs are two common
uses of ROM. Reading
in computer terms refers to accessing
a drive, directory
or file and opening it to interpret the
contents. A user can manipulate or retrieve
data from the file after it is read. Readme
files are
documentation files
that are usually distributed with software
applications or hardware devices. They
provide the user with pertinent updated
information. Reassembly
refers to the process of putting together
a fragmented IP datagram that has been
broken into smaller pieces to fit the requirements of a given network.
The reverse process is IP fragmentation.
Rebooting
a computer
system is the act of resetting it by
shutting it down and turning it back on to boot
the system. This can be done in a special command.
The system shuts down before resetting the system by turning it back on
and reloading the operating system. An
option is usually available when shutting any system down to Reset
or Reboot. The term boot comes from the phrase, to pull oneself
up by the bootstraps, where the system accesses the boot
sector of the disk and attempts to load the operating system. It does
this by first loading the boot utility that
loads itself. Refreshing
the screen is to reconstitute the display
by having the computer system recreate
the display on the screen from the data.
Remote
refers
to any device not on the current or local
system, but located elsewhere on the network.
Remote
drive
refers to a drive not on the current or
local system, but located elsewhere on
the network. Remote
system
is located elsewhere on the network not
the one being used directly connected to the input
devices. The computer that is right
in front of the user is the local
system. In a client-server network environment
the server is normally a remote computer system. Rendering
is the act of the computer creating
an image or drawing something on the monitor's
screen.
Request
For Comments
(RFC) are a set of technical documents for the
web and the Internet. This documentation
for developers was introduced in 1969. It describes the TCP/IP
suite of protocols, depicts related experiments
and defines Internet standards as well as network
architecture. It is also used for comments on all sort of matters.
The groups responsible for recording and publishing the RFCs are the IETF
and the IESG. Repeaters
are intermediate systems or other hardware
device on the physical layer of the
OSI network model. They are used to propagate
electrical signals from one cable to another without making network
routing decisions or providing packet
filtering. A repeater is used on a local
access network to extend the length of the network cable by amplifying
and passing on messages sent to it. They are similar to bridges and routers,
but not as sophisticated. Reset
buttons
are physical buttons on the front of computers
that reboots the computer system when
pressed. This shuts down the system without properly exiting
the operating system and turns off the
computer before restarting the system
by turning it back on and reloading the operating system. A user
can reset a system using a special key combination, for example
Control-Alt-Delete. This will reset some systems while they are running
or even if they are frozen. Resetting
a computer is
to turn the computer off and then immediately
turn it back on. A computer system can
be reset by using a key combination, for example the combination of the
Control Key the Alt
key and the Delete key will reset
some systems. There is also a reset button located near the on button
on most computers. When a system is asked to be halted or turned off there
is usually a reset option. Reset means the same thing as restart
or reboot. Resolution
is a term related
to computer monitors
or network addresses. The resolution
of a monitor is a measurement expressed in horizontal and vertical dots
per inch and reflect the sharpness of an image. In networking
address resolution refers to resolving an addressing issue while making
a network connection. Restarting
a computer
system is the act of resetting it by
shutting it down and turning it back on to boot
the system. This can be done in a command
that performs the proper steps to shut down the computer and turn it back.
The system shuts down before resetting the system by turning it back on
and reloading the operating system. Restart
means the same thing as reset or reboot.
An option is usually available when shutting a system down that says Reset
or Reboot. The term boot comes from the phrase, to pull oneself
up by the bootstraps, where the system accesses the boot
sector of the disk and attempts to load the operating system. It does
this by first loading the boot utility that
loads itself. Return
key
refers to a
key on the keyboard that has the word Enter
or Return on it. This is the key that can enter commands
to the computer for processing
from the command line. It is also used
to create a new line in text editing or
word processing software
applications. The Return key is the same as the Enter
key.
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RF
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RFCs
stands for Request For Comments. These are a set
of technical and organizational documents for the
web and the Internet. This documentation
for developers was introduced in 1969. It describes the TCP/IP
suite of protocols, depicts related experiments
and defines Internet standards as well as network
architecture. It is also used for comments on all sort of matters.
The groups responsible for recording and publishing the RFCs are the IETF
and the IESG. RFI
stands for Radio Frequency Interference. It is the white noise created
in radio waves by electromechanical devices such as computers
due to electromagnetic interference. RFS
stands for Remote File System. This is a distributed file
system developed for UNIX computer
systems that is similar to NFS.
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Ri
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Rich
Text Format
(RTF) is a rudimentary formatting standard for text
files that has a small set of simple instructions. Ring networks are decentralized network models where the nodes have a unique network address and the topology is a closed loop laid out with cable. RIP
is an acronym for Routing Information Protocol. This Internet
protocol for routing
is an Interior Gateway Protocol designed
for UNIX computers.
RIPE
stands for Reseaux IP Europeenne. European continental TCP/IP
network operated by EUnet.
RISC
is an acronym for Reduced Instruction Set Computer. This is a type of
computer has a central
processing unit which allocates the number of instructions executed
to increase speed.
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RO |
ROM
is an acronym for Read-Only Memory.
It is a disk or chip that retains data
in memory that can be read,
but not written over or deleted.
ROM can also be part
of the computers primary storage in
the CPU. ROM chips
and CD-ROMs are two common uses of ROM.
ROM
chips
are internal ROM memory
chips on the motherboard
that does not lose data when the computer
system is shut off. It contains essential system information that
is available each time the system is booted
up. Root
in computer
terminology always refers to the lowest level, for instance the root
directory in the directory tree is
the lowest branch. The root user for a system
is the most powerful user. This is the user with the most administration
rights or system administer rights
on a computer system. Root
directory refers
to the bottom level directory in the directory tree. There are no directories
below the root directory. The root directory
for a drive can refer to the lowest level
in the directory tree when looking at
that drive only. Root
users
are the most powerful users with all rights
and access to all necessary resources to manage the computer
system. These rights are called administration
rights or system administrator rights.
To login as the root user the correct username
and password are usually required. ROSE
is an acronym for Remote Operations Service Element. This is a lightweight
RPC protocol, used in the OSI
message handling system, directory,
and network application protocols.
Routers
are network devices responsible for making
decisions about which network path the data
traffic will follow. Routers use a routing protocol
and routing metrics algorithms to gain
information regarding the best route for data. In the OSI
network model a router is an intermediate
system in the network layer similar
to a gateway, bridge
or repeater. Routing
is determining the path traffic will follow
on a network. Routing decisions are made
by routers. Routing protocols
and routing metric algorithms are used
by routers to gain information regarding the best route for network traffic.
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RP
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RPC
stands for Remote Procedure Call. This is a method for implementing the
client-server model to make a remote
call to a command across a network.
A request is sent to a remote system to
execute a designated procedure, using arguments supplied, and the result
returned to the caller. There are many RPC protocols
that can be used in distributed computing.
RPG
stands for the Report Program Generator. It is a programming
language used for creating reports and generating correct programming
code.
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RT |
RTF
stands for Rich Text Format. A rudimentary formatting
standard for text files that has a small
set of simple instructions. RTSE
stands for Reliable Transfer Service Element. A lightweight OSI
service that operates on the transport
layer and presentation layer of the
OSI network model. It is used by networks
to connect PDUs used for network communications.
RTSE has similar functions to TCP of TCP/IP.
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