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Glossary 89
component — As they relate to DMI, components include operating systems,
computer systems, expansion cards, and peripherals that are compatible with DMI.
Each component is made up of groups and attributes that are defined as relevant to
that component.
COMn — The device names for the serial ports on your system.
control panel — The part of the system that contains indicators and controls, such as
the power button and power indicator.
controller — A chip that controls the transfer of data between the processor and
memory or between the processor and a peripheral.
conventional memory — The first 640 KB of RAM. Conventional memory is found
in all systems. Unless they are specially designed, MS-DOS
®
programs are limited to
running in conventional memory.
coprocessor — A chip that relieves the system’s processor of specific processing tasks.
A math coprocessor, for example, handles numeric processing.
CPU — Central processing unit. See processor.
DC — Direct current.
DDR — Double-data rate. A technology in memory modules that potentially
doubles the output.
device driver — A program that allows the operating system or some other program
to interface correctly with a peripheral. Some device drivers—such as network
drivers—must be loaded from the config.sys file or as memory-resident programs
(usually, from the autoexec.bat file). Others must load when you start the program for
which they were designed.
DHCP — Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol. A method of automatically
assigning an IP address to a client system.
diagnostics — A comprehensive set of tests for your system.
DIMM — Dual in-line memory module. See also memory module.
DIN — Deutsche Industrie Norm.