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SN0054621-00 E Glossary-1
Glossary
adapter
See HBA.
AL_PA
Arbitrated Loop_Physical Address. A
low-level address on the FC loop.
arbitrated loop
A circular (ring) topology (versus
point-to-point) where two or more ports
can be interconnected, but only two ports
can communicate at a time. All communi-
cation passes through all ports connected
to the loop.
BIOS
Basic input output system (typically in
Flash PROM). The program (or utility) that
serves as an interface between the
hardware and the operating system and
allows booting from the HBA at startup.
boot code
The program that initializes a system or an
HBA. Boot code is the first program to run
when a system or a devices within a
system, such as an HBAs. FCode, BIOS,
and EFI (enhanced firmware interface) are
all forms of boot code for specific
hardware/operating system environments.
Boot code for QLogic FC HBAs is required
if the computer system is booting from a
storage device (disk drive) attached to the
HBA. The primary function of the boot
code is communication with the external
boot device before the operating system is
up and running. There are also secondary
functions that can be performed by the
boot code, including managing the setup
for the HBA and initializing and testing the
HBA's ISP.
boot device
The device, usually a the hard disk, that
contains the operating system the BIOS
uses to boot from when the computer is
started.
cache
A temporary high-speed storage (memory)
area where recently used or frequently
accessed data is stored for rapid access,
thus increasing the efficiency of processor
operations.
Cache contents duplicate recently-used
values stored on disk or elsewhere. Cache
is quick to access relative to the original
data which either takes more time due to
slow disc-access time, or is slow to
compute. Once data is stored in the cache,
future use can be made by accessing the
cached copy rather than re-finding or
recomputing the original data, so that the
average access time is lower.
L1 cache—Primary (smallest) cache
on the same chip as the processor.
L2 cache—Secondary (larger) cache.
Either on the processor chip or
external to the processor.