MSI MS-6590 - Handbuch (Seite 54)

1-107
Einführung
1-106
Kapitel 1
IDE (Integrated Drive Electronics)
A type of disk-drive interface widely used to connect hard disks, CD-ROMs and tape
drives to a PC, in which the controller electronics is integrated into the drive itself,
eliminating the need for a separate adapter card. The IDE interface is known as the ATA
(AT Attachment) specification.
I E E E 1 3 9 4
A new, high speed external bus standard, also known as FireWire or iLink, which
supports data transfer rates of up to 400 Mbps for connecting up to 63 external
devices.
I n t e r n a l C a c h e
Short for Level 1 cache, a memory cache built into the microprocessor. The L1 cache is
also called the primary cache.
IrDA (Infrared Data Association)
A group of device vendors, including computer, component and telecommunications,
who have developed a standard for transmitting data via infrared light waves. This
enables you to transfer data from one device to another without any cables.
IRQ (Interrupt Request Line)
IRQs are hardware lines over which devices can send interrupt signals to the
microprocessor. When you add a new device to a PC, you sometimes need to set its
IRQ number by setting a DIP switch. This specifies which interrupt line the device
may use. IRQ conflicts used to be a common problem when adding expansion boards,
but the Plug-and-Play specification has removed this headache in most cases.
ISA (Industry Standard Architecture)
ISA is a standard bus (computer interconnection) architecture that is associated with
the IBM AT motherboard. It allows 16 bits at a time to flow between the motherboard
circuitry and an expansion slot card and its associated device(s). Also see EISA and
MCA.
LAN (Local Area Network)
A computer network that covers a relatively smaller area, such as in a building or an
enterprise. It is made up of servers, workstations, shared resources, a network operat-
ing system and a communications link. These individual PCs and devices on a LAN are
known as “nodes”, and are connected by cables to access data and devices anywhere on
the LAN, so that many users can share expensive devices and data.
ECC Memory (Error Correcting Code Memory)
A type of memory that contains special circuitry for testing the accuracy of data and
correcting the errors on the fly.
E E P R O M
Acronym for Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory. An EEPROM
is a special type of PROM that can be erased by exposing it to an electrical charge. Like
other types of PROM, EEPROM retains its contents even when the power is turned
off. Also like other types of ROM, EEPROM is not as fast as RAM. EEPROM is
similar to flash memory (sometimes called flash EEPROM). The principal difference is
that EEPROM requires data to be written or erased one byte at a time whereas flash
memory allows data to be written or erased in blocks. This makes flash memory faster.
E I D E
Short for Enhanced IDE, a newer version of the IDE mass storage device interface
standard developed by Western Digital Corporation. It supports data rates of between
4 and 16.6 MBps, about three to four times faster than the old IDE standard. In
addition, it can support mass storage devices of up to 8.4 gigabytes, whereas the old
standard was limited to 528 MB. Because of its lower cost, enhanced EIDE has
replaced SCSI in many areas. There are four EIDE modes defined. The most common
is Mode 4, which supports transfer rates of 16.6 MBps. There is also a new mode,
called ATA-3 or Ultra ATA, that supports transfer rates of 33 MBps.
EISA (Extended Industry Standard Architecture)
EISA is a standard bus (computer interconnection) architecture that extends the ISA
standard to a 32-bit interface. It was developed in part as an open alternative to the
proprietary Micro Channel Architecture (MCA) that IBM introduced in its PS/2
computers. EISA data transfer can reach a peak of 33 megabytes per second.
ESCD (Extended System Configuration Data)
It is a format for storing information about Plug-and-Play (PnP) devices in the BIOS.
Windows and the BIOS access the ESCD area each time you re-boot your computer
E x t e r n a l C a c h e
Short for Level 2 cache, cache memory that is external to the microprocessor. In general,
L2 cache memory, also called the secondary cache, resides on a separate chip from the
microprocessor chip. Although, more and more microprocessors are including L2 caches
into their architectures.