Glossary of terms used on this site
There are 88 entries in this glossary.S
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| SATA |
Serial ATA (Serial AT Attachment). See Serial ATA. |
| SDRAM |
Synchronous DRAM (Synchronous Dynamic RAM). A type of computer memory which is synchronized with the system clock and runs at the same speed as the system bus. For this reason SDRAM is also sometimes referred to as SDR SDRAM - Single Data Rate SDRAM. cf DDR. |
| SEO |
Search Engine Optimisation. The art of optimising a website so that it is more likely to appear near the top of the list of results returned by search engines. The goal of SEO is to be top or at least in the top few search results for various types of search query. |
| Serial ATA |
Serial ATA is a disk-interface technology developed by a group of the industry's leading vendors to replace parallel ATA. It is the natural successor to IDE. Serial ATA only requires seven wires per device (4 data and 3 ground) and the cables can be up to 1m long. SATA I (the first version of SATA) supports data transfer speeds of up to 150mbps. SATA II supports data transfer speeds of up to 300mbps. Whilst the SATA interface supports these transfer rates it does not mean that the disk drive is capable of reading/writing at that rate. SATA also supports hot-swap of devices. |
| Shareware |
Software that is distributed on a try-before-you-buy basis. Typically you are allowed to use the software for a period of 30 days before needing to purchase a license, but terms and conditions will vary. Strictly shareware is a marketing method rather than a type of software, but the name is normally applied to software which is distributed and sold under the heading of shareware. |
| Shortcut |
A file on Windows system that serves as a pointer to another file or folder. Shortcuts are similar in concept to a symbolic link on Unix systems, but are not as versatile - for instance a shortcut cannot be used by scripts. |
| SMTP |
Simple Mail Transfer Protocol. A protocol for sending (or relaying) e-mail to a server. |
| SPAM |
SPAM is typically promoting something. It may be advertising for a product, website or other service, it may be promoting ideologies (such as political or religious ones), or it may be to precipitate a fraud. Whist most SPAM is sent out for purposes of commercial gain, not all is spam has a financial motive. SPAM can cause considerable problems because it is generated in large volume - both the volume generated by a single spammer and because there are lots of spammers generating email. The large volume of spam clogs up network resources and wastes a considerable amount of time.
|
| Spyware |
Software that monitors the activities of a user (such as their browsing habits) or gathers information about a user (such as stored credit card details) without the user's knowledge or permission. This information is collected so that it can be relayed to a third party. Spyware is typically used as a prelude to theft or fraud. Once credit card or personal information has been collected and relayed to a third party that third party is able to use the information to commit a theft or fraud. |
