operating system

What is an Operating System???

The operating system is the core software component of your computer. It performs many functions and is, in very basic terms, an interface between your computer and the outside world. In the section about hardware, a computer is described as consisting of several component parts including your monitor, keyboard, mouse, and other parts. The operating system provides an interface to these parts using what is referred to as "drivers". This is why sometimes when you install a new printer or other piece of hardware, your system will ask you to install more software called a driver.

What does a driver do???

A driver is a specially written program which understands the operation of the device it interfaces to, such as a printer, video card, sound card or CD ROM drive. It translates commands from the operating system or user into commands understood by the the component computer part it interfaces with. It also translates responses from the component computer part back to responses that can be understood by the operating system, application program, or user. The below diagram gives a graphical depiction of the interfaces between the operating system and the computer component.

secondary storage

Secondary storage technology refers to storage devices and storage media that are not always directly accessible by a computer. This differs from primary storage technology, such as an internal hard drive, which is constantly available.

Examples of secondary storage devices include external hard drives, USB flash drives, and tape drives. These devices must be connected to a computer's external I/O ports in order to be accessed by the system. They may or may not require their own power supply.

Examples of secondary storage media include recordable CDs and DVDs, floppy disks, and removable disks, such as Zip disks and Jaz disks. Each one of these types of media must be inserted into the appropriate drive in order to be read by the computer. While floppy disks and removable disks are rarely used anymore, CDs and DVDs are still a popular way to save and transfer data.

Because secondary storage technology is not always accessible by a computer, it is commonly used for archival and backup purposes. If a computer stops functioning, a secondary storage device may be used to restore a recent backup to a new system. Therefore, if you use a secondary storage device to backup your data, make sure you run frequent backups and test the data on a regular basis.
google_protectAndRun("ads_core.google_render_ad", google_handleError, google_render_ad);

primary storage

1) Primary storage, also known as main storage or memory, is the main area in a computer in which data is stored for quick access by the computer's processor. On today's smaller computers, especially personal computers and workstations, the term random access memory (RAM) - or just memory - is used instead of primary or main storage, and the hard disk, diskette, CD, and DVD collectively describe secondary storage or auxiliary storage.
The terms main storage and auxiliary storage originated in the days of the mainframe computer to distinguish the more immediately accessible data storage from storage that required input/output operations. An earlier term for main storage was core in the days when the main data storage contained ferrite cores.

2) Primary storage is sometimes used to mean storage for data that is in active use in contrast to storage that is used for backup purposes. In this usage, primary storage is mainly the secondary storage referred to in meaning 1. (It should be noted that, although these two meanings conflict, the appropriate meaning is usually apparent from the context.)

IP address

IP address

IP address

An identifier for a computer
or device on a TCP/IP network. Networks using the TCP/IP protocol route messages based on the IP address of the destination. The format of an IP address is a 32-bit numeric address written as four numbers separated by periods. Each number can be zero to 255. For example, 1.160.10.240 could be an IP address.
Within an isolated network, you can assign IP addresses at random as long as each one is unique. However, connecting a private network to the Internet requires using registered IP addresses (called Internet addresses) to avoid duplicates.
The four numbers in an IP address are used in different ways to identify a particular network and a host on that network. Four regional Internet registries -- ARIN, RIPE NCC, LACNIC and APNIC -- assign Internet addresses from the following three classes.
Class A - supports 16 million hosts on each of 126 networks
Class B - supports 65,000 hosts on each of 16,000 networks
Class C - supports 254 hosts on each of 2 million networks
The number of unassigned Internet addresses is running out, so a new classless scheme called CIDR is gradually replacing the system based on classes A, B, and C and is tied to adoption of IPv6.
Also see Understanding IP Addressing in the Did You Know . . .? section of Webopedia.
•E-mail this definition to a colleague•
For internet.com pages about IP address . Also check out the following links!

TCP/IP and IPX routing tutorial This tutorial supplies information on setting up a relatively simple WAN-connected internetwork or Internet-connected LAN. Includes explanations of IP addresses, classes, netmasks, subnetting, routing, several example networks, and a basic explanation of IPX routing
Webopedia's "Did You Know...?" Section Use this Webopedia knowledge section for an in-depth overview of specific technologies and occurrences in the areas of Computer Science, The Internet, and Computer Hardware and Software.
Webopedia's Quick Reference Section Use this Webopedia reference section for information on common Internet and computer facts and occurrences.
Webopedia's Tech Support Area Read the descriptions of each tech support Web site below, and choose the one that best suits your needs. We offer these links to help users get the tech support they need.
LearnToSubnet.ComAn educational course on addressing TCP/IP Networks that includes IP Addresses and Subnetting. Topics include: Binary Math, IP Addressing (IP Address), Subnet Mask, and Custom Subnet Mask.
Addressing
Internet
Routing
APIPA
APNIC
ARIN
ARP
ccTLD
CIDR
Class C network
DDR
DNS
domain name
dynamic DNS
failover
FQDN
hot potato routing
IANA
Internet
InterNIC
IP spoofing
martian address
Mobile IP
NAT
ping
port scanning
RIPE NCC
root server system
Give Us YourFeedback

IP address

Definitions of IP address on the Web:
An Internet Protocol (IP) address is a numerical label that is assigned to devices participating in a computer network utilizing the Internet ...en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IP_address
(Internet Protocol address) A number assigned to each computer's or other device's network interface(s) which are active on a network supporting ...en.wiktionary.org/wiki/IP_address
A unique numeric identifier for a computer on a network.library.gnome.org/users/user-guide/stable/glossary-1.html.en
The network address of a computer system or host.www.primode.com/glossary.html
An identifier for a computer or device on a TCP/IP network. Networks using the TCP/IP protocol route messages based on the IP address of the ...www.techniqueweb.com/terminology.php
A binary value used by the IP protocol to determine how to deliver packets to their destination hosts. See the entry dotted-quad for a common representation of these addresses.tangentsoft.net/wskfaq/glossary.html
Internet Protocol address – a computer network addressvisibleprocrastinations.wordpress.com/2007/07/06/videoconference-glossary-of-terms/
Every machine that is on the Internet has a unique IP number - if a machine does not have an IP number, it is not really on the Internet. ...www.buyyourdot.com/glossary.php
Numeric code that uniquely identifies a particular computer on the Internet.www.luc.edu/its/security/pci_glossary.shtml
Internet Protocol Address, a unique number assigned to every device connected to the Internet.www.headland.co.uk/pages/glossary
a unique number which identifies a computer and its location on the internet. Some of the online services at the University of Kent use the IP ...www.kent.ac.uk/library/support/a-z/glossary.html
Also called an Internet address. The unique address for each computer on the Internet. The IP address appears as a set of four numbers separated by periods. The numbers indicate the domain, the network, the subnetwork and the host computer. ...www.valenciacc.edu/lrcwest/lis2004/glossary.htm
A set of numbers used for a computer or device to acknowledge a website address.www.legalinternetmarketing.com/seo-glossary.html
Any computing device that uses the Internet must be assigned an Internet or IP address. All workstations on a given IP network use the same IP network number, and each workstation has a unique IP host address and an optional subnetwork number. ...www.telesysglobal.com/data_glossary.html
A method of locating a physical resource like a computer or digital camera on a TCP/IP computer networkwww.videoanalytics.org/pages/terminology.html
Find definitions of IP address in: Chinese (Simplified) Chinese (Traditional) Czech Dutch English French German Italian Portuguese Romanian Russian Spanish all languages