Term
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Definition
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.NET Framework
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A platform for building, deploying, and running XML Web services and applications. It provides a highly productive, standards-based, multilanguage environment for integrating existing investments with next-generation applications and services, as well as the agility to solve the challenges of deployment and operation of Internet-scale applications. The .NET Framework consists of three main parts: the common language runtime, a hierarchical set of unified class libraries, and a componentized version of ASP called ASP.NET. (Source: MSDN .NET Framework Glossary) |
Advanced Interactive eXecutive
(AIX)
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An IBM version of Unix, running on the PC, RS/6000 workstations and 390 mainframes. |
Application Programming Interface
(API)
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Language and message format used by an application program to communicate with another program that provides services for it, activating and interacting with functions in the program, or in the hardware. Its software interrupts, function calls, and data formats can initiate contact with network services, mainframe communications programs, telephone equipment or program-to-program communications. Standardization at various layers of a protocol stack provides a uniform way to write apps. |
Business Intelligence
(BI)
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Software products and services that are used to gather, manage, analyze and disseminate information for making strategic business decisions. (Source: AS/400 Glossary) |
Content Management System
(CMS)
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Software application that streamlines the process of designing, testing, approving, and posting content on Web pages. (Source: American Society for Training & Development) |
Cost-Based Optimizer
(CBO)
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Generates a set of potential execution plans for SQL statements, estimates the cost of each plan, calls the plan generator to generate the plan, compares the costs, and chooses the plan with the lowest cost. This approach is used when the data dictionary has statistics for at least one of the tables accessed by the SQL statements. The cost-based optimizer is made up of the query transformer, the estimator, and the plan generator. (Source: Oracle) |
DataBase Management System
(DBMS)
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Computer software used to create, store, retrieve, change, manipulate, sort, format and print the information in a database. Also, a computer program that manages data by providing the services of centralized control, data independence, and complex physical structures. Advantages include efficient access, integrity, recovery, concurrency control, privacy, and security. |
Enterprise Resource Planning
(ERP)
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An industry term for the broad set of activities supported by multimodule application software that helps a manufacturer manage the important parts of its business, including product planning, parts purchasing, maintaining inventories, interacting with suppliers, providing customer service, and tracking orders. The deployment of an ERP system can involve considerable business process analysis, employee retraining and new work procedures. (Source: TechWeb.com) |
IBM DB2
(DB2)
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(1) An IBM relational database management system that is available as a licensed program on several operating systems. Programmers and users of DB2 can create, access, modify, and delete data in relational tables using a variety of interfaces. (2) A relational DBMS from IBM that was originally developed for its mainframes. It is a full-featured SQL language. |
Independent Software Vendor
(ISV)
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(1) Refers to a software company that creates software to run on a platform or platforms that it doesn't create. For example, Microsoft is not an ISV because it owns its own OS. Often, the term refers to companies that write 'valuable' software applications. OS makers will often give them sweet deals and help them distribute their software if they feel it benefits their OS. (Source: Geek.com) (2) A company that specializes in the development and sale of software. (Source: CCI Computer) (3) Independent software vendor; not a hardware manufacturer. (Source: FOLDOC) |
Java
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A simple, object-oriented, distributed, robust, secure, architecture-neutral, portable, multithreaded, dynamic, general-purpose programming language developed by Sun Microsystems. Java supports programming for the Internet in the form of platform-independent Java applets. Applications built in Java can be run using a specific Web browser call HotJava. (Source: Sun Microsystems)
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Just-In-Time
(JIT)
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(1) Traditionally, this phrase describes a compiler that turns Java bytecode, for example, into instructions that can be sent directly to a processor. (2) ‘Just-in-time’ also refers to just-in-time techniques, such as inventory control, supplier relationships, quality control, and the like. Slang usage has morphed the meaning into something that can be handled or assimilated quickly, such as just-in-time training: small, easily digestible pieces of information. (Source: NetLingo) |
Linux
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An open source implementation of Unix created by Linus Torvalds. Linux runs on many different hardware platforms including Intel, SPARC, PowerPC, and Alpha Processors. Hundreds of application programs have been written for Linux - some of these by the GNU project. Linux and Linux tools can be downloaded via Internet or BBS for free, or purchased as part of a distribution on a CD-ROM. (Source: ComputerUser.com High-Tech Dictionary) |
Operating System
(OS)
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The foundation software of a computer system, responsible for controlling and launching the installed applications and computer peripherals. Common operating systems include MS-DOS, Unix, OS/2, Macintosh, and Windows. It is the software that schedules tasks, allocates storage, handles the interface to peripheral hardware, and presents a default interface to the user when no application program is running. (Source: NetLingo) |
Point Of Sale
(POS)
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(1) A location where credit card transactions are performed with the cardholder present, such as a retail store. The card is read magnetically, and the cardholder's signature is obtained as insurance against the transaction. This is the most secure form of credit card commerce. (Source: ECHO Merchant Processing Services) (2) The physical location at which goods are sold to customers. |
SQL
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SQL is a standardized query language for requesting information from a database. (Source: IBM) |
SQL Server
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(1) A relational DBMS from Microsoft that runs on Windows NT servers, providing distributed database management. (2) SQL Server was originally developed by Sybase and also sold by Microsoft for OS/2 and NT. In 1992, Microsoft began development of its own version. Today, Microsoft SQL Server and Sybase SQL Server are independent products with some compatibility. |
Service Level Agreement
(SLA)
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Abbreviated SLA, a service level agreement is a contract between a service provider and the end user which stipulates and commits the service provider to a required level of service. An SLA should contain a specified level of service, support options, enforcement or penalty provisions for services not provided, a guaranteed level of system performance as relates to downtime or uptime, a specified level of customer support and what software or hardware will be provided and for what fee. (Source: Webopedia) |
Total Cost of Ownership
(TCO)
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(1) In general, the additional costs of owning an asset. For example, the total cost of ownership of a car is not just the purchase price but also expenses incurred through use, such as repairs, insurance and fuel. (Source: Investopedia.com) (2) The complete cost of each PC a company owns after factoring in the costs of purchase, hardware and software upgrades, maintenance, technical support and training. (Source: Webopedia) |
Web services
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(1) Applications delivered as a service that can be integrated with other Web services using Internet standards. They are a URL-addressable resource that programmatically returns information to clients who want to use it. One important feature of Web services is that clients don't need to know how a service is implemented. Like components, Web services represent black-box functionality that can be reused without worrying about how the service is implemented. Web services provide well-defined interfaces, called contracts, that describe the services provided. Developers can assemble applications using a combination of remote services, local services, and custom code. (Source: Microsoft.com) (2) All Web-based applications. This is a generic use of the term that can refer to any application or service that uses the World Wide Web. (Source: TechWeb.com) |
Windows NT
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Windows NT is the Microsoft Windows personal computer operating system designed for users and businesses needing advanced capability. Windows NT is the Microsoft Windows 32-bit personal computer operating system designed for users and businesses needing advanced capability. Windows NT (which may originally have stood for 'New Technology,' although Microsoft doesn't say) is actually two products: Microsoft NT Workstation and Microsoft NT Server. The Workstation is designed for stand-alone or client workstations, especially for business users who need fast performance, and a system a little more fail-safe than Windows 95 and Windows 98. The Server is designed for business machines that need to provide services for LAN-attached computers. The Server is required, together with an Internet server such as Microsoft's Internet Information Server (IIS), for a Windows system that plans to serve Web pages. Windows NT supports pre-emptive multitasking. |
application
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Used interchangeably with program and software, this is a general term for a program that performs specific tasks, such as word processing, database management, e-mail sending or retrieval, or Web browsing. Unlike system software, which maintains and organizes the computer system (such as the operating system), an app is an end-user program. (Source: NetLingo) |
architecture
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The highest level concept of a system in its environment, according to IEEE. The architecture of a software system (at a given point in time) is its organization or structure of significant components interacting through interfaces, those components being composed of successively smaller components and interfaces. The organizational structure of a system. An architecture can be recursively decomposed into parts that interact through interfaces, relationships that connect parts, and constraints for assembling parts. Parts that interact through interfaces include classes, components and subsystems. (Source: IBM) |
autonomic computing
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An approach to self-managed computing systems with a minimum of human interference. The term derives from the body's autonomic nervous system, which controls key functions without conscious awareness or involvement. (Source: IBM) |
bandwidth
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The amount of data that can be sent through a given communications circuit per second. A measure of the transmission capacity of a computer network. The bandwidth is the difference between the highest and lowest frequencies a network can transmit. It should be noted that this is limited not only by the physical infrastructure of the traffic path within the transit networks, which provides an upper bound to available bandwidth, but is also by the number of other flows that share common components of this selected end-to-end path. |
benchmark
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(1) An improvement process in which a company measures its performance against that of best in class companies, determines how those companies achieved their performance levels and uses the information to improve its own performance. The subjects that can be benchmarked include strategies, operations, processes and procedures. (Source: American Society for Quality - Quality Glossary) (2) A continuous process of measurement of products, services and work processes, against those recognized as leaders. It is undertaken by identifying strategies, customers, processes and costs to benchmark, and their key characteristics; determining who to benchmark; collecting and analyzing data from direct contact, technical journals, advertisements, etc.; determining the best of class from each benchmark item identified; and evaluating the process in terms of improvement goals. Processes can undergo dramatic improvements. (Source: Adams Six Sigma - Six Sigma TQM Terms and Definitions) |
business object
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A subset of objects in general, a business object is one that represents a concept or entity from the business domain that an application is trying to model. |
business process
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(1) A coordinated set of actions that produce a business result, either within a single organization or across several. Whereas IT has traditionally automated specific tasks or predefined workflow, the advent of Web services opens the prospect of automating entire end-to-end processes without sacrificing business agility. (Source: LooselyCoupled.com) (2) Typical business processes in a manufacturing firm include: product development, customer acquisition, manufacturing, logistics, order management, post sales service, information management, human resource management, and planning and resource allocation. (Source: Mantec Dictionary) |
cluster
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(1) A group of processors interconnected by a high-speed network - typically dedicated - for increased reliability and scalability. (3) In Oracle, an Oracle object that allows one to store related rows from different tables in the same data block. Table clustering is very seldom used by Oracle DBAs and developers. (Source for 2: Oracle FAQ) (3) Clustering refers to using two or more systems that work together. It generally refers to multiple computer systems that are linked together in order to handle variable workloads, or to provide continued operation in the event one fails. Each computer may be a multiprocessor system itself. For example, a cluster of four computers, each with four CPUs, would provide a total of 16 CPUs processing simultaneously. (Source: TechWeb.com) |
content management
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(1) Essentially, a set of rules and processes for contributing, collaborating on and controlling content. It may include document management through common workflows, media management based on a centralized content base, and common tools for content creation and publishing. More broadly, it comprises a combination of software tools and business processes that allow corporations to manage and deliver large amounts of diverse information to different media in the most effective way. (Source: Content-Wire) (2) Evolved from a combination of document management, full-text retrieval and publishing, it includes applications aimed at assembling pieces of information to form coherent packages such as documents, manuals, publications, and Web pages. Information is published on intranets, Web servers or document repositories. It includes content creation, publishing, information management, and interest profiling. (Source: IDC Content Management Factbook) |
data management
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(1) The part of the operating system that manages the physical storage and retrieval of data on a disk or other device. (2) Software that allows for the creation, storage, retrieval and manipulation of files interactively at a terminal or personal computer. (3) The function that manages data as an organizational resource. (4) The management of all data/information in an organization. It includes data administration, the standards for defining data and the way in which people perceive and use it. (Source: TechWeb.com) |
data mining
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Sophisticated data search capabilities that use statistical algorithms to discover patterns and correlation in data that have not previously been discovered - or possibly even imagined. |
data warehouse
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A database designed to support decision making in an organization. It is batch updated, and structured for fast queries and summaries. |
database server
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A specialized computer that doles out database data to PCs on a LAN the way a file server doles out files. A database server means vastly less network traffic in a multiuser database system, and provides for better data integrity since one computer handles all the record and file locking. |
dynamic RAM
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The most common type of computer memory, also known as D-RAM or DRAM. It usually uses one transistor and a capacitor to represent a bit. The capacitors must be energized hundreds of times per second in order to maintain the charges. Unlike firmware chips - ROMs, PROMs, etc. - both major varieties of RAM - dynamic and static - lose their content when the power is turned off. (Source: TechWeb.com) |
e-business
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Electronic business. Business conducted on the Internet, not only buying and selling but also servicing customers and collaborating with business partners. Today, major corporations are rethinking their businesses in terms of the Internet and its new culture and capabilities. Companies are using the Web to buy parts and supplies from other companies, to collaborate on sales promotions and to do joint research. |
eXtensible Markup Language
(XML)
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A subset of the SGML document language designed for use on the Web and sanctioned by the W3C. It enables designers to create their own customized tags to provide functionality not available with HTML. Whereas HTML uses a fixed set of tags to describe the pages, XML maintains the flexible meta-language characteristic of SGML by defining the codes that will be used in each document. |
embedded device
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Any intelligent electronic product that uses a small microcontroller or microprocessor. Examples include vending machines, utility meters, home appliances, factory equipment, security systems, communication equipment and others. (Source: IBM) |
extract, transform, load
(ETL)
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Three database functions that are combined into one tool to pull data out of one database and place it into another database. Extract is the process of reading data from a database. Transform is the process of converting the extracted data from its previous form into the form it needs to be in so that it can be placed into another database. Transformation occurs by using rules or lookup tables or by combining the data with other data. Load is the process of writing the data into the target database. ETL is used to migrate data from one database to another, to form data marts and data warehouses and also to convert databases from one format or type to another. (Source: Webopedia) |
failover
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Maintaining an up-to-date copy of a database on an alternate computer system for backup. The alternate system takes over if the primary system becomes unusable. |
high availability
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(1) The ability of a system to perform its function continuously (without interruption) for a significantly longer period of time than the reliabilities of its individual components would suggest. High availability is most often achieved through failure tolerance. High availability is not an easily quantifiable term. Both the bounds of a system that is called highly available and the degree to which its availability is extraordinary must be clearly understood on a case-by-case basis. (Source: SNIA Technical Dictionary) (2) A multiprocessing system that can quickly recover from a failure. Also refers to the ability to service a component of a system without disabling the entire operation. (Source: TechWeb.com) |
infrastructure
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IT infrastructure is the underlying technological components that constitute an organization's systems architecture. The seven components of IT infrastructure are hardware, operating system, network, database, development environment, user interface and application. (Source: Gartner Group, Inc.) |
integration
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(1) The process of bringing all parts together into a whole. (Source: WordSmyth.net) (2) The process of connecting an information structure such as a database - back end - to a visual template or interface - front end. (Source: The Motive Internet Glossary) (3) The extent to which components of the production process are inextricably linked. A software design concept that allows users to move easily between applications. (Source: PERA Enterprise Integration and Communications Systems Glossary) |
legacy
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Refers to critical enterprise functions, particularly aging data processing or telecommunications elements, including equipment, software, files, paperwork - built upon aging technology. A mainframe or minicomputer information system that has been in existence for a long time is a typical example. Technology advances regularly raise the question of whether to junk or update legacy elements. A legacy application describes a critical enterprise application built upon aging technology. A legacy system describes a computer system or application that continues to be used because of the prohibitive cost of replacing or redesigning it despite its poor competitiveness and compatibility with modern equivalents. If the legacy software only runs on antiquated hardware, the cost of maintaining this system may eventually outweigh the cost of replacing both the software and hardware, unless some form of emulation or backward compatibility allows the software to run on new hardware. |
microchip
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(1) Computer circuitry that has been manufactured into a material - usually of silicon - at a very small scale. Microchips are manufactured that contain program logic - logic chips - and that contain computer memory - potential data storage - or RAM. Microchips are also made that include both logic and memory and for special purposes such as analog-to-digital conversion, bit slicing, and gateways. (2) An integrated circuit that is the foundation of computer processing and data storage. It holds the logic circuitry that responds to and processes the basic instructions that run all types of computers. Chips are used in everything from watches and calculators to personal computers (PCs) and high-performance computers. (Source for 2: Gartner IT Glossary) |
microprocessor
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A silicon chip that contains a CPU. The terms microprocessor and CPU are often used interchangeably. Three characteristics differentiate one microprocessor from another: the set of instructions that the microprocessor can execute; the bandwidth, or number of bits processed in a single instruction; the clock speed, or how many instructions-per-second (in MHz) the processor can execute. Microprocessors are either RISC (reduced instruction set computer) or CISC (complex instruction set computer). |
middleware
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(1) Software that mediates between an application program and a control program or network. It manages the interaction between applications across the heterogeneous computing platforms. (2) Software that functions as a conversion or translation layer; may refer to software that sits between an application and a control program - OS, network control program, DBMS - and provides a single programming interface for the apps to be written to. The app will run in whatever environments the middleware does. (Source: Binghamton University) |
node
(NN)
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(1) In communications, a network junction or connection point - for example, a personal computer in a LAN, or a terminal connected to a minicomputer or mainframe. In database management, a node is an item of data that can be accessed by two or more routes. In the document object model (DOM), which exposes HTML and XML content to an application or script, every element, every attribute of that element, and each piece of textual content for every attribute is considered a node. In computer graphics, a node is an endpoint of a graphical element. In multiprocessing systems, a node can be a single processor or system. In MPP, it is one processor. In SMP, it is one computer system with two or more processors and shared memory. (Source: TechWeb.com) (2) A point of connection into a network. In database management, it is an item of data that can be accessed by two or more routes. In communications, it's a network junction or connection point: terminal or computer. |
on demand business
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An on demand business is an enterprise whose business processes, integrated end-to-end across the company and with key partners, suppliers and customers, can respond with speed to any customer demand, market opportunity or external threat. (Source: IBM) |
on demand operating environment
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An on demand operating environment is a technology infrastructure that supports a company's on demand initiatives and involves an evolutionary approach whereby existing technologies deployed today within customer environments can be used to extract immediate value and benefits to the business. (Source: IBM) |
open standards
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Publicly available specifications for achieving a specific task. By allowing anyone to use the standard, they increase compatibility between various hardware and software components since anyone with the technical know-how and the necessary equipment to implement solutions can build something that works together with those of other vendors. Many standards are proprietary rather than being open, and must be licensed from the organization that owns the standard. (Source: Wikipedia)
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optimizer
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(1) The part of the Oracle kernel that determines the most efficient way to execute SQL statements by evaluating expressions and translating them into equivalent, quicker expressions. The optimizer formulates a set of execution plans and picks the best one for a SQL statement. (Source: Oracle) (2) A cost-based query optimizer is software that optimizes a SQL query for the fastest processing, based on the size of the file and other variables. (3) Generally, it can describe hardware or software that improves performance. |
outage
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A period when a service, such as electricity, is not available. (Source: Cambridge Online Dictionary) |
palmtop
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A small, general-purpose, programmable, battery-powered computer capable of handling both numbers and text (in contrast to most pocket calculators) which can be operated comfortably while held in one hand. A palmtop is usually loaded with an operating system such as Windows CE. Data can be transferred between the palmtop and a desktop PC. A palmtop is very similar to a personal digital assistant, though a palmtop may have a larger keyboard and more RAM, and is possibly more general purpose in concept, if not in practice. Also known as a pocket computer or handheld personal computer. (Source: FOLDOC) |
partition
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(1) To divide a resource or application into smaller pieces. (Source: TechWeb.com) (2) A fixed-size of storage. (3) On an IBM personal computer hard disk, one of four possible storage areas of variable size; one may be accessed by DOS and each of the others may be assigned to another operating system. (4) A subset of the active cluster nodes that result from a network failure. Members of a partition maintain connectivity with each other. (Source for 2 - 4: AS/400 Glossary) |
performance
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Refers to the metrics relating to how a particular request is handled. For example, if a particular query takes 5 seconds to run, and after performance tuning it takes 3 seconds to run, we have boosted the performance of this query. On the other hand, if a particular query now takes 15 seconds, and it used to take only 10 seconds to run, then performance has degraded. (Source: SQL Server Performance Tuning and Optimization Terminology and Glossary) |
platform
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Computers are layered machines composed of (1) a chip-level hardware level, (2) an operating system level, and (3) an application-programs level. The platform layer of the computer is the bottommost level of these levels. In layman's terms, the platform refers to the type of operating system (Windows, DOS, Unix) or computer (PIII) being used. (Source: High-Tech Dictionary) |
query
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(1) To interrogate a database - count, sum and list selected records - in order to retrieve data. Contrast with report, which is usually a more elaborate printout with headings and page numbers. The report may also be a selective list of items; hence, the two terms may refer to programs that produce the same results. (2) The process by which a Web client requests specific information from a Web server, based on a character string that is passed along. A query typically takes the form of a database search for a particular keyword or phrase. |
real-time
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(1) Occurring immediately. The term is used to describe several different computer features. For example, real-time operating systems respond to input immediately. They are used for tasks in which the computer must react to a steady flow of new information without interruption. Most general-purpose operating systems are not real-time because they can take a few seconds, or even minutes, to react. Real time can also refer to events simulated by a computer at the same speed that they would occur in real life. (Source: Webopedia) (2) Real-time is used as an adjective to mean: responding without delay to user input. (3) With respect to computer-simulated events, real time means: occurring at the same speed as the true event would. |
relational database
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A database organization method that links files together as required. In nonrelational systems - hierarchical, network - records in one file point to the locations of records in another. A relational database is organized and accessed according to relationships between data items, and consists of tables, rows and columns. A relational database can generate new files from two or more files. Coined in 1970 by Edgar Codd, whose objective was to accommodate ad hoc requests for selected data. |
replication
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Also known as data replication. (1) In database management, the ability to keep distributed databases synchronized by routinely copying the database (or subsets of it) to other servers in the network. (2) The process of duplicating and updating data in multiple computers on a network. Some users are permanently connected to the network, others only at intermittent times. All users have access to the same information, and their separate changes to the same record meld within the database. (3) According to 'Data Warehouse from Architecture to Implementation,' data replication is: 'a set of techniques that provides comprehensive support for copying and transforming data from source to target location in a managed, consistent, repeatable, and well-understood manner.' (Source for 3: University of Iowa) |
robust
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Describes software and hardware that works properly under normal and abnormal conditions. |
scalability
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(1) The ability to expand. Scalability implies minimal change in current procedures in order to accommodate growth. It should give users the flexibility to implement their own solutions, today or over time, on machines that meet their performance needs. (2) To scale is to resize a device, object or system, making it larger or smaller. The term is widely used to refer to the expansion capability of hardware or software. (3) To scale is to change the representation of a quantity in order to bring it into prescribed limits of another range. For example, values such as 1249, 876, 523, -101 and -234 might need to be scaled into a range from -5 to +5. (3) To scale is to designate the position of the decimal point in a fixed or floating point number. (Source for 2, 3, 4: TechWeb.com) |
semiconductor
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A solid-state substance that can be electrically altered. Certain elements in nature, such as silicon, perform like semiconductors when chemically combined with other elements. A semiconductor is halfway between a conductor and an insulator. When charged with electricity or light, semiconductors change their state from nonconductive to conductive or vice versa. The most significant semiconductor is the transistor, which is simply an on/off switch. (Source: TechWeb.com) |
software license
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A license issued to a person or company who buys a computer program stating under what conditions the software may be used. Most licenses specify that the user may create a backup for personal use, but only one copy of the software may be used on one machine at a time. Site licenses allow unlimited copying of software within an organization, and charge for the extra use. (Source: ComputerUser.com High-Tech Dictionary) |
structured data
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Data that resides in fixed fields within a record or file. Relational databases and spreadsheets are examples of structured data. (Source: TechWeb.com) |
subset
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A set that is included in another set, which is called a superset. The superset has all the characteristics of the subset and additional characteristics. (Source: ComputerUser.com High-Tech Dictionary) |
teraflops
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tera FLoating point OPerations per Second. One trillion floating point operations per second. |
throughput
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The amount of data transferred from one place to another or processed in a specified amount of time. Data transfer rates for disk drives and networks are measured in terms of throughput. Typically, throughputs are measured in Kbps, Mbps and Gbps. (Source: Webopedia) |
transaction
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(1) An activity or request. Orders, purchases, changes, additions and deletions are typical business transactions stored in the computer. Transactions update one or more master files and serve as both an audit trail and history for future analyses. Ad hoc queries are a type of transaction as well, but are usually just acted upon and not saved. Transaction volume is a major factor in figuring computer system size and speed. (Source: TechWeb.com (2) Under HIPAA, the exchange of information between two parties to carry out financial or administrative activities related to health care. (Source: HIPAAdvisory.com HIPAA Glossary) |
unstructured data
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Data that does not reside in fixed locations. Free-form text in a word processing document is a typical example. (Source: TechWeb.com) |
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