Term
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Definition
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Blue Gene
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Blue Gene is a computer architecture project designed to produce several next-generation supercomputers, designed to reach operating speeds in the petaflops range, and currently reaching speeds over 280 teraflops. It is a cooperative project between the United States Department of Energy (which is partially funding the project), industry (IBM in particular), and academia. There are five Blue Gene projects in development, among them Blue Gene/L, Blue Gene/C, and Blue Gene/P. (Source: Wikipedia) |
Blue Gene/L
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The first computer in the Blue Gene series, Blue Gene/L, developed through a partnership with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), cost US$100 million and is intended to scale to speeds in the hundreds of TFLOPS, with a theoretical peak performance of 360 TFLOPS. (Source: Wikipedia) |
Blue Gene/P
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IBM currently plans to finish Blue Gene/P in 2006. Blue Gene/P is expected to be the first supercomputer to break 1 petaflops, or 1 quadrillion floating-point operations per second. (Source: Wikipedia) |
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) |
Reduced Instruction Set Computer
(RISC)
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A computer architecture that reduces chip complexity by using simpler instructions. The design is based on the rapid execution of a sequence of simple instructions rather than on the provision of a large variety of complex instructions. RISC compilers generate software routines to perform complex instructions that were previously done in hardware by CISC (Complex Instruction Set Computing) computers. The RISC design achieves high performance by doing the most common computer operations very quickly. |
Simple Object Access Protocol
(SOAP)
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Simple object access protocol provides a way for applications to communicate with each other over the Internet, independent of platform. Unlike OMG's IIOP, SOAP piggybacks a DOM onto HTTP (port 80) in order to penetrate server firewalls, which are usually configured to accept port 80 and port 21 (FTP) requests. SOAP relies on XML to define the format of the information and then adds the necessary HTTP headers to send it. SOAP was developed by Microsoft, DevelopMentor, and Userland Software and has been proposed to the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) as a standard. (Source: Webopedia) |
business model
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(1) The set of characteristics that describe how a business is going to operate, including R&D, marketing, product development, and revenues and expenses. (Source: InvestorWords) (2) A collection of business processes. (Source: IBM) |
dynamic random access memory
(DRAM)
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Pronounced dee-ram, DRAM stands for dynamic random access memory, a type of memory used in most personal computers. (Source: Webopedia) |
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. |
ecosystem
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The complex of a community of organisms and its environment functioning as an ecological unit (Source: Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary) |
heat sink
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A component designed to lower the temperature of an electronic device by dissipating heat into the surrounding air. All modern CPUs require a heat sink. Some also require a fan. A heat sink without a fan is called a passive heat sink; a heat sink with a fan is called an active heat sink. Heat sinks are generally made of an aluminum alloy and often have fins. (Source: Webopedia) |
innovation
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(1) The introduction of something new. (2) A new idea, method, or device. (Source: Merriam-Webster.com)
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insourcing
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The transfer of an outsourced function to an internal department of the customer, to be managed entirely by employees. (Source: Outsourcinglaw.com) |
mainframe
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A name given to a large computer system. The name was derived in the 1960s to refer to the main processor's cabinet. |
metric
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A measurement. Although metric generally refers to the decimal-based metric system of weights and measures, software engineers often use the term as simply 'measurement'. For example, 'Is there a metric for this process?' Software metrics use numerical ratings to measure the complexity and reliability of source code, the length and quality of the development process, and the performance of the application when completed. Software metrics, or software measurement, refers to using numerical ratings to measure the complexity and reliability of source code, the length and quality of the development process, and the performance of the application when completed. (Source: TechWeb.com) |
outsourcing
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(1) Also 'sourcing': entrusting a business process to an external service provider for a significant period of time. Sometimes the process is one that has historically been performed by a vertically integrated enterprise, such as data processing. More recently, outsourcing defines the services sector for those services that were not part of the vertically integrated enterprise, such as telecommunications, Web site hosting, transportation services, logistics and professional services of regulated professionals. Allegedly a more modern term for facilities management. (Source: Outsourcinglaw.com) (2) To outsource is to send out (work, for example) to an outside provider or manufacturer in order to cut costs. (Source: Dictionary.com) |
research and development
(R&D)
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The division within a company responsible for creating new products. (Source: Netlingo) |
- high
- medium
- low
