Glossary 1GlossaryAaccess timeThe time period between the supply of an access signal and theoutput or acceptance of the data by the addressed system.Examples are the access times for DRAMs, SRAMs, harddrives, and CD-ROM drives. Hard drive access time is the timeit takes for a computer to get data from the disk. A hard drivewith an 11 ms access time is fast. A CD-ROM drive with a 280ms access time is fast.ACPIAdvanced Configuration and Power Interface. A powermanagement specification developed by Intel, Microsoft, andToshiba. When installed on the system, ACPI enables theoperating system to control the amount of power given to eachdevice attached to the computer. With ACPI, the operatingsystem can turn off peripheral devices (such as CD-ROMdrives) when they are not in use. As another example, ACPIenables manufacturers to produce computers that automaticallypower up as soon as you touch the keyboard.adapterAn expansion board or component on the system board thatcommunicates with peripherals (such as the display monitor ornetwork devices).addressA hexadecimal number that represents a location in storage ormemory. Also used to identify communication ports. Tocommunicate with a storage device.
