P's & Q's

Question 1

PaaS

Answer 1

(Platform as a Service)

A cloud computing service that enables consumers to rent fully configured systems that are set up for specific purposes.

Question 2

PAN

Answer 2

(Personal Area Network)

Close range networking (usually based on Bluetooth or NFC) allowing communications between personal devices, such as smartphones, laptops, and printers/peripheral devices.

Question 3

PAT (portable)

Answer 3

(portable appliance testing)

In the UK, Australia, and New Zealand, the process for inspecting and testing electrical equipment to ensure its safety.

Question 4

PAT (port)

Answer 4

(port address translation)

Another term for NAT overloading or NAPT.

Question 5

PATA

Answer 5

(Parallel Advanced Technology Attachment)

Used to be the main disk interface for PCs. The interface was very commonly called IDE (Integrated Drive Electronics) or Enhanced IDE (EIDE). Each PATA adapter supports two devices, commonly called master and slave. A drive is connected to the bus by a 40-pin ribbon cable. The PATA interface has been replaced by SATA.

Question 6

PCI bus

Answer 6

(Peripheral Component Interconnect bus)

Introduced in 1995 with the Pentium processor, it connects the CPU, memory, and peripherals to a 32-bit working at 33MHz. PCI supports bus mastering, IRQ steering, and Plug-and-Play. Later versions defined 64-bit operation and 66 MHz clock but were not widely adopted on desktop PCs.

Question 7

PCIe

Answer 7

(PCI Express)

An expansion bus standard using serial communications. Each device on the bus can create a point-to-point link with the I/O controller or another device. The link comprises one or more lanes (x1,x2, x4, x8, x12, x16, or x32). Each lane supports a full-duplex transfer rate of 250MBps (v1.0), 500 MBps (v2.0), or 1 GBps(v3.0). The standard is software compatible with PCI, allowing for motherboards with both types of connectors.

Question 8

PDL

Answer 8

(page description language)

A high-level computer language used to describe the contents and the layout of the information to be printed on a page through PDL commands.

Question 9

PGA

Answer 9

(Pin Grid Array)

A CPU socket form factor where pins are located on the bottom of the processor to fit in the matching holes in the motherboard socket. PGA-type sockets are still used by AMD but Intel has switched to Land Grid Array (LGA), where the pins are located on the socket rather than the chip.

Question 10

PGP

Answer 10

(Pretty Good Privacy)

Email encryption product providing message confidentiality and integrity using web of trust PGP certificates.

Question 11

PoP

Answer 11

(Point of Presence)

The equipment that allows a location, facility, home, or other point-of-access to connect to the Internet.

Question 12

POP 3

Answer 12

(Post Office Protocol)

A TCP/IP application protocol providing a means for a client to access email messages stored in a mailbox on a remote server. The server usually deletes messages once the client has downloaded them. POP3 utilizes TCP port110.

Question 13

POST

Answer 13

(Power-On Self-Test)

A hardware checking routine built into the PC firmware. This test sequentially monitors the state of the memory chips, the processor, system clock, display, and firmware itself. Errors that occur within vital components such as these are signified by beep codes emitted by the internal speaker of the computer. Further tests are then performed and any errors displayed as on-screen error codes and messages.

Question 14

POTS

Answer 14

(Plain Old Telephone System)

Parts of a telephone network “local loop” using voice-grade cabling. Analog data transfer over POTS using dial-up modems is slow(33.3 Kbps). DSL technologies make better use of the bandwidth available, but are not accessible over all of the network.

Question 15

PPP

Answer 15

(Point-to-Point Protocol)

Dial-up protocol working at layer 2 (Data Link) used to connect devices remotely to networks. Often used to connect to an ISP’s routers and out to the Internet. PPPoE (PPP over Ethernet) or PPPoA (PPP over ATM) are used to provide broadband connections(over DSL or cable Internet, for instance).

Question 16

PPPoA

Answer 16

(PPP over ATM)

The PPP protocol is used with the ATM transport protocol by DSL providers.

Question 17

PPPoE

Answer 17

(PPP over Ethernet)

PPP packets are encapsulated within Ethernet frames for transport by DSL providers.

Question 18

PRI (Phones…)

Answer 18

(Preferred Roaming Index)

An index that works with the PRL to provide the best data/voice quality to a phone while roaming.

Question 19

PRI

Answer 19

(Primary Rate Interface)

A class of ISDN service that provides either T1 or E1capacity levels (23B or 30B) channels, depending on location in the world, and one 64 Kbps D channel.

Question 20

PRL

Answer 20

(Preferred Roaming List)

A database built by CDMA service carriers to indicate which radio bands should be used when connecting to a cell tower.

Question 21

PSE

Answer 21

(Power Sourcing Equipment)

Network switches that provide power through the Ethernet cable to connected devices.

Question 22

PSK

Answer 22

(Pre-shared Key)

Symmetric encryption technologies, such as those used for WEP, require both parties to use the same private key. This key must be kept a secret known only to those authorized to use the network. A pre-shared key is normally generated from a passphrase.

Question 23

PSTN

Answer 23

(Public Switched Telephone Network)

National telecommunications system shave evolved and combined over the years to create a global (and indeed extra-terrestrial) communications network This is referred to as the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) but it is capable of carrying more than simply voice-call services. The basis of PSTN is a circuit-switched network, but the infrastructure can also carry packet-switched data services.

Question 24

PSU

Answer 24

(Power Supply Unit)

Transformer that converts AC mains power into 3.3 V, 5 V, and 12 V DC to power components on the motherboard. The type of PSU must match the case and motherboard form factor.

Question 25

PVR

Answer 25

(personal video recorder)

Software installed on a home theater PC (HTPC) to record and watch TV broadcasts.

Question 26

QC

Answer 26

(Quick Charge)

A Qualcomm fast charging technology that also has a second chip for power management that allows higher wattage than is allowed by the USB standard without overheating.

Question 27

QoS

Answer 27

(Quality of Service)

Systems that differentiate data passing over the network that can reserve bandwidth for particular applications. A system that cannot guarantee a level of available bandwidth is often described as Class of Service (CoS).

Question 28

QR codes

Answer 28

(Quick Response codes)

A 2D barcode created of black and white squares used to store information that can be read using a barcode scanner or the camera on a smartphone that has a barcode scanning app installed.