Unit 01

Question 1

Application Service Provider (ASP)

Answer 1

An organisation offering access to application software run on centralised servers and accessed over the internet using a browser or specialised client software.

Question 2

application software

Answer 2

Software designed to carry out a function for the user, e.g. a payroll application or a word processing program (as opposed to systems software like the operating system or middleware).

Question 3

bandwidth

Answer 3

The data transfer capacity of a communications link, usually measured for digital communications in units of bits per second.

Question 4

centralised computer system

Answer 4

A computer system where all, or almost all, of the processing is carried out at one central location.

Question 5

computer bureau

Answer 5

The clients of a computer bureau pay for the computer time needed to run their business software on the bureau’s computers – a similar approach to current application service providers, however this idea pre-dates the internet so data transfer was via magnetic disks or tapes.

Question 6

concurrent system

Answer 6

A system which may have a number of activities active at the same time and allows all of its active activities to make progress.

Question 7

deadlock

Answer 7

A state of a concurrent system where the whole system stops because two or more components are waiting for each other to continue (and they never do).

Question 8

distributed system

Answer 8

A system containing a number of distinct components at different locations, where each component is, in some sense, a computer system itself and the components are linked by a network. The system may demonstrate transparency to varying degrees.

Question 9

dumb terminal

Answer 9

A computer terminal with very little local processing power – simply a screen and keyboard together with some simple communications links.

Question 10

embedded system

Answer 10

A computer system that is physically part of a larger system (often a real-time system) and may monitor or control the system of which it forms a part.

Question 11

enterprise

Answer 11

A large organisation, such as an industrial company, a bank or a government department.

Question 12

enterprise software

Answer 12

Software that runs on enterprise systems.

Question 13

enterprise system

Answer 13

A computing system suitable for the requirements of an enterprise.

Question 14

fault-tolerant system

Answer 14

A system that can continue normally (or perhaps with reduced functionality) after a hardware or software error has occurred.

Question 15

grid computing

Answer 15

A way of harnessing the power of many computers distributed across the internet to solve problems requiring great processing power.

Question 16

host (aka node)

Answer 16

An individual component of a distributed system that has some processing capability.

Question 17

interoperability

Answer 17

The ability of systems to work across a variety of different environments or platforms.

Question 18

local area network (LAN)

Answer 18

A computer network where all the hosts are physically close together, often in the same building, and normally entirely controlled by one organisation or department (in contrast to a WAN).

Question 19

location-aware system

Answer 19

A mobile system that can take advantage of satellite location services (such as GPS) to determine its location and hence adapt its behaviour depending on its physical location.

Question 20

memory

Answer 20

Short-term, rapidly accessed computer hardware for storing data – often, but not always, volatile (loses data if powered off), e.g. RAM.

Question 21

mobile system

Answer 21

A distributed computer system some of whose components are not fixed in their location, e.g. a mobile phone network.

Question 22

monolithic architecture

Answer 22

A design of computer system in which all, or almost all, the processing is carried out at one central location, e.g. a mainframe computer.

Question 23

multi-core

Answer 23

A design of CPU chip with more than one processing unit (or ‘execution core’) that can improve performance by operating in parallel – the special case of two processing units is called dual-core.

Question 24

multiprocessor

Answer 24

A computer system with more than one CPU – this could mean anything from two CPUs to thousands of CPUs.

Question 25

operating system

Answer 25

Software that interacts with the underlying hardware of a computer system and provides a layer or platform on which other software, such as application software, can run without needing detailed knowledge of the hardware.

Question 26

parallel bus

Answer 26

A set of parallel wiring connections that can link closely positioned CPUs in a multiprocessor system.

Question 27

parallel system

Answer 27

A concurrent system that can really carry out a number of activities simultaneously because it has more than one processor.

Question 28

personal digital assistant (PDA)

Answer 28

A small hand-held computing device, usually with relatively limited resources of display, memory and storage.

Question 29

processor (CPU)

Answer 29

The part of a computer system that carries out the instructions of a software program in order to process data.

Question 30

pseudo-parallel system

Answer 30

A concurrent system which shares processor time between a number of activities but only one activity is actually running at any given time.

Question 31

random access memory (RAM)

Answer 31

Short-term, rapidly accessed hardware for storing data – normally in the form of volatile semiconductor devices (loses data if it loses power).

Question 32

real-time system

Answer 32

A system which must guarantee to respond correctly to inputs within a specified time period.

Question 33

responsive

Answer 33

Acceptably fast to respond to a request for action or information – the definition of acceptability depends on the context.

Question 34

scalable system

Answer 34

A system whose capacity can be increased, or less commonly decreased, to match changes in demand (where demand may be measured in number of users or amount of processing).

Question 35

scheduling

Answer 35

Allocation of processor (i.e. CPU) time between the various activities in a concurrent system.

Question 36

sequential system

Answer 36

A system in which each activity must complete execution before another activity can start.

Question 37

storage

Answer 37

Computer hardware for holding data in the long term (even after being powered down) – typically uses devices such as magnetic or optical disks that are slower but cheaper per unit of data than memory.

Question 38

TCP/IP

Answer 38

TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) and IP (Internet Protocol) are the most commonly used specifications of the detailed format of messages exchanged between internet hosts.

Question 39

terminal

Answer 39

A device for accessing a centralised computer system via local cabling or, if more remote, via the telephone system. Some terminals have limited processing ability, often to aid in graphical display, but the bulk of processing in the system is carried out on the central processor.

Question 40

time-sharing

Answer 40

A rather dated term for a concurrent system with a number of users that allocates time to each user, so that each has the impression that the computer is responding to just their request.

Question 41

time-slicing

Answer 41

A scheduling approach for concurrent systems in which each activity gets a fixed and equal amount of processor time before the processing switches to the next activity.

Question 42

transparency

Answer 42

The extent to which a distributed system appears to its users as a coherent system providing a range of functions (so that the user does not need to know that the system is distributed).

Question 43

ubiquitous computing

Answer 43

A situation where computing devices are so small and cheap that they occur in huge numbers throughout everyday environments.

Question 44

uniprocessor

Answer 44

A computer system with a single central processing unit (CPU).

Question 45

unresponsive

Answer 45

Unacceptably slow to respond to a request for action or information – the definition of acceptability depends on the context.

Question 46

wide area network (WAN)

Answer 46

A computer network that spans a large geographical area such as a region, a country or the world and which typically relies on public providers of telecoms or other long-distance services for part of its communication path (in contrast to a LAN).