Back Up
To save important data in a secondary location as a safety against loss of the primary data.
Bandwidth
The total maximum capacity of a network or modem connection. The modem bandwidth is generally measured in BPS. The more bandwidth the faster you will be able to receive and/or send information. If bandwidth is being shared you will likely not be able to reach the maximum capacity of the bandwidth when other computers, users or other devices are utilizing the same line.
Barebone
Term commonly used to describe a computer system that contains only the absolutely required components for the computer to operate keeping the cost low. Below is a list of components commonly found in a barebones computer, these may vary.
Case
Power Supply
Motherboard (Usually with integrated video and/or sound).
Memory
Video Card
Sound Card
Additional components such as a computer monitor, external cables, keyboard, mouse, and other external components are almost never included. Because all computer manufacturers are different this term may also refer to a computer that only has a motherboard or case and nothing else.
Tip: When considering buying a barebone computer make sure it lists all the components you believe you are going to need before purchasing it.
BASIC (Beginner's All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code)
A commonly used personal-computer language first developed at Dartmouth during the 1960s and popularized by Microsoft.
Baud
One analog cycle on a telephone line. In the early days of telephone data transmission, the baud rate was often analogous to bits-per-second. Due to advanced modulation of baud cycles as well as data compression, this is no longer true.
Benchmark
Test used to test the performance of a hardware peripheral, software or the overall computer. These tests can be used to help compare how well a product may do against other products. Generally the higher the benchmark the faster the component, software or overall computer is.
BIOS (Basic Input/Output System)
BIOS is a chip located on all computer motherboards that contains instructions and setup for how your system should boot and how it operates.
Bit
The smallest unit of information in a computer, can either equal 0 or 1. Eight bits equal one byte.
Blu-ray
Blu-ray is a new optical disc standard based on the use of a blue laser rather than the red laser of today's DVD players. The standard, developed collaboratively by Hitachi, LG, Matsushita (Panasonic), Pioneer, Philips, Samsung, Sharp, Sony, and Thomson, threatens to make current DVD players obsolete. It is not clear whether new Blu-ray players might include both kinds of lasers in order to be able to read current CD and DVD formats.
BMP (Bitmap)
A standard type of graphics file. An uncompressed format, so the files tend to be fairly big.
BPS (Bits Per Second)
A measure of how quickly information is being transferred, usually via a modem or network. Divide by ten to get an approximation of the number of characters per second (cps). See also Kbps, Mbps.
Broadband
In general, broadband refers to telecommunication in which a wide band of frequencies is available to transmit information. Because a wide band of frequencies is available, information can be multiplexed and sent on many different frequencies or channels within the band concurrently, allowing more information to be transmitted in a given amount of time (much as more lanes on a highway allow more cars to travel on it at the same time). Related terms are wideband (a synonym), baseband (a one-channel band), and narrowband (sometimes meaning just wide enough to carry voice, or simply "not broadband," and sometimes meaning specifically between 50 cps and 64 Kpbs).
Bluetooth
Bluetooth is a technology that enables communication between two compatible devices through short-range two-way radio. Bluetooth is commonly used for connecting devices, such as PDAs, cell phones, keyboards, mice and computers. Bluetooth works at up to 30 feet and is capable of transferring data at up to 1 mbit/sec.
Buffer
When referring to memory a buffer is temporary storage in memory used to temporarily store information while other information is being processed.
Note: The term buffer is commonly used, almost always it refers to a temporary storage or location.
Byte
A basic unit of measurement for pieces of information; the space required to store one character. See also Bit, Kilobyte, Megabyte, Gigabyte, Terabyte.
