GLOSSARY

This tells the maximum heat that a CPU can produce during operation. It is measured using Watts, which represent how much energy is transferred in a single second. So the higher the TDP, the more heat is produced by the CPU. But this also means that a CPU with a higher TDP will typically have better performance than a CPU with low TDP. This is a very important concept when designing a computer. A powerful processor with a high TDP may be very fast, but if it needs to operate in a hot environment, with little to no airflow, it will likely overheat.

Short for “Wide Temperature Range”. This means that a product can withstand high and low temperatures.

A computer that is constructed to withstand extreme temperatures, dusty environments, vibrations, drops and sometimes liquid. They are typically constructed to be fanless because fans pull outside air into the computer, which can fill the systems with dust. It is also desirable to eliminate any moving parts, as they are a common point of failure.

An arrangement where the manufacturer agrees to not change any of the items in a BOM.

The word “Bill” in this sense means “a list”.  A BOM is a list of parts that are contained in an assembly.

A computer that comes with a chassis and motherboard assembled together. Often they will come with a processor, but this is not a requirement. They will typically not come with RAM or Storage.

A computer which comes prepackaged with everything that it needs out of the box. It is not a custom computer.

The main computer that several other computers are connected to. It can manage the computers that are connected to it. It also acts as a central storage point for data and software, that the other computers can access. A server can typically control what the other computers can access on its central storage by using permissions.

One trillion Bytes.

One billion bytes.