GLOSSARY

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.

A type of storage made up of computer chips that is able to move data extremely quickly. It is much faster than other forms of storing data. However, it is more expensive and it loses all of the information stored within it when electricity stops being supplied (when the computer is turned off). RAM is used to store information on whatever the computer is working on right now, that it needs access to immediately. To provide an analogy, imagine that you have a filing cabinet filled with documents and other things you need. The filing cabinet would be like a permanent storage medium.  When you are working on something, you take it out from the filing cabinet and put it on your desk. All of the things that you are currently working on, stay on your desk. Your desk is like RAM in this analogy because its easier to access the things that are on it.

Indicates that data does not have to be viewed “in order”. Any piece of data can be accessed without having to seek through earlier data first. An example of this is a DVD or Blu-Ray. If you are watching a movie on DVD, you can select a scene from the menu and go directly to that scene.