Glossary
268 SuperLoader User’s Guide
millisecond (ms)
One thousandth of a second (.001 sec.).
minicomputer A somewhat out-of-date term used to describe a class of
multi-user computer that was one notch below a mainframe system.
Minicomputer popularity fell with the rise in popularity of the networked
PC. Today’s server systems perform many of the functions that were once
the domain of minicomputers.
Mission Critical Applications that are vital to a company or
organization’s well-being.
N
native mode Refers to the uncompressed storage capacity of a tape or
disk subsystem. for instance, a DLT 7000 tape drive can store 35 GB in
native mode and 70 GB with 2:1 compression.
near-on-line storage An application that uses a tape drive or tape
automation system in much the same way as a hard disk drive. Provides
easy access to large amounts of critical information.
O
overhead Command overhead refers to the processing time required by
the controller, host adapter, or drive prior to the execution of a command.
Lower command overhead yields higher drive performance.
overwrite To write data on top of existing data thus erasing the original
data.
OEM Original Equipment Manufacturer.
P
parallel channel architecture Allows DLT tape drives to read/write
multiple channels simultaneously providing an industry-leading data
transfer rate in the DLT 7000 drive. with this architecture, data blocks are
not required to be located on any particular track or in consecutive order.
This channel-independent block structure provides a powerful write-
error handling system that allows bad blocks to be rewritten on the next
available command.
Partial Response, Maximum Likelihood PRML. A technology that allows
a disk or tape drive’s read channel to pack more data in the same amount
of space on magnetic media.
peak transfer rate The maximum speed with which information moves
inside a tape drive or between drive and host. Usually measured in
megabytes per second.