| ISP Dictionary - ISP Glossary Definitions for 'v' |
| V.32 - A standard naming convention used in determining modem communications, all starting with "V." This one is for specifying the Hayes standard of bidirectional... |
| V.32bis - The standard that came after V.32 which increased the speed from 9600 baud to 14.4 Kbits per second. |
| V.34 - This was a dramatic improvement for modem communications. It doubled the top speed of the V.32bis standard to 28.8Kbps. |
| V.34+ - This standard was made by US Robotics to indicate that its modems are superior to a standard V.34 modem in that they run at 33.6 KB baud instead of the... |
| V.42 - The name given to the standard for transmitting at 2400 baud. |
| V.42Bis - This is not a speed standard like V.32 and V.34, but an error correction and compression method that is hardware-based. Its major improvement comes from... |
| V.90 - The ITU's first standard for 56K modem communications. It superceded X2 and 56kflex to become the ultimate 56K standard. Most X2 and 56kflex modems were... |
| V.92 - An extension to the V.90 modem transmission standard that adds three new features: quick connect, which speeds up the connection handshake; Modem-on-Hold,... |
| V.Everything - US Robotics' designation for its Courier Dual standard modems, which support all types of analog modem communications. |
| V.Fast - This standard was made between the time of V.32bis and V.34. It is also a 28.8 KB baud speed, but was not as reliable as the approved V.34 standard. |
| Value Added Reseller - An individual or company that resells computer hardware and/or software. They "add value" to the items they sell by integrating or customizing them as... |
| VAR - An individual or company that resells computer hardware and/or software. They "add value" to the items they sell by integrating or customizing them as... |
| Variable Bit Rate - A type of encoding of compressed audio that allows for different bitrates in the same file. VBR can reduce file size and increase quality. The file size... |
| VAX - A line of 32-bit servers sold by the former Digital Equipment Corp. Initially, VAX computers ran only the VMS operating system, but later versions supported... |
| VBR - A type of encoding of compressed audio that allows for different bitrates in the same file. VBR can reduce file size and increase quality. The file size... |
| VBScript - A Microsoft scripting language that is embedded in many Microsoft applications. Although it allows for powerful interoperability and functionality, it... |
| VCD - This technology was developed by Sony and Philips in 1993, and allows around 70 minutes of compressed MPEG-1 video/audio to be stored on a CD. Typically... |
| VCM - A type of memory developed by NEC. VCM memory adds some low latency SRAM registers onto standard SDRAM, much like EDO compared to Fast Page Mode memory.... |
| VCR - A device that can record and play back video to and from videotapes (video cassettes). Typical tapes can hold two to 6 hours of video, depending on quality.... |
| VDT - An older term for a CRT monitor. It is most often used when the ergonomics of computer monitors or EMF radiation are discussed, such as "Sitting in a room... |
| Vector - A set of scalar numbers that refers to a point in space. Say, for example, you are in a two-dimensional space. A vector may be (5,6), which is 5 units... |
| vector graphics - In mathematics and physics, a vector is a line which has a defined starting point, a designated direction and a specified distance. Vector graphics are... |
| VERONICA - The gopher-based search engine that worked with an index of gopher menus around the world. The last VERONICA search engine on the nets is probably gone... |
| Vertical market - An industry or group of companies that can be marketed to in a similar manner because they have similar needs. Common examples of vertical markets include... |
| Vertical Market Application - An application written specifically for a particular vertical market, as opposed to more generic multi-purpose applications such as office suites. One... |
| Very Large DataBase - This refers, unsurprisingly, to a database that is very large in size. How large exactly is not specifically defined, but sizes of around a terabyte or... |
| Very Large Scale Integration - The amount of transistors that are incorporated in a chip. A VLSI processor has on the order of 100,000 or more transistors, but not over a million. See... |
| Very Long Instruction Word - A microprocessor architecture different from CISC and RISC. VLIW uses encoded instructions that are even more complex than the instructions used in CISC.... |
| VESA - A group that sets standards for certain peripheral devices and their connectors, such as the VESA Local Bus and VESA standard monitor specification. |
| VESA Local Bus - A 32-bit extension of a 16-bit ISA slot. This architecture predated PCI and allowed users to break the bottleneck that occurred when the ISA bus slowed... |
| VGA - A video standard that allows for resolutions up to 640x480 with up to 16 colors at a time. It also allows for 320x200 resolution with 256 colors. Many... |
| Video Card - An add-on device in computers that deals specifically with displaying to a monitor. Without one you cannot see what's going on in your computer, and may... |
| Video Cassette Recorder - A device that can record and play back video to and from videotapes (video cassettes). Typical tapes can hold two to 6 hours of video, depending on quality.... |
| Video CD - This technology was developed by Sony and Philips in 1993, and allows around 70 minutes of compressed MPEG-1 video/audio to be stored on a CD. Typically... |
| Video Display Terminal - An older term for a CRT monitor. It is most often used when the ergonomics of computer monitors or EMF radiation are discussed, such as "Sitting in a room... |
| Video Electronics Standards Association - A group that sets standards for certain peripheral devices and their connectors, such as the VESA Local Bus and VESA standard monitor specification. |
| Video Graphics Array - A video standard that allows for resolutions up to 640x480 with up to 16 colors at a time. It also allows for 320x200 resolution with 256 colors. Many... |
| Video Home System - A trademark and industry standard for the tape format used in VCRs. The VHS format features resolution of about 300x360 pixels. |
| Video RAM - Dual-ported memory made specifically for video cards that was very similar to DRAM but was able to receive and send data at the same time. Due to the complexity... |
| Virtual Address eXtension - A line of 32-bit servers sold by the former Digital Equipment Corp. Initially, VAX computers ran only the VMS operating system, but later versions supported... |
| Virtual Channel Memory - A type of memory developed by NEC. VCM memory adds some low latency SRAM registers onto standard SDRAM, much like EDO compared to Fast Page Mode memory.... |
| Virtual Classroom - Any means of live or pre-programmed Internet broadcast of information meant to function in a teaching capacity. For example, you could say "see you in... |
| Virtual LAN - This is created when a bunch of physically connected ports are grouped together by network hardware that supports VLANs. These VLANs are each treated as... |
| Virtual Machine - Generally speaking, this is any non-physical construct that runs within the confines of another real (physical) or virtual machine. For example, an operating... |
| Virtual Machine Environment - An operating system developed by ICL (International Computers Limited) for mainframe computers. ICL is a hardware and software manufacturer from the U.K.... |
| Virtual Memory - A section of a hard drive used to augment a computer's RAM, or main memory. Different operating systems have different ways of dealing with virtual memory.... |
| Virtual Memory System - Designed in 1976, this is the operating system that ran on Digital Equipment Corp.'s VAX operating system. Eventually DEC ported VMS to run on the Alpha... |
| Virtual Private Network - A "virtual" network constructed by connecting computers together over the Internet and encrypting their communications so that other people cannot understand... |
| Virtual Private Network (VPN) - A private network within a public network, usually on the Internet. Privacy for the virtual network is achieved through encryption and provides a less... |
| virtual reality - A computer simulation of a real 3-dimensional world, often supplemented by sound effects. One early example allowed you to drive through a city, turn at... |
| Virtual Reality Markup Language - An enhancement to the HTML format used to make virtual worlds out of Web pages. Its main uses so far include going on walk-throughs of real estate over... |
| virus - A destructive program that has the ability to reproduce itself and infect other programs or disks. Typically a virus will not show itself immediately,... |
| Visitor - When a user arrives on a website, he or she is considered one visitor regardless of how many pages at which he or she looks. If a visitor returns to that... |
| Visual Basic - Asoftware product developed by Microsoft. Its purpose is to bring programming down to a drag-and-drop level to speed up development cycles. In many ways... |
| Visual Basic Script - A Microsoft scripting language that is embedded in many Microsoft applications. Although it allows for powerful interoperability and functionality, it... |
| Visual C++ - A Microsoft product that is basically VB on steroids. It features a similar visual interface with drag-and-drop functionality, but the code is C++, which... |
| VLAN - This is created when a bunch of physically connected ports are grouped together by network hardware that supports VLANs. These VLANs are each treated as... |
| VLB - A 32-bit extension of a 16-bit ISA slot. This architecture predated PCI and allowed users to break the bottleneck that occurred when the ISA bus slowed... |
| VLDB - This refers, unsurprisingly, to a database that is very large in size. How large exactly is not specifically defined, but sizes of around a terabyte or... |
| VLIW - A microprocessor architecture different from CISC and RISC. VLIW uses encoded instructions that are even more complex than the instructions used in CISC.... |
| VLSI - The amount of transistors that are incorporated in a chip. A VLSI processor has on the order of 100,000 or more transistors, but not over a million. See... |
| VME - An operating system developed by ICL (International Computers Limited) for mainframe computers. ICL is a hardware and software manufacturer from the U.K.... |
| VMEbus - A backplane interconnection bus standard developed by Motorola and others, and now an IEEE standard. It has data bus sizes of 16, 32, or 64 bits, and VMEbus... |
| VMS - Designed in 1976, this is the operating system that ran on Digital Equipment Corp.'s VAX operating system. Eventually DEC ported VMS to run on the Alpha... |
| Voice over IP - The practice of using an Internet connection to pass voice data using IP instead of using the standard public switched telephone network. This allows a... |
| VoIP - The practice of using an Internet connection to pass voice data using IP instead of using the standard public switched telephone network. This allows a... |
| Volt - The standard unit of electric potential. It is defined as the amount of electrical potential between two points on a conductor carrying a current of one... |
| Voltage - A measure of an amount of volts. |
| Volume - A drive or set of drives seen as a single entity by a Novell NetWare file server. It is the highest level of the NetWare directory structure. Volumes must... |
| vortal - A vertical portal. A apecialized portal that serves a particular organization or interest group, rather than trying to be all things to all people. |
| VPN - See Virtual Private Network. |
| VRAM - This is dual-ported memory made specifically for video cards that was very similar to DRAM but was able to receive and send data at the same time. Due... |
| VRML - Virtual Reality Modelling Language. A graphical system that creates views of 3-dimensional images that change as the viewer's angle and position changes... |
| VxD - A device driver that runs under the Windows operating system. It runs as part of the OS kernel and has access to kernel memory, running processes and hardware.... |
