user_Glossary.xml revision 6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923ed
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync<!DOCTYPE chapter PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook XML V4.4//EN"
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6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync <glossentry>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync <para>Advanced Configuration and Power Interface, an industry
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync specification for BIOS and hardware extensions to configure PC
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync hardware and perform power management. Windows 2000 and higher as well
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync as Linux 2.4 and higher support ACPI. Windows can only enable or
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync disable ACPI support at installation time.</para>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync </glossdef>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync </glossentry>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync <glossentry>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync <para>Advanced Host Controller Interface, the interface that supports
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync SATA devices such as hard disks. See <xref
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync </glossdef>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync </glossentry>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync <glossentry>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync <para>The hardware virtualization features built into modern AMD
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync </glossdef>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync </glossentry>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync <glossentry>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync </glossdef>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync </glossentry>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync <glossentry>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync <para>Advanced Programmable Interrupt Controller, a newer version of
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync the original PC PIC (programmable interrupt controller). Most modern
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync CPUs contain an on-chip APIC ("local APIC"). Many systems also contain
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync an I/O APIC (input output APIC) as a separate chip which provides more
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync than 16 IRQs. Windows 2000 and higher use a different kernel if they
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync detect an I/O APIC during installation. Therefore an I/O APIC must not
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync be removed after installation.</para>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync </glossdef>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync </glossentry>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync <glossentry>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync <para>Advanced Technology Attachment, an industry standard for hard
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync disk interfaces (synonymous with IDE). See <xref
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync </glossdef>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync </glossentry>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync </glossdiv>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync <glossentry>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync <para>Basic Input/Output System, the firmware built into most personal
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync computers which is responsible of initializing the hardware after the
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync computer has been turned on and then booting an operating system.
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync VirtualBox ships with its own virtual BIOS that runs when a virtual
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync machine is started.</para>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync </glossdef>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync </glossentry>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync </glossdiv>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync <glossentry>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync <para>Microsoft Component Object Model, a programming infrastructure
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync for modular software. COM allows applications to provide application
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync programming interfaces which can be accessed from various other
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync programming languages and applications. VirtualBox makes use of COM
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync both internally and externally to provide a comprehensive API to 3rd
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync party developers.</para>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync </glossdef>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync </glossentry>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync </glossdiv>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync <glossentry>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync <para>Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol. This allows a networking
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync device in a network to acquire its IP address (and other networking
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync details) automatically, in order to avoid having to configure all
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync devices in a network with fixed IP addresses. VirtualBox has a
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync built-in DHCP server that delivers an IP addresses to a virtual
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync machine when networking is configured to NAT; see <xref
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync </glossdef>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync </glossentry>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync <glossentry>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync <para>Dynamic Kernel Module Support. A framework that simplifies
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync installing and updating external kernel modules on Linux machines; see
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync </glossdef>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync </glossentry>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync </glossdiv>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync <glossentry>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync <para>Extensible Firmware Interface, a firmware built into computers
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync which is designed to replace the aging BIOS. Originally designed by
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync Intel, most modern operating systems can now boot on computers which
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync have EFI instead of a BIOS built into them; see <xref
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync </glossdef>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync </glossentry>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync <glossentry>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync <para>Enhanced Host Controller Interface, the interface that
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync implements the USB 2.0 standard.</para>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync </glossdef>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync </glossentry>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync </glossdiv>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync <glossentry>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync <para>Graphical User Interface. Commonly used as an antonym to a
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync "command line interface", in the context of VirtualBox, we sometimes
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync refer to the main graphical
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync <computeroutput>VirtualBox</computeroutput> program as the "GUI", to
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync differentiate it from the <computeroutput>VBoxManage</computeroutput>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync interface.</para>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync </glossdef>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync </glossentry>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync <glossentry>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync </glossdef>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync </glossentry>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync </glossdiv>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync <glossentry>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync <para>Integrated Drive Electronics, an industry standard for hard disk
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync interfaces. See <xref linkend="harddiskcontrollers" />.</para>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync </glossdef>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync </glossentry>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync <glossentry>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync </glossdef>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync </glossentry>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync <glossentry>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync <para>Internet SCSI; see <xref linkend="storage-iscsi" />.</para>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync </glossdef>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync </glossentry>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync </glossdiv>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync <glossentry>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync <para>Media Access Control, a part of an Ethernet network card. A MAC
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync address is a 6-byte number which identifies a network card. It is
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync typically written in hexadecimal notation where the bytes are
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync separated by colons, such as
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync <computeroutput>00:17:3A:5E:CB:08</computeroutput>.</para>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync </glossdef>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync </glossentry>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync </glossdiv>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync <glossentry>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync <para>Network Address Translation. A technique to share networking
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync interfaces by which an interface modifies the source and/or target IP
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync addresses of network packets according to specific rules. Commonly
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync employed by routers and firewalls to shield an internal network from
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync the Internet, VirtualBox can use NAT to easily share a host's physical
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync networking hardware with its virtual machines. See <xref
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync </glossdef>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync </glossentry>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync </glossdiv>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync <glossentry>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync <para>Open Virtualization Format, a cross-platform industry standard
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync to exchange virtual appliances between virtualization products; see
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync </glossdef>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync </glossentry>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync </glossdiv>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync <glossentry>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync <para>Physical Address Extension. This allows accessing more than 4 GB
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync of RAM even in 32-bit environments; see <xref
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync </glossdef>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync </glossentry>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync <glossentry>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync </glossdef>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync </glossentry>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync <glossentry>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync <para>Preboot Execution Environment, an industry standard for booting
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync PC systems from remote network locations. It includes DHCP for IP
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync configuration and TFTP for file transfer. Using UNDI, a hardware
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync independent driver stack for accessing the network card from bootstrap
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync code is available.</para>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync </glossdef>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync </glossentry>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync </glossdiv>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync <glossentry>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync <para>Remote Desktop Protocol, a protocol developed by Microsoft as an
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync extension to the ITU T.128 and T.124 video conferencing protocol. With
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync RDP, a PC system can be controlled from a remote location using a
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync network connection over which data is transferred in both directions.
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync Typically graphics updates and audio are sent from the remote machine
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync and keyboard and mouse input events are sent from the client.
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync VirtualBox contains an enhanced implementation of the relevant
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync standards called "VirtualBox RDP" (VRDP), which is largely compatible
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync with Microsoft's RDP implementation. See <xref linkend="vrdp" /> for
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync details.</para>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync </glossdef>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync </glossentry>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync </glossdiv>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync <glossentry>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync <para>Serial Attached SCSI, an industry standard for hard disk
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync interfaces. See <xref linkend="harddiskcontrollers" />.</para>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync </glossdef>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync </glossentry>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync <glossentry>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync <para>Serial ATA, an industry standard for hard disk interfaces. See
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync </glossdef>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync </glossentry>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync <glossentry>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync <para>Small Computer System Interface. An industry standard for data
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync transfer between devices, especially for storage. See <xref
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync </glossdef>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync </glossentry>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync <glossentry>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync <para>Symmetrical Multiprocessing, meaning that the resources of a
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync computer are shared between several processors. These can either be
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync several processor chips or, as is more common with modern hardware,
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync multiple CPU cores in one processor.</para>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync </glossdef>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync </glossentry>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync </glossdiv>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync <glossentry>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync <para>A Universally Unique Identifier -- often also called GUID
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync (Globally Unique Identifier) -- is a string of numbers and letters
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync which can be computed dynamically and is guaranteed to be unique.
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync Generally, it is used as a global handle to identify entities.
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync VirtualBox makes use of UUIDs to identify VMs, Virtual Disk Images
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync (VDI files) and other entities.</para>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync </glossdef>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync </glossentry>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync </glossdiv>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync <glossentry>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync <para>Virtual Machine -- a virtual computer that VirtualBox allows you
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync to run on top of your actual hardware. See <xref
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync </glossdef>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync </glossentry>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync <glossentry>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync </glossdef>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync </glossentry>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync <glossentry>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync <para>The hardware virtualization features built into modern Intel
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync </glossdef>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync </glossentry>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync </glossdiv>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync <glossentry>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync <para>The eXtensible Markup Language, a metastandard for all kinds of
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync textual information. XML only specifies how data in the document is
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync organized generally and does not prescribe how to semantically
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync organize content.</para>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync </glossdef>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync </glossentry>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync <glossentry>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync <para>Mozilla Cross Platform Component Object Model, a programming
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync infrastructure developed by the Mozilla browser project which is
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync similar to Microsoft COM and allows applications to provide a modular
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync programming interface. VirtualBox makes use of XPCOM on Linux both
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync internally and externally to provide a comprehensive API to
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync third-party developers.</para>
6728a36898fd2be125a28e84d2115d19aa4923edvboxsync </glossdef>
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