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[back to SCSI Terminology index page]
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Face Plate
The front cover (usually plastic) of a device such as a hard disk or CD-ROM drive.
Fast-20
A SCSI-3 transfer mode that is capable of sending data at 20 MB/sec. Also known as DoubleSpeed SCSI and Ultra SCSI. The SCSI Trade Association (STA) supports the use of "Ultra SCSI" over the term "Fast-20". Please See Ultra SCSI.
Fast-40
A SCSI-3 transfer mode that is twice as fast as Fast-20, Capable of sending data at 40 MB/sec.
Fast SCSI
A standard for SCSI data transfers. It allows a transfer rate of up to 10 Mbytes/sec over a 8-bit SCSI bus and up to 20 Mbytes/sec over a 16-bit SCSI bus.
Fast Wide SCSI
Wide SCSI operating at twice the rate of regular Wide SCSI.
FAT
1) File Allocation Table. A special file in which MS-DOS stores information on the layout of a disk. This file is critical; if it is damaged, it is extremely difficult to get information from the disk.
2) An application which is compiled with code to run on two platforms, for example both the 680x0 based and PowerPC based Macs.
Fault Tolerance
Able to recover from errors or other failures without loss or corruption of data.
FCC
Federal Communications Commission.
Fiber Channel
A new ANSI standard that specifies high-speed serial communication between devices. Fiber Channel is used as one of the bus architectures in SCSI-3. For more information you can visit http://www.fclc.org
File
A named collection of information stored on a disk.
Fileserver
A computer used primarily for storing files on a network.
File System
A data structure that translates the physical (sector) view of a disc into a logical (files, directories) structure, which the application and user can more easily use to locate files. See also Logical Format.
Firewire
See IEEE 1394.
Firmware
Software that is permanently stored in ROM. Therefore, it can be accessed during boot time.
First-party DMA
See bus mastering.
Floppy disk
A magnetic disk used to store computer data.
Flow Control
Also called handshake. The processes used to regulate the rate at which information is transferred from one device to another. One device sends a signal to the other when information can be transferred.
Formatting
To prepare a disk to receive information by organizing its surface into tracks and sectors.
FPT (forced-perfect terminator)
A type of terminator containing a sophisticated circuit that can compensate for variations in the power supplied by the host adapter, as well as variations in bus impedance of complex SCSI systems. See also passive termination; active termination. Free-air characteristic impedance The average impedance of air.
FreeBSD
FreeBSD is a high-performance operating system derived from the Berkeley Software Distribution, or BSD, the version of UNIX developed at the University of California at Berkeley between 1975 and 1993. FreeBSD is not a UNIX clone. Historically and technically, it has greater rights than UNIX System V to be called UNIX. Legally, it may not be called UNIX, since UNIX is now a registered trade mark of The Open Group. For more information about FreeBSD you can visit the WEB site http://www.freebsd.org.
FTP
File Transfer Protocol. Allows users to copy files between the local system and any system reachable over the network. Every UNIX system has ftp and there are version for the Macintosh and Windows. A common way to make software (text files, sounds, pictures, utilities, etc.) available is to put it on an anonymous ftp server. Anonymous ftp servers allow users to login without a password, specifying "guest" as the user, and then copy whatever has been made available.
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