Sun Microsystems Sun Fire X4200 - Manual (Page 188)

Glossary-16 Sun Fire X4100 and Sun Fire X4200 Servers System Management Guide • December 2005
power-on self-test
(POST) A program that takes uninitialized system hardware and probes and tests its
components at system startup. POST configures useful components into a
coherent, initialized system and hands it over to the OpenBoot PROM. POST
passes to OpenBoot PROM a list of only those components that have been
successfully tested.
PowerPC An embedded processor.
Preboot Execution
Environment (PXE) An industry-standard client/server interface that enables a server to boot an
operating system (OS) over a Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol
(TCP/IP) network using Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP). The
PXE specification describes how the network adapter card and BIOS work
together to provide basic networking capabilities for the primary bootstrap
program, enabling it to perform a secondary bootstrap over the network, such
as a TFTP load of an OS image. Thus, the primary bootstrap program, if coded
to PXE standards, does not need knowledge of the system’s networking
hardware.
Privacy Enhanced Mail
(PEM) A standard for Internet electronic mail that encrypts data to ensure privacy
and data integrity.
programmable read-
only memory
(PROM) A memory chip on which data can be programmed only once and which
retains the program forever. PROMs retain data even when power is off.
protocol A set of rules that describes how systems or devices on a network exchange
information.
proxy A mechanism whereby one system acts on behalf of another system in
responding to protocol requests.
public key encryption A cryptographic method that uses a two-part key (code) that is made up of
public and private components. To encrypt messages, the published public
keys of the recipients are used. To decrypt messages, the recipients use their
unpublished private keys, which are known only to them. Knowing the public
key does not enable users to deduce the corresponding private key.
R
rack unit (U) A measure of vertical rack space equal to 1.75 inches (4.45 cm).