Here at Trichromic we prefer not to use too many computer-related terms (Three Letter Acronyms (TLAs),etc) and unnecessary IT jargon when communicating with our clients’.
However, these can’t always be avoided (and some like to use them when they shouldn’t) so here you’ll find a categorised glossary of the most commonly used terms and abbreviations which could be useful to anyone talking to IT departments or even an outsourced IT managed service provider like Trichromic. We’ll keep expanding this list and adding descriptions when time permits so please keep visiting to view the latest updates. You can contact us for more information on any of the descriptions below or even to find out how Trichromic can help improve the efficiency of your business processes by harnessing the latest technology. ~ Lloyd Reid
Systems, Standards and Common Terms
AD — Active Directory
AI — Artificial Intelligence
AGI — Artificial General Intelligence
ASCII — American Standard Code for Information Interchange
ANSI — American National Standards Institute
ASIC — Application-Specific Integrated Circuit
ASN — Advanced Shipping Notice
B2B — Business-to-Business
B2C — Business-to-Consumer
BYOD — Bring Your Own Device
CAD — Computer-Aided Design
CDN — Content Delivery Network
CGI — Computer Generated Imagery
CLI — Command Line Interface
CMS — Content Management System
CPC — Cost Per Click
CRM — Customer Relationship Management
CTR — Click Through Rate
DB — Database
DBA — Database Administrator
DC — Domain Controller
DOA — Dead on Arrival
DPA — Data Protection Act
DPI — Dots Per Inch
DR — Disaster Recovery
DSN — Data Source Name (using ODBC)
EDI — Electronic Data Interchange
ERP — Enterprise Resource Planning
EULA — End User License Agreement
EXE — Windows EXEcutable
FIFO — First In First Out
Gb — Gigabit
GB — Gigabyte
GDPR — General Data Protection Regulation
GPT — Generative Pre-trained Transformer
GUI — Graphical User Interface
GUID — Globally Unique IDentifier
HA — High Availability
HD — High Density
HTTP – Hypertext Transport Protocol
HTTPS – HTTP Secure
IASME — Information Assurance for Small and Medium Enterprises
ICANN — Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Number
IP — Intellectual Property
ISO — International Organization for Standardization
ISP — Internet Service Provider
IT — Information Technology
KB — Knowledge Base
Kbps — Kilobits Per Second
KBps — Kilobytes Per Second
kHz — Kilohertz
Kb — Kilobit
KB — Kilobyte
LIFO — Last In First Out
LLM — Large Language Model
Mb — Megabit
MB — Megabyte
MDU — Mains Distribution Unit
MS — Microsoft
MSA — Master Service Agreement
MSP — Managed Service Provider
NOC — Network Operations Centre
NAS — Network-Attached Storage
I/O — Input/output
ODBC — Open Database Connectivity
OEM — Original Equipment Manufacturer
OS — Operating System
PaaS — Platform as a Service
PC — Personal Computer
POSIX — Portable Operating System Interface
PPC — Pay Per Click
PRS — Performing Rights Society
PSA — Professional Services Automation
RAID — Redundant Array of Inexpensive/Independent Disks
RFC — Request For Comments
RMA — Return Merchandise (or Materials) Authorisation
SaaS — Software as a Service
SEO — Search Engine Optimization
SIEM — Security Information and Event Management
SMART — Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound
SMB — Small and Medium-sized Business
SME — Small and Medium-sized Enterprise
SOHO — Small Office/Home Office
SQL — Structured Query Language
TLS — Transport Layer Security
TLS — Target Launch Sequence
TWAIN — Technology Without An Interesting Name
UNIX — Uniplexed Information and Computing Service (Originally UNICS, probably)
USB — Universal Serial Bus
UPS — Uninterruptible Power Supply
UTC — Coordinated Universal Time
UTF — Unicode Transformation Format
UTP — Unshielded Twisted Pair
VDSL — Very High-Speed Digital Subscriber Line
VR — Virtual Reality
VM — Virtual Machine
VoIP — Voice over Internet Protocol
WiFi — Wireless Fidelity
WWW — World Wide Web
WYSIWYG — What You See Is What You Get
XML — eXtensible Markup Language
Hardware and Storage Related Technology
386 — Intel 80386 processor
ATA — Advanced Technology Attachment
BIOS — Basic Input Output System
CD — Compact Disc
CD-R — CD-Recordable
CPU — Central Processing Unit
CRC — Cyclic Redundancy Check
DAS — Direct Attached Storage
DAT — Digital Audio Tape
DOA — Dead on Arrival
DVD — Digital Versatile Disc
DVI — Digital Visual Interface
EDSSF — Enterprise and Data Center SSD Form Factor
eSATA — external Serial ATA
EXT — EXTended file system
FAT — File Allocation Table (16 bit)
FAT32 — File Allocation Table 32 (bit)
FPGA — Field-Programmable Gate Array
FLOPS — FLoating-point Operations Per Second
FS — File System
GPU — Graphics Processing Unit
HDD — Hard Disk Drive
HDMI — High-Definition Multimedia Interface
HHD — Hybrid Hard Drive
I/O — Input/output
iSCSI — Internet Small Computer System Interface
JBOD — Just a Bunch of Disks
KB — Keyboard
KVM — Keyboard, Video, Mouse
Kb — Kilobit
KB — Kilobyte
LBA — Logical Block Addressing
LCD — Liquid Crystal Display
LPT — Line Print Terminal
LTO — Linear Tape-Open
Mb — Megabit
MB — Megabyte
MBR — Master Boot Record
MHz — Megahertz
MIPS — Millions of Instructions Per Second
MIME — Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions
NAS — Network-Attached Storage
NPU — Neural Processing Unit
NTFS — New Technology File System
OEM — Original Equipment Manufacturer
OLED — Organic Light Emitting Diode
PATA — Parallel ATA
PC — Personal Computer
PnP — Plug-and-Play
POST — Power-On Self Test
PSU — Power Supply Unit
RAID — Redundant Array of Inexpensive/Independent Disks
RAM — Random Access Memory
SAN — Storage Area Network
SAS — Serial attached SCSI
SATA — Serial ATA
SCSI — Small Computer System Interface
SMART — Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology
S/MIME — Secure/Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions
SSD — Solid-State Drive
TOPS — Tera Operations Per Second
TPM — Trusted Platform Module
TWAIN — Technology Without An Interesting Name
UEFI — Unified Extensible Firmware Interface
UPS — Uninterruptible Power Supply
USB — Universal Serial Bus
UTP — Unshielded Twisted Pair
VHD — Virtual Hard Disk
VGA — Video Graphics Array
VM — Virtual Machine
Software, Networking and Communications Including VoIP and Security
ADSL – Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line
AFP — Apple Filing Protocol
ARP — Address Resolution Protocol
API — Application Programming Interface
ASP — Active Server Pages
ASP — Application Service Provider
ATM — Asynchronous Transfer Mode
BASIC — Beginners’ All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code
BGP — Border Gateway Protocol
BSS — Basic Service Set
BW — Bandwidth
CDN — Content Delivery Network
CHAP — Challenge-Handshake Authentication Protocol
CSP — Cloud Service Provider
CSS — Cascading Style Sheets
CVE — Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures
DHCP — Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol
DDoS — Distributed Denial of Service
DKIM — Domain Keys Identified Mail
DMARC — Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance
DNS — Domain Name System
DoS — Denial of Service
DRM — Digital Rights Management
DSL — Digital Subscriber Line
DLL — Dynamic Link Library
EAS – Exchange ActiveSync
EFM — Ethernet First Mile
E-mail — Electronic mail
FTP — File Transfer Protocol
FTTC — Fibre To The Cabinet
FTTP — Fibre To The Premises
FQDN — Fully Qualified Domain Name
FXO — Foreign Exchange Office
FXS — Foreign Exchange Subscriber
Gb — Gigabit
GB — Gigabyte
HTTP – Hypertext Transport Protocol
HTTPS – HTTP Secure
IDE — Integrated Development Environment
IE — Internet Explorer
IKE–Internet Key Exchange
IM — Instant Messaging
IMAP — Internet Message Access Protocol
IoT — Internet of Things
IP — Internet Protocol
IPsec — Internet Protocol security
IPS (tag) — Internet Provider Security
IPv4–Internet Protocol version 4
IPv6–Internet Protocol version 6
ISDN — Integrated Services Digital Network
ISP — Internet Service Provider
JS — JavaScript
Kb — Kilobit
KB — Kilobyte
KEV — Known Exploited Vulnerabilities
L2TP — Layer Two Tunnelling Protocol
LAN — Local Area Network
LCNC — Low-code No-code
MAC — Media Access Control
Mb — Megabit
MB — Megabyte
MHz — Megahertz
MSI — Microsoft Installer
MX — Mail exchange
NAP — Network Access Protection
NAT — Network Address Translation
NFC — Near field communication
NOC — Network Operations Center
NTP — Network Time Protocol
OFDMA — Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access
ONT — Optical Network Terminal
OSI — Open Systems Interconnection
OSPF — Open Shortest Path First
OWA — OutlookWebApp/OutlookWebAccess (now referred to as Outlook on the web until Microsoft change it again!)
P2P — Peer-To-Peer
PHP — Hypertext Pre-Processor
PoE — Power over Ethernet
POP3 — Post Office Protocol v3
POTS – Plain Old Telephone System
PPP — Point-to-Point Protocol
PPPoA — PPP over ATM
PPPoE — PPP over Ethernet
PPTP — Point-to-Point Tunnelling Protocol
PS — PostScript
PWA — Progressive Web App
QoS — Quality of Service
RPA — Robotic Process Automation
RRAS — Routing and Remote Access Service
RTP — Real Time Protocol
SAN — Storage Area Network
SaaS — Software as a Service
SDK — Software Development Kit
SDSL — Symmetric Digital Subscriber Line
SEO — Search Engine Optimization
SHA — Secure Hash Algorithm
SIP — Session Initiation Protocol
SMB — Server Message Block
S/MIME — Secure/Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions
SMTP — Simple Mail Transfer Protocol
SNMP — Simple Network Management Protocol
SOA — Start of Authority
SoGEA — Single Order Generic Ethernet Access
SPF — Sender Policy Framework
SSL — Secure Socket Layer
STP – Spanning Tree Protocol
SQL — Structured Query Language
SVI — Switch Virtual Interface
TCP — Transmission Control Protocol
TCP/IP — Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol
TLD — Top-Level Domain
TLS — Transport Layer Security
TTF — TrueType Font
UAC — User Account Control
URL — Uniform Resource Locator
UTC — Coordinated Universal Time
UTP — Unshielded Twisted Pair
var — variable
VB — Visual BASIC
VBA — Visual BASIC for Applications
VDSL — Very High-Speed Digital Subscriber Line
VLAN — Virtual Local Area Network
VoIP — Voice Over Internet Protocol
VPN — Virtual Private Network
W3C — World Wide Web Consortium
WAN — Wide Area Network
WEP — Wired Equivalent Protocol
WiFi — Wireless Fidelity
WINS— Windows Internet Name Service
WLAN — Wireless Local Area Network
WPA — Wi-Fi Protected Access
WWW — World Wide Web
XML — eXtensible Markup Language
File Formats and Digital Media
3GP – 3rd Generation Partnership Project
7Z – 7-Zip Compressed File
AAC – Advanced Audio Coding
ACCDB – Microsoft Access Database File
AI – Adobe Illustrator
AMR – Adaptive Multi-Rate Codec
APK – Android Package File
ASF – Advanced Systems Format
AVI – Audio Video Interleave
BIN – Binary File
BMP – Bitmap
CAB – Windows Cabinet File
CFG – Configuration File
CSV – Comma-Separated Values
DAT – Data File
DLL – Dynamic Link Library
DMG – Apple Disk Image
DOC – Microsoft Word Document
DOCX – Microsoft Word Open XML Document
DWG – AutoCAD Drawing Database
EPS – Encapsulated PostScript
EPUB – Electronic Publication
EXE – Executable File
FLAC – Free Lossless Audio Codec
FLV – Flash Video
GIF – Graphics Interchange Format
GZ – Gzip Compressed File
HEIC – High Efficiency Image File
HEIF – High Efficiency Image File Format
HL7 – Health Level 7 File
HLP – Windows Help File
HTML – HyperText Markup Language
ICNS – Apple Icon Image
ICS – iCalendar File
INDD – Adobe InDesign Document
INI – Windows Initialization File
ISO – Disc Image File
JPG – Joint Photographic Experts Group
JSON – JavaScript Object Notation
M4A – MPEG-4 Audio
MID – MIDI Audio File
MOV – Apple QuickTime
MP3 – MPEG-3 Audio Stream
MP4 – MPEG-4 Video
MPEG – Moving Picture Experts Group
MSG – Outlook Mail Message
MSI – Windows Installer File
NEF – Nikon Digital SLR Camera File
NPX – Nero Express Compressed File
OGG – OGG Vorbis Compressed Audio
PCM – Pulse Code Modulation Audio
PCX – Paintbrush Bitmap Image
PDF – Portable Document Format
PNG – Portable Network Graphics
PPT – Microsoft PowerPoint Presentation
PPTM – Microsoft PowerPoint Open XML Macro-Enabled Presentation
PRN – Print File
PSD – Adobe Photoshop Document
PSF – Playstation Sound File
QBB – Quicken Backup File
QDF – Quicken Data File
QXD – QuarkXPress Document
RAR – Roshal ARchive
RAW – Raw Image File
REG – Windows Registry File
RPT – Crystal Reports File
RTF – Rich Text Format
SES – Adobe Audition Session File
SITX – StuffIt X Archive
SKP – SketchUp Document
SVG – Scalable Vector Graphics
SWF – Shockwave Flash Movie
TIF – Tagged Image File
TORRENT – BitTorrent File
TXT – Text File
VISIO – Microsoft Visio File
VRD – Sony Vegas Movie Project
VSD – Visio Drawing File
WAV – Waveform Audio File Format
WEBM – WebM Video File
WK2 – Microsoft Works Spreadsheet
WMA – Windows Media Audio
WMV – Windows Media Video
XLS – Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet
XLSX – Microsoft Excel Open XML Spreadsheet
XML – Extensible Markup Language
XPS – XML Paper Specification
ZIP – Compressed Archive File
