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Glossary of Computer Terms
Terms starting with alphabet 'U'
| Term | Description |
|---|---|
| UNC | UNC is acronym for "Universal Naming Convention," UNC is a filename format that is used to specify the location of files, folders, and resources on a local-area network (LAN). The UNC address of a file may look like : \\server-name\directory\filename. UNC can also be used to identify peripheral devices shared on the network, including scanners and printers. It provides each shared resource with a unique address. This allows operating systems that support UNC (such as Windows) to access specific resources quickly and efficiently. |
| Unix | Unix is an operating system. It was created in the 1960s and became popular in the 1970s for high-level computing, but not on the consumer level. It leads the industry as the most common operating system for Web servers. |
| Upload | While downloading is receiving a file from another computer, uploading is the exact opposite. It is sending a file from a computer to another system. |
| UPnP | Stands for "Universal Plug and Play." Plug and Play describes devices that work with a computer system as soon as they are connected. UPnP is an extension of this idea that expands the range of Plug and Play devices to networking equipment. |
| UPS | Stands for "Uninterruptible Power Supply." It is a type of power supply that uses battery backup to maintain power during unexpected power breakdowns. |
| URL | Stands for "Uniform Resource Locator." A URL is the address of a specific Web site or file on the Internet. It cannot have spaces or certain other characters and uses forward slashes to denote different directories. Some examples of URLs are http://www.google.com/, http://web.mit.edu/, and ftp://info.apple.com/. |
| USB | Stands for "Universal Serial Bus." USB is the most common type of computer port used in today's computers. It can be used to connect keyboards, mice, game controllers, printers, scanners, digital cameras, and removable media drives etc. USB is also faster than serial and parallel ports. The USB 1.1 specification supports data transfer rates of up to 12Mb/sec and USB 2.0 has a maximum transfer rate of 480 Mbps. |
| Username | A username is a name that uniquely identifies someone on a computer system. A username is almost always paired with a password. The username/password combination is referred to as a login. |
| Utility | Utility programs, commonly referred to as just "utilities," are software programs that add functionality to a computer or help a computer to perform better. |