We’ve compiled a full list of commonly encountered IT terminology that will help you better understand the industry and how it works. By familiarizing yourself with basic computer terms and definitions, you’ll allow yourself to understand manuals, descriptions, and everyday jargon necessary to fully grasp IT products and services.
You’ll find our tech glossary is conveniently laid out below in alphabetical order with an easy navigation interface so you can quickly reference words related to technology.
In addition to our tech terms, you can also find other resources to help you learn more about the role of technology in modern industry, including blogs, whitepapers, and case studies. Though our list of IT terms to know is expansive, if you have any further questions regarding things to know about technology, please contact us.
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a set of data protection reform established by the European Union that primarily aims to give control to individuals over their personal data through certain provisions and requirements that pertain to the processing of that individual’s data.
Businesses that handle and process personal data must be equipped with safeguards to protect and use the highest possible privacy settings by default so that the information is gathered legally and within the specified constraints, and also to ensure that it is safeguarded against misuse and exploitation. If a business is not compliant, they may face penalties.
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High availability describes a system that can operate continuously without failure. It requires that all parts of the system be easily navigable and accessible, and to undergo thorough testing before its implementation.
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A hypervisor is a computer software that along with hardware creates, runs and manages virtual machines. A hypervisor enables one host machine to support multiple guest machines through sharing resources.
This vastly improves the utilization of the underlying hardware as it allows for the seamless allocation of resources to the virtual machine without disruption because the guest VMs are independent of the host hardware.
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The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) was passed by Congress in 1996 and set the standards that allow protection for all patient data. Any company that processes protected health information should have a system in place that is compliant with HIPAA privacy regulations.
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Hardware as a Service (HaaS) is a service model where equipment that belongs to a managed service provider (MSP) is placed, monitored, and maintained at a customer’s site. The MSP may set the parameters as to how the services and devices are priced, installed, and sustained. They are also responsible for fully supporting the hardware.
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A host (or “network host”) is a PC or a server that is able to connect with other devices over a network. Hosts provide resources and services such as files and printers.
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Infrastructure refers to the physical or virtual resources that together comprise the network. It includes servers, routers, switches, firewalls, ISP connections, etc.
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Infrastructure as a Service refers to one of the platforms within a cloud computing model where hardware, usually physical servers, and other data center equipment, is provided by an external provider and is provisioned and managed for you over the internet.
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An internet service provider (ISP) is an organization that provides access to the Internet and other related services such as website building and virtual hosting. It serves as the connection between your device(s) and all the other hosts on the Internet.
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