Common Computer Abbreviations

ACID – Atomicity, Consistency, Isolation, Durability

ACL – Access Control List

ACPI – Advanced Configuration and Power Interface

ADC – Analog to Digital Converter

ADSL – Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line

AES – Advanced Encryption Standard

AI – Artificial Intelligence

AJAX – Asynchronous JavaScript and XML

AMP – Accelerated Mobile Pages

ANSI – American National Standards Institute

AP – Access Point

API – Application Programming Interface

APIPA – Automatic Private IP Addressing

APM – Application Performance Management

AR – Augmented Reality

ARM – Advanced RISC Machine

ASCII – American Standard Code for Information Interchange

ASIC – Application-Specific Integrated Circuit

ASLR – Address Space Layout Randomization

ASP – Active Server Pages

ATM – Asynchronous Transfer Mode

ATX – Advanced Technology Extended (motherboard form factor)

AVI – Audio Video Interleave

AVR – Automatic Voltage Regulator

B2B – Business to Business

B2C – Business to Consumer

BASH – Bourne Again Shell

BASIC – Beginner’s All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code

BGP – Border Gateway Protocol

BI – Business Intelligence

BIOS – Basic Input/Output System

BLOB – Binary Large Object

BSoD – Blue Screen of Death

CAD – Computer-Aided Design

CAD – Computer-Aided Design

CAE – Computer-Aided Engineering

CAM – Computer-Aided Manufacturing

CAPTCHA – Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart

CD – Compact Disc

CDMA – Code Division Multiple Access

CHAP – Challenge Handshake Authentication Protocol

CISC – Complex Instruction Set Computer

CLI – Command Line Interface

CMOS – Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor

CNC – Computer Numerical Control

COBOL – Common Business Oriented Language

CPU – Central Processing Unit

CRM – Customer Relationship Management

CRT – Cathode Ray Tube

CRUD – Create, Read, Update, Delete

CSMA – Carrier Sense Multiple Access

CSMA/CA – Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Avoidance

CSRF – Cross-Site Request Forgery

CSS – Cascading Style Sheets

DAC – Digital to Analog Converter

DBA – Database Administrator

DBMS – Database Management System

DDoS – Distributed Denial of Service

DDR – Double Data Rate (Memory)

DEMUX – Demultiplexer

DFS – Distributed File System

DHCP – Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol

DKIM – DomainKeys Identified Mail

DLNA – Digital Living Network Alliance

DLP – Data Loss Prevention

DMS – Document Management System

DMZ – Demilitarized Zone

DMZ – Demilitarized Zone (Networking)

DND – Do Not Disturb

DNS – Domain Name System

DNSSEC – Domain Name System Security Extensions

DOC – Document (file extension for Word documents)

DOS – Disk Operating System

DPI – Deep Packet Inspection

DPI – Dots Per Inch

DRAM – Dynamic Random Access Memory

DRM – Digital Rights Management

DSL – Digital Subscriber Line

DSLAM – Digital Subscriber Line Access Multiplexer

DSN – Data Source Name

DSP – Digital Signal Processing

DTP – Desktop Publishing

DVD – Digital Versatile Disc

DVD-ROM – Digital Versatile Disc – Read Only Memory

DVI – Digital Visual Interface

DVR – Digital Video Recorder

ECC – Error Correcting Code

EDI – Electronic Data Interchange

EEPROM – Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory

EFS – Encrypted File System

EMI – Electromagnetic Interference

EMS – Enterprise Messaging System

EOL – End of Life

EPROM – Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory

ERP – Enterprise Resource Planning

FAT – File Allocation Table

FAT32 – File Allocation Table 32-bit

FDD – Floppy Disk Drive

FDDI – Fiber Distributed Data Interface

FIFO – First In, First Out

FPU – Floating Point Unit

FQDN – Fully Qualified Domain Name

FSM – Finite State Machine

FTP – File Transfer Protocol

GIF – Graphics Interchange Format

GIGO – Garbage In, Garbage Out

GPGPU – General Purpose Graphics Processing Unit

GPL – General Public License

GPS – Global Positioning System

GPU – Graphics Processing Unit

GSM – Global System for Mobile Communications

GUI – Graphical User Interface

HBA – Host Bus Adapter

HDCP – High-Bandwidth Digital Content Protection

HDD – Hard Disk Drive

HDFS – Hadoop Distributed File System

HDMI – High-Definition Multimedia Interface

HTML – Hypertext Markup Language

HTML5 – HyperText Markup Language version 5

HTTP – HyperText Transfer Protocol

HTTPS – HyperText Transfer Protocol Secure

I/O – Input/Output

IaaS – Infrastructure as a Service

IAM – Identity and Access Management

ICANN – Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers

ICMP – Internet Control Message Protocol

IDE – Integrated Development Environment

IDS – Intrusion Detection System

IEEE – Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers

IIS – Internet Information Services

IMAP – Internet Message Access Protocol

IMEI – International Mobile Equipment Identity

IoT – Internet of Things

IP – Internet Protocol

IPS – Intrusion Prevention System

IPsec – Internet Protocol Security

IPTV – Internet Protocol Television

IPv4 – Internet Protocol version 4

IPv6 – Internet Protocol version 6

IPX – Internetwork Packet Exchange

IR – Infrared

IRDA – Infrared Data Association

ISC – Internet Systems Consortium

ISDN – Integrated Services Digital Network

ISO – International Organization for Standardization

ISOC – Internet Society

ISP – Internet Service Provider

IT – Information Technology

ITIL – Information Technology Infrastructure Library

ITU – International Telecommunication Union

JDK – Java Development Kit

JPEG – Joint Photographic Experts Group

JRE – Java Runtime Environment

JS – JavaScript

JSON – JavaScript Object Notation

JSP – Java Server Pages

KPI – Key Performance Indicator

KVM – Kernel-Based Virtual Machine

LAN – Local Area Network

LCD – Liquid Crystal Display

LDAP – Lightweight Directory Access Protocol

LIFO – Last In, First Out

LISP – List Processing

LISP – List Processing (Programming Language)

LLC – Logical Link Control

LLMNR – Link-Local Multicast Name Resolution

MAC – Media Access Control

MAN – Metropolitan Area Network

MD5 – Message Digest 5

MFA – Multi-Factor Authentication

MIDI – Musical Instrument Digital Interface

MIMD – Multiple Instruction, Multiple Data

ML – Machine Learning

MMS – Multimedia Messaging Service

MOOC – Massive Open Online Course

MP3 – MPEG Audio Layer-3

MPU – Memory Protection Unit

MQTT – Message Queuing Telemetry Transport

MSI – Message Signaled Interrupt

MSP – Managed Service Provider

MTBF – Mean Time Between Failures

MUX – Multiplexer

NAP – Network Access Point

NAS – Network Attached Storage

NAT – Network Address Translation

NFC – Near Field Communication

NFS – Network File System

NGFW – Next-Generation Firewall

NIC – Network Interface Card

NTFS – New Technology File System

NTP – Network Time Protocol

NVR – Network Video Recorder

OCR – Optical Character Recognition

OCSP – Online Certificate Status Protocol

ODBC – Open Database Connectivity

ODI – Open Data-Link Interface

OEM – Original Equipment Manufacturer

OLED – Organic Light Emitting Diode

OOM – Out of Memory

ORM – Object-Relational Mapping

OS – Operating System

OSI – Open Systems Interconnection

OSPF – Open Shortest Path First

OTG – On-The-Go (USB)

OTP – One-Time Password

P2P – Peer-to-Peer

PaaS – Platform as a Service

PAM – Pluggable Authentication Modules

PAP – Password Authentication Protocol

PC – Personal Computer

PCB – Printed Circuit Board

PCI – Payment Card Industry

PCIe – Peripheral Component Interconnect Express

PCMCIA – Personal Computer Memory Card International Association

PDA – Personal Digital Assistant

PDF – Portable Document Format

PDL – Page Description Language

PDU – Power Distribution Unit

PHP – Hypertext Preprocessor

PLM – Product Lifecycle Management

PMO – Project Management Office

PMU – Power Management Unit

PNG – Portable Network Graphics

POP – Point of Presence

POP3 – Post Office Protocol 3

POS – Point of Sale

PPI – Pixels Per Inch

PPP – Point-to-Point Protocol

PPT – PowerPoint Presentation

PROM – Programmable Read-Only Memory

PSTN – Public Switched Telephone Network

PSU – Power Supply Unit

PWM – Pulse Width Modulation

QoE – Quality of Experience

QOS – Quality of Service

RAID – Redundant Array of Independent Disks

RAM – Random Access Memory

RBAC – Role-Based Access Control

RDBMS – Relational Database Management System

RDP – Remote Desktop Protocol

REST – Representational State Transfer

RFC – Request for Comments

RIP – Routing Information Protocol

RISC – Reduced Instruction Set Computer

RMM – Remote Monitoring and Management

ROM – Read-Only Memory

RPM – Revolutions Per Minute

RS-232 – Recommended Standard 232 (serial communication protocol)

RSS – Really Simple Syndication

RSSI – Received Signal Strength Indicator

SaaS – Software as a Service

SAN – Storage Area Network

SAP – Systems Applications and Products

SATA – Serial Advanced Technology Attachment

SCP – Secure Copy Protocol

SCSI – Small Computer System Interface

SDK – Software Development Kit

SDLC – Software Development Life Cycle

SDN – Software-Defined Networking

SFTP – Secure File Transfer Protocol

SHA – Secure Hash Algorithm

SIEM – Security Information and Event Management

SIM – Subscriber Identity Module

SIMD – Single Instruction, Multiple Data

SIP – Session Initiation Protocol

SLIP – Serial Line Internet Protocol

SMB – Server Message Block

SMS – Short Message Service

SMTP – Simple Mail Transfer Protocol

SNMP – Simple Network Management Protocol

SOA – Service-Oriented Architecture

SOAP – Simple Object Access Protocol

SOW – Statement of Work

SPF – Sender Policy Framework

SQL – Structured Query Language

SRAM – Static Random Access Memory

SSD – Solid State Drive

SSH – Secure Shell

SSHFS – Secure SHell FileSystem

SSL – Secure Sockets Layer

SSO – Single Sign-On

STP – Shielded Twisted Pair

SVG – Scalable Vector Graphics

SWIFT – Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication

TCO – Total Cost of Ownership

TCP – Transmission Control Protocol

TCP/IP – Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol

TDM – Time Division Multiplexing

TFT – Thin Film Transistor

TFTP – Trivial File Transfer Protocol

TLD – Top Level Domain

TLS – Transport Layer Security

TPM – Trusted Platform Module

TTL – Transistor-Transistor Logic (also Time To Live in networking)

UAC – User Account Control

UART – Universal Asynchronous Receiver-Transmitter

UDDI – Universal Description, Discovery, and Integration

UEFI – Unified Extensible Firmware Interface

UFS – Universal Flash Storage

UHD – Ultra High Definition

UML – Unified Modeling Language

UPS – Uninterruptible Power Supply

URL – Uniform Resource Locator

USB – Universal Serial Bus

USB-C – Universal Serial Bus Type-C

UTP – Unshielded Twisted Pair

VBA – Visual Basic for Applications

VC – Venture Capital

VFS – Virtual File System

VGA – Video Graphics Array

VLAN – Virtual Local Area Network

VMM – Virtual Machine Monitor

VNC – Virtual Network Computing

VoIP – Voice over Internet Protocol

VPN – Virtual Private Network

VPS – Virtual Private Server

VR – Virtual Reality

VRAM – Video Random Access Memory

W3C – World Wide Web Consortium

WAF – Web Application Firewall

WAN – Wide Area Network

WEP – Wired Equivalent Privacy

WIFI – Wireless Fidelity

WINS – Windows Internet Name Service

WLAN – Wireless Local Area Network

WPA – Wi-Fi Protected Access

WPA2 – Wi-Fi Protected Access 2

WSDL – Web Services Description Language

WWW – World Wide Web

XAML – Extensible Application Markup Language

XLS – Excel Spreadsheet (file extension)

XML – Extensible Markup Language

XSLT – Extensible Stylesheet Language Transformations

XSS – Cross-Site Scripting

ZIF – Zero Insertion Force

ZIP – Zone Improvement Plan (also refers to ZIP file format for compression)

Common Computer Abbreviations