Professor Messer's CompTIA A+ Core 1 (220-1201) Vocabulary Flashcards

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcard set covering key terms, protocols, connector standards, hardware specifications, and network concepts for the CompTIA A+ Core 1 (220-1201) exam.

SO-DIMM

Small Outline Dual In-line Memory Module; compact memory module designed for use in laptops and mobile devices.

Lithium-Ion (Li-ion)

A common battery technology used in laptops and mobile devices that does not suffer from memory effect, preventing charging cycles from diminishing capacity.

Near-Field Communication (NFC)

A short-distance wireless communication standard operating within 4 centimeters or less, commonly used for contactless payment, authentication, and small data transfers.

USB-C

A 24-pin double-sided USB connector capable of carrying USB 2.0/3.0/3.1/4 data, power, DisplayPort, HDMI, and Thunderbolt signals.

Lightning

An Apple proprietary 8-pin digital connector designed for iPhone and iPad devices, capable of higher power output and reversible orientation.

Port Replicator

An external attachment similar to a docking station that expands a laptop's peripheral interface options, typically without accommodating internal expansion cards.

LTE Advanced (LTE-A)

An enhanced 4G cellular standard based on GSM and EDGE capable of theoretical download speeds up to 300 Mbit/s.

eSIM

An embedded Subscriber Identity Module integrated directly into a device's hardware, allowing network profiling without a removable physical card.

Global Positioning System (GPS)

A space-based satellite navigation system developed by the U.S. Department of Defense requiring signals from at least 4 satellites to calculate location coordinates.

Mobile Device Management (MDM)

A centralized software solution used by IT administrators to enforce security policies, configurations, and applications across company and employee mobile devices.

Corporate Owned, Personally Enabled (COPE)

A device deployment model where the enterprise purchases and maintains administrative control of a mobile device while permitting employee personal use.

Transmission Control Protocol (TCP)

A connection-oriented Layer 4 protocol providing reliable, ordered, and error-checked delivery of stream data between applications.

User Datagram Protocol (UDP)

A connectionless Layer 4 protocol offering low-latency, unacknowledged datagram transmission without flow control or error recovery.

File Transfer Protocol (FTP)

A client-server protocol operating over tcp/20 (data) and tcp/21 (control) used to transfer and manage files across a network.

Secure Shell (SSH)

A cryptographic network protocol running on tcp/22 that provides secure, encrypted terminal access and remote command execution.

Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP)

An Internet standard protocol operating on tcp/25 used for sending email messages between servers and submitting mail from clients.

Domain Name System (DNS)

A hierarchical, distributed database system running on udp/53 that translates human-readable domain names into numerical IP addresses.

Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP)

A network management protocol using udp/67 and udp/68 to automatically assign IP addresses, subnet masks, default gateways, and DNS settings to hosts.

Server Message Block (SMB)

A network file sharing protocol operating on tcp/445 used primarily by Microsoft Windows for sharing files, printers, and serial ports.

Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP)

A proprietary protocol created by Microsoft running on tcp/3389 that allows graphical remote access to Windows computer systems.

Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID)

A wireless technology using electromagnetic fields to identify and track tags attached to physical objects.

DORA Process

The four-step sequence (Discover, Offer, Request, Acknowledge) used by DHCP clients to request and obtain an IP address lease from a DHCP server.

Virtual Local Area Network (VLAN)

A custom logical subnetwork that groups together a collection of devices on one or more physical switches into a distinct broadcast domain.

Virtual Private Network (VPN)

An encrypted network tunnel designed to securely transport private traffic over untrusted public infrastructure like the Internet.

Unmanaged Switch

A plug-and-play Ethernet switch operating with fixed factory configurations, lacking VLAN support, management access, or traffic prioritization capabilities.

Power over Ethernet (PoE)

An IEEE 802.3 standard technology that safely transfers electrical power along with network data over standard twisted-pair Ethernet cables.

Optical Network Terminal (ONT)

A telecommunications boundary device that converts incoming fiber-optic light signals into copper Ethernet electrical signals at the premises.

Private IP Address Ranges (RFC 1918)

Reserved IPv4 address blocks designated for internal LAN use: 10.0.0.0/8, 172.16.0.0/12, and 192.168.0.0/16.

Automatic Private IP Addressing (APIPA)

A link-local IPv4 feature that automatically assigns an IP address in the range 169.254.1.0 to 169.254.254.255 when a DHCP server is unavailable.

Storage Area Network (SAN)

A specialized, high-speed dedicated network that provides block-level data storage access to servers.

Tone Generator and Probe

A two-piece diagnostic toolkit used to trace copper cables by applying an audio tone onto a wire pair and locating it using an inductive sensor.

In Plane Switching (IPS) LCD

An LCD panel display technology featuring wide viewing angles and accurate color reproduction at the expense of higher production cost.

Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED)

A display technology utilizing organic compounds that emit light directly upon receiving current, eliminating the need for a dedicated backlight.

Digitizer

A hardware component overlaid on a screen that translates analog touch or stylus movements into precise digital input coordinates for the OS.

Plenum-Rated Cable

Network cable constructed with low-smoke, fire-retardant materials like Fluorinated Ethylene Polymer (FEP) designed for air handling spaces above ceilings.

T568A and T568B Standards

ANSI/TIA standard color-code wiring schematics for terminating 8-conductor twisted pair cable into 8P8C (RJ45) connectors.

Single-Mode Fiber

An optical fiber designed for long-distance communication (up to 100 km) utilizing a narrow core and precise laser light sources.

Multimode Fiber

An optical fiber designed for short-distance transmission (up to 2 km) using a wider core diameter and cost-effective LED light sources.

Thunderbolt 3

A high-speed hardware interface utilizing a USB-C connector capable of supporting up to 40 Gbit/s aggregated throughput and daisy-chaining up to 6 devices.

Digital Visual Interface (DVI)

A video display interface manufactured in DVI-A (analog), DVI-D (digital), and DVI-I (integrated analog and digital) connector configurations.

Non-Volatile Memory Express (NVMe)

A high-performance host controller interface protocol optimized for SSDs communicating directly over the PCI Express bus.

RAID 0 (Striping)

A storage array configuration that splits data across two or more drives to optimize read/write speed, providing no fault tolerance.

RAID 1 (Mirroring)

A storage array configuration that duplicates identical data across two physical drives, offering high data redundancy at 50% capacity overhead.

RAID 5 (Striping with Parity)

A storage array configuration combining block-level striping and distributed parity across three or more disks, surviving the loss of one drive.

Hard Disk Drive Components

The internal mechanical structures of a magnetic hard drive, including platters, spindle, actuator arm, actuator, and read/write heads.

Mini-ITX

A compact motherboard form factor measuring 17 x 17 cm, engineered for low-power single-purpose computing while remaining screw-compatible with ATX cases.

Trusted Platform Module (TPM)

A specialized cryptographic microcontroller hardware chip on a motherboard designed to generate, store, and protect encryption keys on a single system.

Hardware Security Module (HSM)

A dedicated physical security appliance or expansion card engineered to safeguard and manage digital keys for enterprise server environments.

Advanced RISC Machine (ARM)

A Reduced Instruction Set Computer CPU architecture optimized for power efficiency, reduced heat output, and mobile/embedded computing.

Type 1 Hypervisor

A bare-metal virtual machine manager that runs directly on host hardware without requiring an underlying host operating system.

Software as a Service (SaaS)

A cloud delivery model providing fully managed, centrally hosted application software accessible directly to end users over the Internet.

Platform as a Service (PaaS)

A cloud computing model providing a managed execution environment and deployment tools, enabling customers to build and run custom applications without managing infrastructure.

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)

A cloud service model providing virtualized computing hardware, servers, storage, and networking resources on demand while placing OS and application management on the client.

Fiber Optic Connectors

Standard termination connectors for optical fiber, including ST (Straight Tip bayonet), SC (Subscriber Connector push-pull), and LC (Lucent Connector clip).

Jitter

The variation in packet arrival delay across a network, which can result in audio distortion or choppy video during real-time communications.