Glossary

device configuration file: A device configuration file provides information on the resources required to program the EISA bus device. Some of the resources supplied in this file are DMA channel, interrupt channel, and memory space information. The system vendor supplies the device configuration file on a diskette. Do not confuse the device configuration file with the Digital UNIX system configuration file, which is an ASCII text file that defines the hardware and software components of the system. Device configuration files, unlike system configuration files, have CFG extensions.
See also expansion board configuration file.

/dev/envram device driver: The /dev/envram device driver is a character device driver that provides read and write services to the /dev/presto device driver.

/dev/presto device driver: The /dev/presto device driver is a disk driver that uses nonvolatile memory as a cache. It works as a layer between other drivers and the rest of the Digital UNIX kernel.

EISA: See Extended Industry Standard Architecture (EISA).

EISA bus expansion board: An EISA bus expansion board is a hardware entity that plugs into EISA bus connectors. An EISA bus expansion board must contain a readable product ID.

EISA Configuration Utility (ECU): The EISA Configuration Utility (ECU) is a program that reads the expansion board and device configuration files and, for each option in the system, generates a conflict-free configuration. The ECU runs on top of the firmware, not the operating system.

expansion board configuration file: An expansion board configuration file provides information on the resources and register values required to program the EISA bus expansion board. Some of the resources supplied in this file are the board ID, manufacturer of the board, the interrupt line, DMA channel, and board memory. The manufacturer of the EISA bus expansion board supplies the board's configuration file on a diskette. Do not confuse the expansion board configuration file with the Digital UNIX system configuration file, which is an ASCII text file that defines the hardware and software components of the system. Expansion board configuration files, unlike system configuration files, have CFG extensions.
See also device configuration file.

Extended Industry Standard Architecture (EISA): The Extended Industry Standard Architecture (EISA) bus is an industry-standard high-performance bus that is a superset of the 8- and 16-bit Industry Standard Architecture (ISA).

Industry Standard Architecture (ISA)

The Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) bus is used in computer systems that adhere to the ISA. The ISA bus supplies the signals for performing the following basic functions of the computer system:

Memory
I/O
Direct memory access (DMA)

ISA: See Industry Standard Architecture (ISA).

nonvolatile random-access memory (NVRAM): Nonvolatile random-access memory (NVRAM) contains the EISA bus board information specified in the board's configuration file. It is the ECU that writes this information to the NVRAM.