Flash Memory- A memory chip that can be rewritten and hold its content without power. It is also called a "flash RAM" or "flash ROM" chip and is widely used for digital camera film and as storage for many consumer and industrial applications. Flash chips replaced earlier ROM BIOS chips in a PC so that the BIOS could be updated in place instead of being replaced. Flash chips generally have lifespans from 100K to 300K write cycles. Unlike DRAM and SRAM memory chips, in which a single byte can be written, flash memory must be erased and written in fixed blocks, typically ranging from 512 bytes up to 256KB. Evolving out of the EEPROM chip technology, which can be erased in place, flash memory is less expensive and denser. The term was coined by Toshiba for its ability to be erased "in a flash." For more information go to our home page.

FTP- (File Transfer Protocol) A protocol used to transfer files over a TCP/IP network (Internet, UNIX, etc.). For example, after developing the HTML pages for a Web site on a local machine, they are typically uploaded to the Web Server using FTP. FTP includes functions to log onto the network, list directories and copy files. It can also convert between the ASCII and EBCDIC character codes. FTP operations can be performed by typing commands at a command prompt or via an FTP utility running under a graphical interface such as Windows. For more information go to our home page.