List of IT acronyms

When you live in the world of IT, it can be tough to remember that to normal people, the acronyms we use on a daily basis aren’t exactly standard knowledge. To help, we’ve compiled this definitive list of IT acronyms to give you a head start on the language of the industry. So, without further ado, here are the acronyms to know, to help you understand and communicate in the world of IT.

What does IT stand for?

IT stands for Information Technology. It is the broad subject concerned with all aspects of managing and processing information.

What does ACK stand for?

ACK stands for Acknowledgment. It is a signal used in protocols such as TCP to confirm the successful receipt of data packets.

What does ACL stand for?

ACL stands for Access Control List. It specifies which users or system processes are granted access to objects, as well as what operations are allowed on given objects.

What does ADSL stand for?

ADSL stands for Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line. It is a data communications technology that enables faster data transmission.

What does AES stand for?

AES stands for Advanced Encryption Standard. It is a specification for the encryption of electronic data.

What does ARP stand for?

ARP stands for Address Resolution Protocol. It is a telecommunication protocol used for resolution of network layer addresses.

What does ATM stand for?

ATM stands for Asynchronous Transfer Mode. It is a telecommunication concept for the carriage of a complete range of user traffic.

What does BGP stand for?

BGP stands for Border Gateway Protocol. It is a standardized exterior gateway protocol designed to exchange routing and reachability information among autonomous systems on the Internet.

What does BIOS stand for?

BIOS stands for Basic Input/Output System. It is firmware embedded in a computer’s motherboard that initializes hardware components during boot and provides runtime services for operating systems.

What does BSS stand for?

BSS stands for Basic Service Set. It is the fundamental building block of an IEEE 802.11 wireless LAN, consisting of a single access point (or operating in ad-hoc mode) and its associated wireless stations.

What does CAT stand for?

CAT stands for Category. It is commonly used to denote types of Ethernet cables, such as Category 5 (CAT 5) or Category 6 (CAT 6).

What does CHAP stand for?

CHAP stands for Challenge-Handshake Authentication Protocol. It is a network authentication method that verifies the identity of a user or device using a challenge-response mechanism.

What does CIDR stand for?

CIDR stands for Classless Inter-Domain Routing. It is a method of IP address allocation and routing that employs variable-length subnet masking for improved efficiency.

What does CIR stand for?

CIR stands for Committed Information Rate. It is the minimum guaranteed bandwidth provided by a network service provider under normal operating conditions.

What does CLI stand for?

CLI stands for Command-Line Interface. It is a text-based interface used to interact with a computer’s operating system or software by entering commands which may be entered by a user, read from a file, or another kind of data stream.

What does CPE stand for?

CPE stands for Customer Premises Equipment. It refers to hardware devices located at the customer’s site that connect to the service provider’s network, such as modems, routers, or set-top boxes and are connected with a carrier’s telecommunication channel at the demarcation point.

What does CPU stand for?

CPU stands for Central Processing Unit. It handles the instructions you give the computer and handles most of the calculations.

What does DDR stand for?

DDR stands for Double Data Rate. It is a type of synchronous dynamic random-access memory (SDRAM) that transfers data twice per clock cycle.

What does DNS stand for?

DNS stands for Domain Name System. It is a decentralized naming system for computers, services, or any resource connected to the Internet or private network.

What does DRAM stand for?

DRAM stands for Dynamic Random Access Memory. It stores each bit of data in a separate capacitor within an integrated circuit.

What does ECC stand for?

ECC stands for Error-Correcting Code. It is a memory technology that detects and corrects single-bit errors to enhance data integrity.

What does FDD stand for?

FDD stands for Floppy Disk Drive. It is a computer disk drive that enables a user to save data to removable diskettes.

What does FPS stand for?

FPS stands for Frames Per Second. It measures how many images a system displays or processes in one second, commonly used in video, gaming, and computer graphics.

What does FTP stand for?

FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol. It is a standard network protocol used to transfer computer files between a client and server on a computer network.

What does GB stand for?

GB stands for Gigabyte. It is a unit of digital storage equal to approximately 1 billion bytes in decimal (1,000,000,000 bytes) or 1,073,741,824 bytes in binary.

What does GDI stand for?

GDI stands for Graphics Device Interface. It is a core component of Microsoft Windows used for rendering 2D graphics and managing output on devices such as monitors and printers.

What does HDLC stand for?

HDLC stands for High-Level Data Link Control. It is a bit-oriented protocol used for reliable communication over point-to-point and multipoint links at the data link layer.

What does HTTP stand for?

HTTP stands for Hypertext Transfer Protocol. It is the foundational protocol for data transfer on the World Wide Web, operating on a client–server request-response model.

What does ICMP stand for?

ICMP stands for Internet Control Message Protocol. It is employed for network diagnostics and error reporting, enabling devices to communicate information about network conditions.

What does IP stand for?

IP stands for Internet Protocol. It is responsible for addressing and routing data packets across networks, supporting both IPv4 and IPv6.

What does LAN stand for?

LAN stands for Local Area Network. It is a computer network that interconnects computers within a limited area.

What does MAC stand for?

MAC stands for Media Access Control. It is the lower sublayer of the data link layer of the seven-layer OSI model.

What does MB stand for?

MB stands for Megabyte. It is a unit of digital information storage equal to 1,024 kilobytes in binary terminology, or approximately one million bytes in decimal.

What does MEM stand for?

MEM stands for Memory.

What does NAC stand for?

NAC stands for Network Access Control. It is a security solution that enforces policies to regulate access to network resources, ensuring that only authorized devices and users connect.

What does NIC stand for?

NIC stands for Network Interface Card. It is a computer hardware component that connects a computer to a computer network.

What does PPP stand for?

PPP stands for Point-to-Point Protocol. It is a data link protocol used to establish a direct connection between two nodes.

What does RAM stand for?

RAM stands for Random Access Memory. It is a form of computer data storage that allows items to be accessed in almost the same amount of time irrespective of the physical location of the data inside the memory.

What does SFTP stand for?

SFTP stands for Secure File Transfer Protocol. It provides secure file transfer over an encrypted SSH connection, protecting both commands and data during transmission.

What does SSH stand for?

SSH stands for Secure Shell. It is a cryptographic network protocol used for secure remote access and system management, providing encrypted communication and authentication.

What does TB stand for?

TB stands for Terabyte. It is a measure of computer storage capacity that is 2 to the 40th power, or approximately a trillion bytes.

What does VDC stand for?

VDC stands for Virtual Data Center. It is a pool of cloud-based resources—including compute, storage, and networking—that organizations can use to build and manage scalable IT infrastructure.

What does VLAN stand for?

VLAN stands for Virtual Local Area Network. It is the logical segmentation of a physical network into isolated broadcast domains at the data link layer.