CompTIA A+ 220-1102 Acronyms

The following is a list of acronyms that appear on the CompTIA A+ 220-1101 (Hardware) & 220-1102 (Software) exams. Candidates are encouraged to review the complete list and attain a working knowledge of all listed acronyms as part of a comprehensive exam preparation program.

AAA: Authentication, Authorization, & Accounting
AC: Alternating Current
ACL: Access Control List
ADF: Automatica Document Feeder
AES: Advanced Encryption Standard
AP: Access Point
APFS: Apple File System
APIPA: Automatic Private Internet Protocol Addressing
APK: Android Package
ARM: Advanced RISC (Reduced Instruction Set Computer) Machine
ARP: Address Resolution Protocol
ATA: Advanced Technology Attachment
ATM: Asynchronous Transfer Mode
ATX: Advanced Technology Extended

BIOS: Basic Input/Output System
BSOD: Blue Screen of Death
BYOD: Bring Your Own Device

CAD: Computer-Aided Design
CAPTCHA: Completely Automated Public Turing Test to Tell Computers & Humans Apart
CD: Compact Disc
CDFS: Compact Disc File System
CDMA: Code-Division Multiple Access
CERT: Computer Emergency Response Team
CIFS: Common Internet File System
CMD: Command Prompt
CMOS: Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor
CPU: Central Processing Unit
CRL: Certificate Revocation List

DC: Direct Current
DDoS: Distributed Denial of Service
DDR: Double Data Rate
DHCP: Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol
DIMM: Dual Inline Memory Module
DKIM: DomainKeys Identified Mail
DMA: Direct Memory Access
DMARC: Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, & Conformance
DNS: Domain Name System
DoS: Denial of Service
DRAM: Dynamic Random-Access Memory
DRM: Digital Rights Management
DSL: Digital Subscriber Line
DVI: Digital Visual Interface
DVI-D: Digital Visual Interface-Digital

ECC: Error Correcting Code
EFS: Encrypting File System
EMI: Electromagnetic Interference
EOL: End-of-Life
eSATA: External Serial Advanced Technology Attachment
ESD: Electrostatic Discharge
EULA: End-User License Agreement
exFAT: Extensible File Allocation Table
ext: Extended File System

FAT: File Allocation Table
FAT12: 12-bit File Allocation Table
FAT16: 16-bit File Allocation Table
FAT32: 32-bit File Allocation Table
FSB: Front-Side Bus
FTP: File Transfer Protocol

GFS: Grandfather-Father-Son
GPS: Global Positioning System
GPT: GUID (Globally Unique Identifier) Partition Table
GPU: Graphics Processing Unit
GSM: Global System for Mobile Communications
GUI: Graphical User Interface
GUID: Globally Unique Identifier

HAL: Hardware Abstraction Layer
HAV: Hardware-Assisted Virtualization
HCL: Hardware Compatibility List
HDCP: High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection
HDD: Hard Disk Drive
HDMI: High-Definition Multimedia Interface
HSM: Hardware Security Module
HTML: Hypertext Markup Language
HTTP: Hypertext Transfer Protocol
HTTPS: Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure

I/O: Input/Output
IaaS: Infrastructure as a Service
ICR: Intelligent Character Recognition
IDE: Integrated Drive Electronics
IDS: Intrusion Detection System
IEEE: Institute of Electrical & Electronics Engineers
IMAP: Internet Mail Access Protocol
IOPS: Input/Output Operations Per Second
IoT: Internet of Things
IP: Internet Protocol
IPS: Intrusion Prevention System
IPS: In-Plane Switching
IPSec: Internet Protocol Security
IR: Infrared
IrDA: Infrared Data Association
IRP: Incident Response Plan
ISO: International Organization for Standardization
ITX: Information Technology eXtended

KB: Knowledge Base
KVM: Keyboard-Video-Mouse

LAN: Local Area Network
LC: Lucent Connector
LCD: Liquid Crystal Display
LDAP: Lightweight Directory Access Protocol
LED: Light-Emitting Diode

MAC: Mandatory Access Control
MAC: Media Access Control
MAM: Mobile Application Management
MAN: Metropolitan Area Network
MBR: Master Boot Record
MDM: Mobile Device Management
MFA: Multi-Factor Authentication
MFD: Multi-Function Device
MFP: Multi-Function Printer
MMC: Microsoft Management Console
MOU: Memorandum of Understanding
MSDS: Material Safety Data Sheet
MSRA: Microsoft Remote Assistance
MX: Mail Exchange

NAC: Network Access Control
NAT: Network Address Translation
NDA: Non-Disclosure Agreement
NetBIOS: Networked Basic Input/Output System
NetBT: NetBIOS over TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol)
NFC: Near-Field Communication
NFS: Network File System
NIC: Network Interface Card
NTFS: New Technology File System
NVMe: Non-Volatile Memory Express

OCR: Optical Character Recognition
OLED: Organic Light-Emitting Diode
ONT: Optical Network Terminal
OS: Operating System

PaaS: Platform as a Service
PAN: Personal Area Network
PC: Personal Computer
PCIe: Peripheral Component Interconnect Express
PCL: Printer Command Language
PE: Preinstallation Environment
PII: Personally Identifiable Information
PIN: Personal Identification Number
PKI: Public Key Infrastructure
PoE: Power over Ethernet
POP3: Post Office Protocol 3
POST: Power-On Self Test
PPP: Point-to-Point Protocol
PRL: Preferred Roaming List
PSU: Power Supply Unit
PXE: Preboot Execution Environment

RADIUS: Remote Authentication Dial-In User Service
RAID: Redundant Array of Independent/Inexpensive Disks
RAM: Random-Access Memory
RDP: Remote Desktop Protocol
RF: Radio Frequency
RFI: Radio-Frequency Interference
RFID: Radio-Frequency Identification
RJ-11: Registered Jack Function 11
RJ-45: Registered Jack Function 45
RMM: Remote Monitoring & Management
RTO: Recovery Time Objective

SaaS: Software as a Service
SAN: Storage Area Network
SAS: Serial Attached SCSI (Small Computer System Interface)
SATA: Serial Advanced Technology Attachment
SC: Subscriber Connector
SCADA: Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition
SCP: Secure Copy Protection
SCSI: Small Computer System Interface
SDN: Software-Defined Networking
SFTP: Secure File Transfer Protocol
SIM: Subscriber Identity Module
SIMM: Single Inline Memory Module
S.M.A.R.T.: Self-Monitoring Analysis & Reporting Technology
SMB: Server Message Block
SMS: Short Message Service
SMTP: Simple Mail Transfer Protocol
SNMP: Simple Network Management Protocol
SNTP: Simple Network Time Protocol
SODIMM: Small Outline Dual Inline Memory Module
SOHO: Small Office/Home Office
SPF: Sender Policy Framework
SQL: Structured Query Language
SRAM: Static Random-Access Memory
SSD: Solid-State Drive
SSH: Secure Shell
SSID: Service Set Identifier
SSL: Secure Sockets Layer
SSO: Single Sign-On
ST: Straight Tip
STP: Shielded Twisted Pair

TACACS: Terminal Access Controller Access-Control System
TCP: Transmission Control Protocol
TCP/IP: Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol
TFTP: Trivial File Transfer Protocol
TKIP: Temporal Key Integrity Protocol
TLS: Transport Layer Security
TN: Twisted Nematic
TPM: Trusted Platform Module

UAC: User Account Control
UDP: User Datagram Protocol
UEFI: Unified Extensible Firmware Interface
UNC: Universal Naming Convention
UPnP: Universal Plug and Play
UPS: Uninterruptible Power Supply
USB: Universal Serial Bus
UTM: Unified Threat Management
UTP: Unshielded Twisted Pair

VA: Vertical Alignment
VDI: Virtual Desktop Infrastructure
VGA: Video Graphics Array
VLAN: Virtual LAN (Local Area Network)
VM: Virtual Machine
VNC: Virtual Network Computer
VoIP: Voice over Internet Protocol
VPN: Virtual Private Network
VRAM: Video Random-Access Memory

WAN: Wide Area Network
WEP: Wired Equivalent Privacy
WISP: Wireless Internet Service Provider
WLAN: Wireless LAN (Local Area Network)
WMN: Wireless Mesh Network
WPA: WiFi Protected Access
WWAN: Wireless Wide Area Network

XSS: Cross-Site Scripting