P2P - Peer to Peer. A distributed computer network in which each participant acts as both a server and a client. Commonly used for file sharing purposes.
PAP - Password Authentication Protocol. A simple unencrypted protocol to validate remote users logging on to a server.
CHAP is generally preferred because it is more secure.
PATA - Parallel ATA. A parallel interface for disk drives, commonly referred to as IDE.
PC - Personal Computer. Generally used to refer to the 'IBM compatible' type of computer with an Intel compatible processor.
PCP - Primary Cross-Connection Point (BT)
PCB - Printed circuit board.
PCI - Peripheral Component Interconnect. A widely used interface for plug-in boards in a computer.
PCIe - PCI Express. An enhanced version of the PCI interface for use with high performance graphics cards.
PCMCIA — Personal Computer Memory Card International Association. An international standards organisation which maintains the standards for PC Cards and ExpressCards.
PCM — Pulse-Code Modulation. A digital representation of an analogue signal, made by sampling the signal at frequent intervals.
PDF — Portable Document Format. A file format for the exchange of documents, created by Adobe Systems.
PING - Network utility used to check the response of a remote server or computer.
How to use the PING command.
PM - Personal Message / Private Message.
PNG — Portable Network Graphics. A file format for bitmapped graphics. Supports 24-bit colour but not animation, and primarily intended for transferring images over the internet.
PnP - Plug and Play. An operating system based facility for automatic installation of plug-in devices.
POI - Point Of Intervention. (BT)
PON - Passive Optical Network.
PoP - Point of Presence. Location or point where a network can be accessed. - See also
Co location Centre.
POP3 — Post Office Protocol v3. A commonly used protocol for the retrieval of emails from a server.
POS - Provision Of Service (BT)
POST - Power On Self Test. An early part of a computer's boot process, in which some tests are run to check the hardware.
POTS - Plain Old Telephone System.
PPC - Power PC. A type of processor used by Apple up to 2006, when they changed to the use of Intel processors.
PPP — Point-to-Point Protocol. A data link protocol which is used to establish connection between two network nodes. Commonly used in dial-up internet connections.
PPPoA, PPPoE - PPP over ATM, PPP over Ethernet. Encapsulated forms of PPP used by ISPs to connect users to a DSL service.
PPPoA - PPP over ATM - BTw use ATM as on the exchange backhaul which sets up VCs (virtual Circuits) / VPs (Virtual Paths) for the routing - eg you enter VC and VPI nos when setting up your connection.
PPPoEoA - PPP over Ethernet over ATM - In the UK the vast majority of ISPs use PPPoA because they use the ATM backhaul from the exchange. You may see some mention of PPPoE in the UK but in reality they likely use 'emulated' PPPoE (PPPoEoA) - still using the ATM backhaul.
PSTN - Public Switched Telephone Network
PSU - Power Supply Unit.
PVR - Personal Video Recorder.
