B

basic disks

Disks that follow the rules and standards of the earliest operating systems. Basic disks can contain a maximum of only four partitions, but they can contain one extended partition that can be divided into multiple logical drives.

basic input/output system (BIOS)

A set of software or firmware contained in a computer that tests the hardware at startup, starts the operating system, and supports data transfer among the hardware devices within and attached to the computer. The BIOS also keeps track of the date and the time.

Basic Rate Interface (BRI)

An ISDN standard that provides 128Kbps using two 64Kbps B (bearer) channels and one 16Kbps D (delta) channel.

binary system

A mathematical base 2 system consisting of 0s and 1s that are used to create communication that computers can understand.

Bluetooth

A short-range radio technology that was developed by Ericsson, IBM, Nokia, and Toshiba; primarily used for input devices and wireless communication devices.

boot partition

The partition in a computer that contains the Windows system files that are required to run the operating system after a successful boot.

boot sequence

A component of the Basic Input and Output System (BIOS) configuration on a computer that determines which drives a computer will address at startup and in what order they will be addressed.

bridge

A device that works at the Data Link layer of the OSI model, providing network segmentation using software programs. Bridges can also connect dissimilar networks.

broadcast cable

A technology used by consumers to access the Internet that can attain speeds in excess of 2Mbps.

bus topology

A network topology that was used in earlier networks and is not commonly used today. A series of computers are connected with a single coaxial cable.