Tech Glossary L O

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Tech Glossary – L to O


Linux (pronounced “lih-nux”, not “lie-nux”) is a freely distributed Unix-like operating system (OS) created by Linus Torvalds.

IP Address

Also known as an “IP number” or simply an “IP,” this is a code made up of numbers separated by three dots that identifies a particular computer on the Internet. Every computer, whether it be a Web server or the computer you’re using right now, requires an IP address to connect to the Internet. IP addresses consist of four sets of numbers from 0 to 255, separated by three dots. For example “” or “”.

MAC Address (Media Access Control Address)


Mac OS

This is the operating system that runs on Macintosh computers.


A megabyte is 2 to the 20th power, or 1,048,576 bytes. It can be estimated as 10 to the 6th power, or one million (1,000,000) bytes. A megabyte is 1,024 kilobytes and precedes the gigabyte unit of measurement. Large computer files are typically measured in megabytes.

Name Server

A name server translates domain names into IP addresses. This makes it possible for a user to access a website by typing in the domain name instead of the website’s actual IP address. For example, when you type in “,” the request gets sent to Microsoft’s name server which returns the IP address of the Microsoft website.

OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer)

This refers to a company that produces hardware to be marketed under another company’s brand name. For example, if Sony makes a monitor that will marketed by Dell, a “Dell” label will get stuck on the front, but the OEM of the monitor is Sony.