A plain-English reference for the acronyms, specs, and jargon you'll see when shopping business technology. Whether you're sizing a UPS, choosing a switch, or comparing CCTV cameras, this guide cuts through the noise. Browse by category or use Ctrl+F to find a term.
Carries electrical power and data on a single Ethernet cable. PoE switches power IP cameras, WiFi access points, and VoIP phones without separate power supplies. Standard PoE = 15.4W; PoE+ (802.3at) = 30W; PoE++ / 4PPoE (802.3bt) = up to 90W. Browse PoE switches.
Hot-swappable transceiver modules that plug into switch ports for fibre or copper uplinks. SFP = 1Gbps; SFP+ = 10Gbps; SFP28 = 25Gbps; QSFP+ = 40Gbps. Lets one switch model support different cable types and distances.
Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) handles dense environments better with OFDMA and MU-MIMO. Wi-Fi 6E adds the 6GHz band for less congestion. Wi-Fi 7 (802.11be) supports 320MHz channels and Multi-Link Operation for ~5Gbps real-world speeds. Read the Wi-Fi 7 vs 6E comparison.
A wireless device that creates a WiFi network from a wired Ethernet connection. Multiple APs are deployed across a building to provide seamless roaming. Enterprise APs (Cisco Meraki, Aruba Instant On, Ubiquiti UniFi) support centralised management.
Logical separation of a single physical network into multiple isolated networks. Used to segment guest WiFi from corporate, separate VoIP traffic, or isolate IoT devices. Configured on managed switches.
Layer 2 switches forward traffic by MAC address — basic LAN switching. Layer 3 switches also route between VLANs (IP-based forwarding), reducing the need for a separate router. L3 typically costs 30-50% more.
Centrally managed WAN technology that intelligently routes traffic across multiple internet connections (NBN, 5G, leased line) for resilience and performance. Common at multi-site businesses.
Encrypted tunnel between two networks (or a remote user and an office network). Site-to-site VPN connects branches; client VPN gives remote workers access to office resources. Built into most business firewalls.
Network security device that filters traffic. Next-gen firewalls add deep packet inspection, intrusion prevention (IPS), application control, and threat intelligence. Examples: Sophos XGS, Fortinet FortiGate, Cisco Meraki MX.
Standard 8-pin Ethernet connector. Used for Cat5e/6/6a/8 cables.
A dedicated appliance that records video from IP cameras over Ethernet. Replaces older DVRs (which used coax cable). Stores footage locally and supports remote viewing. Browse NVRs & cameras.
IP cameras send digital video over Ethernet (PoE-powered, higher resolution, smarter analytics). Analog (HD-TVI / HD-CVI) cameras use coax cable to a DVR — cheaper and simpler but lower quality.
Ingress Protection rating. IP66 = dust-tight + powerful water jets (outdoor cameras). IP67 = dust-tight + temporary submersion. Use IP66 for typical outdoor; IP67 if exposed to washdowns.
Impact protection rating. IK10 = withstands 20 joules (vandal-resistant). Required for cameras in public places.
Industry standard letting IP cameras and NVRs from different brands work together. An ONVIF-compatible camera works with any ONVIF-compatible NVR. Reduces brand lock-in.
Camera resolution in megapixels. 2MP (1080p) is fine for most indoor offices. 4MP captures wider scenes with detail. 8MP / 4K (3840×2160) is needed for licence-plate identification at distance or large-area coverage.
Camera feature that balances bright and dark areas in the same frame — essential for scenes with windows or backlit subjects.
Varifocal lenses let you adjust the field of view (e.g., 2.8-12mm) during installation. Fixed lenses (e.g., 4mm) are cheaper and quicker to install but lock you into one view.
Motorised cameras that can be remotely controlled or programmed to follow targets. Used for large outdoor areas, car parks, or live monitoring.
A storage appliance that sits on your network and serves files to multiple devices. Synology and QNAP dominate the SMB market. Used for shared files, backups, video storage, virtualisation. Browse NAS & storage.
Combines multiple drives for redundancy or performance. RAID 1 mirrors 2 drives. RAID 5 uses parity across 3+ drives (1 can fail). RAID 6 tolerates 2 failures. RAID 10 = mirrored stripes (best speed + redundancy).
SSD (Solid State Drive) — no moving parts, fast (200-7000 MB/s), durable, more expensive per GB. HDD (Hard Disk Drive) — spinning platters, slower (~100-200 MB/s), cheaper per GB. Use SSD for OS/apps; HDD for bulk storage.
High-speed SSD interface that bypasses SATA limitations. NVMe SSDs run 5-7x faster than SATA SSDs. Standard in modern laptops and used in enterprise servers for hot databases.
Both are storage interfaces. SATA (6 Gb/s) is consumer-grade. SAS (12 Gb/s) is enterprise — higher reliability, dual-port for redundancy, used in servers.
RPO (Recovery Point Objective) — how much data loss is acceptable (e.g., 1 hour means backups every 1hr). RTO (Recovery Time Objective) — how long you can be down before you must be back (e.g., 4 hours). Drives backup strategy.
3 copies of data, on 2 different media, with 1 offsite (cloud). The gold standard for ransomware protection.
Battery backup that keeps gear running through power outages and protects from surges/spikes. Sized in VA (volt-amperes) — 1500VA typically powers a server + monitor for 10-15 mins. Browse UPS.
Line-interactive filters power and switches to battery when needed (~4ms delay) — fine for most office gear. Online (double-conversion) always runs from battery so transfer is zero — required for sensitive servers, medical equipment, edit suites.
UPS capacity is rated in VA (apparent power) and Watts (real power). Power factor (PF) varies by load — for most modern IT gear, multiply VA × 0.6 for usable Watts. A 1500VA UPS = ~900W usable.
Switches between two power sources (e.g., A and B feed) when one fails. Used in data centres and critical comms rooms.
USB-C charging standard supporting 20W to 240W. Higher PD wattage charges laptops faster. Look for 65W minimum for ultrabooks, 100W+ for workstations.
IPS — best colour accuracy and viewing angles, slight glow. Best for office work. VA — deeper blacks, slower response, cheaper. OLED — perfect blacks, vivid colour, premium pricing, risk of burn-in.
Display tech that shows brighter highlights and deeper shadows. HDR400 / HDR600 / HDR1000 indicates peak brightness in nits. HDR10+ and Dolby Vision are dynamic-metadata variants.
How many times per second a display redraws. 60Hz is fine for office work. 120Hz+ is smoother for video editing, animation, and gaming.
Standard for monitor/TV mounting holes. Common sizes: 75×75mm, 100×100mm, 200×200mm, 400×400mm. Match the mount's VESA spec to your display.
Connecting multiple monitors using a single DisplayPort output and DP-out ports on each monitor. Reduces cable mess.
Intel's enterprise platform — adds remote management (KVM out-of-band), security features (Hardware Shield), and performance. Required by some IT teams for fleet manageability.
Trusted Platform Module — hardware security chip required for Windows 11. Stores encryption keys, enables BitLocker, supports secure boot.
Lets IT remotely access a laptop's BIOS/OS even when the laptop is off or unresponsive. Critical for distributed workforce management.
Working memory for active apps. Modern business workloads: 16GB minimum, 32GB for design/video, 64GB+ for engineering simulation. DDR4 is current; DDR5 is faster but pricier.
Custom-configured laptop or desktop built to spec. Typical lead time: 5-15 business days. Common for Dell Precision, HP ZBook, custom Lenovo ThinkPads.
Software that runs the device. Common: Windows 11 Pro (business), Windows 11 Home, macOS, ChromeOS (Chromebooks), Ubuntu Linux. Pro versions add domain join, BitLocker, Group Policy.
Wireless radio standard used by professional cordless phones and headsets (Jabra Engage, Yealink). Separate from WiFi — no congestion. Range up to 100m in office.
Headsets and webcams that meet Microsoft's quality bar for Teams: dedicated mute/answer keys, certified noise cancellation, plug-and-play. Browse certified headsets.
Built-in microphones detect ambient sound and cancel it with anti-phase audio. Essential for open-plan offices.
USB-A — older rectangular connector, still common on desktops. USB-C — newer, reversible, supports power delivery + DisplayPort. Modern laptops are USB-C only.
Mechanical = individual switch per key (loud, tactile, durable, ~$100-300). Membrane = single rubber sheet under all keys (cheap, quiet, less durable, $20-80).
Cat5e — 1Gbps up to 100m. Cat6 — 1Gbps at 100m, 10Gbps to 55m. Cat6a — 10Gbps to 100m (most office installs). Cat8 — 25-40Gbps to 30m (data centre). Browse cables.
Single-mode (OS2) — long distance (10km+), used for WAN/campus links. Multi-mode (OM3/OM4/OM5) — short distance (300-550m), cheaper transceivers, used inside buildings.
Fibre optic connector types. LC is the modern small-form-factor standard (most common). SC is older, larger. ST is bayonet-style, legacy.
Intel's high-speed USB-C standard: 40Gbps data, dual 4K display support, 100W charging, daisy-chainable. Critical for video editors and developers using docking stations. Browse Thunderbolt docks.
HDMI 2.0 = 4K@60Hz. HDMI 2.1 = 4K@120Hz, 8K@60Hz, eARC for audio. Use 2.1 for gaming setups; 2.0 sufficient for most office monitors.
SaaS = Software as a Service (Microsoft 365, Salesforce). IaaS = Infrastructure as a Service (Azure VMs, AWS EC2). PaaS = Platform as a Service (App Service, Heroku).
One login (e.g., Microsoft Entra) gives access to multiple apps. Reduces password fatigue and improves security.
Login requires something you know (password) + something you have (phone code, YubiKey). The single highest-impact security control.
Centrally manage laptops/phones (Microsoft Intune, Jamf for Mac). Push configs, enforce encryption, remote-wipe lost devices.
Security model that assumes no device is trusted by default. Continuous authentication, micro-segmentation, least-privilege access.
Manufacturer no longer sells (EOS) or supports (EOL) a product. Plan replacements before EOL — security patches stop, warranty claims become hard.
The plan for restoring IT after a major incident (fire, ransomware, datacentre outage). Combines backups, secondary site, runbooks, and tested procedures.
A commitment about uptime, response time, or other measurable performance. e.g., "99.9% uptime", "4-hour onsite response". Foundation of all enterprise IT contracts.
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