I/O
Technology & Computing abbreviation · Computer
| Stands for | Input/output |
|---|---|
| Categories | Technology & Computing |
I/O stands for Input/output, a computer abbreviation.
Movement of data between a computer and the outside world or between its components: input from keyboards, sensors, disks and networks, and output to screens, printers and storage. Performance problems are often caused by slow I/O rather than processor speed.
Example: The database is I/O bound, so faster SSDs will help more than extra CPU cores.
Usage notes
Written with a slash, sometimes simply IO. The ports on a laptop or motherboard are collectively called its I/O, as in "rear I/O panel". In programming, I/O covers reading and writing files and network sockets, and "blocking I/O" means a program waits until each operation finishes. A related storage metric is IOPS, input/output operations per second.
Related abbreviations
More computer abbreviations
- GPO – Group Policy Object
- GPT – GUID Partition Table
- GUI – Graphical user interface
- HCI – Human-computer interaction
- HFS+ – Hierarchical File System Plus
- HPC – High-performance computing
- ICT – Information and communications technology
- IME – Input method editor
- Ins – Insert key
- IS – Information systems
- IT – Information technology
- ITIL – Information Technology Infrastructure Library