SLI
Abbreviation with 3 meanings
| Stands for | Scalable Link Interface |
|---|---|
| Meanings | 3 |
| Categories | Technology & Computing, Business & Finance |
SLI has three meanings. The most common are Scalable Link Interface (computer hardware) and Service-level indicator (cloud computing); it can also stand for Supplemental liability insurance.
Meanings of SLI at a glance
| # | SLI stands for | Context |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Scalable Link Interface | Technology & Computing › Computer Hardware |
| 2 | Service-level indicator | Technology & Computing › Cloud Computing |
| 3 | Supplemental liability insurance | Business & Finance › Insurance |
1. Scalable Link Interface
Technology & Computing · Computer Hardware Abbreviations
Nvidia technology that linked two to four graphics cards with a bridge connector so they could render a game together. It has been effectively discontinued for gaming.
Example: Back in 2012 my gaming rig ran two GTX 680s in SLI.
The letters originally stood for Scan-Line Interleave, a 1998 technology of 3dfx's Voodoo2 cards; Nvidia acquired 3dfx's assets and revived the name in 2004. Multi-GPU gaming suffered from uneven frame pacing, known as micro-stutter, and limited game support. Nvidia stopped adding new SLI game profiles in 2021. AMD's equivalent was CrossFire. Data-center GPUs now link through NVLink instead.
2. Service-level indicator
Technology & Computing · Cloud Computing Abbreviations
A measured metric that shows how a service is performing for users, such as request success rate, latency or throughput, used to track progress against service level objectives.
Example: The latency SLI counts the share of checkout requests served in under 400 ms.
Good indicators measure what users experience, often at the load balancer or client, rather than internal server statistics. They are usually expressed as a ratio of good events to total events. Tracking too many dilutes attention, so teams pick a few per service.
3. Supplemental liability insurance
Business & Finance · Insurance Abbreviations
Rental car coverage that raises third-party liability protection above the state minimum the rental company provides, often to $1 million.
Example: Without a personal auto policy, I bought SLI at the rental counter.
People without their own car insurance are the main buyers, since personal auto liability usually extends to rental cars.
Related abbreviations
More computer hardware abbreviations
- SDXC – Secure Digital eXtended Capacity
- SFF – Small form factor
- SFX – Small Form Factor eXtended
- SLC – Single-level cell
- SMART – Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology
- SMR – Shingled magnetic recording
- SMT – Simultaneous multithreading
- SO-DIMM – Small outline dual inline memory module
See all 151 computer hardware abbreviations →