Accelerator

What Does Accelerator Mean?

An accelerator is a hardware device or a
software program with a main function of enhancing the overall performance of
the computer. There are various types of accelerators available to help with enhancing the performance of different aspects of a computer’s function.

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Techopedia Explains Accelerator

Accelerators help in boosting the overall performance of a computer. There are various accelerators available which work by improving the overall performance of the system. Some of these include:

  • Hardware accelerator: This is used to enhance the speed and performance of the computer as it works by performing functions faster than the central processing unit (CPU).
  • Graphics accelerator: This works by enhancing the graphics rendering capability.
  • Cryptographic accelerator: This helps in faster encryption and decryption.
  • Web accelerator: This is a proxy server that improves the speed of internet.
  • PHP accelerator: This speeds up the PHP applications.
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Margaret Rouse

Margaret Rouse is an award-winning technical writer and teacher known for her ability to explain complex technical subjects to a non-technical, business audience. Over the past twenty years her explanations have appeared on TechTarget websites and she's been cited as an authority in articles by the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine and Discovery Magazine.Margaret's idea of a fun day is helping IT and business professionals learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages. If you have a suggestion for a new definition or how to improve a technical explanation, please email Margaret or contact her…