initialization

Initialization (INI) is generally understood to be an action during which programs, devices or communication connections are set to an operating state.

Whereas with personalcomputers initialization is triggered by the power-on process, with storage media it is triggered by formatting and with peripheral devices it is triggered by the operating system. All these initializations are required for operation.

In communications technology, for example, initialization is used to control the logical connection setup. For two data stations to be able to communicate with each other, they must register with each other's communication partner after being switched on.