Final answer:
The component that supplies a small trickle of electricity to CMOS RAM to preserve configuration data is known as a CMOS battery, usually a lithium button cell installed on the motherboard.
Step-by-step explanation:
The term that describes a component providing a small trickle of electricity to maintain the configuration data in CMOS RAM is a CMOS battery. CMOS stands for Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor, and it's a type of non-volatile RAM that stores information such as system time, hardware settings, and boot configurations. Even when a computer is turned off, the CMOS battery assures that this essential data isn't lost. This is crucial because losing such configuration data can lead to system issues, like incorrect date and time, boot failure, or hardware malfunctions.
The CMOS battery is typically a small, round lithium button cell, similar to those used in watches, pacemakers, or calculators. It is directly mounted on the computer's motherboard. Over time, the CMOS battery may lose its charge and will need to be replaced to maintain the computer's functionality.