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| GLOSSARY |
Glossary Of Internet Terms
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- A
Record
- An
A record is part of the zone file and is used
to point Internet traffic to an IP address.
For example, you can use an "A record"
to designate abc.yourdomain.com to send traffic
to your web site at IP address 209.132.X.XX.
You can also designate xyz.yourdomain.com to
go to a separate IP address.
- ADN
- (Advanced
Digital Network) -- Usually refers to a 56Kbps
leased-line.
- ADSL
- (Asymmetric
Digital Subscriber Line) -- A method for moving
data over regular phone lines. An ADSL circuit
is much faster than a regular phone connection,
and the wires coming into the subscriber's premises
are the same (copper) wires used for regular
phone service. An ADSL circuit must be configured
to connect two specific locations, similar to
a leased line.
A
commonly discussed configuration of ADSL would
allow a subscriber to receive data (download)
at speeds of up to 1.544 megabits (not megabytes)
per second, and to send (upload) data at speeds
of 128 kilobits per second. Thus the 'Asymmetric'
part of the acronym.
Another
commonly discussed configuration would be
symmetrical: 384 kilobits per second in both
directions. In theory ADSL allows download
speeds of up to 9 megabits per second and
upload speeds of up to 640 kilobits per second.
ADSL
is often discussed as an alternative to ISDN,
allowing higher speeds in cases where the
connection is always to the same place. See
Also: bit , bps , ISDN
- Anonymous
FTP
- See:
FTP
- Applet
- A small
Java program that can be embedded in
an HTML page. Applets differ from full-fledged
Java applications in that they are not allowed
to access certain resources on the local computer,
such as files and serial devices (modems, printers,
etc.), and are prohibited from communicating
with most other computers across a network.
The current rule is that an applet can only
make an Internet connection to the computer
from which the applet was sent. See Also: HTML
, Java
- Archie
- A tool
(software) for finding files stored on anonymous
FTP sites. You need to know the exact file
name or a substring of it.
- ARPANet
- (Advanced
Research Projects Agency Network) -- The precursor
to the Internet. Developed in the late
60's and early 70's by the US Department of
Defense as an experiment in wide-area-networking
that would survive a nuclear war. See Also:
Internet
- ASCII
- (American
Standard Code for Information Interchange) --
This is the de facto world-wide standard for
the code numbers used by computers to represent
all the upper and lower-case Latin letters,
numbers, punctuation, etc. There are 128 standard
ASCII codes each of which can be represented
by a 7 digit binary number: 0000000 through
1111111.
Back
to the Top
- Backbone
- A high-speed
line or series of connections that forms a major
pathway within a network. The term is relative
as a backbone in a small network will
likely be much smaller than many non-backbone
lines in a large network. See Also: Network
- Bandwidth
- How
much stuff you can send through a connection.
Usually measured in bits-per-second. A full
page of English text is about 16,000 bits. A
fast modem can move about 15,000 bits in one
second. Full-motion full-screen video would
require roughly 10,000,000 bits-per-second,
depending on compression. See Also: 56k Line
, Bps , Bit , T-1, OC-3.
- Baud
- In
common usage the baud rate of a modem
is how many bits it can send or receive
per second. Technically, baud is the number
of times per second that the carrier signal
shifts value - for example a 1200 bit-per-second
modem actually runs at 300 baud, but it moves
4 bits per baud (4 x 300 = 1200 bits per second).
See Also: Bit , Modem.
- BBS
(Bulletin Board System)
- A computerized
meeting and announcement system that allows
people to carry on discussions, upload and download
files, and make announcements without the people
being connected to the computer at the same
time. There are many thousands (millions?) of
BBS's around the world, most are very small,
running on a single IBM clone PC with 1 or 2
phone lines. Some are very large and the line
between a BBS and a system like CompuServe gets
crossed at some point, but it is not clearly
drawn.
- Binhex
- (BINary
HEXadecimal) -- A method for converting non-text
files (non-ASCII) into ASCII. This is
needed because Internet e-mail can only handle
ASCII. See Also: ASCII , MIME , UUENCODE
- Bit
- (Binary
DigIT) -- A single digit number in base-2, in
other words, either a 1 or a zero. The smallest
unit of computerized data. Bandwidth
is usually measured in bits-per-second. See
Also: Bandwidth , Bps , Byte , Kilobyte , Megabyte
- BITNET
- (Because
It's Time NETwork (or Because It's There NETwork))
-- A network of educational sites separate
from the Internet, but e-mail is freely exchanged
between BITNET and the Internet. Listservs,
the most popular form of e-mail discussion groups,
originated on BITNET. BITNET machines are usually
mainframes running the VMS operating system,
and the network is probably the only international
network that is shrinking.
- Bps
- (Bits-Per-Second)
-- A measurement of how fast data is moved from
one place to another. A 28.8 modem can
move 28,800 bits per second. See Also: Bandwidth
, Bit
- Browser
- A Client
program (software) that is used to look at various
kinds of Internet resources. See Also: Client
, URL , WWW , Netscape , Mosaic , Home Page
(or Homepage)
- BTW
- (By
The Way) -- A shorthand appended to a comment
written in an online forum. See Also: IMHO ,
TTFN
- Byte
- A set
of Bits that represent a single character. Usually
there are 8 Bits in a Byte, sometimes more,
depending on how the measurement is being made.
See Also: Bit
- Certificate
Authority
- An
issuer of Security Certificates used
in SSL connections. See Also: Security
Certificate , SSL
- CGI
- (Common
Gateway Interface) -- A set of rules that describe
how a Web Server communicates
with another piece of software on the same machine,
and how the other piece of software (the 'CGI
program') talks to the web server. Any piece
of software can be a CGI program if it handles
input and output according to the CGI standard.
Usually
a CGI program is a small program that takes
data from a web server and does something
with it, like putting the content of a form
into an e-mail message, or turning the data
into a database query.
You
can often see that a CGI program is being
used by seeing 'cgi-bin' in a URL, but not
always. See Also: cgi-bin , Web
- cgi-bin
- The
most common name of a directory on a web server
in which CGI programs are stored. The
'bin' part of 'cgi-bin' is a shorthand version
of 'binary', because once upon a time, most
programs were referred to as 'binaries'. In
real life, most programs found in cgi-bin directories
are text files -- scripts that are executed
by binaries located elsewhere on the same machine.
See Also: CGI
- Back
to the Top
-
-
- Client
- A software
program that is used to contact and obtain data
from a Server software program on another
computer, often across a great distance. Each
Client program is designed to work with
one or more specific kinds of Server
programs, and each Server requires a
specific kind of Client. A Web Browser
is a specific kind of Client. See Also:
Browser , Server
- Co-location
- Network
operation centers such as Accentric offer the
ability for customers to place their machine
in an access center which are connected via
high speed fiber data lines to the backbone
of the Internet. Administration is done remotely
so that a customer in Europe can configure and
control a dedicated server located in San Diego.
- Contact
Record
- In
the case of many registries, contact information
for technical, billing and administrative purposes
are maintained in their database. It is important
to keep your contact records updated to ensure
that billing and renewal can proceed without
problems.
- Cookie
- The
most common meaning of 'Cookie' on the Internet
refers to a piece of information sent by a Web
Server to a Web Browser that the
Browser software is expected to save and to
send back to the Server whenever the browser
makes additional requests from the Server.
Depending
on the type of Cookie used, and the Browser's
settings, the Browser may accept or not accept
the Cookie, and may save the Cookie for either
a short time or a long time.
Cookies
might contain information such as login or
registration information, online 'shopping
cart' information, user preferences, etc.
When
a Server receives a request from a Browser
that includes a Cookie, the Server is able
to use the information stored in the Cookie.
For example, the Server might customize what
is sent back to the user, or keep a log of
particular user's requests.
Cookies
are usually set to expire after a predetermined
amount of time and are usually saved in memory
until the Browser software is closed down,
at which time they may be saved to disk if
their 'expire time' has not been reached.
Cookies
do not read your hard drive
and send your life story to the CIA, but they
can be used to gather more information about
a user than would be possible without them.
See Also: Browser , Server
- Cyberpunk
- Cyberpunk
was originally a cultural sub-genre of science
fiction taking place in a not-so-distant, dystopian,
over-industrialized society. The term grew out
of the work of William Gibson and Bruce Sterling
and has evolved into a cultural label encompassing
many different kinds of human, machine, and
punk attitudes. It includes clothing and lifestyle
choices as well. See Also: Cyberspace
- Cyberspace
- Term
originated by author William Gibson in his novel
Neuromancer the word Cyberspace is currently
used to describe the whole range of information
resources available through computer networks.
- DNS:
Domain Naming System
- The
DNS is a distributed, replicated that allows
nameservers to map easily remembered domain
names to an IP number.
- Dedicated
Server
- For
those customers that want the advantages of
colocation without the hassles of purchasing
their own server. See colocation.
- Digerati
- The
digital version of literati, it is a reference
to a vague cloud of people seen to be knowledgeable,
hip, or otherwise in-the-know in regards to
the digital revolution.
- Domain
Name
- The
unique name that identifies an Internet site.
Domain Names always have 2 or more parts, separated
by dots. The part on the left is the most specific,
and the part on the right is the most general.
A given machine may have more than one Domain
Name but a given Domain Name points to only
one machine. For example, the domain names:
simplenet.net,mail.simplenet.net,ftp.simplenet.net
can all refer to the same machine, but each
domain name can refer to no more than one machine.
Usually,
all of the machines on a given Network
will have the same thing as the right-hand
portion of their Domain Names (simplenet.net
in the examples above). It is also possible
for a Domain Name to exist but not be connected
to an actual machine. This is often done so
that a group or business can have an Internet
e-mail address without having to establish
a real Internet site. In these cases, some
real Internet machine must handle the mail
on behalf of the listed Domain Name. See Also:
IP Number
Back
to the Top
- E-Commerce
- Electronic
Commerce. Refers to the general exchange of
goods and services via the Internet.
- E-mail
- (Electronic
Mail) -- Messages, usually text, sent from one
person to another via computer. E-mail can also
be sent automatically to a large number of addresses
(Mailing List). See Also: Listserv ,
Maillist
- Ethernet
- A very
common method of networking computers in a LAN.
Ethernet will handle about 10,000,000 bits-per-second
and can be used with almost any kind of computer.
See Also: Bandwidth , LAN
- FAQ
- (Frequently
Asked Questions) -- FAQs are documents that
list and answer the most common questions on
a particular subject. There are hundreds of
FAQs on subjects as diverse as Pet Grooming
and Cryptography. FAQs are usually written by
people who have tired of answering the same
question over and over.
- FDDI
- (Fiber
Distributed Data Interface) -- A standard for
transmitting data on optical fiber cables at
a rate of around 100,000,000 bits-per-second
(10 times as fast as Ethernet, about
twice as fast as T-3). See Also: Bandwidth
, Ethernet , T-1 , T-3
- Finger
- An
Internet software tool for locating people on
other Internet sites. Finger is also sometimes
used to give access to non-personal information,
but the most common use is to see if a person
has an account at a particular Internet site.
Many sites do not allow incoming Finger requests,
but many do.
- Fire
Wall
- A combination
of hardware and software that separates a LAN
into two or more parts for security purposes.
See Also: Network , LAN
- Flame
- Originally,
flame meant to carry forth in a passionate manner
in the spirit of honorable debate. Flames most
often involved the use of flowery language and
flaming well was an art form. More recently
flame has come to refer to any kind of derogatory
comment no matter how witless or crude. See
Also: Flame War
- Flame
War When an online discussion degenerates
into a series of personal attacks against the
debaters, rather than discussion of their positions.
A heated exchange. See Also: Flae
- FTP
- (File
Transfer Protocol) -- A very common method of
moving files between two Internet sites. FTP
is a special way to login to another
Internet site for the purposes of retrieving
and/or sending files. There are many Internet
sites that have established publicly accessible
repositories of material that can be obtained
using FTP, by logging in using the account name
anonymous, thus these sites are called anonymous
ftp servers.
Back
to the Top
- Gateway
- The
technical meaning is a hardware or software
set-up that translates between two dissimilar
protocols, for example Prodigy has a gateway
that translates between its internal, proprietary
e-mail format and Internet e-mail format. Another,
sloppier meaning of gateway is to describe any
mechanism for providing access to another system,
e.g. AOL might be called a gateway to the Internet.
- Gigabyte
- 1024
Megabytes See Also: Byte , Megabyte
- Gopher
- A widely
successful method of making menus of material
available over the Internet. Gopher is a Client
and Server style program, which requires
that the user have a Gopher Client program.
Although Gopher spread rapidly across the globe
in only a couple of years, it has been largely
supplanted by Hypertext, also known as WWW
(World Wide Web). There are still thousands
of Gopher Servers on the Internet and
we can expect they will remain for a while.
See Also: Client , Server , WWW , Hypertext
Back
to the Top
- Hit
- As
used in reference to the World Wide Web, 'hit'
means a single request from a web browser
for a single item from a web server;
thus in order for a web browser to display a
page that contains 3 graphics, 4 'hits' would
occur at the server: 1 for the HTML page,
and one for each of the 3 graphics.
'hits'
are often used as a very rough measure of
load on a server, e.g. 'Our server has been
getting 300,000 hits per month.' Because each
'hit' can represent anything from a request
for a tiny document (or even a request for
a missing document) all the way to a request
that requires some significant extra processing
(such as a complex search request), the actual
load on a machine from 1 hit is almost impossible
to define.
- Home
Page (or Homepage)
- Several
meanings. Originally, the web page that
your browser is set to use when it starts
up. The more common meaning refers to the main
web page for a business, organization, person
or simply the main page out of a collection
of web pages, e.g. 'Check out so-and-so's new
Home Page.'
Another
sloppier use of the term refers to practically
any web page as a 'homepage,' e.g. 'That web
site has 65 homepages and none of them are
interesting.' See Also: Browser , Web
- Host
- Any
computer on a network that is a repository
for services available to other computers on
the network. It is quite common to have
one host machine provide several services, such
as WWW and USENET. See Also: Node
, Network
- Hosting
- This
term can be used to refer to the housing of
a web site, email or a domain. See Email hosting
and Web Site hosting for more details.
- HTML
- (HyperText
Markup Language) -- The coding language used
to create Hypertext documents for use
on the World Wide Web. HTML looks a lot
like old-fashioned typesetting code, where you
surround a block of text with codes that indicate
how it should appear, additionally, in HTML
you can specify that a block of text, or a word,
is linked to another file on the Internet. HTML
files are meant to be viewed using a World
Wide Web Client Program, such as Netscape
or Mosaic. See Also: Client , Server
, WWW
- HTTP
- (HyperText
Transport Protocol) -- The protocol for moving
hypertext files across the Internet.
Requires a HTTP client program on one
end, and an HTTP server program on the
other end. HTTP is the most important protocol
used in the World Wide Web (WWW). See
Also: Client , Server , WWW
- Hypertext
- Generally,
any text that contains links to other documents
- words or phrases in the document that can
be chosen by a reader and which cause another
document to be retrieved and displayed.
Back
to the Top
- IMHO
- (In
My Humble Opinion) -- A shorthand appended to
a comment written in an online forum, IMHO indicates
that the writer is aware that they are expressing
a debatable view, probably on a subject already
under discussion. One of may such shorthands
in common use online, especially in discussion
forums. See Also: TTFN , BTW
- Internet
- (Upper
case I) The vast collection of inter-connected
networks that all use the TCP/IP protocols and
that evolved from the ARPANET of the
late 60's and early 70's. The Internet now (July
1995) connects roughly 60,000 independent networks
into a vast global internet. See Also:
internet
- internet
- (Lower
case i) Any time you connect 2 or more networks
together, you have an internet - as in inter-national
or inter-state. See Also: Internet , Network
- InterNIC
- InterNIC
(now known as Network Solutions) currently holds
an exclusive contract with the U.S. government
to assign domain names for .COM, .NET and .ORG.
The contract is scheduled to expire September
30, 1998. Network Solutions is the company that
runs the InterNIC registry.
- Intranet
- A private
network inside a company or organization
that uses the same kinds of software that you
would find on the public Internet, but
that is only for internal use.
As
the Internet has become more popular many
of the tools used on the Internet are being
used in private networks, for example, many
companies have web servers that are available
only to employees.
Note
that an Intranet may not actually be an internet
-- it may simply be a network. See Also: internet
, Internet , Network
- IP
Number
- (Internet
Protocol Number) -- Sometimes called a dotted
quad. A unique number consisting of 4 parts
separated by dots, e.g.165.113.245.2
Every
machine that is on the Internet has a unique
IP number - if a machine does not have an
IP number, it is not really on the Internet.
Most machines also have one or more Domain
Names that are easier for people to remember.
See Also: Domain Name , Internet , TCP/IP
- IRC
- (Internet
Relay Chat) -- Basically a huge multi-user live
chat facility. There are a number of major IRC
servers around the world which are linked
to each other. Anyone can create a channel and
anything that anyone types in a given channel
is seen by all others in the channel. Private
channels can (and are) created for multi-person
conference calls.
- ISDN
- (Integrated
Services Digital Network) -- Basically a way
to move more data over existing regular phone
lines. ISDN is rapidly becoming available to
much of the USA and in most markets it is priced
very comparably to standard analog phone circuits.
It can provide speeds of roughly 128,000 bits-per-second
over regular phone lines. In practice, most
people will be limited to 56,000 or 64,000 bits-per-second.
- ISP
- (Internet
Service Provider) -- An institution that provides
access to the Internet in some form, usually
for money. See Also: Internet
Back
to the Top
- Java
- Java
is a network-oriented programming language invented
by Sun Microsystems that is specifically designed
for writing programs that can be safely downloaded
to your computer through the Internet and immediately
run without fear of viruses or other harm to
your computer or files. Using small Java programs
(called "Applets"), Web pages
can include functions such as animations, calculators,
and other fancy tricks.
We
can expect to see a huge variety of features
added to the Web using Java, since you can
write a Java program to do almost anything
a regular computer program can do, and then
include that Java program in a Web page. See
Also: Applet
- JDK
- (Java
Development Kit) -- A software development package
from Sun Microsystems that implements the basic
set of tools needed to write, test and debug
Java applications and applets
See Also: Applet , Java
Back
to the Top
- Kilobyte
- A thousand
bytes. Actually, usually 1024 (210) bytes. See
Also: Byte , Bit
- LAN
- (Local
Area Network) -- A computer network limited
to the immediate area, usually the same building
or floor of a building. See Also: Ethernet
- Leased-line
- Refers
to a phone line that is rented for exclusive
24-hour, 7 -days-a-week use from your location
to another location. The highest speed data
connections require a leased line. See Also:
56k Line , T-1 , T-3
- Listserv
- The
most common kind of maillist, Listservs
originated on BITNET but they are now
common on the Internet. See Also: BITNET
, E-mail , Maillist
- Local
Registry Fees
- Most
TLDs require initial registration fees as well
as annual or bi-annual renewal fees. Prices
vary from cost-free to thousands of dollars
per domain depending on the TLD chosen. For
example, .COM domains cost $70 which covers
the first two years. Renewal fees for .COM are
$35 annually after the first two years expire.
- Login
- Noun
or a verb. Noun: The account name used to gain
access to a computer system. Not a secret (contrast
with Password). Verb: The act of entering
into a computer system, e.g. Login to the
WELL and then go to the GBN conference.
See Also: Password
Back
to the Top
- Maillist
- (or
Mailing List) A (usually automated) system
that allows people to send e-mail to
one address, whereupon their message is copied
and sent to all of the other subscribers to
the maillist. In this way, people who have many
different kinds of e-mail access can participate
in discussions together.
- Megabyte
- A million
bytes. A thousand kilobytes. See
Also: Byte , Bit , Kilobyte
- MIDI
- Musical
Instrument Digital Interface -- A network and
accompanying protocol developed in the 1970's
for tranmitting various information between
musical and other devices including keyboards,
samplers, lights, controllers, etc.
- MIME
- (Multipurpose
Internet Mail Extensions) -- The standard for
attaching non-text files to standard Internet
mail messages. Non-text files include graphics,
spreadsheets, formatted word-processor documents,
sound files, etc.
An
email program is said to be MIME Compliant
if it can both send and receive files using
the MIME standard.
When
non-text files are sent using the MIME standard
they are converted (encoded) into text - although
the resulting text is not really readable.
Generally
speaking the MIME standard is a way of specifying
both the type of file being sent (e.g. a QuicktimeÅ
video file), and the method that should be
used to turn it back into its original form.
Besides
email software, the MIME standard is also
universally used by Web Servers to
identify the files they are sending to Web
Clients, in this way new file formats
can be accommodated simply by updating the
Browsers' list of pairs of MIME-Types and
appropriate software for handling each type.
See Also: Browser , Client , Server , Binhex
, UUENCODE
- Mirror
- Generally
speaking, 'to mirror' is to maintain an exact
copy of something. Probably the most common
use of the term on the Internet refers to 'mirror
sites' which are web sites, or FTP
sites that maintain exact copies of material
originated at another location, usually in order
to provide more widespread access to the resource.
Another
common use of the term 'mirror' refers to
an arrangement where information is written
to more than one hard disk simultaneously,
so that if one disk fails, the computer keeps
on working without losing anything. See Also:
FTP , Web
- Modem
- (MOdulator,
DEModulator) -- A device that you connect to
your computer and to a phone line, that allows
the computer to talk to other computers through
the phone system. Basically, modems do for computers
what a telephone does for humans.
- Modify
(Domain Name)
- The
database that the TLD registries maintain need
to be accurate in order for name resolution,
billing, renewal notices and public records
to be processed correctly. Typically modifications
are required when nameservers need to change
or the contacts change email or postal address
or phone number. The procedures for modifying
records will depend on the registry.
- MOO
- (Mud,
Object Oriented) -- One of several kinds of
multi-user role-playing environments, so far
only text-based. See Also: MUD , MUSE
- Mosaic
- The
first WWW browser that was available
for the Macintosh, Windows, and UNIX all with
the same interface. Mosaic really started the
popularity of the Web. The source-code to Mosaic
has been licensed by several companies and there
are several other pieces of software as good
or better than Mosaic, most notably, Netscape.
See Also: Browser , Client , WWW
- MUD
- (Multi-User
Dungeon or Dimension) -- A (usually text-based)
multi-user simulation environment. Some are
purely for fun and flirting, others are used
for serious software development, or education
purposes and all that lies in between. A significant
feature of most MUDs is that users can create
things that stay after they leave and which
other users can interact with in their absence,
thus allowing a world to be built gradually
and collectively. See Also: MOO , MUSE
- MUSE
- (Multi-User
Simulated Environment) -- One kind of MUD -
usually with little or no violence. See Also:
MOO , MUD
- MX
Record: Mail Exchange
- Mail
Exchange record is part of the zone file and
is used to designate which mail server machine
should process email for a specific domain.
Back
to the Top
- Name
Servers
- A computer
that performs the mapping of easily remembered
domain names to IP addresses. Sometimes referred
to as a host server.
- Netiquette
- The
etiquette on the Internet. See Also:Internet
- Netizen
- Derived
from the term citizen, referring to a citizen
of the Internet, or someone who uses
networked resources. The term connotes civic
responsibility and participation. See Also:
Internet
- Netscape
- A WWW
Browser and the name of a company. The Netscape
(tm) browser was originally based on the Mosaic
program developed at the National Center for
Supercomputing Applications (NCSA).
Netscape
has grown in features rapidly and is widely
recognized as the best and most popular web
browser. Netscape corporation also produces
web server software.
Netscape
provided major improvements in speed and interface
over other browsers, and has also engendered
debate by creating new elements for the HTML
language used by Web pages -- but the Netscape
extensions to HTML are not universally supported.
The
main author of Netscape, Mark Andreessen,
was hired away from the NCSA by Jim Clark,
and they founded a company called Mosaic Communications
and soon changed the name to Netscape Communications
Corporation. See Also: Browser , Mosaic ,
Server , WWW
- Network
- Any
time you connect 2 or more computers together
so that they can share resources, you have a
computer network. Connect 2 or more networks
together and you have an internet. See
Also: Internet , Intranet
- Newsgroup
- The
name for discussion groups on USENET.
See Also: USENET
- NIC
- (Networked
Information Center) -- Generally, any office
that handles information for a network. The
most famous of these on the Internet is Network
Solutions, which is where new domain names are
registered. Another definition: NIC also refers
to Network Interface Card which plugs into a
computer and adapts the network interface to
the appropriate standard. ISA, PCI, and PCMCIA
cards are all examples of NICs.
- NNTP
- (Network
News Transport Protocol) -- The protocol used
by client and server software
to carry USENET postings back and forth
over a TCP/IP network. If you
are using any of the more common software such
as Netscape, Nuntius, Internet Explorer,
etc. to participate in newsgroups then
you are benefiting from an NNTP connection.
See Also: Newsgroup , TCP/IP , USENET
- Node
- Any
single computer connected to a network.
See Also: Network , Internet , internet
- OC-3
- Refers
to a circuit that transmits 155,000,000 bits
per second. This is the size of the largest
Internet backbone providers networks.
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- Packet
Switching
- The
method used to move data around on the Internet.
In packet switching, all the data coming out
of a machine is broken up into chunks, each
chunk has the address of where it came from
and where it is going. This enables chunks of
data from many different sources to co-mingle
on the same lines, and be sorted and directed
to different routes by special machines along
the way. This way many people can use the same
lines at the same time.
- Parking
(Domain Name)
- Registries
require the use of name servers or hosts for
every domain registered. Since most people and
organizations don't have their own name servers,
SimpleNIC offers the use of its name servers.
In other words, SimpleNIC can "park"
or host domains on our nameservers regardless
of whether the domain is ready to be used for
a web site or email.
- Password
- A code
used to gain access to a locked system. Good
passwords contain letters and non-letters and
are not simple combinations such as virtue7.
A good password might be: Hot$1-6 See Also:
Login
- Plug-in
- A (usually
small) piece of software that adds features
to a larger piece of software. Common examples
are plug-ins for the Netscape® browser
and web server. Adobe Photoshop®
also uses plug-ins.
The
idea behind plug-in's is that a small piece
of software is loaded into memory by the larger
program, adding a new feature, and that users
need only install the few plug-ins that they
need, out of a much larger pool of possibilities.
Plug-ins are usually developed by a third
party.
- POP
- (Point
of Presence, also Post Office Protocol) -- Two
commonly used meanings: Point of Presence and
Post Office Protocol. A Point of Presence usually
means a city or location where a network can
be connected to, often with dial up phone lines.
So if an Internet company says they will soon
have a POP in Belgrade, it means that they will
soon have a local phone number in Belgrade and/or
a place where leased lines can connect to their
network. A second meaning, Post Office Protocol
refers to the way e-mail software such as Eudora
gets mail from a mail server. When you obtain
a SLIP, PPP, or shell account you almost always
get a POP account with it, and it is this POP
account that you tell your e-mail software to
use to get your mail. See Also: SLIP , PPP
- Port
- 3 meanings.
First and most generally, a place where information
goes into or out of a computer, or both. E.g.
the serial port on a personal computer is where
a modem would be connected.
On
the Internet port often refers to a number
that is part of a URL, appearing after
a colon (:) right after the domain name.
Every service on an Internet server
listens on a particular port number on that
server. Most services have standard port numbers,
e.g. Web servers normally listen on port 80.
Services can also listen on non-standard ports,
in which case the port number must be specified
in a URL when accessing the server, so you
might see a URL of the form:
gopher://peg.cwis.uci.edu:7000/
shows
a gopher server running on a non-standard
port (the standard gopher port is 70). Finally,
port also refers to translating a piece of
software to bring it from one type of computer
system to another, e.g. to translate a Windows
program so that is will run on a Macintosh.
See Also: Domain Name , Server , URL
- Posting
- A single
message entered into a network communications
system. E.g. A single message posted to a newsgroup
or message board. See Also: Newsgroup
- PPP
-
(Point
to Point Protocol) -- Most well known as a
protocol that allows a computer to use a regular
telephone line and a modem to make
TCP/IP connections and thus be really
and truly on the Internet. See Also:
IP Number , Internet , SLIP , TCP/IP
- Propagation
- The
process whereby the nameservers throughout the
world have updated their records for a specific
domain. For example, if you move your domain
from one host to another, it will take around
24 hours or so for the new address to broadcast
everywhere. During that 24 hour period, the
traffic is decreasing at the old location and
increasing at the new location.
- PSTN
- (Public
Switched Telephone Network) -- The regular old-fashioned
telephone system.
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-
Register (Domain Name)
- Since
every domain is unique, registries have been
set up to assign domains to individuals and
organziations. When a domain is registered with
the appropriate registry, that domain is assigned
and becomes no longer available for anyone else
to use. Typically, there are registration and
renewal fees (local registry fees) associated
with the right to use a domain. However, there
are some TLDs that are provided at no charge.
- Registrant
(Domain Name)
- The
entity, organization or individual that will
be using the domain name.
- Registrar
(Domain Name)
- Some
registries don't provide the ability for end
users to register domains with them directly.
They might require end users to purchase the
domain through an internet provider that is
acting as the registrar.
- Registry
(Domain Name)
- An
organization responsible for assigning domain
names for the TLD that they manage. Furthermore,
it is their responsibility to update the global
DNS tables that all nameservers use to resolve
domain names. For example, InterNIC is the registry
for .COM, .NET and .ORG domain names.
- Renewal
(Domain Name)
- Most
TLDs need to be renewed at some scheduled yearly
interval. This is an opportunity for both the
registrant and the registry to update their
records as well as collect any applicable renewal
fees.
- Resolution
(domain Name)
- The
conversion of an internet address or domain
name into the corresponding physical location.
- RFC
- (Request
For Comments) -- The name of the result and
the process for creating a standard on the Internet.
New standards are proposed and published on
line, as a Request For Comments. The Internet
Engineering Task Force is a consensus-building
body that facilitates discussion, and eventually
a new standard is established, but the reference
number/name for the standard retains the acronym
RFC, e.g. the official standard for e-mail
is RFC 822.
- Router
- A special-purpose
computer (or software package) that handles
the connection between 2 or more networks.
Routers spend all their time looking at the
destination addresses of the packets
passing through them and deciding which route
to send them on. See Also: Network , Packet
Switching
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- Security
Certificate
- A chunk
of information (often stored as a text file)
that is used by the SSL protocol to establish
a secure connection.
Security
Certificates contain information about who
it belongs to, who it was issued by, a unique
serial number or other unique identification,
valid dates, and an encrypted 'fingerprint'
that can be used to verify the contents of
the certificate.
In
order for an SSL connection to be created
both sides must have a valid Security Certificate.
See Also: Certificate Authority , SSL
- Server
- A computer,
or a software package, that provides a specific
kind of service to client software running
on other computers. The term can refer to a
particular piece of software, such as a WWW
server, or to the machine on which the software
is running, e.g.Our mail server is down today,
that's why e-mail isn't getting out. A single
server machine could have several different
server software packages running on it, thus
providing many different servers to clients
on the network. See Also: Client , Network
- SLIP
- (Serial
Line Internet Protocol) -- A standard for using
a regular telephone line (a serial line) and
a modem to connect a computer as a real
Internet site. SLIP is gradually being
replaced by PPP. See Also: Internet ,
PPP
- SMDS
- (Switched
Multimegabit Data Service) -- A new standard
for very high-speed data transfer.
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-
- SMTP
- (Simple
Mail Transport Protocol) -- The main protocol
used to send electronic mail on the Internet.
SMTP
consists of a set of rules for how a program
sending mail and a program receiving mail
should interact.
Almost
all Internet email is sent and received by
clients and servers using SMTP,
thus if one wanted to set up an email server
on the Internet one would look for email server
software that supports SMTP. See Also: Client
, Server
- SNMP
- (Simple
Network Management Protocol) -- A set of standards
for communication with devices connected to
a TCP/IP network. Examples of these devices
include routers, hubs, and switches.
A
device is said to be 'SNMP compatible' if
it can be monitored and/or controlled using
SNMP messages. SNMP messages are known as
'PDU's' - Protocol Data Units.
Devices
that are SNMP compatible contain SNMP 'agent'
software to receive, send, and act upon SNMP
messages.
Software
for managing devices via SNMP are available
for every kind of commonly used computer and
are often bundled along with the device they
are designed to manage. Some SNMP software
is designed to handle a wide variety of devices.
See Also: Network , Router
- Spam
(or Spamming)
- An
inappropriate attempt to use a mailing list,
or USENET or other networked communications
facility as if it was a broadcast medium (which
it is not) by sending the same message to a
large number of people who didn't ask for it.
The term probably comes from a famous Monty
Python skit which featured the word spam repeated
over and over. The term may also have come from
someone's low opinion of the food product with
the same name, which is generally perceived
as a generic content-free waste of resources.
(Spam is a registered trademark of Hormel Corporation,
for its processed meat product.)
E.g.
Mary spammed 50 USENET groups by posting the
same message to each. See Also: Maillist ,
USENET
- SQL
- (Structured
Query Language) -- A specialized programming
language for sending queries to databases. Most
industrial-strength and many smaller database
applications can be addressed using SQL. Each
specific application will have its own version
of SQL implementing features unique to that
application, but all SQL-capable databases support
a common subset of SQL.
- SSL
- (Secure
Sockets Layer) -- A protocol designed by Netscape
Communications to enable encrypted, authenticated
communications across the Internet.
SSL
used mostly (but not exclusively) in communications
between web browsers and web servers.
URL's that begin with 'https' indicate
that an SSL connection will be used.
SSL
provides 3 important things: Privacy, Authentication,
and Message Integrity.
In
an SSL connection each side of the connection
must have a Security Certificate, which
each side's software sends to the other. Each
side then encrypts what it sends using information
from both its own and the other side's Certificate,
ensuring that only the intended recipient
can de-crypt it, and that the other side can
be sure the data came from the place it claims
to have come from, and that the message has
not been tampered with. See Also: Browser
, Server , Security Certificate , URL
- Sysop
- (System
Operator) -- Anyone responsible for the physical
operations of a computer system or network resource.
A System Administrator decides how often backups
and maintenance should be performed and the
System Operator performs those tasks.
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- T-1
- A leased-line
connection capable of carrying data at 1,544,000
bits-per-second. At maximum theoretical
capacity, a T-1 line could move a megabyte
in less than 10 seconds. That is still not fast
enough for full-screen, full-motion video, for
which you need at least 10,000,000 bits-per-second.
T-1 is the fastest speed commonly used to connect
networks to the Internet. See
Also: 56k Line , Bandwidth , Bit , Byte , Ethernet
, T-3
- T-3
- A leased-line
connection capable of carrying data at 44,736,000
bits-per-second. This is more than enough to
do full-screen, full-motion video. See Also:
56k Line , Bandwidth , Bit , Byte , Ethernet
, T-1
- TCP/IP
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