10BaseT
10
Megabit per second baseband Ethernet specification using two paris of
twisted-pair cabling (Category 3, 4 or 5): one pair for transmitting
data and the other for receiving data. 10BaseT has a distance limit
of approximately 100 meters per segment.
100BaseT
100 Mebabit per second baseband Fast Ehternet specification using
UTP wiring. Like the 10BaseT technology on which it is based, 100BaseT
sends link pulses over the network segment when no traffic is present.
However, these link pulses contain more information than those used
in 10BaseT.
A
Record
An A record is part of the zone file. It 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 209.15.32.135. You can also designate xyz.yourdomain.com to
go to a separate IP address.
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 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.
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Anonymous
FTP Anonymous
File Transfer Protocol allows the public to log into an FTP server
with a common login (usually "ftp" or "anonymous" and any password
(usually the person's e-mail address is used as the password). Anonymous
FTP is benefitial for the distribution of large files to the public,
avoiding the need to assign large numbers of login and password combinations
for FTP access.
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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.
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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.
ASP
ASP - Active Server Pages (ASP). ASP files, which provide Web developers
with an easier, faster, and more powerful way to build Web applications,
are regular HTML pages with embedded scripts. These scripts can be
written in any language and processed by the server when the file's
URL is requested.
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ATM
ATM -- Asynchronous Transfer Mode. International sandard for cell
relay in which multiple service types (such as voice, video, or data)
are conveyed in fixed-length (53-byte) cells. Fixed-length cells allow
cell processing to occur in hardware, thereby reducing transit delays.
ATM is designed to take advantage of high-speed transmission media
such as E3, SONET, and T3.
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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,
plus parity.
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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.
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Bandwidth
The difference between the highest and lowest frequencies available
for network signals. The term is also used to describe the rated throughput
capacity of a given network medium or protocol. In short, bandwidth
is a loose term used to describe the throughput capacity (measured
in Kilobits or Megabits per second) of a specific circuit.
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Baud
Unit
of signaling speed equal to the number of discrete signal elements
transmited per second. Baud is synonymous with bits per second (bps).
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).
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Browser
Client software that is used to look at various kinds of Internet
resources. Examples include Microsoft's Internet Explorer and Netscape's
Navigator.
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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.
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Certificate Authority
An issuer of Security Certificates used in SSL connections.
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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.
CGI
"scripts" are just scripts which use CGI. CGI is often confused with
Perl, which is a programming language, while CGI is an interface to
the server from a particular program. Perl is an application of CGI,
as well as MIVA, Python, PHP3, and other scripting languages.
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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 server. While most programs using CGI are stored in this directory,
it is not a requirement for using CGI.
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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 and an FTP program are specific kinds of
clients.
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Co-Location
Network Operations Centers such as CommuniTech.Net offer the ability
for customers to place their webservers and other network equipment
in thier NOC which are connected via high speed fiber data lines to
the backbone of the Internet. Administration is done remotely so that
a customer far away can configure and control their network equipment.
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Cold Fusion
Cold Fusion is a scripting language for web designers that want wish
to do advanced development and/or database interfacing. Cold Fusion
supports MS Access, dBASE, FoxPro, and Paradox databases.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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DNS: Domain Naming System
The DNS is a distributed, replicated that allows nameservers to map
easily remembered domain names to an IP number.
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Dedicated Server
For those customers that want the advantages of colocation without
the hassles of purchasing their own server.
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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.
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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: communitech.net,
ftp.communitech.net, whatever.communitech.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 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.
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E-Commerce
E lectronic Commerce. Refers to the general exchange of goods
and services via the Internet.
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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).
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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.
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.
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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
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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.
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Fire Wall
A combination of hardware and software that separates a LAN
into two or more parts for security purposes.
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.
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Gigabyte 1024
Megabytes
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.
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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.
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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.'
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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.
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.
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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.
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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).
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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
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Index
Server
Index Server indexes the contents and properties of documents on an
Internet or intranet Web site served by IIS 4.0. Index Server enables
Web clients with any browser to search a Web site by filling in the
fields of an HTML query form.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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ISP
(Internet Service Provider) -- An institution that provides access
to the Internet in some form, usually for money.
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.
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Kilobyte
A thousand bytes. Actually, usually 1024 (210) bytes.
LAN
(Local Area Network) -- A computer network limited to the immediate
area, usually the same building or floor of a building.
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.
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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.
Megabyte
A million bytes. A thousand kilobytes.
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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 Quicktime® 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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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.
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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.
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.
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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.
Newsgroup
The name for discussion groups on 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.
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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.
Node
Any single computer connected to a network.
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.
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Parking
(Domain Name) Registries
require the use of name servers or hosts for every domain registered.
Parking is the process by which someone selects a domain name, and
"parks" it by registering the domain name under someone's name servers.
Parking can be done by anyone, to anyone else who has active name
servers. However, parking a domain name alone will result in no service
(webhosting, e-mail) for that particular domain name.
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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-6
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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
Real
Audio / Real Video
Real Audio/Real Video enables users of personal computers and other
consumer electronic devices to send and receive audio, video and other
multimedia services using the Web.
Enable
users of personal computers and other consumer electronic devices
to send and receive audio, video and other multimedia services using
the Web.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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.
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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.
Shockwave
Shockwave, produced by Macromedia, allows you to view new forms of
entertainment on the Web, such as games, music, rich-media chat, interactive
product demos, and e-merchandising applications
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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.
SMDS
(Switched Multimegabit Data Service) -- A new standard for very high-speed
data transfer.
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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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.
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.
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TCP/IP
(Transmission
Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) -- This is the suite of protocols
that defines the Internet. Originally designed for the UNIX
operating system, TCP/IP software is now available for every major
kind of computer operating system. To be truly on the Internet,
your computer must have TCP/IP software.
Telnet
The
command and program used to login from one Internet
site to another. The telnet command/program gets you to the login:
prompt of another host.
Terabyte
1024
gigabytes.
Terminal
A
device that allows you to send commands to a computer somewhere else.
At a minimum, this usually means a keyboard and a display screen and
some simple circuitry. Usually you will use terminal software in a
personal computer - the software pretends to be (emulates) a physical
terminal and allows you to type commands to a computer somewhere else.
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Terminal Server
A
special purpose computer that has places to plug in many modems
on one side, and a connection to a LAN or host machine
on the other side. Thus the terminal server does the work of answering
the calls and passes the connections on to the appropriate node.
Most terminal servers can provide PPP or SLIP services
if connected to the Internet.
Top
Level Domain: (TLD)
A
Top Level Domain (TLD) is the uppermost in the hierarchy of domain
names. For example, communitech.net is our domain name. The "net"
is considered the TLD and the "communitech.net" is considered
the second level domain. Together they form a domain name which is
unique. There are two types of TLDs. The most common type is the Generic
or Global TLDs which include .COM, .NET, .ORG, .MIL, .INT and .EDU.
There is a possibility that new gTLDs will be introduced in the near
future. National or ccTLDs are two letter country code domains that
are managed by a registry designated and controlled by each specific
country. Each registry might have differing prices, residency requirements
and structure.
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Trademark
As it relates to domain names ... a word, phrase or slogan used to
identify and distinguish the source of the goods or services. Trademark
law may be different worldwide. If someone registers a domain name
such as microsoft.to then Microsoft would need to go to the courts
in Tonga to fight to get the name back. Expensive international litigation
is one reason why it is important to protect your trademarks before
someone else registers the names.
Transfer
(Domain Name) On
occasion, domains are sold to another organization or sometimes the
name of a company might change. Most registries require a letter of
permission from the old owner to hand over control to the new owner.
The procedures for Transfer of ownership will depend on the registry.
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UNIX
A
computer operating system (the basic software running on a computer,
underneath things like word processors and spreadsheets). UNIX is
designed to be used by many people at the same time (it is multi-user)
and has TCP/IP built-in. It is the most common operating system
for servers on the Internet.
URL
(Uniform
Resource Locator) -- The standard way to give the address of any resource
on the Internet that is part of the World Wide Web (WWW). A URL looks
like this: http://www.communitech.net/glossary/ or telnet://anywhere.you.want
or news:new.newusers.questions etc.
The
most common way to use a URL is to enter into a WWW browser program,
such as Netscape, or Lynx.
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USENET
A
world-wide system of discussion groups, with comments passed among
hundreds of thousands of machines. Not all USENET machines are on
the Internet, maybe half. USENET is completely decentralized,
with over 10,000 discussion areas, called newsgroups.
UUENCODE
(Unix
to Unix Encoding) -- A method for converting files from Binary
to ASCII (text) so that they can be sent across the Internet
via e-mail.
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Veronica
(Very
Easy Rodent Oriented Net-wide Index to Computerized Archives) -- Developed
at the University of Nevada, Veronica is a constantly updated database
of the names of almost every menu item on thousands of gopher
servers. The Veronica database can be searched from most major gopher
menus.
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VB
Script
The Microsoft® Visual Basic® programming language, is a fast,
portable, lightweight interpreter for use in World Wide Web browsers
and other applications that use Microsoft® ActiveX® Controls,
Automation servers, and Java applets.
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WAIS
(Wide
Area Information Servers) -- A commercial software package that allows
the indexing of huge quantities of information, and then making those
indices searchable across networks such as the Internet.
A prominent feature of WAIS is that the search results are ranked
(scored) according to how relevant the hits are, and that subsequent
searches can find more stuff like that last batch and thus refine
the search process.
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WAN
(Wide
Area Network) -- Any internet or network that covers
an area larger than a single building or campus.
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Web
See:
WWW
Whois
Most
registries maintain a database of domain names and their associated
contact information. Users can query these databases through a program
called Whois.
WWW
(World
Wide Web) -- Two meanings - First, loosely used: the whole constellation
of resources that can be accessed using Gopher, FTP, HTTP, telnet,
USENET, WAIS and some other tools. Second, the universe of hypertext
servers (HTTP servers) which are the servers that allow text,
graphics, sound files, etc. to be mixed together.
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Zone
file
The
group of files that reside on the domain host or nameserver. The zone
file designates a domain, its subdomains and mail server.
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