The following glossary of terms
covers some of the most used and reference terminology or terms,
about the internet, the web, the infrastructure technology and
many of the components which are an integral part of the same.
As you get familiar with our Web hosting services, you'll find
yourself exposed to many unfamiliar jargon and terms. Use this
section to familiarized and learn what many of those terms mean.
To
navigate select
First Letter of Topic from the alphabet section below; then, use
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10BaseT
10 Megabit per second baseband Ethernet specification using two
pairs 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 Megabit per second baseband Fast Ethernet 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.
ADN
(Advanced Digital Network) -- Usually refers to a 56 Kilobit per
second 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 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
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 beneficial for the
distribution of large files to the public, avoiding the need to assign
large numbers of login and password combinations for FTP access. See
Also: 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 sub-string of it.
ARPANet
(Advanced Research Projects Agency Network) -- The precursor to the Internet.
Landmark packet-switching network established in 1969 by the US
Department of Defense as an experiment in wide-area-networking that
would survive a nuclear war. See Also: Internet
ATM
ATM -- Asynchronous Transfer Mode. International standard 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.
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.
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
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.
See Also:
Bps , Bit , T-1,OC-3.
Baud
Unit of signaling speed equal to the number of discrete signal
elements transmitted 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). 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
Client software that is used to look at various kinds of Internet
resources. Examples include Microsoft's Internet Explorer and
Netscape's Navigator.
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 WebServer 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. 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 server. While most programs using
CGI are stored in this directory, it is not a requirement for using
CGI. See Also: CGI
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. See Also: Browser,
Server
Co-Location
Network Operations Centers such as ParagonComputerSystems.com offer
the ability for customers to place their webservers and other network
equipment in their 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.
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, 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 name-servers to map
easily remembered domain names to an IP number.
Dedicated Server
For those customers that want the advantages of co-location without
the hassles of purchasing their own server. See co-location.
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:
ParagonComputerSystems.com, ftp.ParagonComputerSystems.com, whatever.ParagonComputerSystems.com
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. See
Also: IP Number
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: Flame
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.
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.
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
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 100,000 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.
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.
(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
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
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:
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 which covers the first two years. Renewal fees for .COM
are 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
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 transmitting 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 Quicktime Å 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.
Name Servers
A computer that performs the mapping of easily remembered domain
names to IP addresses. Sometimes referred to as a host server.
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
, 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/IPnetwork. 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
Refers to a circuit that transmits 155,000,000 bits per second. This
is the size of the largest Internet backbone providers networks.
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. 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.
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 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-ins 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.
Register (Domain Name)
Since every domain is unique, registries have been set up to assign
domains to individuals and organizations. 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
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.
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.
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:
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:
Bandwidth , Bit
, Byte , Ethernet
, T-1
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.
See Also: IP Number , Internet
, UNIX
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.
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.
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. See Also: LAN
, Modem , Host
, Node , PPP
, SLIP
Top Level Domain: (TLD)
A Top Level Domain (TLD) is the uppermost in the hierarchy of domain
names. For example, ParagonComputerSystems.com is our domain name. The
"net" is considered the TLD and the "ParagonComputerSystems.com"
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.
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.
TTFN
(Ta Ta For Now) -- A shorthand appended to a comment written in an
online forum. See Also: IMHO , BTW
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.ParagonComputerSystems.com/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 MS Internet Explorer®. See Also: Browser
, WWW
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. See Also: Newsgroup
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. See Also: Binhex
, MIME
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. See Also: Gopher
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.
WAN
(Wide Area Network) -- Any internet or network that
covers an area larger than a single building or campus. See Also: Internet
, internet , LAN
, Network
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. See Also: Browser
, FTP , Gopher
, HTTP , Telnet
, URL , WAIS
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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