.gif -
Graphics Interchange Format (GIF) filename extension
.jpg or .jpeg -
Filename extensions of images in JPEG format.
.mov -
File name extension for files with video sequences. A QuickTime player is needed in order to play such a file.
.mpg or .mpeg -
Filename extension for files in MPEG format.
.NET Hosting ("dot net") -
Web hosting that supports .NET, an application framework by Microsoft.
.zip -
File name extension for files compressed with PKZIP program or similar.
100BaseT -
100 Mebabit 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.
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.
10BaseT -
Cabling used for Ethernet.
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 209.15.23.255. You can also designate xyz.yourdomain.com to go
to a separate IP address.
Active Channel -
An Active Channel is a frequently updated information residing on a Web
server. Users can subscribe to the channel if they have a CDF (Channel
Definition Language) capable browser (e.g. Internet Explorer)
ActiveX -
ActiveX is a brand name referring to a set of Microsoft's technologies
and services based on COM (Component Object Model) widely released in
1997. On the Internet, ActiveX can be used with IE versions 3 and above
and with Netscape Navigator though plug,ins. ActiveX control is a COM
object, written as a DLL in a programming language like Visual Basic,
that follows ActiveX standards. Once downloaded, ActiveX controls have
a large degree of freedom, presenting a security risk.
Address -
Unique identifier of a web page. URL (Uniformed Resource Locator) is more frequently used for this purpose.
ADN -
(Advanced Digital Network) Usually refers to a 56 Kilobit per second leased,line
ADO -
ActiveX Data Objects. Different data sources can be accessed in the
same way within a single data model. The data can be located in various
locations, like spreadsheets, databases or ordinary files.
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.
AIFF -
Audio Interchange File Format. High quality audio file format introduced by Apple.
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.
Anonymous remailer -
A SMTP server that allows sending anonymous email messages. It removes
or changes the "From" field of all messages that it processes.
ANSI -
American National Standards Institute. The U.S. standards organization.
Apache -
An open source web server software.
Apache -
Apache is an open source (source code is freely available and can be
shared) HTTP Web server software. According to Netcraft survey, it is
currently the most popular web server on the Net. It is usually run on
Unix operating system versions like Linux or BSD, but it can also be
run on Windows. It is a full,featured server with many powerful add,ons
freely available. Apache's major competitor is Microsoft's IIS.
Applet -
Most often refers to a small Java program designed to run in a Web
browser. Java applets run in a sandbox, so they can't perform
unauthorized functions like file reading or opening Net connections to
other computer from your computer.
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.
Archive -
Archives are large files containing valuable data. Archives are often compressed to save space.
Archive site -
A server that contains archives. It can be accessed by FTP, E,mail or HTTP.
ARJ -
One of the most popular compression formats.
ARPA -
(Advanced Research Projects Agency) US governmental organization responsible for creating the ancestor of today's Internet.
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
ARPAnet -
Network created by ARPA in 1969.
ASCII -
(American Standard Code for Information Interchange). A standard for
coding text files. Every character has an associated number and any
text can be represented by a sequence of numbers.
ASCII -
American Standard Code for Information Interchange. This is the
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.
ASP -
Active Server Pages, which provide web developers with a way to build
web applications. The embedded scripts can be written in any language
and processed by the server when the file's URL is requested.
ASP -
Active Server Pages. ASP is Microsoft's server,side scripting
technology. An Active Server Page has an .asp extension and it mixes
HTML and scripting code that can be written in VBScript or JScript. ASP
is distributed with Microsoft's IIS web server, so most host using IIS
will also offer ASP for dynamic web programming. ASP.NET is the next
version of ASP. Other popular server,side scripting languages are Perl,
PHP, ColdFusion, TCL, Python, and JSP.
Asp Hosting -
Web hosting that supports Active Server Pages, a server,side scripting environment from Microsoft.
Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) -
A set of network protocols designed for multimedia transmission. Data
is partitioned into cells (53 bytes each) and passed along a virtual
circuit. ATM allows for building very high speed networks.
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.
Attachment -
A part of an email message. Usually a file (a data file or a multimedia
file) or a webpage. It is not a part of the text of the message,
instead it is attached to the message.
AU -
Audio file format for Unix systems.
Authentication -
Authentication is used to confirm the identity of the other party involved in the data transmission.
Autoresponder -
A program that sends an automatic form response to incoming emails.
AVI -
Audio/Video Interleave. Audio file format used by Microsoft Widows.
B Channel -
Bearer Channel. It is a 64 Kbps communication channel in ISDN.
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.
Backbone -
Main high speed network connection composing the Internet. Backbones
are operated by major telecommunications companies like Sprint, MCI, or
AT&T. Internet backbone maps are here.
Bandwidth -
Bandwidth is the amount of data that can be transferred over the
network in a fixed amount of time. On the Net, it is usually expressed
in bits per second (bps) or in higher units like Mbps (millions of bits
per second). 28.8 modem can deliver 28,800 bps, a T1 line is about 1.5
Mbps.
Basic Rate Interface (BRI) -
A BRI line is one of two access methods for ISDN (the other one is
Primary Rate Interface PRI). A BRI has two 64 Kbps B channels and one
16 Kbps D channel.
Baud -
The rate at which bits are transmitted over a communication link. Baud
is the number of transitions (that are used to encode bits) that take
place in one second.
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.
Binary -
Data represented in binary format uses only two digits 0 and 1.
binary mode -
FTP client mode used to transfer binary files (multimedia files,
executables and other data files). Not suitable for transferring normal
text files.
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.
Bit rate -
The speed at which bits are transmitted over a communication link. Expressed in bits per second (bps).
BITNET -
(Because It's Time NETwork (or Because It's Their NETwork) A network of
educational sites separate from the Internet, but email 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.
Body -
The part of an email message that contains the actual text of the message.
Bookmark -
A way of storing a frequently visited website address. It is then easier to access the website in the future.
Bot -
An automated piece of software that can be used in chat rooms or to crawl the web.
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
Bridge -
A network device used to connect two LANs using different cabling.
Broadcast -
Sending a packet to all machines on the network.
Browser -
Client software that is used to look at various kinds of Internet
resources. Examples include Microsoft Internet Explorer and Netscape
Navigator.
Browser sniffing -
The process in which the web site tries to determine what kind of web
browser the user is using. This is done to suit the website to the
particular capabilities of the browser.
Burstable Bandwidth -
A hosting option that allows sites to use the available network capacity to handle periods of peak usage.
Business Hosting -
Web hosting geared towards the mission,critical functions demanded by business,class customers.
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
C/C++ -
Popular programming languages (C++ includes objects) that can be used
to create server programs that run after compilation. C and C++ were
not designed specifically for web programming, but they can still be
useful, especially because mature compilers producing very fast code
and large code libraries already exist.
Cable Modem -
A cable modem is used for connecting to the Internet using the cable TV infrastructure. It offers high speed Internet access.
Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) -
A style,sheet determines how the HTML document is displayed by the browser. The current version of CSS is version 2 (CSS2).
CCIT -
Comite Consultatif International Telegraphique et Telephonique
(International Telegraph and Telephone Consultative Committee).
International telecommunication standards body.
CERN -
(Conseil Europeen pour la Recherche Nucleaire) A nuclear research laboratory where the World Wide Web was invented.
Certificate -
Digital ID used for SSL transactions. It includes owner's public key,
the name of the owner, the issuer, hostname, and the expiration date.
Certificate Authority -
An issuer of Security Certificates used in SSL connections.
Certificate Authority -
An issuer of Security Certificates used in SSL connections. See Also: Security Certificate, SSL
CGI -
(Common Gateway Interface) A set of rules that describe how a Web
Server communicates with another piece of software on the same machine,
and how the other piece of software (the 'CGI program') talks to the
web server. Any piece of software can be a CGI program if it handles
input and output according to the CGI standard. Usually a CGI program
is a small program that takes data from a web server and does something
with it, like putting the content of a form into an e-mail message, or
turning the data into a database query. 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.
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
Channel Definition Format (CDF) -
A way of defining the server,push channels for accessing frequently changing web content.
CHAP -
(Challenge Handshake Authentication Protocol) An authentication protocol used in PPP protocol. Uses a username and a password.
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.
Client/Server -
A network architecture where a system is divided into two parts: the client and the server.
clustering -
Connecting many computers and making them appear as one machine. This is done to increase reliability and performance.
Cobalt RaQ -
Server appliance made by Cobalt specifically for hosting companies.
Newest RaQs are Linux-based and provide an easy-to-use interface. RaQs
have no features that can't be had in a regular Linux box but they
offer pre,installed programs and Cobalt's support.
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.
ColdFusion Hosting -
Web hosting that supports ColdFusion, a web application language introduced by Allaire and currently owned by Macromedia.
Collocation -
Network Operations Centers offer the ability for customers to place
their web servers and other network equipment in their center which is
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 equipment.
Colocated Hosting -
When one party houses their web server(s) at another company's location for Internet connectivity.
Co,Location -
Network Operations Centers 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.
Co,location (colo) -
Putting a web server in a dedicated facility that provides high,speed
Internet connection, security, environment, backup power, and technical
support. Unlike the dedicated server, the client controls both hardware
and software.
com -
A domain name used by commercial enterprises.
command,line interface -
The opposite of the GUI (Graphical User Interface). A way of
interacting with a computer system using the keyboard and a text,only
display. Usually more powerful, but less user,friendly than a GUI.
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.
Control Panel -
Control panel included in web hosting packages is an online web,based
application that allows you to easily manage different aspects of your
account. Most control panels will let you upload files, add email
accounts, change contact information, set up shopping carts or
databases, view usage statistics, etc.
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 do
not read your hard drive, but they can be used to gather more
information about a user than would be possible without them. More
details here.
CPU -
Central Processing Unit. The most important part of the computer.
Crawler -
Also known as spider, an automated software that retrieves webpages and
follows the hyperlinks contained in them. Used to generate indexes used
by search engines.
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.
D Channel -
The ISDN signaling channel. Runs at 16 or 64 Kbps.
Data transfer -
In Web hosting, the total size of files transferred by an account in a
month. Sites with a lots of graphics, downloads, or streaming audio or
video and a lot of visitors will require plans with more available
transfer.
Data Transfer -
The total amount of outbound traffic from a website*, typically measured in gigabytes (Gb).
Database -
Data in a structured format stored on a web server. Most popular type
is a relational database. The most common query (information retrieval)
language for relational databases is SQL. Linux-based hosts most
commonly include MySQL database and Windows NT-based hosts usually
include Access or MS SQL databases.
Dedicated Hosting -
Hosting option whereby the host provides and is responsbile for the
equipment, dedicating an entire server to the client's websites.
Dedicated IP -
An IP address dedicated to a single website.
Dedicated Server -
(Link term to http://www.carpathiahost.com/dedicated.php) - Similar to
co-location, except that you lease or rent hardware from a Web host.
The main advantage over co-location is easier upgrade and usually
better support. Getting a dedicated server or co-locating is necessary
for sites that outgrow shared servers because they use a lot of
bandwidth and resources or they require total control over software
environment.
Dedicated Server -
For those customers that want the advantages of co-location without the
hassles of purchasing their own server. See co-location.
DES -
Data Encryption Standard - an U.S. government approved cipher. It is
easy to break in its simplest form, but used multiple times with key of
at least 128 bits provides good security.
DHCP -
(Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol). An automated way of obtaining an IP address in the Local Area Network.
Dial up -
Dialup access is a way of connecting a computer to the Internet using a
modem and the telephone line. It is rather slow and blocks the
telephone line.
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.
Disk Space -
The amount of hard drive space on the server that is available to your websites.
DNS -
Domain Name System. Internet service that maps Internet domains into
corresponding IP addresses. DNS database is distributed and replicated
among many DNS servers, so when you change your domain's IP address,
the changes take a while to propagate.
Domain name -
Domain name is an easy-to-remember address that can be translated by
DNS into server's IP address. Domain names are hierarchical. Domain's
suffix indicates which TLD (top level domain) it belongs to, for
example .com, .gov, .org, .net, or .jp. Recently ICANN (Internet
Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) added several new TLDs,
like .biz, .pro., and .museum.
Domain Parking -
Providing a nameserver for domains that do have their own hosting yet.
DSL -
Digital Subscriber Line. A better way of connecting a computer to the
Internet using the telephone line. It's faster than the dialup and
doesn't block the telephone line. However, it is more expensive because
the special equipment is required.
E-Business -
Using web and Internet technologies in conducting the business
activities. Also expanding end enhancing traditional business practices
by means of the Internet.
E-Commerce -
Electronic Commerce. Refers to the general exchange of goods and services via the Internet.
Ecommerce Hosting -
A hosting plan option that allows a merchant to accept orders online.
EIA -
(Electronic Industries Association). An industry trade organization
involved with definition of standards for electrical consumer products.
It works jointly with the TIA (Telecommunications Industry
Association).
Electronic Mail (E-Mail, email) -
One of the most popular Internet services. Basically it's the
transmission of text based messages. An email message can also contain
more structured elements, like tables, images and multimedia. It can
also be used to send various data files, by means of attachments. You
have to have an email account in order to be able to use this service.
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
Email Forwarding -
Automatically sends email messages from one email address to another email address.
Email Hosting -
Web hosting plan that allows users to send and store email, may or may not come with hosting for a website.
Encryption -
Encryption means encoding data using a cryptographic cipher. Encrypted
data can be read (decrypted) only by an authorized entity.
Ethernet -
Local Area Network (LAN) protocol invented by Xerox Corporation. It is
a broadcast protocol that uses CSMA/CD method and utilizes electrical
cables. It can run at various speeds: 10Mbps, 100Mbps and even
1000Mbps. IEEE 802.3 standard describes Ethernet. Word Ethernet is also
sometimes used to describe the implementation that runs at the speed of
10Mbps.
Extranet -
A part of the company's network that is made accessible for some group
of people. Sometimes protected by a password or some other kind of
authentication. It allows users to access some of the non-public data,
eg. a person's credit card balance.
FAQ (Frequently Asked Question) -
(Link to Carpathia Hosts FAQ) Lists of frequently asked questions and
answers to them are used as a way of sharing knowledge on the web. They
are a very good way of finding solutions to different problems. Some
companies include them in their websites to minimize the number of
Customer Support inquiries.
Fast Ethernet -
Fast Ethernet is the implementation of Ethernet standard that operates at the speed of 100Mbps.
FCC -
(Federal Communications Commission). U.S.A. telecommunications
regulatory organization. It controls standards that pertain to
electronic and electromagnetic transmission and also licenses the
frequencies and bandwidth for the commercial use.
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
Fibre Optic Cable -
A cable used for transmitting data as a light wave. A fiber optic cable
is composed of one or more optical fibers. It is more expensive that
copper wire, but offers higher transmission speeds and allows for
communication over larger distances.
Filename extension -
Last three or four letters of a file name that appear after the dot. Used to designate the type of file and the format used.
Filtering -
Screening network packets for certain properties, such as the source or
destination address, protocol used or even a pattern in the data. It is
used in firewalls in order to decide if the traffic is to be forwarded
or rejected. Provides the basis for network security.
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.
Firewall -
Firewall refers to either software-only or separate software and
hardware combination that serves to protect an internal network or a
computer from attacks and unauthorized access by sitting between the
Internet and the internal network.
Flame -
An insulting email message sent to an individual as punishment for not
adhering to the netiquette. Can be sometimes seen in the newsgroups or
on internet message boards.
FPU -
Floating Point Unit. A part of the computer responsible for high precision mathematical operations.
Frame Relay -
A fast packet switching protocol. Used mainly in Wide Area Networks. It
differs from ATM in that packets can have variable length.
Free Web Hosting -
Web hosting offered without monetary cost.
FrontPage Extensions -
Microsoft's server-side applications that lets users of FrontPage Web
site creation tool to incorporate "web-bots" that perform pre-packaged
function like full-text Web site searching or adding a hit counter.
FrontPage extensions are also available for Unix-based operating
systems but some hosts refuse to use them because of potential security
holes.
FrontPage Hosting -
A web hosting plan that supports FrontPage, a WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) website building tool from Microsoft.
FTP -
File Transfer Protocol. The Internet protocol defining how to download
and upload files between a client and an FTP server. Popular client FTP
programs are CuteFTP and WS_FTP. Major browser also have FTP
capability.
FTPmail -
Using email messages to access the FTP sites. Requires a special software installed on the server.
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.
GIF -
(Graphics Interchange Format) A graphic file format invented by
Compuserve. One of the most widely used formats for internet and web.
Uses a lossless compression method, thus ensuring that the quality of
the image is not lowered.
Gigabit Ethernet -
Gigabit Ethernet is the Ethernet standard implementation that runs at 1000Mbps.
Gigabyte -
1024 Megabytes See Also: Byte, Megabyte
Gigabyte (Gb) -
1024 Megabytes.
Gopher -
A 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.
Graphical User Interface (GUI) -
A way of interacting with the computer that relies on graphical
symbols. Most often requires a mouse. It is less powerful then the
command-line interface, but is more user friendly and is easier to
learn for users without technical background.
Hexadecimal color-notation system -
A way of defining colors. Uses RGB scheme and associates a two digit
hexadecimal number with each base color (red, green and blue).
High Bandwidth Hosting -
Web hosting with capacity to handle higher-than-average traffic volumes.
hit -
As used in reference to the World Wide Web, 'hit' means a single
request from a web browser for a single item from a web server - thus
in order for a web browser to display a page that contains 3 graphics,
4 'hits' would occur at the server: 1 for the HTML page, and one for
each of the 3 graphics. 'hits' are often used as a very rough measure
of load on a server, e.g. 'Our server has been getting 300,000 hits per
month.' Because each 'hit' can represent anything from a request for a
tiny document (or even a request for a missing document) all the way to
a request that requires some significant extra processing (such as a
complex search request), the actual load on a machine from 1 hit is
almost impossible to define.
Home Page (or Homepage) -
Several meanings. Originally, the web page that your browser is set to
use when it starts up. The more common meaning refers to the main web
page for a business, organization, person or simply the main page out
of a collection of web pages, e.g. 'Check out so-and-so's new Home
Page.' Another sloppier use of the term refers to practically any web
page as a 'homepage,' e.g. 'That web site has 65 homepages and none of
them are interesting.' See Also: Browser, Web
Host -
A networked computer dedicated to providing a certain kind of service.
Usually refers to a computer that stores the website files and has a
web server running on it.
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.
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). It is the language in which web pages are
written. It allows the images to be combined with text and offers wide
range of formatting capabilities. One of the most important features of
HTML is hypertext, that allows web pages to be liked one to each other.
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
Hub -
A hub is a network device that is used for connecting computers on a
Local Are Network (LAN). It forwards all the packets it receives to all
of its ports.
Hyperlink -
A part of the web page that links to another web page. By clicking on a
hyperlink user redirects the browser to another page. The word
hyperlink is sometimes shortened to just "link".
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.
IEEE -
(Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers). Organization that
ensures that electronic devices produced by different companies can
interoperate. IEEE developed the 802 family of standards that govern
computer networks.
IIS -
Microsoft Internet Information Server. Microsoft's Web server that
comes built-in with Windows NT Server 4 and Windows 2000 server. Here
is Microsoft's IIS web site.
Image Map -
An image displayed on the webpage that has different areas that are
hyperlinks. By clicking on different parts of the image browser can be
redirected to another webpage, or can display modified version of the
current one.
IMAP -
Internet Message Access Protocol. A method allowing a client email
program to access remote messages stored on a mail server. The protocol
includes operations for creating, deleting, and renaming mailboxes,
checking for new messages, message parsing, searching, and setting and
clearing flags. IMAP was originally developed in 1986 at Stanford.
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.
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
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 -
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.
Internet backbone -
An extremely fast network that connects major cities. Most often it utilizes T3 circuits and provides the bandwidth of 45Mbps.
Internet Group Management Protocol (IGMP) -
A network control protocol running on top of the IP protocol. It is
used by Internet hosts to maintain information related to multicast.
All machines that want to use the multicast have to have the IGMP
implemented.
Internet Service Provider -
An institution that provides access to the Internet in some form, usually for money. See Also: Internet
InterNIC -
InterNIC (now known as Network Solutions) once held an exclusive
contract with the U.S. government to assign domain names ending with a
.com, net, and .org. Since their contract expired, the U.S. government
has opened the monopoly once held by Network Solutions and now there
are many different registrars who can register these domain names.
Intranet -
A part of an organization's network that is private. Only authorized
individuals have access to the intranet. Besides that an intranet is
very similar to the Internet in a sense that it offers the same
services and uses the same protocols.
IP -
(Internet Protocol) is tha main protocol used on the Internet.
IP Address -
Internet Protocol Address, a number used to uniquely identify a computer or device on an internal network or the Internet.
IP Number -
(Internet Protocol Number) -- Sometimes called a dotted quad. A unique
number consisting of 4 parts separated by dots, e.g.165.113.245.2 Every
machine that is on the Internet has a unique IP number - if a machine
does not have an IP number, it is not really on the Internet. Most
machines also have one or more Domain Names that are easier for people
to remember. See Also: Domain Name, Internet, TCP/IP
IP packet -
IP packet is the basic data chunk that can be sent over the Internet.
All the data is partitioned into IP packets on the sending computer and
reassembled on the receiving computer.
IPX -
Internet Packet Exchange. A Novell's proprietary network protocol.
IRC -
Internet Relay Chat. Multi-user chat service. IRC users can go into
public or private channels to discuss a topic or transfer files. IRC
servers are connected into networks. The most popular IRC client
program is mIRC. Many hosts are vary of letting customers access IRC
because of a possibility of a denial of service attack on the whole
network.
ISDN -
(Integrated Services Digital Network). An international standard that
governs the transmission of both voice and data. It uses a digital
circuits and has speed of 64Kbps. It can be used for normal telephone
service as well as data transmission.
ISO -
(International Organisation for Standardisation). An Geneva-based
international organization that develops and publishes various
international standards.
ISP -
Internet Service Provider. A company that provides its subscribers with
Internet access. Customers have a username and a password and can
dial-up or use a cable or DSL line to connect to ISP's network which is
connected to the Internet. The biggest ISP is AOL.
ITU -
(International Telecommunication Union). (Formerly CCITT). Another
international standards body concerned with telecommunications.
JAR -
A popular compression format. Also a name of a compression utility.
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. More details here.
Java class files -
The file or set of files that contain the code for a Java applet.
Java Servlet -
Servlets are programs written in Java that run on a Web server and can produce dynamic pages. Also see JSP.
Java Virtual Machine (JVM, Java Runtime Environment) -
A set of programs that allow for Java applets to be run on a particular computer system.
JavaScript -
Simple, client-side programming language created by Sun and Netscape.
JavaScript can be embedded in HTML pages to create interactive effects
and do tasks like validate form data. JavaScript is a separate language
from Java. All popular modern browsers support JavaScript. A few hosts
support server-side JavaScript.
JDBC -
Java Database Connectivity - a mechanism allowing Java applets to access different databases.
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
JPEG -
(Joint Photographic Experts Group) A image compression format designed
for the Internet. Uses lossy compression, meaning that the quality of
the image can be lowered.
JScript -
Microsoft's implementation of ECMAScript standard based on JavaScript.
Limited, object-based, interpreted scripting language. Here is the
official JScript site. JScript is comparable to VBScript.
JSP -
Java Server Pages. Extension of Java Servlet technology for combining
Java server-side programs and HTML. JSP pages have an extension .jsp.
Kbps -
Kilobits per second. 1Kbps = 1024bps.
Kermit -
Protocol for transferring files over the modem connection.
Kilobyte -
1024 bytes.
Kilobyte -
A thousand bytes. Actually, usually 1024 (210) bytes. See Also: Byte, Bit
Kilobyte (Kb) -
1024 bytes.
LAN -
(Local Area Network) -- A computer network limited to the immediate
area, usually the same building or floor of a building. See Also:
Ethernet
LAN -
Local Area Network. A network of devices (computers, printers, hubs)
occupying a small area. Usually LANs do not span more than one
building. LANs are very fast compared to WANs.
LANmodem -
A LAN Modem is used to connect multiple computers to some other network
(eg. ISP) over a phone line. It has the hub functionality built in.
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.
Line provisioning -
It is the process of configuring the ISDN line by the service provider
to suit user's particular needs and to assure hardware compatibility.
It's due to the fact that ISDN is not completely standardized.
Link -
Another name for a connection. Sometimes refers to a physical line.
Linux -
A free UNIX-like operating system developed by Linus Torvalds. Linux
and FreeBSD are very often used by hosting companies as their operating
systems.
Linux Hosting -
Web hosting that supports Linux, an open source operating system that was derived from Unix.
Listserv -
The most common kind of mail list, Listservs originated on BITNET but they are now common on the Internet.
Load Balancing -
Dividing the load of a single website or service over several web servers.
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 as well as the
registration organization chosen. Typical registration fees for TLDs
are from $15 to $35 for 2 years of service.
Log Analyzer -
A program that takes a server's "raw" log file data and summarizes it into easily-understood reports.
Log File -
A file that records the activity of a web server.
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
Lossless -
A compression scheme is loseless when decompressed file is exactly the
same as the original. This is needed for compressing executable
programs and data files.
Lossy -
A lossy compression allows for the quality of the compressed data to be
diminished after decompression. It is suitable for audio, video and
image compression.
LZW compression -
Lempel Ziv Welch compression - a popular compression algorithm.
MAC -
Media Access Control. A network protocol used to control the access to the network by different devices.
MAC Address -
Media Access Control address (also hardware or physical address). Every
device on the Local Area Network has an unique MAC address. It is used
to identify devices and to control access to the network using MAC
protocol.
Mailing List -
A way of having a group discussion with list subscribers by email.
Emails are sent to all list subscribers. Popular mailing list programs,
like Listserv and Majordomo, allow for automated subscription and
un-subscription from a mailing list. Some hosting plans allow creation
of mailing lists.
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.
Mailserver -
The Internet host (together with the appropriate software) that is used to send, receive and forward email messages.
Mainframe Computer -
A powerful computer used for computing-intensive tasks.
Mbps -
Megabits (Mb) per second, 1Mb = 1,048,576 bits
MBps -
MegaBytes (MB) per second, 1 MB = 1,048,576 bytes
Megabyte -
A million bytes. A thousand kilobytes. See Also: Byte, Bit, Kilobyte
Megabyte (MB) -
1MB = 1024 KiloBytes = 1,048,576 bytes
Megabyte- A million bytes. A thousand kilobytes. -
MHz -
MegaHertz = 1.000.000 Hertz
Microsoft Access -
Microsoft's low-end relational database included with the MS Office
suite. Here is the official site for Microsoft Access. Cheaper NT
hosting plans sometimes include MS Access database.
Microsoft FoxPro -
Microsoft's RAD tool for creating relational databases. FoxPro is a part of Microsoft's Visual Studio.
Microsoft SQL Server -
Microsoft's high-end SQL database running on Windows systems. Here is the official Microsoft SQL Server site.
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.
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
Mirror site -
An FTP site that stores the exact content of some other site. Mirroring
is done in order to minimize the load on a particular server and also
to increase reliability.
Mirror Sites -
They 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.
Miva Empressa -
Miva's XML based server-side scripting language. Available for multiple platforms. Here is Miva Empressa home page.
Miva Merchant -
Browser-based storefront development and management system for merchants. Here is Miva Merchant home page.
Modem -
MOdulator-DEModulator. A device used to transform digital data sent by
a computer to analog format suitable for transmission over a telephone
line. It also transforms analog signals back to the digital form. A
modem is required for the dial up connection to the Internet.
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
name servers need to change or the contacts change email or postal
address or phone number. The procedures for modifying records will
depend on the registry.
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
MP3 -
An extremely popular lossy audio compression format. Widely used over the Internet.
MPEG -
(Motion Picture Experts Group) video compression format for movies or animations.
mSQL (Mini SQL) -
Light-weight relational database. Here is mSQL home page.
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
Multicast -
A message that is sent to a specific group of hosts.
Multi-Domain Plan -
A web hosting plan option that allows multiple domain names to share the resources of the single hosting account.
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.
MySQL -
Most popular open-source relational database. Many Unix-based plans allow MySQL databases. Here is MySQL home page.
Name Servers -
A computer that performs the mapping of easily remembered domain names
to IP addresses. Sometimes referred to as a host server.
Netiquette -
Informal set of rules that should be followed when using internet
services like email, message boards and newsgroups. Describes what it
means to be "well behaved" while interacting with other people online.
Netizen -
Derived from the term citizen, referring to a citizen of the Internet,
or someone who uses networked resources. The term connotes civic
responsibility and participation. See Also: Internet
Netscape -
A WWW Browser and the name of a company. The Netscape (tm) browser was
originally based on the Mosaic program developed at the National Center
for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA). Netscape has grown in features
rapidly and is widely recognized as the best and most popular web
browser. Netscape corporation also produces web server software.
Netscape provided major improvements in speed and interface over other
browsers, and has also engendered debate by creating new elements for
the HTML language used by Web pages -- but the Netscape extensions to
HTML are not universally supported. The main author of Netscape, Mark
Andreessen, was hired away from the NCSA by Jim Clark, and they founded
a company called Mosaic Communications and soon changed the name to
Netscape Communications Corporation. See Also: Browser, Mosaic, Server,
WWW
Netscape Communications -
A company that developed one of the most popular web browsers: Netscape Navigator.
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
Network Management -
Network management can be defined as a set of activities (e.g. network
monitoring, gathering and analyzing the statistics, adjusting network
configuration) performed in order to increase the network performance
and availability.
Newsgroup -
A virtual Internet place where people exchange thoughts, ideas and
interests, amuse themselves and do a zillion other things, all by means
of text messages.
Newsreader -
An application that allows to use newsgroups.
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 areregistered.
Another definition: NIC also refers to Network Interface Card which
plugs into a computer and adapts the network interface to the
appropriate standard.
NIC -
Network Interface Card - a part of the computer hardware responsible
for connecting a particular machine to the local area network.
NNTP -
(Network News Transport Protocol) -- The protocol used by client and
server software to carry USENET postings back and forth over a TCP/IP
network. If you are using any of the more common software such as
Netscape, Nuntius, Internet Explorer, etc. to participate in newsgroups
then you are benefiting from an NNTP connection. See Also: Newsgroup,
TCP/IP, USENET
Node -
Any single computer connected to a network. See Also: Network, Internet, internet
OC1 -
Fiber optic connection capable of transfering data at 51.85 Mbps.
OC-1, OC-3, OC-12, OC-24, OC-48 -
Optical Carrier transmission speeds, used in fiber optic networks
conforming to SONET standard. OC-1 is 51.85 Mbps. Higher levels are
multiples of that speed.
OC12 -
Fiber optic connection capable of transfering data at 622.08 Mbps.
OC192 -
Fiber optic connection capable of transfering data at 9.952 Gbps.
OC24 -
Fiber optic connection capable of transfering data at 1.244 Gbps.
OC3 -
Fiber optic connection capable of transfering data at 155.52 Mbps.
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.
OC48 -
Fiber optic connection capable of transfering data at 2.488 Gbps.
ODBC -
(Open Database Connectivity) A standard allowing applications to access different databases in an uniform way.
Offline -
The state of the computer when it is not connected to the network (i.e. it is not online).
Operating system -
A software heart of the computer. It is a set of programs that manage
the hardware resources of a computer, provide the environment for
application programs to run and provide the user interface. Most known
operating systems are: different flavors of Unix (SunOs, HP-UX, Irix,
FreeBSD, Linux,...), MacOS and Windows.
OSI -
(Open System Interconnection). A network standard developed by ISO and
CCITT. It describes the way in which protocols of different layers
communicate. This enables machines of different vendors to communicate
over the network.
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.
Page -
Name for a basic web document. Websites usually consist of many (web) pages.
PAP -
(Password Authentication Protocol). PAP is the authentication protocol used over PPP connections.
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.
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
Peer-to-Peer network -
A peer-to-peer network is a collection of computers that can
communicate and share information, but that don't have any kind of
hierarchical structure. This is the opposite of the client/server
model.
Perl -
Open source CGI scripting programming language. Written in 1987. Still
one of the most popular web programming languages mostly due to its
powerful text-manipulation facilities. A huge number of Perl scripts
are available for download.
PHP -
PHP is an free, open-source server-side scripting language. PHP code
can be embedded in HTML. PHP files usually have extensions like .php or
.php3. PHP language style is similar to C and Java. Here is the PHP
group web site. Other popular server-side scripting languages are ASP,
Perl, ColdFusion, TCL, Python, and JSP.
PHP Hosting -
Web hosting that supports PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor, an open source server-side scripting language.
PKZIP or PKUNZIP -
Popular compression and decompression programs.
Plug-in -
A piece of software that adds features to a larger piece of software.
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-in -
An add-on piece of software that can extend the features of an existing
application. For example Netscape browser plug-ins allow displaying of
new types of web content, that the browser can't display on its own.
POP -
(Point of Presence, also 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
POP -
Point of Presence or Post Office Protocol. A Point of Presence usually
means a location where a network can be connected to, often with dial
up phone lines. 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.
POP -
Post Office Protocol. Popular but inflexible email retrieval standard.
All messages are downloaded at the name time and can only be
manipulated on a client machine. Current version is POP3. Also see
IMAP.
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.
Port -
A socket on the computer or other network device used to connect it to the network.
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 known as a protocol that allows a
computer to use a regular telephone line and a modem to make TCP/IP
connections.
PRI -
(Primary Rate Interface). One of the two ISDN access methods. 23 of 64
Kbps B channels and 1 64 Kbps D channel constitute a PRI.
Propagation -
The process whereby the name servers 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.
Protocol -
A set of rules by following which two parties can communicate. The TCP/IP protocol suite is the basis of todays Internet.
PSTN -
(Public Switched Telephone Network) -- The regular old-fashioned telephone system.
Python -
Interpreted programming language, sometimes offered by hosts for server-side scripting. Here is the Python home page.
RAID -
Redundant Array of Independent (or Inexpensive) Disks. Type of disk,
often used on servers, where several physical disks are combined into
an array for better speed and fault tolerance.
Raw Logs -
Another name for a server's log files, the line-by-line activity of a server, not the summaries of this activity.
Raw Logs -
Raw access data updated in real-time that can be downloaded and used by
any statistics program. Typically each line show the user's IP, date
and time of the access, what kind of request was done, which document
was requested, HTTP status code, bytes transferred, referrer, and user
agent info. If a host doesn't have statistics, you'll need access to
raw logs to identify who your site's visitors are. Analyzing raw logs
can also provide more detailed look at site accesses than stats.
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.
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.
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.
Reseller -
Resellers are usually smaller companies that usually don't own the
server with user accounts but can perform most administrative
functions.
Reseller Hosting -
Arrangement whereby a company selling hosting to consumers uses the datacenter and equipment of another company.
Resolution (Domain Name) -
The conversion of an internet address or domain name into the corresponding physical location.
RJ-11 -
A standard connector that is used to connect to the telephone line.
RJ-45 -
A standard connector that is used to connect to the Ethernet network.
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
RSA -
A public key cryptosystem developed by Ron Rivest, Adi Shamir, and
Leonard Adleman. It can be used to encrypt session keys and to generate
digital certificates.
S/MIME -
Secure Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions - a way of making email
messages more secure. S/MIME uses digital certificates to attest the
message origin and encryption to ensure that message could not be read
while in transit.
Scripting Language -
A programming language in which programs are the series of commands
that are interpreted and then executed one by one. Doesn't require the
compilation phase, for the price of lower performance.
Search engine -
An Internet service that stores a vast number of web pages and allows
for fast searching among them. Also, a piece of software that
implements a website search functionality.
Search form -
An online form in which a query to the webpages database is specified.
search indexer -
A search engine uses search indexer to provide faster search.
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.
Self-extracting Archive -
An archived file that is also an executable program. The original archived file is decompressed when that program is run.
Serial Line Internet Protocol (SLIP) -
Another network protocol used to connect computers to the networks. Similar to PPP.
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
Service Provider -
A company that provides access to the Internet, usually for a fee.
Session -
All the data exchange between two parties, starting when the connection is established and ending when connection terminates.
Setup Fee -
A one-time fee paid by a hosting client to at the beginning of a new hosting contract.
Shared Hosting -
Hosting option whereby several client websites are housed on and share the resources of a web server.
Shared IP -
An IP address shared by multiple websites.
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. More
details here.
Shopping Cart -
Software that allows users to select products from a Web catalog,
modify their choices, calculate prices, review their choices, and order
them. Many hosts with e-commerce plans offer installed shopping carts,
but you can always get a shopping cart of your choice instead.
SHTTP -
Secure HTTP. A version of HTTP protocol that uses encryption to assure
that the traffic between the server and the browser cannot be
eveasdropped on. Should be considered mandatory for all e-commerce
applications.
Signature -
A few lines of text that are automatically attached at the end of each
email message by the email client. Usually it's some personal
identification or an (un)interesting quote.
Signed applet -
An applet that has a digital signature to confirm that it originates from the legitimate server.
Site Monitoring -
A service that regularly checks a site and alerts the administrator in the event of a problem.
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.
Smileys -
Characters used in text-only communications to convey emotions. Example :) :-) :O :(
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
Snail Mail -
A normal paper mail delivered by the Post Office.
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 tomanage.
Some SNMP software is designed to handle a wide variety of devices. See
Also: Network, Router
SNMP -
Simple Network Management Protocol. A set of standards for
communication with devices connected to a TCP/IP network, like 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.
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.) See Also:
Maillist, USENET
Spider -
An automated software that retrieves webpages and follows the
hyperlinks contained in them. Used to generate indexes used by search
engines.
SPX -
(Sequenced Packet Exchange). A proprietary Novell network protocol used in conjunction with IPX.
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.
SSH -
Secure Shell. Developed by SSH Communications Security, it is a
standard for encrypted terminal Internet connections. SSH programs
provide strong authentication and encrypted communications, replacing
less secure access methods like telnet.
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.
Static (or dedicated) IP -
If a host offers a static IP, it means that your site will be assigned a unique and unchanging IP address.
STP -
Shielded Twisted Pair. Cabling consisting of pairs of insulated wires wrapped in metal to minimize interference.
Streaming -
Playing multimedia files (audio and video) without requiring a full
download. Audio and video are compressed but they still may require a
lot of bandwidth. Most popular streaming media formats are Real
Audio/Video.
Subdomain -
Subdomain is a way to divide your site into sections with short and
easy to remember names. For example, a section of this site for new
users could be at newbies.webhostingratings.com. Other use of
subdomains might be to let somebody else use your account (but this may
not be allowed by your host's terms of use). Large websites might make
their subdomains point to another server to reduce load on the main www
site.
Surfing -
Using world wide web is often referred to as "surfing the web".
Switch -
A switch is a network device that forwards packets. Switches are more
intelligent than hubs in a sense that they forward packets only to the
necessary ports and not to all the ports.
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.
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. See Also: Bandwidth, Bit, Byte, Ethernet, T-1
Tcl -
Tool command language. Simple scripting language and library often used
for GUI, string-manipulation, testing, and integration of multiple
components.
TCP -
(Transmission Control Protocol) is the most important of the network protocols used in the Internet.
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
TCP/IP -
(Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol). This protocol suite
is the de facto standard for the today's Internet. TCP is a higher
level protocol that runs on top of the IP protocol.
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.
Telnet -
Character-based protocol for connecting with remote systems. Still
popular among hosts, but it is being replaced by much more secure SSH
access.
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. More details here.
Terabyte -
1024 gigabytes.
Terabyte -
1024 gigabytes. See Also: Byte, Kilobyte
Terabyte (TB) -
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.
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.
TIA -
Telecommunications Industry Association. Another telecommunications standards organization.
TLD -
Top Level Domain. A TLD is the uppermost in the hierarchy of domain
names. For example, simplythebest.net is our domain name. The "net" is
considered the TLD and the "simplythebest.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.
Top Level Domain: (TLD) -
A Top Level Domain (TLD) is the uppermost in the hierarchy of domain
names. For example, 1001resources.com is our domain name. The "net" is
considered the TLD and the "1001resources.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.
Traceroute -
A computer program that lists network hosts visited by a packed on the
way to its destination. Very useful for network debugging.
Trademark -
As it relates to domain names... a word, phrase or slogan used to
identify and distinguish the source of the goods or services.
Traffic -
Data packets being transmitted over a network.
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
Twisted Pair -
A pair of wires twisted one around the other. Very common in the networking applications.
Unicode -
A 16 bit ISO 10646 character set. It can accommodate way more
characters that ASCII, thus allowing for easier internationalization.
UNIX -
A computer operating system. 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. More details
here.
Unix Hosting -
Web hosting that supports Unix, an operating system that comes in several proprietary versions.
Unlimited Bandwidth -
A claim that users of a hosting plan will not be charged extra fees for very high levels of data transfer. *
UPS -
Uninterruptible Power Supply. UPS keeps the server running on a battery
for several minutes after a power outage, allowing for a clean shutdown
without loss of data. UPS can also shield the server from line voltage
spikes and drops.
Uptime Guarantee -
An assurance that a hosting company's uptime will meet an agreed-upon percentage.
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.1001resources.com) 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. 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
Usenet -
Network of all the newsgroups in the Internet.
UTP -
(Unshielded Twisted Pair). Similar to the STP, but without the
shielding metal layer. It is more prone to interference but is less
bulky that the STP cables.
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
UUencode -
It is a method of sending binary files using email - similar in purpose to MIME.
UUENCODE -
Unix to Unix Encoding. A method for converting files from Binary to
ASCII so that they can be sent across the Internet via e-mail.
VBScript -
Microsoft Visual Basic Scripting Edition. Interpreted scripting
language (subset of MS Visual Basic language) for creating scripts that
can be embedded in HTML pages or for creating ActiveX Controls. Meant
as an alternative to JavaScript. Here is the official VBScript site.
VBScript is comparable to JScript.
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.
viewer -
An stand-alone application used to display files of different formats.
For example a QuickTime move viewer or a JPG file viewer.
Virus -
A virus is a malicious program written to do as much harm as possible. Viruses can spread themselves over the network.
VPN -
(Virtual Private Network). A virtual private network is a method of
accessing the private network in a secure way over public communication
lines and networks.
W3C -
World Wide Web Consortium. An international industry consortium that develops standards for the world wide web.
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.
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
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
WAN -
Wide Area Network. Any internet or network that covers an area larger than a single building or campus.
WAV -
An audio file format. Very accurate, but offers no compression, thus resulting in very large files.
Web -
See: WWW
Web Hosting -
The business of providing the storage, connectivity, and services necessary to serve files for a website.
Web Hosting Control Panel -
A web interface offered by hosting companies so customers can administer their account.
Web Mail -
Email that is accessed via a web browser.
Web Server -
A computer that stores web pages and delivers them on request to the web browsers of client computers.
Webmaster -
A person responsible for the maintenance of a particular website.
Whois -
Most registries maintain a database of domain names and their
associated contact information. Users can query these databases through
a program called Whois.
Whois -
Most registries maintain a database of domain names and their
associated contact information. Users can query these databases through
a program called Whois.
Wide Area Network (WAN) -
A set of computers that are to far apart to constitute a LAN. In fact,
WANs are very often composed of a number of Local Area Networks
interconnected together.
Windows Hosting -
Web hosting that supports any version of Windows, a family of operating systems by Microsoft.
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.
XML -
Extensible Markup Language. A meta-language, abbreviated version of
SGML, used to specify other document types used on the Web. Accepted as
a format in 1998 to replace dependence on HTML extensions.
XMODEM -
A file transfer protocol. Rather slow.
YMODEM -
Popular file transfer protocol. It is faster than XMODEM.
ZIP -
A popular compression utility.
ZMODEM -
A file transfer protocol. It's the fastest of XMODEM and YMODEM and thus the most popular.
Zone file -
The group of files that reside on the domain host or name-server. The
zone file designates a domain, its sub-domains and mail server
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