-
-
-
-
The
address mask is used to identify the parts of an IP
address that correspond to the different sections (separated by
dots). It's also known as the "subnet mask" since the network portion of
an address can be determined by the encoding inherent in an IP address.
-
Advanced
Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET)
-
A
pioneering long-haul network funded by what's now-called DARPA (formerly
known as ARPA). It was the foundation on which the Internet
was built.
-
-
The
part of a system that performs information preparation and exchange on behalf
of an application.
-
-
A
type of nickname (usually short and easy to remember) that refers to a type
of network resource. Aliases are used so you won't have to remember the
long and difficult names typical of network resources.
-
-
By
using the word "anonymous" as your user ID and your email address
as the password when you login to an FTP site,
you can bypass local security checks and gain limited access to public files
on the remote computer. This type of access is available on most FTP sites,
but not all.
-
-
Sometimes
known as a client or an "app" it's a program
that performs a specific function. FTP, Mail, Gopher, Mosaic, and Telnet
clients are the most common examples of Internet applications.
-
-
You'll
usually hear this term referred to in the phrase archie search. Archie is
a way of automatically gathering, indexing and sometimes even retrieving
files on the Internet. Most good archie clients are able to FTP
files once you've found the information you're looking for.
-
-
A
collection of files stored on an Internet machine. FTP
sites are known as archives.
-
ARPANET
-
-
Asynchronous
Transfer Mode
-
A
transfer method that dynamically allocates bandwidth using a fixed-size
packet, or cell. Also known as fast packet.
-
ATM
-
-
AUP
-
-
-
Any
process that ensures that users are who they say they are. When you type
your name and password, you are authenticated and allowed access.
-
-
This
refers to the difference (measured in Hz), between the highest and lowest
frequencies of a transmission. Most people loosely refer to bandwidth as
the amount of data that can be transferred over a network connection.
-
BBS
-
-
Berkeley
lnternet Name Domain
-
An
early version of a DNS server developed by the
University of California at Berkeley. Most Internet hosts run a version
of BIND.
-
-
An
computer network devoted to academic use that provides email
and file transfer services using a store-and-forward protocol.
It is based on the IBM Network Job Entry protocols. A more recent version
of Bitnet (known as Bitnet-II) encapsulates the Bitnet protocol within IP
packets.
-
-
If
you send email and it fails to arrive at its
intended recipient for any reason (incorrect user name, network failure,
etc.), the message "bounces" and returns to you. The subject line in a bounced
message usually says something like: Undeliverable Mail or Message
Undeliverable.
-
-
Acronym
meaning By The Way. Seen mostly in IRC
sessions.
-
-
A
computer which typically provides email services,
file archives, and announcements of interest
to the bulletin board system's operator (known as a sysop). BBS's started
out as hobbies for computer enthusiasts, and were mostly accessible by modem.
Recently, however, more and more BBS's are being connected to the Internet.
-
CCIRN
-
-
CCITR
-
-
CERT
-
-
Challenge-Handshake
Authentication Protocol (CHAP)
-
-
CHAP
-
-
-
Another
term for IRC . Also, an acronym meaning Conversational
Hypertext Access Technology.
-
-
An
acronym meaning Commercial Internet Exchange.
-
-
In
Internet terms, it's an application that
performs a specific function, such as Telnet
or FTP. It's the front-end to an Internet
process. In more general terms, a client is computer system or process that
requests a service of another computer system or process. The much talked
about client-server architecture refers to a workstation requesting
the contents of a file from a server.
-
Comité
Consultatif International de Telegraphique et Telephonique (CCITT)
-
French
for International Telephone and Telegraph Advisory Council.. It's
an organization that plays a major role in the United National International
Telecommunications Union (ITU). The CCITT is responsible for making technical
recommendations about communications systems worldwide. Every four years,
CCITT updates the standards, most recently in 1996.
-
Computer
Emergency Response Team (CERT)
-
The
CERT was formed by DARPA in November 1988 in response to the Internet worm
incident. CERT exists to facilitate Internet-wide
response to computer security events involving Internet hosts
and to conduct research targeted at improving the security of existing systems.
They maintain an archive of security-related
issues on their FTP server at ftp.cert.org,
their email address is cert@cert.org,
and their 24-hour telephone Hotline for reporting Internet security issues
is (412) 268-7090.
-
Coordinating
Committee for Intercontinental Research Networks (CCIRN)
-
A
committee that provides a forum for North American and European network
research organizations to cooperate and plan.
-
Corporation
for Research and Educational Networking (CREN)
-
An
organization formed in October 1989, when Bitnet
and CSNET were combined. CSNET is no longer around, but CREN still operates
Bitnet.
-
-
Substantially
different from hackers, crackers are users
who try to gain illegal access to computers. They are usually malicious
in their intentions.
-
-
The
world of computers and the society that gathers around them, as referred
to by William Gibson in his fantasy novel Neuromancer. It now loosely
refers to the online world and even more loosely to the Internet.
-
Data
Encryption Key (DEK)
-
Much
like an actual key used for locking and re-opening doors, DEKs are used
for the encryption and decoding of message text, sometimes in the form of
a digital signature.
-
Data
Encryption Standard (DES)
-
A
standardized encryption method widely used on the Internet.
-
-
A
block of data that is "smart" enough (actually, which carries enough information)
to travel from one Internet site to another
without having to rely on earlier exchanges between the source and destination
computers (not to be confused with a Candygram).
-
DDN
-
-
-
The
proprietary network protocol designed by
Digital Equipment Corporation.
-
-
A
communications line that is used solely for computer connections. If you
buy an additional phone line for your modem, that's a dedicated line. There
are other types of dedicated lines (such as T3s
and T1s) that are used for larger network entities.
-
Defense
Data Network (DDN)
-
A
global communications network that serves the US Department of Defense.
It is made up of a network called MILNET, other portions of the Internet,
and classified networks which are not part of the Internet. The DDN is used
to connect military installations and is managed by the Defense Information
Systems Agency. It was originally developed by DARPA.
-
-
A
widely-used method of accessing the Internet.
A dialup connection uses regular phone lines to connect one computer to
another via modem.
-
Distributed
Computing Environment (DCE)
-
An
architecture based on standard programming interfaces, conventions, and
server functionalities used for distributing applications transparently
across networks. The DCE is controlled and promoted by the Open Software
Foundation (OSF), a consortium of vendors including DEC, IBM and Hewlett
Packard.
-
DNS
-
-
-
A
"logical" region of the Internet. People
sometimes refer to them loosely as "sites." Generally, a domain
corresponds to an IP address or an area
on a host.
-
-
The
DNS is a static, hierarchical name service used with TCP/IP
hosts, and is housed on a number of servers on the Internet.
Basically, it maintains a database for figuring out and finding (or resolving)
host names and IP addresses on the Internet.
This allows users to specify remote computers by host
names rather than numerical IP addresses (if you've used UNIX, you may have
heard the DNS referred to as the BSD UNIX BIND
service). For example, go to a DOS prompt in Windows 95, the % prompt in
UNIX, or use a ping client for Windows 3.1 or Mac, and type ping
www.bit-ag.ch. This will check the DNS server you have configured, look
up the numerical IP address for www.bit-ag.ch, and then ping that
server's IP address. The advantage of the DNS is that you don't have to
remember numerical IP addresses for all the Internet sites you want to access.
-
Dot
Address (or Dotted Decimal Notation)
-
The
common notation for IP addresses of the
form 1.2.3.4; where each number represents one byte in the four-byte IP
address.
-
Electronic
Frontier Foundation (EFF)
-
A
foundation that addresses social and legal issues arising from the impact
of computers on society.
-
-
A
method by which computer users can exchange messages with each other over
a network. Email is probably the most widely-used communications tool on
the Internet. There are many quirky conventions
to Email, but most entail a To:, From:, and Subject:
line. One of email's advantages is its ability to be forwarded and replied
to easily. If an email is badly received by a group or user, the sender
is likely to get flamed.
-
Email
-
-
-
Your
email address is made up of several parts. By
convention, addresses use lowercase letters with no spaces. The first part
of the address, the username, identifies a unique user on a server.
The @ (pronounced at) separates the username from the
host name. The host name uniquely identifies
the server computer and is the last part of the Internet
email address (for example, our webmaster's email address is info@bit-ag.ch).
Large servers, such as those used at universities or large companies sometimes
contain multiple parts, called subdomains. Subdomains and the host name
are separated by a period (but it's pronounced dot). The three-letter
suffix in the host name identifies the kind of organization operating the
server (some locations use a two-letter geographical suffix). The most common
suffixes are: .com (commercial), .edu (educational), .gov
(government), .mil (military), .net (networking), and .org
(non-commercial). More suffixes are under consideration. Addresses outside
of the U.S. sometimes use a two-letter suffix that identifies the country
in which the server is located. Some examples are: .jp (Japan), .nl
(The Netherlands), .uk (United Kingdom), .ca (Canada), and
.tw (Taiwan).
-
-
The
basis of network security. Encryption encodes network packets to prevent
anyone except the intended recipient from accessing the data.
-
-
A
standard and probably the most popular connection type for Local
Area Networks (LANs). It was first developed by Xerox, and later
refined by Digital, Intel and Xerox (see also DIX).
In an Ethernet configuration, computers are connected by coaxial or twisted-pair
cable where they contend for network access using a Carrier Sense Multiple
Access with Collision Detection (CSMA/CD) paradigm. Ethernet can transfer
information at up to 10 Megabit-per-second (Mb/s).
-
-
Acronym
for Frequently Asked Questions. FAQs are widely available on the
Internet and usually take the form of large,
instructional text files. They are written on a wide variety of topics,
and are usually the most up-to-date source for specialized information.
-
Federal
Networking Council (FNC)
-
A
collection of federal agencies that have heavy interests in federal networks
using TCP/IP and the Internet.
Representatives from DoD, DOE, DARPA, NSF, NASA and HHS are the major members
of the FNC.
-
File
Transfer Protocol (FTP)
-
The
most widely-used way of downloading and uploading (getting and putting)
files across an Internet connection. The
File Transfer Protocol is a standardized way to connect computers so that
files can be shared between them easily. There is a set of commands in FTP
for making and changing directories, transferring, copying, moving, and
deleting files. Formerly, all FTP connections were text based, but graphical
applications are now available that make FTP commands as easy as dragging
and dropping. Numerous FTP clients exist for
a number of platforms.
-
-
A
UNIX command that shows information about a user or group of users on the
Internet. When executed, the Finger command
usually returns the user's real name, whether or not they have unread mail,
and the time and date of their last login. Finger also displays two files
(if they exist) located in the home directory of the user you fingered.
These two files (the .PLAN and the .PROJECT files.) are simply ASCII text
files that can be entered by the user to display any information upon being
fingered.
-
-
A
negative response to an email message or newsgroup
posting. If you post an article or send an email to an audience that deems
your message inappropriate, expect to get flamed. The most common recipients
of flames are users who post commercial messages in public forums, those
who post adult material in non-adult areas of the Internet,
and users who post or send make racial or gender-biased comments. The worst
sort of flame is known as a mail-bomb, which occurs when the user
being flamed open his or her email and receives a flood of letters with
unusually long file attachments that make his or her computer crash.
-
-
A
reply to an email or newsgroup
posting that continues the conversation or idea, known as a thread.
-
-
A
network system made up of community-based bulletin board
systems with email, information services,
interactive communications, and conferencing. They are usually funded and
operated by individuals or organizations much like public television. Freenet
providers are part of the National Public Telecomputing Network (NPTN),
a Cleveland-based organization that works to make computer networking services
as freely available as public libraries.
-
FTP
-
-
-
A
kind of "go-between" device or program that passes information between networks
that normally couldn't communicate. What used to be called a gateway is
now called a router. Not to be confused with
a protocol converter.
-
-
An
information search and retrieval tool used widely for research. Gopher information
is stored hierarchically on computers across the Internet.
It uses a simple protocol that allows a client to access information from
a multitude of numerous Gopher servers at one time, creating what's known
as gopher space. The most common search tools in gopher are Veronica
and Jughead. Gopher clients exist for most
platforms.
-
-
A
computer user who works to understand the ins and outs of computers, networks,
and the Internet in general. Hackers are
generally benign, and are not to be confused with the more malicious crackers.
-
-
A
computer that is attached to a network or the Internet.
Hosts allow users on client machines to connect
and share files or transfer information. Individual users communicate with
hosts by using client application programs.
-
-
-
-
-
HTML
-
-
-
The
combination of hypertext and multimedia
in an online document.
-
-
A
type of text that allows embedded links to other documents. Clicking
on or selecting a hypertext link displays another document or section of
a document. Most World Wide Web documents contain
hypertext.
-
Hypertext
Markup Language (HTML)
-
The
standard way to mark text documents for publishing on the World
Wide Web. HTML is marked-up using tags surrounded by brackets.
To see what tagged HTML text looks like, select the View Source feature
from the menus in the program you are using to view this document now, and
you'll see a display of the HTML text used to create this page.
-
-
Acronym
for In My Humble Opinion. Generally seen in IRC,
email, or Usenet
postings.
-
Integrated
Services Digital Network (ISDN)
-
A
relatively new technology which combines voice and digital network services
in a single medium. ISDN makes it possible for communications carriers to
offer their customers digital data services as well as voice connections
through a single line. CCITT defines the standards
relating to ISDN.
-
International
Organization for Standardization (ISO)
-
An
organization of 89 member countries (founded in 1946) responsible for setting
world standards in many electronics areas. Members of the ISO are the national
standards organizations of the member countries.
-
-
A
large, uncontrolled, unadministered, anarchic cyber-state that will soon
take over the world! Basically, it's just everyone's computers hooked together.
It's not a corporation, organization, or entity in itself. When you connect
to the Internet, you actually become part of it. Always capitalized, the
word Internet can also be referred to colloquially as the "Net."
-
Internet
Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA)
-
The
central registry for various Internet protocol
parameters, such as port, protocol and enterprise numbers, and options,
codes and types. The currently assigned values are listed in the Assigned
Numbers document. If you'd like more information or want to request
a number assignment, you can email IANA at iana@isi.edu.
-
-
An
industry standard, connectionless, best-effort packet switching protocol
used as the network layer in the TCP/IP Protocol
Suite.
-
Internet
Protocol Address (IP Address)
-
The
32-bit address defined by the Internet Protocol.
Every resource on the Internet has a unique
numerical IP address, represented in dotted decimal notation. IP addresses
are the closest thing the Internet has to phone numbers. When you "call"
that number (using any number of connection methods such as FTP,
HTTP, Gopher, etc.) you get connected to the
computer to which that IP address is assigned.
-
Internet
Service Provider (ISP)
-
An
ISP is a company that maintains a network that is linked to the Internet
via a dedicated communication line, usually a high-speed link known as a
T1. An ISP offers use of its dedicated
communication lines to companies or individuals (like me) who can't
afford $1,300 a month for a direct connection. Using a modem, you can dial
up to a service provider whose computers will connect you to the Internet,
typically for a fee.
-
-
A
non-profit, professional organization that supports the technical evolution
of the Internet and stimulates the interest
of members of the scientific and academic communities, industry, and the
public regarding technology and the applications of the Internet. The ISOC
also promotes the development of new applications for the Internet by publishing
a quarterly newsletter, the Internet Society News, and by and holding an
annual conference, called INET.
-
-
Meaning
Internet information Center, InterNIC is the combined name for the
providers of registration, information, and database services to the Internet.
InterNIC is who you contact if you want to register a domain
name on the Internet.
-
IP
-
-
IP
Address
-
-
-
The
world-wide party line of the '90s. IRC allows multiple users to converse
in real time on different channels. Channels (which have a #
sign preceding their name) vary in traffic and content. Channel operators
(or Ops) moderate the conversation, and have the ability to "kick" people
from channels, or even ban them if their actions warrant it. IRC clients
are available for nearly all platforms.
-
ISDN
-
-
ISO
-
-
ISOC
-
-
-
Acronym
for Local Area Network. LANs are now commonplace in most businesses,
allowing users to send email and share resources
such as files, printers, modems, etc. Currently, most larger companies are
connection their LANs to the Internet, allowing
users to connect to resources within or outside the LAN.
-
-
-
-
An
automated mailing list distribution system. Listservs exist for a multitude
of professional, educational, and special interest groups.
Usually, you have to send an email to a Listserver
with the subject SUBSCRIBE listname or something to that effect.
You are then subscribed to that mailing list and (depending
on the service) will receive regular mail from a single source or from all
members who send email to the Listserver. Listserv was originally designed
for the Bitnet/EARN network.
-
-
Non-active
participation on the part of a subscriber to an mailing
list, a Usenet newsgroup, and IRC
channel, a video connection, or any other Internet
communication device. If you're "lurking," you're generally just listening
to the discussion. It's usually best to lurk if you're a beginner or if
you are new to a communication group. This allows you to get up to speed
on the history or acceptable behavior of the group.
-
-
A
program that distributes files or information in response to requests sent
via email. Many Listservs
have mail reflectors. You can request documents of a reflector by sending
message with the subject SEND document name or a similar command.
Mail reflectors are also being used to provide FTP-like
services for users with limited Internet
access.
-
-
A
list of email addresses used to forward messages
to groups of people. When you subscribe to a mailing list, you receive all
mail sent to that list (see also Listserv).
-
MIME
Encoding
-
-
-
Due
to the popularity of some FTP and Web
sites, mirror sites came into existence. They are areas on a computer that
"mirror" or contain an exact replica of the directory structure
of another computer. If you have trouble getting connected to an FTP site,
for example, because of the high amount of traffic, you can usually connect
to a mirror site that contains the same information on a different computer.
Mirror sites are usually updated once a day.
-
-
The
person who manages moderated mailing lists,
newsgroups, or online discussion forums for
services such as AOL, CompuServe, or the Microsoft Network.
-
-
A
graphical browser for the World Wide Web that
supports hypermedia. The NCSA (National
SuperComputer Association) invented the Mosaic browser, which quickly became
the industry standard. Netscape Communications Corporation later invented
the Netscape Navigator, which has redefined the content on the Web.
Other major companies entered the browser market with little success, until
Microsoft launched their Internet Explorer which now contends with
Navigator as the browser of choice. The term Mosaic is sometimes
used incorrectly as a synonym for the World Wide Web.
-
-
Acronym
for Multi-User Dungeon or Domain. MUDs are role-playing games
that take place on a computer. Users can Telnet
to a MUD host, and create a character. MUDs can be action, adventure, or
fantasy games, and allow you to save your character for future play. Some
MUDs have thousands of registered characters, and most foster a community
or culture of their own. These are highly-addictive areas of the Internet,
and users can spend many hours enthralled in this type of activity.
-
Multipurpose
Internet Mail Extensions Encoding (MIME Encoding)
-
MIME
is a standardized method for organizing divergent file formats. The method
organizes file formats according to the file's MIME type. When Internet
(usually email) software retrieves a file from
a server, the server provides the MIME type
of the file, and the file is decoded correctly when transferred to your
machine.
-
-
The
combination of the words Net and etiquette, this refers to
the proper behavior on a network, and more generally the Internet.
The key element in Netiquette is remembering that actual people are on the
other end of a computer connection, and offensive comments or actions are
just as offensive even if you can't see your recipient.
-
Network
File System (NFS)
-
A
protocol developed by Sun Microsystems. NFS allows a computer to access
and use files over a network as if they were local. This protocol has been
incorporated into the products of more two-hundred companies, and is now
a de facto Internet standard.
-
Network
News Transfer Protocol (NNTP)
-
An
industry standard protocol for the distribution, inquiry, retrieval, and
posting of news articles.
-
NFS
-
-
NNTP
-
-
Open
Systems Interconnection (OSI)
-
A
suite of protocols, designed by ISO
committees to be the international standard computer network architecture.
-
OSI
-
-
-
The
common term for the standard unit of data sent across a network.
-
Packet
Internet Gopher (PING)
-
The
simplest way to test or time the response of an Internet
connection. A PING sends a request to an Internet host
and waits for a reply called (yep, you guessed it), a PONG. When
you PING an address, you get a response telling you the number of seconds
it took to make the connection. PING clients
exist for a number of platforms, or you can use a UNIX or Windows 95 prompt
to issue a PING command directly.
-
PAP
-
-
Password
Authentication Protocol (PAP)
-
One
of the many authentication methods
that can be used when connecting to an ISP. PAP
allows you to login automatically, without having to use a terminal window
to type in your username and password. One warning about PAP: passwords
are sent over the connection in text format, which means there is no protection
if someone is "listening-in" on your connection.
-
-
-
Point-to-Point
Protocol (PPP)
-
A
protocol that provides a method for transmitting
packets over serial point-to-point links. PPP
is one of the most popular methods for dialup
connections to the Internet, since it allows
you to use other standard protocols (such as IPX, TCP/IP,
and Netbeui) over a standard telephone connection, but it can also be used
for LAN connections.
-
POP
-
-
Post
Office Protocol (POP)
-
A
protocol designed to allow single users to
read mail from a server. There are three versions:
POP, POP2, and POP3. When email is sent to you,
it is stored on the server until accessed by you. Once you are authenticated,
the POP is used to transmit the stored mail from the server to your local
mailbox on your client machine.
-
-
The
sending of an article to a Usenet newsgroup
or the placing of a message on a BBS.
-
PPP
-
-
-
Simply,
the "language" spoken between computers to help them exchange information.
More technically, it's a formal description of message formats and the rules
that two computers must follow to exchange those messages. Protocols can
describe low-level details of machine-to-machine interfaces (like the order
in which bits and bytes are sent across a wire) or high-level exchanges
between allocation programs (the way in which two programs transfer a file
across the Internet).
-
Read
the Flippin' Manual (RTFM)
-
An
acronym used to respond to a simple or commonly asked question.
-
Request
For Comments (RFC)
-
A
document series, begun in 1969, which describes the Internet
suite of protocols and related experiments.
Not all (actually, very few) RFCs describe Internet standards, but all Internet
standards are written up as RFCs.
-
RFC
-
-
-
A
device that forwards traffic between networks. Forwarding decisions are
made based on network layer information and routing tables, often constructed
by routing protocols.
-
Serial
Line lnternet Protocol (SLIP)
-
Similar
to PPP, SLIP is another standard protocol
used to run TCP/IP over serial lines, such as
telephone circuits or RS-232 cables. Unlike PPP, however, SLIP does not
work on a LAN connections. SLIP used to be the
most popular way for dialup users to access
the Internet, but PPP quickly overcame SLIP
because of its ease of use and integration into many client operating systems.
-
-
Simply,
a computer that provides resources, such as files or other information.
Common Internet servers include file servers
and name servers Domain Name Service.
-
Service
Provider
-
-
-
-
-
An
ASCII text file that can be automatically attached to the bottom of a piece
of email or newsgroup
posting that identifies the sender. Many signatures (or sigs) use
symbols and characters to create images or words to make the sig more interesting.
-
Simple
Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP)
-
-
Simple
Network Management Protocol (SNMP)
-
Developed
to manage nodes on an IP network, SNMP is an Internet
standard protocol. It can be used to manage
wiring hubs, video toasters, CD ROM jukeboxes, and many other devices.
-
SLIP
-
-
-
The
use of punctuation marks and other symbols or characters to portray moods
when typing, especially in email messages and
IRC. Here's an example of a simple smiley: :)
. If you don't see it, tilt your head to the left and look at it. The colon
makes the eyes and the parenthesis makes the smiley mouth. The smile means
happiness (like if someone says something funny) or it often denotes sarcasm.
Other combinations of characters can express many other emotions. You may
also hear them referred to as emoticons.
-
-
A
research institute based in California that runs the Network Information
Center (NISC).
-
Subnet
Mask
-
-
-
One
of AT&T's terms used to denote the type of connection of a host
to the Internet. A T1 transmits a DS-1 formatted
digital signal at 1.544 megabits per second.
-
-
One
of AT&T's terms used to denote the type of connection of a host
to the Internet. A T3 transmits a DS-3 formatted
digital signal at 44.746 megabits per second - about 40 times the
speed of a T1.
-
TCP/IP
-
-
-
To
properly use the TCP/IP protocol, PCs require
a TCP/IP stack. This consists of TCP/IP software,
sockets software (such as WINSOCK.DLL for
Windows machines), and hardware driver software (known as packet drivers).
Windows 95 comes with Microsoft's own built-in TCP/IP stack, including version
1.1 of Microsoft's WINSOCK.DLL and packet drivers.
-
-
The
Internet standard protocol
to connect to remote terminals. Telnet clients
are available for most platforms. When you Telnet to a UNIX site, for example,
you can issue commands at the prompt as if the machine were local.
-
-
A
slight variation of Telnet used to connect
the user to an IBM mainframe. TN3270 clients
exist for most platforms.
-
-
A
type of LAN in which networked computers are wired
into a ring. Each computer (or node) is in constant contact with
the next node in the ring. A control message, called a token, is
passed from one node to another, allowing the node with the token to send
a message out to the network. If the ring is "broken" by one computer losing
contact, the network can no longer communicate. The IEEE 802.5 token ring
standard is the most common.
-
-
The
layout of all the computers on a network and the links that join them.
-
Transmission
Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)
-
TCP/IP
is the standard communications protocol required
for Internet computers. To communicate using
TCP/IP, PCs need a set of software components called a TCP/IP
stack. Macintoshes typically use a proprietary software package
called MacTCP. Most UNIX systems are built with TCP/IP capabilities.
-
-
Originally,
UUCP was a program that allowed UNIX systems to transfer files over phone
lines. Currently, the term is used to describe the protocol
that passes news and email
across the Internet.
-
-
Usenet
groups are more commonly known as newsgroups. There are thousands
of groups hosted on hundreds of servers around the world, dealing with various
topics. Newsreader software is required to properly download and view articles
in the groups, but you can usually post an article to a group simply
by emailing to it.
-
UUCP
-
-
-
A
search engine (not unlike Archie) that is built
into Gopher. It allows searches of all gopher
sites for files, directories and other resources.
-
Universal
Resource Locator (URL)
-
More
commonly referred to as the URL, the Universal Resource Locator refers
to the entire address that is recognized "universally" as the address for
an Internet resource. Each resource on the Internet has a unique URL. URLs
begin with letters that identify the resource type, such as http, ftp, gopher,
etc. These types are followed by a colon and two slashes. Next, the computer's
name is listed, followed by the directory and filename of the remote resource.
For example, the URL for this glossary is http://www.bit-ag.ch/glossar.html.
-
W3
-
-
WAIS
-
-
-
Databases
containing email addresses, telephone numbers,
and postal addresses of Internet users. You
can search the Internet White Pages to find information about particular
users.
-
-
An
Internet program (related to Finger
and the White Pages) that lets you enter
an Internet entity (such as domains, networks,
and hosts) and display information such as a
person's company name, address, phone number and email
address.
-
Wide
Area Information Service (WAIS)
-
A
distributed information service and search engine that allows natural language
input and indexed searching. Many Web search utilities
use a WAIS engine.
-
-
Stands
for Windows Sockets. Winsocks is a set of specifications or standards
for programmers creating TCP/IP applications
for use with Windows.
-
World
Wide Web (WWW or W3)
-
The
Web is a collection of online documents housed on Internet
servers around the world. The concept of the Web was created by researchers
at CERN in Switzerland. Web documents are written or coded in HTML.
To access these documents, you have to use a Web browser.
When these browsers access (or hit) a page, the server uses the HyperText
Transfer Protocol (HTTP) to send the document to your computer.
-
-
A
computer program that replicates itself and is self-propagating. While viruses
are designed to cause problems on a local system and are passed through
boot sectors of disks and through files, worms are designed to thrive in
network environments. Network worms were first defined by Shoch & Hupp
of Xerox in ACM Communications (March 1982). The most famous (or infamous)
worm was the Internet Worm of November 1988. It successfully propagated
itself on over 6,000 systems across the Internet.
-
WWW
-
See
World Wide Web.
Microsoft and Windows are registered trademarks of Microsoft
Corporation.