Internet Web Technologies Glossary

Access control

The basic purpose of access control is to monitor access to information and sites.

ActiveX

ActiveX controls are small programs that are downloaded by a browser and executed on the user's computer.

ATM

Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) is a pipe protocol that uses fixed-size, very high-speed, high-capacity packet relay technology.

Auditing

Reading and interpreting log files to identify hacker activity.

Authentication

Proof that the user is who they claim to be. Generally achieved through a Digital Signature and validated through a Certificate Authority.

backbone

High-speed WAN connections, servers, and ISPs that carry Internet traffic over very high-bandwidth lines.

Bridge

A network connection device that isolates traffic into segments but lets the segments appear to be a single network.

Client

One of the three required components of an Internet connection consisting of a desktop computer and a program that requests information from the server.

DARPA

Four-layer network model developed by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.

Domain Name Server (DNS)

Translate domain name to a numeric IP address.

Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP)

The protocol used to automatically assign IP addresses. The server simply issues the IP address as needed.

Email

Electronic mail is a client application for transmitting mail over a network. Email is used as a worldwide communications tool.

Encryption

The process of disguising information to make it unreadable.

Extranet

A data communications network leveraging the Internet as an enabling technology for external enterprise integration.

File Transfer Protocol (FTP)

FTP is the primary protocol used to transfer files and resources on the Internet.

Firewall

Network security device that blocks a specific type of data or prevents data from specified sources from entering the network.

Frame Relay

A high-speed networking protocol for connecting multiple LANs across remote distances. Frame Relay is a packet switching protocol.

Glossary

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Gopher

The gopher protocol is a utility that searches the Internet for data and news and presents the results in a hierarchy-based document-retrieval system.

HOSTS files

ASCII text files containing the name and the corresponding IP address of systems that you regularly communicate with.

Hub

Interconnects multiple devices (in a minimum of three) in a network. Enables distribution of information among connected devices.

Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP)

HTTP is the underlying communications protocol of the Web and is therefore considered the backbone of the Web.

Intranet

A data communications network leveraging the Internet as an enabling technology for internal enterprise integration.

ISDN

Integrated Services Digital Network is a pipe protocol that operates basic communication service over regular phone lines and provides 128 kbps. ISDN uses special switching techniques to obtain higher bandwidth from telephone lines.

Modem

Short for modulator-demodulator. A modem converts digital signals to analog (outgoing traffic) and analog signals to digital (incoming traffic).

Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME)

Developed to send non-text data, such as graphics or programs, in Internet email.

NETSTAT

A utility that displays a list of server-side TCP/IP connections. Netstat is also used to obtain network statistics; display the contents of the local routing table; and obtain statistics on a particular protocol such as UDP.

Network Interface Card (NIC)

Also known as a network adapter, NICs are required to connect computers to the network cabling system (using either coaxial cables or RJ-45 connectors). NICs plug into client and server machines and control the exchange of information between the two (known as handshaking).

Network News Transfer Protocol (NTTP)

NTTP allows your emails to discussion groups to be routed and received.

Network operating system (NOS)

Software that facilitates hardware and software working together as a network. Examples include Linux and Windows NT.

Non-repudiation

A service that documents the identities of both the sender and receiver of a data transmission so that neither can deny sending/receiving the message.

OSI

A seven-layer network model for implementing protocols and developed by the International Standards Organization (ISO).

PING

A network diagnostic tool used to test whether a remote host can be reached from a specific computer.

Pipe

A transmission wire that passes data through a network. The size of a pipe is measured in how many bits, or binary digits, it can transmit per second.

Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP)

Point-to-Point protocol provides dial-up access over serial lines.

Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP)

Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP), now commonly referred to as VPN (Virtual Private Networking) is Microsoft's version of PPP that encapsulates packets from other protocols for transmission over an IP network.

POP3

Post Office Protocol is the standard protocol for downloading or receiving mail from email servers on the Internet.

Port number

Identifies the hardware and software ports on a computer.

Protocol

A protocol is a set of logical rules that define how computers send and receive information.

Public-key encryption

A means to ensure user authorization. Public-key encryption has two keys: one to encrypt the material, the other to decrypt it.

Repeater

Physical layer device that extends the length of a network segment. A repeater receives and transmits signals and duplicates them onto another network segment.

Router

A device that forwards packets and filters traffic, based on protocol-specific software address, source and destination port numbers.

Search engine

A search engine is a program that searches documents for specific keywords and returns a list of documents in which those words exist. Though really a general class of software, the term search engine is most often used to refer to systems like AltaVista and Google that let users search for documents on the Web.

Secure Electronic Transactions (SET)

A standard enabling secure credit card transactions on the Internet.

Secure Sockets Layer (SSL)

A protocol for secure network communications using a combination of public and secret key technology.

Server

One of three required components of an Internet connection consisting of a computer on the network that answers client requests with services.

SMTP

Simple Mail Transfer Protocol is the standard protocol for sending email between email servers on the Internet.

Subnetting

Subnetting is used when a company has more computers than can be connected to its network; it is also used as a traffic reduction mechanism.

Switch

A device used to connect network segments with high usage percentages. A switch offers higher performance than bridges or routers and is used to create virtual LANS.

TCP/IP

Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol is a protocol suite used to connect computers and networks. It is the de facto protocol used to connect to the Internet.

Telnet

Telnet is a "terminal emulator for the Internet".

TRACERT

A trace route utility that shows routing and delay times. Tracert tools are available as either command line tools or as graphical tools.

Uniform Resource Locator (URL)

URL specifies a unique address to a resource on the Internet. A resource can be a specific Web page, a document, or an image. URLs are occasionally called URIs, or Uniform Resource Identifiers.

User Datagram Protocol (UDP)

UDP is a procotol that sends data from one program to another using Internet Protocol (IP). UDP is less reliable than TCP because it provides unverified transportation for individual messages.

Virtual Private Network (VPN)

An alternative to a WAN that uses special software on client computers to connect across an intranet or the Internet to special software on a dedicated server.

Web browser

A client application used to browse, or "interface with," the Internet. Examples of browsers include Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer.

Winipcfg

A Windows 95/98-specific utility used to provide information about IP address, network connections, and Internet resources.

X.25

A pipe protocol that provides connection-oriented technology for transmission over error-prone facilities.