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Glossary of Internet Terms

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z

-A-
ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line)
	ADSL is a DSL line wherein the upload speed is different from the download speed. Usually the upload speed is significantly slower.
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Applet
	A small Java program that can be embedded in an HTML page. Applets differ from full-fledged Java applications in that they are not allowed to access certain resources on the local computer, such as files and serial devices (modems, printers, etc.), and are prohibited from communicating with most other computers across a network. The common rule is that an applet can only make an Internet connection to the computer from which the applet was sent.
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ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange)
	This is the de facto world-wide standard for the code numbers used by computers to represent all the upper and lower-case Latin letters, numbers and basic punctuation. There are 128 standard ASCII codes each of which can be represented by a 7 digit binary number.
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-B-
Bandwidth
	The measurement by which it is determined how much information can be sent through a connection. Usually measured in bits-per-second. A full page of text is about 16,000 bits. A fast modem can move about 57,000 bits in one second. Full-motion full-screen video requires roughly 10,000,000 bits-per-second.
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Baud
	In common usage the baud rate of a modem is how many bits it can send or receive per second.
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BBS (Bulletin Board System)
	A computerized meeting and announcement system that allows people to carry on discussions, upload and download files, and make announcements without the people being connected to the computer at the same time.
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Binary
	Information consisting exclusively of combinations of ones and zeros (0000000 through 1111111). Also, commonly used to refer to files that are not simply text files, e.g. images.
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Bit (Binary DigIT)
	A single digit number in a binary code, either a 1 or a zero. The smallest unit of computerized data. Bandwidth is usually measured in bits-per-second.
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bps (Bits-Per-Second)
	A measurement of how fast data is moved from one place to another. A 56K (Kilobytes) modem can move about 57,000 bits per second.
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Browser
	A Client program (software) that is used to view web pages and other kinds of Internet resources.
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Byte
	A set of Bits that represent a single character. Usually there are 8 Bits in a Byte, sometimes more.
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-C-
Certificate Authority
	An issuer of Security Certificates used in SSL connections.
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Client
	A software program that is used to contact and obtain data from a Server software program on another computer, often across a great distance. Each Client program is designed to work with one or more specific kinds of Server programs, and each Server requires a specific kind of Client. A Web Browser is a specific kind of Client.
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Cookie
	The most common meaning of "Cookie" on the Internet refers to a piece of information sent by a Web Server to a Web Browser that the Browser software saves and sends back to the Server whenever the browser makes additional requests from the Server.  Cookies contain information such as login or registration information, online "shopping cart" information, user preferences, etc.
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Cyberspace
	The word Cyberspace describes the whole range of information resources available through computer networks.
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-D-
Domain Name
	The unique name that identifies an Internet site. Domain Names always have 2 or more segments, separated by dots. The part on the left is the most specific, and the part on the right is the most general.  yourdomain.com  mail.yourdomain.com  products.yourdomain.com
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DSL (Digital Subscriber Line)
	A method for moving data over regular phone lines. A DSL 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.
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-E-
	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.
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-F-
	FTP - (File Transfer Protocol)
	A very common method of moving files between two Internet sites. FTP is a way to login to another Internet site for the purposes of retrieving and/or sending files. There are many Internet sites that have established publicly accessible repositories of material that can be obtained using FTP, by logging in using the account name "anonymous," thus these sites are called "anonymous ftp servers." FTP was invented and in wide use long before the advent of the World Wide Web and originally was always used from a text-only interface.
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-G-
Gateway
	The technical meaning is a hardware or software set-up that translates between two dissimilar protocols, for example America Online has a gateway that translates between its internal, proprietary e-mail format and Internet e-mail format. Another, sloppier meaning of gateway is to describe any mechanism for providing access to another system, e.g. AOL might be called a gateway to the Internet.
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	GIF - (Graphic Interchange Format)
	A common format for image files, especially suitable for images containing large areas of the same color. GIF format files of simple images are often smaller than the same file would be if stored in JPEG format, but GIF format does not store photographic images as well as JPEG.
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	Gigabyte
	1000 Megabytes.
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	Gopher
	Although Gopher spread rapidly across the globe in only a couple of years, it has been largely supplanted by Hypertext, also known as WWW (World Wide Web). There are still thousands of Gopher Servers on the Internet and we can expect they will remain for a while.
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-H-
	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.
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	Home Page (or Homepage)
	Several meanings. Originally, the web page that your browser is set to use when it starts up. The more common meaning refers to the main web page for a business, organization, person or simply the main page out of a collection of web pages, e.g. "Check out so-and-so's new Home Page."
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	Host
	Any computer on a network that is a repository for services available to other computers on the network. It is quite common to have one host machine provide several services, such as SMTP (e-mail) and HTTP (web).
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	HTML (HyperText Markup Language)
	The coding language used to create Hypertext documents for use on the World Wide Web.
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	HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol)
	The Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is the set of rules for exchanging files (text, graphic images, sound, video, and other multimedia files) on the World Wide Web. Relative to the TCP/IP suite of protocols (which are the basis for information exchange on the Internet), HTTP is an application protocol.
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	Hyperlink
	An element in an electronic document that links to another place in the same document or to an entirely different document.
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	Hypertext
	Generally, any text that contains links to other documents - words or phrases in the document that can be chosen by a reader and which cause another document to be retrieved and displayed.
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-I-
	IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol)
	IMAP is gradually replacing POP as the main protocol used by email clients in communicating with email servers. Using IMAP an email client program can not only retrieve email but can also manipulate message stored on the server, without having to actually retrieve the messages. So messages can be deleted, have their status changed, multiple mail boxes can be managed, etc.
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	Internet
	The vast collection of inter-connected networks that are connected using the TCP/IP protocols and that evolved from the ARPANET of the late 60's and early 70's. The Internet connects tens of thousands of independent networks into a vast global Internet and is probably the largest Wide Area Network in the world.
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	Intranet
	A private network inside a company or organization that uses the same kinds of software that you would find on the public Internet, but that is only for internal use.
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	IP Number  (Internet Protocol Number)
	Sometimes called a dotted quad. A unique number consisting of 4 parts separated by dots, e.g. 165.113.245.2.  Every machine that is on the Internet has a unique IP number - if a machine does not have an IP number, it is not really on the Internet. Many machines (especially servers) also have one or more Domain Names that are easier for people to remember.
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	IRC  (Internet Relay Chat)
	Basically a huge multi-user live chat facility. There are a number of major IRC servers around the world which are linked to each other. Anyone can create a channel and anything that anyone types in a given channel is seen by all others in the channel. Private channels can (and are) created for multi-person conference calls.
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	ISDN  (Integrated Services Digital Network)
	Basically a way to move more data over existing regular phone lines. ISDN is available to much of the USA. It can provide speeds of roughly 56,000or 64,000 bits-per-second. Unlike DSL, ISDN can be used to connect to many different locations, one at a time, just like a regular telephone call, as long the other location also has ISDN.
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	ISP  (Internet Service Provider)
	An institution that provides access to the Internet in some form, usually for money.
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-J-
	Java
	Java is a network-friendly programming language invented by Sun Microsystems. Java is often used to build large, complex systems that involve several different computers interacting across networks, for example transaction processing systems. Java is also becoming popular for creating programs that run in small electronic devices, such as mobile telephones. A very common use of Java is to create 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. When using small Java programs (called "Applets"), Web pages can include functions such as animations, calculators, and other fancy tricks.
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	JavaScript
	JavaScript is a programming language that is mostly used in web pages, usually to add features that make the web page more interactive. When JavaScript is included in an HTML file it relies upon the browser to interpret the JavaScript. When JavaScript is combined with Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), and later versions of HTML (4.0 and later) the result is often called DHTML.
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	JPEG - (Joint Photographic Experts Group)
	JPEG is most commonly mentioned as a format for image files. JPEG format is preferred to the GIF format for photographic images as opposed to line art or simple logo art.
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-K-
	Kilobyte
	A thousand bytes.
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-L-
	LAN - (Local Area Network)
	A computer network limited to the immediate area, usually the same building or floor of a building.
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	Linux
	A widely used Open Source Unix-like operating system. Linux was first released by its inventor Linus Torvalds in 1991. There are versions of Linux for almost every available type of computer hardware from desktop machines to IBM mainframes. The inner workings of Linux are open and available for anyone to examine and change as long as they make their changes available to the public. This has resulted in thousands of people working on various aspects of Linux and adaptation of Linux for a huge variety of purposes, from servers to TV-recording boxes.
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	Login
	Noun: The account name used to gain access to a computer system. Not a secret (contrast with Password). Verb: the act of connecting to a computer system by giving your credentials (usually your "username" and "password")
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-M-
	Mail List (or Mailing List)
	A system (usually automated) 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 mail list. In this way, people who have many different kinds of e-mail access can participate in discussions together.
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	Megabyte
	A million bytes or 1000 kilobytes.
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	Metatags
	Meta information means "information about information." Meta tags are used primarily for indexing and searching tools. These tools can gather meta information in order to sort and classify Web pages. One way to help your document show up more frequently in search engines and directories is to use meta tags to set keywords that will pull up your site when someone does a search for those words.
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	MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions)
	Originally a standard for defining the types of files attached to standard Internet mail messages. The MIME standard has come to be used in many situations where one computer programs needs to communicate with another program about what kind of file is being sent.
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	Mirror
	Generally speaking, "to mirror" is to maintain an exact copy of something.  Probably the most common use of the term on the Internet refers to "mirror sites" which are web sites, or FTP sites that maintain copies of material originated at another location, usually to provide more widespread access to the resource. For example, one site might create a library of software, and 5 other sites might maintain mirrors of that library.
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	Modem (MOdulator, DEModulator)
	A device that connects a computer to a phone line. A telephone for a computer. A modem allows a computer to talk to other computers through the phone system. Basically, modems do for computers what a telephone does for humans.
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	Mosaic
	The first WWW browser that was available for the Macintosh, Windows, and UNIX all with the same interface. Mosaic really started the popularity of the Web. The source-code to Mosaic was licensed by several companies and used to create many other web browsers.
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-N-
	Netscape™
	A WWW browser and the name of a company. The Netscape browser was originally based on the Mosaic program developed at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA).
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	Network
	Any time you connect 2 or more computers together so that they can share resources, you have a computer network. Connect 2 or more networks together and you have an internet.
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	Newsgroup
	A newsgroup the name for a discussion group on USENET.
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	NIC  (Network Information Center)
	Generally, any office that handles information for a network is referred to as a NIC. The most famous of these on the Internet was the InterNIC, which was where most new domain names were registered until that process was decentralized to a number of private companies.
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	NNTP  (Network News Transport Protocol)
	The protocol used by client and server software to carry USENET postings back and forth over a TCP/IP network. If you are using any of the more common software such as Netscape,  Internet Explorer, etc. to participate in newsgroups then you are benefiting from an NNTP connection.
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	Node
	A node is any single computer connected to a network.
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-O-
	Open Source Software
	Open Source Software is software for which the underlying programming code is available to the users so that they may read it, make changes to it, and build new versions of the software incorporating their changes. There are many types of Open Source Software, mainly differing in the licensing term under which (altered) copies of the source code may (or must be) redistributed.
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-P-
	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 along different routes by special machines along the way. This way many people can use the same lines at the same time. You might think of several caravans of trucks all using the same road system. to carry materials.
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	Password
	A code used to gain access (login) to a locked system. Good passwords contain letters and non-letters and are not simple combinations such as Ra2*3b.
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	Plug-in
	A (usually small) piece of software that adds features to a larger piece of software. Common examples are plug-ins for the Netscape® browser and web server. Adobe Photoshop® also uses plug-ins.
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	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 a way that e-mail client software such as Eudora or Outlook gets mail from a mail server. When you obtain an account from an Internet Service Provider (ISP) 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. Another protocol called IMAP is replacing POP for e-mail.
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	Port
	The term Port has 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. Finally, port also refers to translating a piece of software to bring it from one type of computer system to another, e.g. to translate a Windows program so that is will run on a Macintosh.
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	Portal
	A Portal refers to a Web site that is or is intended to be the first place people see when using the Web. Typically a "Portal site" has a catalog of web sites, a search engine, or both. A Portal site may also offer e-mail and other services to entice people to use that site as their main "point of entry" (hence "portal") to the Web.
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	Posting
	A Posting is a single message entered into a network communications system.
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	PPP (Point to Point Protocol)
	PPP is the most common protocol used to connect home computers to the Internet over regular phone lines. It is most well known as a protocol that allows a computer to use a regular telephone line and a modem to make TCP/IP connections and thus be really and truly on the Internet.
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	Proxy Server
	A Proxy Server sits in between a Client and the "real" Server that a Client is trying to use. Client's are sometimes configured to use a Proxy Server, usually an HTTP server. The clients makes all of it's requests from the Proxy Server, which then makes requests from the "real" server and passes the result back to the Client. Sometimes the Proxy server will store the results and give a stored result instead of making a new one (to reduce use of a Network). Proxy servers are commonly established on Local Area Networks.
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-R-
	Router
	A special-purpose computer (or software package) that handles the connection between 2 or more Packet-Switched networks. Routers spend all their time looking at the source and destination addresses of the packets passing through them and deciding which route to send them on.
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-S-
	SDSL (Symmetric Digital Subscriber Line)
	A version of DSL where the upload speeds and download speeds are the same.
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	Search Engine
	A system (usually web-based) for searching the information available on the Web.  Some search engines work by automatically searching the contents of other systems and creating a database of the results. other search engines contains only material manually approved for inclusion in a database, and some combine the two approaches.
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	Security Certificate
	A chunk of information (often stored as a text file) used by the SSL protocol to establish a secure connection.
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	Server
	A computer, or a software package, that provides a specific kind of service to client software running on other computers. The term can refer to a particular piece of software, such as a WWW server, or to the machine on which the software is running.  A single server machine can (and often does) have several different server software packages running on it, thus providing many different servers to clients on the network.
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	SLIP  (Serial Line Internet Protocol)
	A standard for using a regular telephone line (a serial line) and a modem to connect a computer as a real Internet site. SLIP has largely been replaced by PPP.
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	SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol)
	The main protocol used to send electronic mail from server to server on the Internet.
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	Spam (or Spamming)
	An inappropriate attempt to use a mailing list, or USENET or other networked communications facility as if it was a broadcast medium (which it is not) by sending the same message to a large number of people who didn't ask for it.
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	SQL - (Structured Query Language)
	A specialized 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 slightly different version of SQL implementing features unique to that application, but all SQL-capable databases support a common subset of SQL.
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	SSL (Secure Socket Layer)
	A protocol designed by Netscape Communications to enable encrypted, authenticated communications across the Internet.
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	Sysop (System Operator)
	Anyone responsible for the physical operations of a computer system or network resource. For example, a System Administrator decides how often backups and maintenance should be performed and the System Operator performs those tasks.
-T-
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	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 lines are commonly used to connect large LANs to the Internet.
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&nbs