Network Terminology
• MAC address -: The address for a device as it is identified at the Media Access Control (MAC) layer in the network architecture. MAC address is usually stored in ROM on the network adapter card and is unique.
• Bandwidth -: Every line has an upper limit and a lower limit on the frequency of signals it can carry. This limited range is called the bandwidth.
• Bookmark - When referring to the Internet or a browser, a bookmark or electronic bookmark is a method of saving a web page's address. For example, with most browsers pressing Ctrl + D will bookmark the page you are viewing.
• Bounce -A description of what occurs when an e-mail message returns back to the sender as undeliverablE. Some e-mail programs also have a bounce or bounce back feature built into them, which allows the user to bounce messages back to the sender causing the e-mail address to appear invalid.
• Buffer-When referring to memory, a buffer is a temporary storage in memory that stores information while processing other information.
• Cloud computing -A term used to describe services over a network by a collection of servers. These computers or cloud of computers enable the users visiting to have access to much faster computers or servers, be able to access programs and services from anywhere with Internet access often without having to install other software, and get access to the services from any device capable of reaching the network or Internet
• Cyber Law- Cyber law is the part of the overall legal system that deals with the Internet, cyberspace, and their respective legal issues. Cyber law covers a fairly broad area, encompassing several subtopics including freedom of expression, access to and usage of the Internet, and online privacy. Generically, cyber law has been referred to as the Law of the Internet.
• DNS-: Domain Name System or Domain Name Service, a DNS is an Internet or other network server that helps to point domain names or the hostname to their associated IP address that was introduced by Paul Mockapetris and Jon Postel in1984. If a domain name is not found within the local database, the server may query other domain servers to obtain the address of a domain name. For example, when a user is accessing the Computer Hope domain a user would enter the easy to remember domain: computerhopE.com. When entered that domain name is looked up on a Domain Name System to translate that name into an IP address that can be better understood by computer, E.g. 69.72.169.241. Using that IP address the computers can then find the computer containing the Computer Hope web page and forward that information to your computer.
• E-learning- : E-learning Stands for electronic learning, E-learning (or eLearning) is a term used to describe the process of acquiring knowledge via the use of a computer and the Internet, intranet, or extranet, using various types of media. The multimedia may include streaming video, audio recordings, videoconferencing using a webcam, and even virtual worlds, such as Second Life. It is commonly self-paced but can be led by an instructor as well.
• Phishing-: Pronounced like fishing, phishing is a term used to describe a malicious individual or group of individuals scamming users by sending e-mails or creating web pages that are designed to collect an individual's online bank, credit card, or other login information. Because these e-mails and web pages look like legitimate companies users trust them and enter their personal information.
• Pop-up-: Term used to describe a Window that appears on top of all other Windows. This term became a well-known term with the advent of intrusive and non-intrusive Internet pop-up ads. These ads became increasingly annoying as this form of advertising started to become more popular with many web pages.
• Search engine-: A search engine is a software program or script available through the Internet that searches documents and files for keywords and returns the results of any files containing those keywords. Today, there are thousands of different search engines available on the Internet, each with their own abilities and features. The first search engine ever developed is considered Archie, which was used to search for FTP files and the first text-based search engine is considered Veronica. Today, the most popular and well known search engine is Google.
• Server side scripting-: Server-side scripting is a method of designing Websites so that the process or user request is run on the originating server. These scripts provide an interface to the user and are used to limit access to proprietary data. These scripts also work with reusability and allow the webmaster to control access to the source code of the script to limit any attempts at reverse engineering; additionally some of the coding used in these scripts may even be valuable or proprietary.
• ASP- : Active Server Pages, an ASP page is a dynamically created web page that commonly ends with a .ASP extension that utilizes ActiveX scripting, usually VBScript or JScript code. The .aspx extension is used for Web pages that use Microsoft's ASP.NET. These pages are called "Web Forms", and can contain (X)HTML code as well as ASP.NET code.
• Web page-: A web page or webpage is a document commonly written in Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML) that is accessible through the Internet or other network using a browser. A web page is accessed by entering a URL addresses and may contain text, graphics, and hyperlinks to other web pages and files.
• WWW-: Short for World Wide Web, WWW sometimes also abbreviated as W3 or Web is a graphical interface for the Internet that was first introduced to the public on August 6, 1991 by Tim Berners-Lee. The World Wide Web consists of billions of pages linked to each other that contain text, graphics, multimedia files, and other interactive software. Unlike other services available through the Internet, the World Wide Web provides a rich medium and helps brings all people together. The first web site was built at CERN by Tim Berners-Lee and put online August 6, 1991.
• Firewall-: A firewall is a software utility or hardware device that limits outside network access to a computer or local network by blocking or restricting network ports. Firewalls are a great step for helping prevent un-authorized access to a company or home network. The picture is an example of a hardware firewall, the ZyXEL ZyWALL a Unified Security Gateway with a Firewall and other security features. In addition to hardware firewalls like that shown above, basic hardware firewalls are also commonly found in most network routers and can be configured and setup through the router setup. Software firewalls are designed to protect the computer they are installed onto by blocking any unrestricted programs from sending and receiving information from the network or Internet. A good example of a software Firewall is the Windows Firewall that isincluded with Microsoft Windows.
• NIC-: Short for Network Interface Card, a NIC is also commonly referred to as an Ethernet card and network adapter and is an expansion card that enables a computer to connect to a network such as a home network or the Internet using an Ethernet cable with a RJ-45 connector. The picture is an example of a SMC EZ Card 10/100 PCI network card, a network card commonly found in most desktop computers today that do not already have an onboard network on their motherboard.
• Packet switching-: A method of distributing data over a network first developed by Leonard leinrock between 1959 and 1962 and first widely used on ARPANET. In packet switching, information is broken into small segments of data known as packets and then reassembled when received at the destination. This helps prevent any small information sent after larger information from having to wait until the larger information has been sent. When information is broken into packets, the information size and speed of the line is what determines how fast it takes to send information over a network and not the order in which it was sent.
• Proxy server-: A proxy is a computer server or software program that is part of the gateway server or another computer that separates a local network from outside networks. A proxy server will cache all pages accessed through the network allowing users who may want to visit that same page to load it faster and reduce the networks bandwidth. When a page is accessed that is not in the proxy server's cache, the proxy server will access the page using its own IP address, cache the page, and forward it to the user accessing that page.
• Spam-: spam is most often considered to be electronic junk mail or junk newsgroup postings. Some people define spam even more generally as any unsolicited email. However, if a long-lost brother finds your email address and sends you a message, this could hardly be called spam, even though it is unsolicited. Real spam is generally email advertising for some product sent to a mailing list or newsgroup. In addition to wasting people's time with unwanted e-mail, spam also eats up a lot of network bandwidth. Consequently, there are many organizations, as well as individuals, who have taken it upon themselves to fight spam with a variety of techniques. But because the Internet is public, there is really little that can be done to prevent spam, just as it is impossible to prevent junk mail. However, some online services have instituted policies to prevent spammers from spamming their subscribers.
• Client-server architecture- : Technology that separates computers and application software into two categories clients, and servers to better employ available computing resources and share data processing loads. A client computer provides the user interaction-facility (interface) and some or all application processing, while the a server computer might provide high-volume storage capacity, heavy data crunching, and/or high resolution graphics. Typically, several client computers are connected through a network (or networks) to a server which could be a large PC, minicomputer, or a mainframe computer. Every computer connected to a website acts as a client while the website's computer acts as a server. Also called client-server environment.