- ABC
- Adware
Bandwidth
Browser
Cookie
- DEF
- Ethernet
File-sharing
- GHI
- Hardware address
HTML
Hyperlink
Hypertext
Internet
Internet Service Provider (ISP)
IP Address
- JKL
- LAN
Link
- MNO
- MAC address
- PQRS
- Peer-to-peer
Router
Sniffer
Spyware
- TUV
- TCP/IP
- WXYZ
- WAN
Web browser
World Wide Web
- Bandwidth
- The amount of data that can be transmitted within a fixed amount
of time. In terms of network bandwidth, this usually translates to
how fast your connection is.
- Cookie
- A message sent to a Web browser by a Web
server and stored as a text file by the browser. The message is sent
back to the server each time you visit a page on the server and is
typically used to identify the visitor and subsequently, deliver
customized content.
- Ethernet
- A local-area network (LAN) architecture developed by Xerox Corporation with DEC and Intel in 1976. The original version
of Ethernet supports data transfer rates of 10 Mbps and it serves as
the original specification for the IEEE 802.3 standard (the Ethernet
standard), the most widely implemented LAN standard. Newer versions
of Ethernet include 100Base-T (or Fast Ethernet), which supports data
transfers up to 100 Mbps, and Gigabit Ethernet, which supports data
transfers up to 1 gigabit (1,000 megabits) per second.
- File-sharing
- Refers to the practice of allowing one Internet user to access the
files of another user through some type of public directory.
File-sharing technologies include FTP, IRC, and most famously, peer-to-peer (P2P). The term "file-sharing"
refers generally to the process of exchanging files over the Internet,
but is often used to refer specifically to the exchange of digital
music, video and other copyrighted materials (legally or illegally).
- HTML
- Abbreviation for HyperText Markup Language, the authoring language
used to create documents for the World Wide
Web. Through HTML's system of tags and attributes, the structure
and layout of a Web document can be defined as well as the most
important part of hypertext documents in general, hyperlinks, which link documents together.
- Hyperlink (or link)
- A hyperlink, or more commonly called a "link," is an element in an
electronic document (usually an HTML document)
that links to another document. Usually, you click on the hyperlink
to follow the link. Hyperlinks are the key elements in hypertext systems like the World Wide Web.
- Hypertext
- A special type of database system where objects can be links
together. By selecting an object, you can see all the objects that
are linked or connected to it, even though the objects may be of
different forms. For example, in the hypertext system of the World Wide Web, a link in a Web page (an HTML document) can link to a video or audio file.
- Internet
- A global network connecting millions of computers in more than 100
countries. Each computer on the Internet is called a "host" and each
host is independent, allowed to choose which Internet services to use
as well as make available to the Internet community. The Internet is
not synonymous with the World Wide Web.
- Internet Service Provider (ISP)
- A company that provides access to the Internet.
- IP Address
- Short for Internet Protocol address, 32-bit numerical address that
identifies a computer or other device on a TCP/IP
network. TCP/IP networks route traffic based on the IP address of the
destination. IP addresses usually appear as four numbers separated by
periods and each number can be from zero to 255. For example:
1.60.10.240.
- LAN
- Abbreviation for Local-Area Network. A LAN is a computer network
that spans a relatively small area, such a single building or group of
buildings. Several LANs can be connected together to create a
wide-area network (WAN).
- MAC Address (or hardware address)
- Short for Media Access Control address, a MAC address (also called
a hardware address) is a unique 12-digit hexidecimal number that
identifies a node on the network. Each piece of hardware that
interfaces with the network has a unique hardware address. So, for
example, the Ethernet card in your computer
has a hardware address unique from all other hardware addresses. If
you have a wireless card as well, it would
have a unique hardware address too.
- Peer-to-peer
- Often abbreviated as P2P, a peer-to-peer network is one where each
computer has equivalent capabilities and responsibilities (as opposed
to a client-server relationship where the server is dedicated to
"serving" the client). The most popular use of this network
architecture is file-sharing.
- Router
- A device that forwards data packets along a network. Routers
appear at gateways, the places where two or more networks connect, and
connect those networks together. Routers use headers (information
that precedes a data packet) and forwarding tables to determine where
and how to forward the data. Very little data filtering is done at
the router level.
- Sniffer
- A software program or device that monitors data travelling over a
network. On TCP/IP networks, it is often called
a "packet sniffer" since it sniffs data packets. While there are
legitimate uses of sniffers, unauthorized sniffers can be extremely
dangerous, inserted anywhere and difficult to detect.
- Spyware (or adware)
- Sometimes called adware, spyware is software that covertly gathers
information about you and your computer usage and then transmits that
information back to someone using your Internet connection, usually
for advertising purposes. Spyware is usually installed without the
user's knowledge since it is often bundled with freeware or shareware
programs downloaded on the Internet (often peer-to-peer filesharing programs). Spyware
can monitor keystrokes, scan files on your hard drive, snoop on other
software applications, read your cookies,
install other spyware programs, etc. In addition to the privacy
concerns, spyware can also eat up your computer's resources and
network bandwidth, causing your computer
and/or network connection to be unstable or crash.
- TCP/IP
- Abbreviation for Tranmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol.
The collection of communications protocols used to connect hosts on
the Internet and is the de facto standard for transmitting data over
networks.
- WAN
- Abbreviation for Wide-Area Network. A WAN is a computer network
that spans a large geographical area and is usually made up of two or
more LANs. The largest WAN in existence is the Internet.
- Web browser (or browser)
- A Web browser, or simply browser, is a piece of software that
locates and displays Web pages. Most Web browsers today are graphical
browsers (an example of a text browser being Lynx), supporting graphics as well
as text, and most also support multimedia content, such as video or
audio. The most popular browsers today are Microsoft Internet
Explorer and Netscape
Navigator. Other browsers include Mozilla and Safari (the latter the Mac OSX
default browser).
- World Wide Web
- A system of Internet servers that support documents specially
formatted in a markup languaged called HTML. These documents support text, graphics, audio,
and video files, but most importantly, links to other documents
through hyperlinks, allowing you to move
from one document to the next, essentially traversing the Web. The
World Wide Web can be accessed through software called Web browsers. The World Wide Web is not
synonymous with the Internet.
Definitions adapted from Webopedia.
