ADSL -- (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line)

ADSL lines use an architecture similar to telephony as opposed to coaxial. ADSL is different from co-axial Internet in it's delivery and behaviour. In many situations, the download speed is much greater than the upload speed.

Applet

Applets are Java programs often embedded into an HTML page on a web client.. Applets differ from full-fledged Java applications mainly because of security precautions in place because applets can be delivered with near anonymity. Otherwise, they are very much like common Java applications in all other respects.

See Also: Servlet

Application

A program that performs some task on the client or on the server. In the broadest terms, this is anything from a small piece of JavaScript code on a web client. To the operating system for large scale server. Often, the term script is used in lieu of application to denote a smaller, simpler and often interpreted application.

ARPANet -- (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network)

The precursor to the Internet. Developed in the late 1960's by the US Department of Defense as an experiment in a robust, wide-area-network capable of surviving limited nuclar attack. Unlike older networks, ARPAnet was able to use packet switching to divert traffic through the most available route.

ASCII -- (American Standard Code for Information Interchange)

The standard for representing all the upper and lower-case Latin letters, numbers, punctuation, etc. in a mathetical form.

Backbone

A high-speed series of connections from service providers and users to the Internet. If a service provider for a website is a stream of traffic a backbone is a river.

Bandwidth

The throughput of the networking equipment, often expressed as the size of the data pipe (ISDN, T1, OC3). Also, bandwidth can refer to a cap of allowed bandwidth or transfer that takes place within a month.

BBS -- (Bulletin Board System)

A computerized meeting and announcement system. Unlike the Internet, BBSes are points of meeting for only a few users at the same time. Commonly, one user would deposit a message or a file so that another user could retrieve it later. BBSes often amounted to one computer with two or three phonelines.Some of the large ISPs like CompuServe and AOL began as large BBSes and then evolved into Internet service providers.

Benchmarking

A controlled means of testing the performance of a technology or application. Benchmarking is used to assess the throughput of an application.

See Also: Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle, Throughput

Binary

Information consisting entirely of ones and zeros. Binary is also a reference to images.

Binhex -- (BINary HEXadecimal)

A method for converting non-text files (non-ASCII) into ASCII. Binhex is used with emailand query strings to turn data into an unbroken string.

Bit

A single digit number in base-2:as a one or a zero.

bps -- (Bits-Per-Second)

A measurement of how fast data is moved from one place to another. A 56K modem can move about 57,000 bits per second.

Browser

Another term for a web client program (software) that is used to receive HTML and other commonly transmitted deliver traffic.

Byte

Eight bits combine into a byte, sometimes more, depending on how the measurement is being made.

Cache

In a web browser or in a proxy server, a repository of frequently accessed data that be retrieved at a greater speed than retrieval from the originating source.

CGI -- (Common Gateway Interface)

CGI is the common blanket term for web applications. In almost all cases, these are server side applications that are built with the intension taking input from client requests and responding with output that is sent back to the client.

Client

Software used to contact and obtain data from a Server. Commonly, the client is a web browser on a user's computer, but the role of client can be played by another server acting as an automated client.

co-location

A server that is physically located inside of the operations of a third party, like a service provider. Thie co-located server gains the benefits of being in a termperature controlled environment, with security, power backup and access to a high-speed Internet connection.

Compiled Code

Compiled code is code written in a human readable language and then compiled so that it is optimized for one platform and operating system. The benefit is that the application runs much faster that if it were interpreted or optimized code.

Cookie

Cookies can remain on a browser and can store small pieces of information specific to a domain. The cookie for a site will be sent to the server with each request as header information that the server can read, interpret and respond accordingly. Because of the unsecure nature of cookies, they can be used for common things (like retaining website preferences) but are not so when issues of security are concerned.

Cyberspace

Term originated by author William Gibson in his novel Neuromancer to describe the intermediate space between users and network destinations. In real terms there is much debate from a legal standpoint about where actions of users and computers have effect: at the point of origin, at the point to delivery; or in between in cyberspace.

Daemon

A daemon is a service or process that runs in the background on a server. Daemons are commonly launched when a server product begins running. Common taks include the HTTPd that listens for and deals with requests via HTTP; scheduled tasks; and e-mail handlers.

Domain Name

The unique name that identifies an Internet site. Domain Names have two or more segments to the name: the top level domain preceded by the domain itself (e.g. yahoo.com). Domains can have subdomains (e.g. money.yahoo.com).

DSL

Digital Subscriber Line.

See Also: ADSL

Dynamic

A dynamic document (like an Active Server Page) is a document with coding elements built into the page. When a dyanmic document is served out, it's coding will be parsed, executed and used to alter the content and/or delivery of the document.

See Also: Static, InLine Scripting

Email -- (Electronic Mail)

Messages, usually text, sent from one person to another via computer. E-mail can also be sent to one or to several addresses simutaneously.

Embedded

Embedded is a term used for a device that has its function embedded into the hardware. This allows for terrific speed at the expense of flexibility. Embedded devices such as HTTPd services exist in roles where simple interaction is required for known and finite role.

Environment Variables

Clients and servers communicate environment variables to one another. These are additional pieces of information that can help the client and the server to better communication with each other.

Ethernet

Ethernet is also known as cat-5 cabling. It's the standard means of connecting two machines on the network. Currently ethernet is limited to 100 Mbps (or 100 Mega bits per second).

Event

An occurrence that a computer can detect: a key stroke, a mouse click, a page loading. Events are often used as triggers to cause another action to occur.

FAQ -- (Frequently Asked Questions)

FAQs are common to web sites and documentation that require quick answers to common questions.

Firewall

A combination of hardware and software that separates a Network into two or more parts for security purposes.

FTP -- (File Transfer Protocol)

FTP predated theWorld Wide Web and originally was used solely from a command line interface. In the last several years a number of applications have come about to handle this transaction. FTP serves as a very common method of moving files between two Internet sites. While it is similar to HTTP, it enforces a stronger relationship between the client and the server so that large files can be moved from one place to another without interuption.

GB (Gigabyte)

1000 Megabytes, technically 1024 Megabytes

Gbit

Giga-bits per second or 1,000,000,000 bits per second.

Gbps

See Gbit

GIF -- (Graphic Interchange Format)

An image format ieal forline drawings and images with 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. Unlike JPEG, GIF is a propreitary standard and its using in applications is coming under an increasing amount of scrutiny.

Hand coding

To write HTML and application code by hand rather than use a development tool. The syntax for hand coded pages and applications comes from the memory of the developer rather than from a fucntion in a development application.

HDML

Handheld Device Markup Language is used to format content for Web-enabled mobile phones. This isa proprietary language developed for Openwave browsers.

See Also: WML

Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle

The act of observation affects the observation. Further, because of the nature of these observations, only sentient beings can perceive them. Therefore, this principle means that "reality" does not exist independent of the sentient observer. Because of this concept, it is impossible to completely accurately benchmark the performance of an application, because the benchmarking will throw off the test.

See Also: Benchmarking

hit

A hit is synonymous with a page view. Both counts a one unique view of one unique document from a user. A user can visit a number of pages and generate a lot of "hits" through their use. A page can have a lot of visitors and there get a lot of "hits.". When discussing hits, usually the associated images files figure collectively into 1 hit (e.g. 10 GIFs, 2 JPEGs and an HTML document combine to equal 1 hit).

HTML -- (HyperText Markup Language)

The coding language used to create Hypertext documents for use on the World Wide Web . HTML looks a lot like old-fashioned typesetting code, where you surround a block of text with codes that indicate how it should appear.

HTTP -- (HyperText Transfer Protocol)

The protocol for moving files across a network via an HTTP client program on one end, and an HTTP server program on the other end. HTTP is the most important protocol used in the World Wide Web (WWW).

Hub

A device that connects multiple machines to one another. Anything from a three port hub to a 100 port hub is available. They can pipe information from one networked device to the next at speeds to 10 Mbps, 100 Mbps or even 1 Gbps. Hubs allow through the lowest common denominator of traffic. A similar device, a switch can allow through traffic of different speed.

See Also: switch

Hypertext

Hypertext is text that is not static. It can change, be formatted differently and link to other documents. With static text, you have to follow content from start to finish. Hypertext allows you to follow an idea from start to finish.

IDE (Integrated Drive Electronics)

A hard-drive interface wherein all of the controller electronics are integrated into the drive itself. Because basic IDE could only address of upto 540 MB of drive space, EIDE has superceded it, but is often referred t as just IDE.

See Also: SCSI

IE (Internet Explorer)

Internet Explorer is the web browser developed by Microsoft. It was been ported to most of the platforms in heavy use (Win32, Mac and some commercial versions of Unix). It is the majority player in the web client market.

IMAP -- (Internet Message Access Protocol)

IMAP is a new alternative to POP3 as the main protocol used by email clients in communicating with email servers. An email client program is capable of altering or acting on the mail message before receipt. It can automatically delete a message, send a response or search a mail document while it remains on the server. This means that a user can keep their mail on the server and access it from any location without necessarily downloading it. IMAP is defined in RFC 2060

See Also: SMTP, POP

InLine Scripting

Inline scripting is code that is included in an HTML document so that when it is served to the client, the server parses the document, executes the code and that allows for delivery of different/dynamic content.

See Also: Dynamic

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.

Interpreted Code

Interpreted code is different from compiled code in that it needs an interpeter for it to execute. Because of this, interpreted code is more flexible but it is also slower than compiled code.

Intranet

A private network inside an organization. It behaves like the Internet but it is available only to users from the organization. Because the access is less likely to be anonymous, Intranet can achieve more than Internet processes because the security concerns are less pronounced.

IP Address

Sometimes called a dotted quad. A unique number consisting of 4 parts separated by dots ranging from 0 to 255. Each section (quad) is also called a Class. The first is Class A, the second is Class B, etc. IP addresses convert into an integer that gives a unique location (eg. (Class A * (256 * 4)) + (Class B * (256 * 3)) + (Class B * (256 * 2)) + Class D).

ISDN -- (Integrated Services Digital Network)

ISDN is similar to ADSL in that it can more data via regular phone lines at speeds of roughly 128 Mbps over regular phone lines.

ISP -- (Internet Service Provider)

An organization that connects web clients to the Internet via their network; or an organization connects your server(s) to the Internet..

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.

Kilobyte

Often considered 1000 bytes, it's actually 1024 bytes.

LAN -- (Local Area Network)

A computer network limited to the immediate area, usually the same building, one office or one floor of a building.

See Also: WAN, MAN

Linux

Linux is the open source version of Unix. It has a grand benefit over other platforms. Because it is open source, support can come in from web sites, newsgroups, books, trained consultants and Linux aficionados. Open source often implies that the distribution itself comes free of charge.

Load Balancing

A hardware and/or software means of distributing requests to multiple computers to satisfy user requests in a timely, transparent way that does not cause breakdown to the computers of the network.

Login

Used as a noun. Noun: The account name used to gain access to a computer system. Not a secret (contrast with Password). Used as a verb. Verb: the act of connecting to a computer system by giving your credentials (usually your "username" and "password")

MAN

A Metropolitan Area Networking. A network that comprises of several locations within 10 miles of one another. Different locations are connected through WAN architecture (like ISDN, dial-up or wireless connections).

See Also: WAN, LAN

Mbit

Mega-bits per second or 1,000,000 bits per second

Mbps

See Mbit

Megabyte

One million bytes or 1024 kilobytes.

MIME -- (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions)

The MIME standard was orignally used for email but now is used in a number of different roles, including server different formats of data via the web (images versus plain text versus PDF etc).

Mirror

A Mirror is a duplicate. In terms of websites, it is a duplicate website made from an original. In terms of hardware, drive volumes can be mirrored so that when one is busy satisfying a request, another mirrored can step to take some of the load.

Modem -- (MOdulator, DEModulator)

A device that connects a computer to an outbound line: ADSL, dial-up, coaxial, or ISDN. This allows machines to network with one another through third-party hardware.

Moore 's Law

The prediction by Gordon Moore that the number of transistors on a microprocessor would double approximately every 18 months. It also states that development costs will double every 18 months. This progress will go on until approximiately 2017, when this doubling effect will have hit its limit because the size of the particles used in the manufacture.

Mosaic

The first graphical web client available for the NeXT, Macintosh, Windows,and UNIX all with the same interface. Mosaic really started the popularity of the Web. The source-code to Mosaic was licensed to create many other web browsers such as Netscape.

Mozilla

See Netscape, Firefox

MTA (Mail Transfer Agent)

Email services such as those that use POP3, SMTP and IMAP protocols. Different MTAs are used to send and receive email to and from other servers.

Netiquette

The "etiquette" on the Internet.

Netscape

A web client/rowser. The Netscape browser was originally based on NCSA Mosaic and its origns came from many of the same team.

Network

A connection of two or more computers so that they can share data..

Newsgroup

The name for discussion groups on USENET.

Nibble

4 bits or a half-byte. Almost never used.

NIC

(Network Interface Card). This is the device that converts information from one computer into data that can be sent to another computer on the network

NNTP -- (Network News Transport Protocol)

The protocol used by client and server software used to post, distribute, and retrieve USENET messages.

OC3

OC stands for "Optical Carrier" the speed of fiber optic networks. OC3 is equivalent to 155.52 Mbps

Open Source Software

Open Source Software is software and its code that is distributed freely under one of several different licenses. License terms range from completely open so that a developer can use the code in a propretiary application; through to the code created with Open Source code has to become Open Source as well.

Optimized Code

Optimized code exists somewhere in between compiled code and interpreted code. Optimized code is processed from its source code state to a non-human readable state. But, it is not fully compiled so that it can function on different platforms via a virtual machine. This is the core the Java structure and is also used by C#.

See Also: Compiled Code, Interpreted Code

Orphaned Technologies

A technology that has been eclipsed by a similar technology and has therefore fallen out of favor. While an orphaned technology, may still be in use, there is little to no new support for it and its chief proponent (often its creator) may be out of business or simply no longer supporting the product.

OSI Model

The Open System Interconnection model that defines a networking framework divided into seven layers: Pyhsical, Datalink, Network, Transport, Session, Presentation and Application. Instructions move from one layer to the next. In communcations from one computer to another, data starts with the user interaction with the Application layer moves down the seven layers, across a physical connection and back up the layers at the destination device.

P2P (Peer-to-Peer)

P2P connects two or more clients with one another, without the need for a server intermediary (apart from networking devices). Gnutella and other file-swapping technologies use P2P to move data from one client to the other without a third party in between.

Packet Switching

The method used to move data across a network via protocols like TCP/IP. Data going onto the network is divided into packets-- or pieces-- each piece has to find its way to the destination using the shortest path possible. If some of the packets are lost enough of them will survive so that the data still reaches the recipient. This data can also be mingled with other data, so that the potential bandwidth available can be best used.

Pageview

See hit

Plug-in

Client side interpreters like Flash and RealAudio exist as plug-ins in web clients. These are not core parts of the web browsers, but are third party additions that extend the viability of the browser.

POP

(Point of Presence) A Point of Presence is connection point to a network, often with dial up phone lines. (Post Office Protocol) The Post Office Protocol refers to a way that e-mail clients download mail from a mail server.

See Also: SMTP, IMAP

Port

1. A specific Internet "channel" to listen to. Some ports are common to one role (e.g. port 80 for web services) In a URL, the port follows the domain name separated by a colon (:) Internet services/daemons listen to a particular port. Most services have standard port numbers and receive requests from clients when a string of data arrives at a given port.

2. Port refers to the translation of one application from one language/platform to another language or platform.

3. A place where information moves from of a computer to another device (a keyboard or network connection).

Portal

A term to describe a Web site intended to be the first stop for web users. Portal sites offer news and other information of interest of users and can narrowcast data by identifying uses by cookies implanted on their web client.

PPP -- (Point to Point Protocol)

A protocol used to connect home computers to the Internet over a dial-up connection.

The PPP protocol allows for the assignment of a temporary IP address for the duration of a session.

Processing Load

See Server Load

Proxy Server

A proxy server intercepts requests destined for a particular web site. Popular pages are stored on the proxy server and these pages are served back to the user. On an Intranet/Internet landscape, a proxy can improve delivery of web pages, even serving cached versions of a page after the website itself has gone down. Another function for a proxy server is to block certain websites that you don't want your users/employees/students/citizens from seeing.

Request

A request is sent from a client to the server. It will come in the form of one of several content delivery methods (POST, GET, HEAD, etc.) and provide the server with header information such as environment variables. The server treats data from a request as input and acts accordingly.

See Also: Response, Client, Server

Response

When the server has processed a request from a client, it will generate a response and send that back to the same client who originated the request.

See Also: Request, Client, Server

RFC -- (Request For Comments)

Request for Comments are a series of notes about the Internet and proposed technologies and/or proposed evolution of existing technologies. Proposals are reviewed by the Internet Engineering Task Force (http://www.ietf.org/) and eventually a new standard is established based on IETF reccomendations.

ROI (Return on Investment)

The principle of judging if an expenditure in time and money to develop a new technology will reap a reward equal to or greater than the expense. An 800% ROI means that for every dollar spent, the technology will save and/or earn $8.

Router

A device that handles the connection between two or more networks. Routers are almost exclusively used to pipe data, bu they can also perform other tasks such as the blocking of some domains that the load balancing of some traffic.

RSS

Resource Description Framework Site Summary (RSS) is data formatted with XML tags. This is commonly used to display current information such as news, prices, etc. The RSS format is standardized so that XML transformations can turn RSS data into HTML data or otherwise manipulate that data

Script

See application.

SCSI (Small Computer System Interface)

Pronounced "scuzzy." A standard of device connection wherein you can add up to seven devices to a computer and they will share a SCSI bus and work in tandem. Faster than IDE but not as common and more expensive.

See Also: IDE

Search Engine

A system for searching the records and documents available on a web site.

Security Certificate

A piece of information used by the SSL protocol to establish a secure connection. Security certificates have to be validated prior to use.

See Also: SSL

Server

A computer that recieves requests from other devices and responds to those requests with appropriate output. Servers differeniate themselves from clients in that they store data and principally handle requests that come from remote users.

See Also: Client

Server Load

The amount of server resource usage that comes from operating services and handling client requests. Server load factors include Processor speed, RAM, drive volume speed and virtual memory available. If a server has too much traffic for its resources, the server will suffer an overload and fail.

Service

See daemon

Servlet

A servlet is the Java server side equivalent of an applet. They are many more rights than an applet because of the trusted non-anonymous nature of the relationship between servlet and server. In general terms, a servlet is the Java equivalent of an application.

See Also: Application

SGML

Standard Generalized Markup Language, the progenitor for HTML and XML is a system for organizing and tagging elements of a document. Applications, including web browsers, interpret SGML tags and affect the delivery of the text as well as call for other documents.

See Also: XML

SMTP -- (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol)

The Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP)) is the most basic protocol for passing mail to and from other servers and clients. It is a robust protocol that will wait and take as long as it needs to deliver its mail to a recipient. SMTP is defined in RFC 821.

SNMP -- (Simple Network Management Protocol)

A set of standards for communication with devices like routers, hubs, and switches connected to a TCP/IP network. SNMP is defined in RFC 1089

SOAP

Simple Object Access Protocol provides a way for applications on different servers to communicate with each other over the Internet. Unlike other web services protocols, SOAP uses common ports to communicate between servers. Beneath SOAP is XML used to define the instructions sent from one machine to another.

See Also: XML, WSDL

Spam

Messages sent via email or posted on a newgroup intended to promote a product or service. Commonly these messages are mass mailed to number of people and often without their prior consent. Often spam mailers (or spammers) use mass mail software and illegal means to broadcast their message but escape reprisal.

SQL -- (Structured Query Language)

SQL (Structured Query Language) is a collection of common commands and a few commands unique to a given database engine. Simple SQL statements can be applied to almost every database engine. At the core of the language are six commands: CREATE, INSERT, UPDATE, SELECT, DELETE and DROP.

SSH-- (Secure Shell)

A secure shell application to allow a terminal connection to a remote server.

SSL -- (Secure Socket Layer)

A protocol designed by Netscape Communications to facilitate encrypted, authenticated communications across the Internet. SSL is often used in financial transactions.

See Also: Security Certificate

State

The state of a system or a Web page is its condition: its attributes, configuration and/or its content. While a desktop application will maintain state, the client server architecture is stateless. Each request and response is self-contained from one another. The information from one interaction will not automatically carry over to another transaction because HTTP is stateless.

Static

A static document is a document that does not change through some automated program interaction. In other words, a text file can change when a user edits it and an application can parse a static document and manipulate, but a static document has no inherent means to do this of its own accord.

See Also: Dynamic

Switch

A switch is similar to a hub. It connects multiple network devices to one another: computers, printers, routers, external storage devices; and other hubs and switches. Unlike a hub, a switch can allow through data travelling at different network speeds and adjust it so that it reaches its destination complete.

See Also: hub

T1

A line capable of carrying data at 1,544 Mbps.

T3

A line capable of carrying data at 44,736 Mbps.

TCP/IP -- (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol)

Theses are the protocols that define the Internet. TCP allows two hosts to establish a connection and exchange streams of data through packets. IP specifies the format of packets and the addressing scheme of said packets. Combined, TCP/IP forms connections across the Internet and maintains integrity between the sender and recipient (or client and server).

Telnet

A shell program used to login from one Internet site to another.

Throughput

The amount of data that pass from a server or through network. Often a gauge of raw processing power or network performance.

UDP -- (User Datagram Protocol)

One of the protocols for data transfer that is part of the TCP/IP suite of protocols. UDP is a "stateless" protocol in that UDP makes no provision for acknowledgement of packets received. This makes it different from TCP/IP that tracks the packets sent to a recipient.

See Also: TCP/IP

Unix

The operating system orignally built by AT&T in the 1970s. There have been a long list of commercial variants (POSIX, HP-UX, Solaris) and a number of Open Source variants (Linux, FreeeBSD, etc.). Unix was designed to network many machinesthrough TCP/IP and other protocols.

URI -- (Uniform Resource Identifier)

An address for s resource available on the Internet. This is similar but different from the URL. A URI is the definition of the location-- a sign-post rather than URL's name on a map.

See Also: URL

URL -- (Uniform Resource Locator)

The term URL is the uniform reference to a location on the network, from something as general as a domain, to something as specific as a full location and a query string.

See Also: URI

USENET

A system of discussion groups, with content passed among hundreds of thousands of machines. Not all USENET machines are on the Internet. USENET is completely decentralized, with over 10,000newsgroups.

UUENCODE -- (Unix to Unix Encoding)

A method for converting files from Binary to ASCII (text) so that they can be sent across the Internet viae-mail. This method allows data to move from one location to another without breaks or misinterpretation as all of the control characters are turns into UUENCODED strings.

Virtual Domain

A domain that resides on a server with one or more other domains sharing the same server. Virtual domains are useful for low-to-middling trafiic site.

WAN -- (Wide Area Network)

Any internet or network that covers an area larger than a single building or campus.

Win32

The Microsoft Windows that uses 32-bit applications (e.g. Win95/98/ME/NT/XP). Most of the applications built from 1995 on were developed for a 32-bit architecture. This means they can perform more computations with more complex figures.

WML

Wireless Markup Language, an XML language used to specify content for WAP/handheld devices. It uses a "deck" system to deliver small screens of information rather than a large single document.

See Also: HDML

WSDL

Web Services Description Language, an XML subset used to describe a Web services so that different machines can communicate with one another and distribute tasks. WSDL is part of UDDI, an XML-based worldwide business registry and was developed jointly by Microsoft and IBM.

See Also: SOAP, XML

WWW -- (World Wide Web)

The world wide web is the web browser and HTTP architecture built on the Internet. It uses a number of consumer friendly mechanics: graphical documents delivered in HTML via HTTP; human-readable URLs and the like.

WYSIWYG

An acronym meaning: "What you see is what you get." This term is common in desktop publishing but also is used to describe files like PDF documents and Flash movies. Because the formatting is complete and internally consistent, WYSIWYG documents do not change in appearance from one computer to the next; or from a computer incarnation to print or video version.

XML -- (eXtensible Markup Language)

eXtensible Markup Language, developed by the W3C.. XML is a pared-down version of SGML, designed especially for Web documents. It's tags are extensible in that they be formatted to contain and reference a variety of data,

See Also: SGML