Glossary of Internet Terms

Copyright 1994-95 Matisse Enzer / Internet Literacy Consultants

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http://www.matisse.net/files/glossary.html 56K Line A digital phone-line
connection (leased line) capable of carrying 56,000 bits-per-second. At
this speed, a Megabyte will take about 3 minutes to transfer. See also:
Bandwidth, T-1

ADN (Advanced Digital Network) -- Usually refers to a 56K/bps
leased-line.

Archie A tool (software) for finding files stored on anonymous FTP
sites. You need to know the exact file name or a sub-string of it.

ARPANet (Advanced Research Projects Administration Network) -- The
precursor to the Internet. Developed in the late 60's and early 70's by
the US Department of Defense as an experiment in wide-area networking
that would survive a nuclear war. See also: Internet (uppercase I)

Anonymous FTP See FTP.

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,
punctuation, etc. There are 128 standard ASCII codes each of which can
be represented by a 7 digit binary number: 0000000 through 1111111

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. There are many thousands (millions?) of BBS's
around the world, most are very small, running on a single IBM clone PC
with 1 or 2 phone lines. Some are very large and the line between a BBS
and a system like CompuServe gets crossed at some point, but it is not
clearly drawn.

Bit (Binary DigIT) -- A single digit number in base-2, in other words,
either a 1 or a zero. The smallest unit of computerized data. Bandwidth
is usually measured in bits-per-second. See also Bandwidth, Byte,
Kilobyte, and Megabyte

BITNET (Because It's Time Network) -- A network of educational sites
seperate from the Internet, but e-mail is freely exchanged between
BITNET and the Internet. Listservs, the most popular form of e-mail
discussion groups originated on BITNET. BITNET machines are IBM VMS
machines, and the network is probably the only international network
that is shrinking. Backbone A high-speed line or series of connections
that forms a major pathway within a network. The term is relative as a
backbone in a small network will likely be much smaller than many
non-backbone lines in a large network.

Bandwidth How much "stuff" you can send through a connection. Usually
measured in bits-per-second. A full page of english text is about 16,000
bits. A fast modem can move about 15,000 bits in one second. Full-motion
full-screen video would require roughly 10,000,000 bits-per-second,
depending on compression. See also: 56K, Bit, T-1

Binhex (BINary HEXadecimal) -- a method for converting non-text files
(non-ASCII) into ASCII. This is needed because Internet e-mail can only
handle ASCII. See also: ASCII

Browser A client program (software) that is used to look at various
kinds of Internet resources. See also: Client, WWW

Byte A set of Bits that represent a single character. Usually there are
8 or 10 bits in a Byte, depending on how the measurement is being made.


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. See also: Server

Cyberspace Term originated by author William Gibson in his novel
"Neuromancer", the word Cyberspace is currently used to describe the
whole range of information resources available through computer
networks.

Domain Name The unique name that identifies an Internet site. Domain
Names always have 2 or more parts, separated by dots. The part on the
left is the most specific, and the part on the right is the most
general. A given machine may have more than one Domain Name but a given
Domain Name points to only one machine. Usually, all of the machines on
a given network will have the same thing as the right-hand portion of
their Domain Names, e.g.

gateway.gbnetwork.com mail.gbnetwork.com www.gbnetwork.com

and so on. It is also possible for a Domain Name to exist but not be
connected to an actual machine. This is often done so that a group or
business can have an Internet e-mail address without having to establish
a real Internet site. In these cases, some real Internet machine must
handle the mail on behalf of the listed Domain Name. See also: IP
number. 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 (Mailing List) See also:
Listserv, Maillist

Ethernet A very common method of networking computers in a LAN. Ethernet
will handle about 10,000,000 bits-per-second and can be used with almost
any kind of computer. See also: Bandwidth, LAN


FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) -- FAQs are documents that list and
answer the most common questions on a particular subject. There are
hundreds of FAQs on subjects as diverse as Pet Grooming and
Cryptography. FAQs are usually written by people who have tired of
answering the same question over and over.

FDDI (Fiber Distributed Data Interface) -- A standard for transmitting
data on optical fiber cables at a rate of around 100,000,000
bits-per-second (10 time as fast as Ethernet, about twice as fast as T-3
) See also: Bandwidth, Ethernet, T-1, T-3

FTP (File Transfer Protocol) -- A very common method of moving files
between two Internet sites. FTP is a special 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".

Finger An Internet software tool for locating people on other Internet
sites. Finger is also sometimes used to give access to non-personal
information, but the most common use is to see if a person has an
account at a particular Internet site. Many sites do not allow incoming
Finger requests, but many do.

Gopher A widely successful method of making menus of material available
over the Internet. Gopher is a Client and Server style program, which
requires that the user have a Gopher Client program. Although Gopher
spread rapidly across the globe in only a couple of years, it is being
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. See also: Client, Server, WWW,
Hypertext

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 WWW and USENET See
also: Node, Network


HTML (HyperText Markup Language) -- The coding language used 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, additionally, in HTML you can
specify that a block of text, or a word, is "linked" to another file on
the Internet. HTML files are meant to be viewed using a World Wide Web
Client program, such as Mosaic. See also: HTTP, Hypertext, Mosaic, WWW
(World Wide Web)

HTTP (HyperText Transport Protocol) -- The protocol for moving hypertext
files across the Internet. Requires a 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). See also: Client, Server, WWW

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.

IMHO (In My Humble Opinion) -- A shorthand appended to a comment written
in an online forum, IMHO indicates that the writer is aware that they
are expressing a debatable view, probably on a subject already under
discussion. One of many such shorthands in common use online, especially
in discussion forums.

IP 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.
Most machines also have one or more Domain Names that are easier for
people to remember. See also: Domain Name, Internet


IRC (Internet Relay Chat) -- Basically a huge multi-user live chat
facility. There are a number 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".

ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network) -- Basically a way to move
more data over existing regular phone lines. ISDN is only slowly
becoming available in the USA but where it is available, it can provide
speeds of 64,000 bits-per-second over a regular phone line at almost the
same cost as a normal phone call.

Internet (upper case I) The vast collection of inter-connected networks
that all use the TCP/IP protocols and that evolved from the ARPANET of
the late 60's and early '70s. The Internet now (Nov. 1994) connects
roughly 30,000 independent networks into a vast global internet. See
also: internet (lower case i)

internet (lower case i) Any time you connect 2 or more networks
together, you have an internet - as in inter-national or inter-state.

Kilobyte A thousand bytes. Actually, usually, 1024 (2^10) bytes. See
also: Byte, Bit

LAN (Local Area Network) -- A computer network limited to the immediate
area, usually the same building or floor of the building.

Leased-line Refers to a phone line that is rented for exclusive 24-hour,
7-days-a-week use from your location to another location. The highest
speed data connections require a leased line. See also: 56K, T-1, T-3


Listerv The most common kind of maillist, Listervs originated on BITNET
but they are now common on the Internet See also: BITNET, E-mail,
Maillist

Login Noun or a verb. Noun: The account name used to gain access to a
computer system. Not a secret (contrast with Password) Verb: The act of
entering into a computer system, e.g. "Login to the WELL and then go to
the GBN conference." See also: Password

Megabyte A million bytes. A thousand kilobytes. See also: Byte, Bit,
Kilobyte

MOO (Mud, Object Oriented) -- one of several kinds of multi-user
role-playing environments, so far only text-based. See also: MUD, MUSE

MUD (Multi-User Dungeon or Dimension) -- A (usually text-based)
multi-user simulation environment. Some are purely for fun and flirting,
others are used for serious software development, or education purposes
and all that lies in between. A significant feature of most MUDs is that
users can create things that stay after they leave and which other users
can interact with in their absence, thus allowing a "world" to be built
gradually and collectively. See also: MOO, MUSE

MUSE One kind of MUD - usually with little or no violence. See also:
MOO, MUD

Maillist (or Mailing List) A (usually automated) system 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 maillist. In this way,
people who have many different kids of e-mail access can participate in
discussions together.


Modem (MOdulator, DEModulator) -- a device that you connect to your
computer and to a phone line, that allows the computer to talk to other
computers through the phone system. Basically, modems do for computers
what a telephone does for humans.

Mosaic The best known and most widespread WWW browser or client
software. The source-code to Mosaic has been licensed by several
companies and there are several other pieces of software as good or
better than Mosaic. See also: Browser, Client, WWW

NIC (Network Information Center) -- Generally, any office that handles
information for a network. The most famous of these on the Internet is
the InterNIC, which is where new domain names are registered.

Network Any time you connected 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. See also: Internet, internet

Newsgroups The name for discussion groups on Usenet . See also: Usenet

Node Any single computer connected to a network . See also: Network,
Internet, internet

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 to different
routes by special machines along the way. This way many people can use
the same lines at the same time.


Password A code used to gain access to a locked system. Good passwords
contain letters and non-letters and are not simple combinations such as
"virtue7". A good password might be:

Hot$l-6


See also: Login

PPP (Point to Point Protocol) -- most well known as a protocol that
allows a computer to use a regular telephone line and a modem to make a
TCP/IP connection and thus be really and truly on the Internet . PPP is
gradually replacing SLIP for this purpose. See also: IP number,
Internet, SLIP, TCP/IP

RFC (Request For Comments) -- the name of the result and the process for
creating a standard on the Internet . New standards are proposed and
published on line, as a "Request For Comments". The Internet Engineerng
Task Force is a consensus-building body that facilitates discussion, and
eventually a new standard is established, but the reference number/name
for the standard retains the acronym "RFC", e.g. the official standard
for e-mail is RFC 822.

Router A special-purpose computer (or software package) that handles the
connection between 2 or more networks . Routers spend all their time
looking at the destination addresses of the packets passing through them
and deciding which route to send them on. See also: Network,
Packet-switching

SMDS (Switched Multimegabit Data Service) -- A new standard for very
high-speed data transfer.

Server (see Client) 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, e.g. "Our
mail server is down today, that's why e-mail isn't getting out." A
single server machine could have several different server software
packages running on it, thus providing many different services to
clients on the network . See also: Client, Network


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 is gradually being replaced by PPP . See also:
Internet, PPP

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 is the fastest speed commonly used to connect
networks to the Internet . See also: 56K, Bandwidth, Bit, Byte,
Ethernet, T-3

T-3 A leased-line connection capable of carrying data at 45,000,000
bits-per-second. This is more than enough to do full-screen, full-motion
video. See also: 56K, Bandwidth, Bit, Byte, Ethernet, T-1

TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) -- This is the
suite of protocols that defines The Internet . Originally designed for
the UNIX operating system, TCP/IP software is now available for every
major kind of computer operating system. To be truly on the Internet ,
your computer must have TCP/IP software. See also: IP number, Internet,
UNIX

Telnet The command and program used to login from one Internet site to
another. The telnet command/program gets you to the "login:" prompt of
another host.

Terminal A device that allows you to send commands to a computer
somewhere else. At a minimum, this usually means a keyboard and a
display screen and some simple circuitry. usually you will use terminal
software in a personal computer - the software pretends to be
("emulates") a physical terminal and allows you to type commands to a
computer somewhere else.


Terminal Server A special purpose computer that has places to plug in
many modems on one side, and a connection to a LAN or host machine on
the other side. Thus the terminal server does the work of answering the
calls and passes the connections on to the appropriate node . Most
terminal servers can provide PPP or SLIP services if connected to the
Internet . See also: LAN, Modem, Host, Node, PPP, SLIP

UNIX A computer operating system (the basic software running on a
computer, underneath things like word processors and spreadsheets). UNIX
is designed to be used by many people at the same time (it is
"multi-user") and has TCP/IP built-in. It is the most common operating
system for servers on the Internet

URL (Uniform Resource Locator) -- The standard way to give the address
of any resource on the Internet that is part of the World Wide Web
(WWW). A URL looks like this:

http://www.matisse.net/seminars.html or	telnet://well.sf.ca.us
or	news:new.newusers.questions etc.

The most common way to use a URL is to enter into a WWW browser program,
sucha s Netscape, or Lynx. See also:  Browser,WWW Usenet A world-wide
system of discussion groups, with comments passed among hundreds of
thousands of machines. Not all Usenet machines are on the Internet ,
maybe half. Usenet is completely decentralized, with over 10,000
discussion areas, called newsgroups .

Veronica (Very Easy Rodent Oriented Net-wide Index to Computerized
Archives) -- Developed at the University of Nevada, Veronica is a
constantly updated database of the names of almost every menu item on
thousands of gopher servers. The Veronica database can be searched from
most major gopher menus. See also: Gopher

WAIS (Wide Area Information Servers) -- A commercial software package
that allows the indexing of huge quantities of information, and then
making those indices searchable across networks such as the Internet . A
prominent feature of WAIS is that the search results are ranked
according to how relevant the "hits" are, and that subsequent searches
can find "more stuff like that last batch" and thus refine the search
process.

WAN (Wide Area Network) -- Any internet or network that covers an area
larger than a single building or campus. See also: Internet, internet,
LAN, Network

WWW (World Wide Web) Two meanings - First, loosely used: The whole
constellation of resources that can be accessed using Gopher , FTP ,
HTTP , telnet , Usenet , WAIS and some other tools. Second, the universe
of hypertext servers (HTTP servers ) which are the servers that allow
text, graphics, sound files etc to be mixed together. See also:
Browsers, FTP, Gopher, HTTP, Telnet, WAIS