Glossary for Internet Related Terms
64K line
A digital phone-line connection (leased line) capable of
carrying 64,000 bits-per-second, At this speed, a Megabyte will
take about 3 minutes to transfer. This is four times as fast as a
14,400bps modem.. See also: bandwidth, T1.
A.
AFS
A set of protocols that allows you to use files on other
network machines as if they were local. So, rather than
using FTP to transfer a file to your local computer, you can read
it, write it, or edit it on the remote computer—using the
same commands that you would use locally. Very similar in concept
to NFS (q. v.), though it provides better performance. Not yet in
the wide spread use, though a commercial version is currently
available from a company called Transarc.
Application
Software that performs a particular useful function for you.
("Do you have an electronic mail application installed on
your computer?") (b) The useful function itself (e.g.,
transferring files is an useful application of the Internet.)
Archie
A system for locating files that are publicly available by
Anonymous FTP. Archie is described in Chapter on FTP.
ARPAnet
An experimental network established in the 70s where the
theories and software on which the Internet is based were tested.
No longer in existence.
Address (Network address)
Internet site addresses come in two forms: as a set of
numbers such as 202.54.1.18 and as alpha numerical such as
giasbm01.vsnl.net.in (these can represent the same address, and
either can be used, e.g., Telnet). (2) An individual’s email
address, e.g., at this site, Internet for You may look like i4u@giasbm02.vsnl.net.in.
Anonymous FTP
The use of the FTP protocol with Internet-connected sites
that offer public access to their files without requiring your ID
or a password. Usually, after making a connection with an FTP
site, the user responds to the login prompt with the word
"anonymous" and then to the password prompt with his or
her full Internet address.
ASCII
(American Standard Code for Information Interchange) –
This is a de facto world-wide standard for the code numbers used
by the computers to represent all the upper and lower-case Latin
letters, numbers, punctuation, etc. There are 128 ASCII codes by
a seven digit binary number 0000000 through 1111111.
B.
Baud
When transmitting data, the number of times the medium’s
state changes per second. For example a 14,400 baud modem changes
the signal it sends on the phone line 14,400 times per second.
Since each change in state can correspond to multiple bits of
data, the actual bit rate of data transfer may exceed the baud
rate. Also, see bits per second.
BIND
The UNIX implementation of DNS (q.v.). It stands for
"Berkeley Internet Name Domain."
Bits per second (bps)
The speed at which bits are transmitted over a communication
medium.
BTW
Common abbreviation used in mail and news, meaning "by
the way".
Backbone
Hi-speed line or series of communications that major pathway
within the network. The term is relative as a backbone in a small
network will likely be much smaller than many non backbone lines
in large network. See also: Network.
Bandwidth
How much "stuff " you can send through a
connection. Usually measured in bit-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 will
require roughly 10,000,000 bits-per-second, depending on
compression.
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 at 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 one or
two 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.
Binhex
(BINary HEXadecimal) a method for converting non-text files
(non-ASCII) into ASCII. This is needed because Internet Email can
only handle ASCII. See also: ASCII.
Bit
(Binary DigIT) A single digit number in base-2, in other
words, either a 1 or zero. The smallest unit of computerized
data. Bandwidth is usually measured in bits-per-second. See also:
Bandwidth, Bps, Byte, Kilobyte, Megabyte.
BINTET
(Because Its Time Network)—A network of educational
sites separate from Internet, but email is freely exchanged
between BITNET and Internet. Listservs, the most popular form of
email discussion groups originated on BITNET.BINET machines are
IBM-VMS machines, and the network is probably the only
International network that is shrinking.
Bounce
When email is undeliverable it is sent back to you (bounce)
so that you will know that it is not delivered, and will be able
determine what the problem was.
Browser
A client program (software) that is used to look at various
kind of Internet resources. See also: Client, URL, WWW.
Byte
A set of bits that represent a single character, usually
there are 8 bits in a byte, sometimes more, depending on how the
measurement is being made.
C.
CIX
Commercial Internet Exchange: A arrangement over network
providers that allows them to do accounting for commercial
traffic. Although it has been discussed a lot in the press, its
primarily a concern for network providers.
Client
A software application that works on your behalf to extract
some service from a server somewhere on the network. Think of
your telephone as a client and telephone company as a server to
get the idea.
Command Line
On our PC and your Internet access provider’s computer,
when you are at the system’s main prompt, you are on its
command line (prompts often end in symbols such as $ or % or
>.)
Communications Software
Usually used in reference to programs that run on a PC which
allow the computer to communicate with a modem, and does through
the phone lines.
Cyberspace
The 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.
D.
datagram
A packet of information that is sent to the receiving
computer without any prior warning. Conceptually, a
"datagram" is somewhat like a telegram. It’s
self-contained message that can arrive at any time, without
notice. Datagraphs are usually used in application where the
amount of information transferred is occasional and small.
DDN
Defense Data Network, a portion of the Internet, which
connects to U.S. Military Bases, and contractors, used for
non-secure communications. MILNET is one of the DDN networks. It
also runs "the NIC, " where a lot of Internet
information is archived.
DECnet
A set of proprietary networking protocols used by Digital
Equipment Corporation operating systems, instead of TCP/IP. These
protocols are compatible with the Internet.
DFS
For all practical purposes another name for AFS. More
specifically DFS refers to the AFS implementation that’s
part of OSF’s DCE (Distributed Computing Environment).
dial-up
To connect to a computer by calling it up on the telephone.
Often, "dial-up" only refers to the kind of connection
you make using a terminal emulator and a regular modem. For the
techies: switched character-oriented asynchronous communication.
A port that accepts dial-up connections ("How many dial-up
ports on your computer?")
Domain Name
The unique name that identifies an Internet site. Domain
Names always have two or more parts, separated by dots. The part
on the left is the most specific, the part on the right is the
most general. A given machine can have more than one Domain name
but a given Domain Name points to only one machine. Usually, all
the machines on a given network will have the same thing as the
right-hand portion of their Domain Names, e.g.,
giasbm01.vsnl.net.in, giasbm02.vsnl.net.in and so on. It is also
possible for a Domain Name to exist but be connected to an actual
machine. This is often done so that a group or a business can
have an Internet Email 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.
DNS
The Domain Name System; a distributed database system for
translating computer names (like giasbm01.vsnl.net.in) into
numeric Internet addresses (like 202.54.1.18) and vice-versa. DNS
allows you to use the Internet without remembering long lists of
numbers.
DoD
The (U.S.) Department of Defense, whose Advanced Research
Projects Agency got the Internet started by creating the ARPAnet.
E.
E-mail
(Electronic Mail) – Messages, usually text, sent from
one person to another via computer. E-mail can also be sent
automatically to large number of addresses (Mailing List). See
also: Listserv, Mailist.
Ethernet
A kind of "local area network." There are several
different kinds of wiring, which support different communication
speeds, ranging from 2 to 10 million bits per second. What makes
an Ethernet an Ethernet is the way the computers on the network
decide whose turn it is to talk. Computers using TCP/IP are
frequently connected to the Internet over an Ethernet.
F.
FAQ
Either a frequently asked question, or list of frequently
asked questions and their answers. Many USENET news groups, and
some non-USENET mailing lists, maintain FAQ lists (FAQs) so that
participants won’t spend lots of time answering the same set
of questions.
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.
Flame
A virulent and (often) largely personal attack against the
author of a USENET posting. "Flames" are unfortunately
common. People who frequently write flames are known as
"flamers."
Freenet
A organization to provide free Internet access to people in a
certain area, usually through public libraries.
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".
FYI
A common abbreviation in mail and news, meaning "for
your information".
A series of informative papers about the Internet; they are
similar to RFCs but don’t define new standards.
G.
Gateway
The technical meaning is a hardware or software set-up that
translates between two dissimilar protocols, for example Prodigy
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 of providing
access t another system, e.g. AOL might be called a gateway to
the Internet.
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 thousands of Gopher
Servers on the Internet and we can expect they will remain for a
while.
H.
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.
HTML
(HyperText Markup Language) – The coding language used
to create Hypertext 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, 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 Netscape.
HTTP
(HyperText Transport Protocol) – The protocol for moving
hypertext files across the Internet. Requires HTTP client program
on one end, and HTTP server program on the other end. HTTP is
most important protocol used in World Wide Web (WWW).
Hypertext
Generally, any text that contains "links" to other
documents - words or phrases in the document that can be chosen
by a reader which cause another document to be retrieved and
displayed.
I.
IAB
The Internet Architecture Board, the "ruling
council" that makes decisions about standards and other
important issues.
IETF
The Internet Engineering Task Force, a volunteer group that
investigates and solves technical problems, and makes
recommendations to the IAB.
IMHO
(In My Humble Opinion) – A shorthand appended to a
comment written in an on-line 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 on-line, especially in discussion
forums.
Internet
The vast collection of inter-connected networks that all use
the TCP/IP protocols and that evolved from the ARPANET of the
late ‘60s and early ‘70s. The Internet now connects
roughly 60,000 independent networks into a vast global internet.
IP
The Internet Protocol; the most important of the protocols on
which the Internet is based. It allows a packet to traverse
multiple networks on the way to its final destination.
IP Number
Sometimes called a "dotted quad". A unique number
consisting of four parts separated by dots, e.g. 202.54.1.1 is a
IP number of one of the servers at VSNL. Every machine that is on
the Internet has an 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.
IRC
(Internet Relay Chat) – Basically a huge multi-user live
chat facility. There are a number of 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 Mumbai. It allows a very large
bandwidth for transmission of data.
ISO
The International Organization for Standardization; An
organization that has defined a different set of network
protocols, called the ISO/OSI protocols. In theory, the ISO/OSI
protocols will eventually replace the Internet protocols. When
and if this will actually happen is a hotly debated topic.
ISOC
The Internet Society: a membership organization whose members
support world-wide information network. It is also the governing
body to which the IAB reports.
K.
Kermit
Kermit is a very popular dialup communication program
developed by University of Columbia. In large part it is used as
a file transfer protocol. It is available on almost all software
platforms. It is very reliable and sturdy but quite a bit slow.
Kilobyte
A thousand bytes. Actually, usually, 1024 bytes.
Knowbot
An experimental information-retrieval tool; a "robotic
librarian." There isn’t much to say about them yet, but
they are something to watch for.
L.
LAN
(Local Area Network) – A computer network limited to the
immediate area, usually the same building or floor of the
building.
Leased line
A permanently-connected private telephone line between two
locations. Leased lines are typically used to connect a
moderate-sized local network to an Internet service provider.
Listserv
Most common kind of mail list, Listservs originated on BITNET
but they are now common on the Internet.
Login or 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
VSNL’s GIAS system".
M.
MUD
(Multi-User Dungeon or Dimension) – A (usually
text-base) 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.
Mail list (or Mailing List)
A (usually automated) system that allows people to send
E-mail to one address, whereupon their message is copied an sent
to all other subscribers to the mail list. In this way, people
who have many different kinds of E-mail access can participate in
discussions together.
mail reflector
A special mail address; electronic mail sent to this address
is automatically forwarded to a set of other addresses.
Typically, used to implement a mail discussion group.
Modem
(Modulator, DEModulator) – a piece of equipment that
connects a computer to a data transmission line (typically a
telephone line of some sort). Presently the modems transfer data
at speeds ranging from 1200 to 33,600 bits per second. There are
also modems providing higher speeds and supporting other media.
These are used for special purposes – for example, to
connect a large local network to its network provider over a
leased line.
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 for the
Mosaic has been licensed by several companies and there are
several other pieces of software as good as or better than
Mosaic, most Notably "Netscape", "Internet
Explorer" etc.
N.
NIC
(Network Information Center) – Generally, any office
that handles information for a network a network. The most famous
of these on the Internet is the InterNIC, which is where new
domain names are registered.
NFS
(Network File System) – A set of protocols that allows
you to use files on other network machines as if they were local.
So rather than using FTP to transfer a file to your local
computer, you can read it, write it or edit it on the remote
computer – using the same commands that you’d use
locally. NFS was originally developed by SUN Microsystem, Inc.
and is currently in widespread use.
Network
Anytime you connected two or more computers together so that
they can share resources you have a computer network. Connect two
or more network together you have internet.
Newsgroup
The name for discussion groups on Usenet. See also: Usenet.
NOC
Network Operations Center; a group which is responsible for
the day-to-day care and feeding of a network. Each service
provider usually has separate NOC, so you need to know which one
to call when you have problems.
Node
Any single computer connected to a network.
NERN
(The National Research and Education Network) – A US
effort to combine networks operated by different federal agencies
into single high-speed network. While this transition will be
significant technical and historical importance, it should have
no effect on the typical Internet user.
O.
Octet
Internet standard-monger’s lingo for a set of 8 bits,
i.e., a byte.
OSI
(Open Systems Interconnect) – another set of network
protocols.
P.
Packet
A bundle of data. On the Internet, data is broken up into
small chunks, called "packet"; each packet traverses
the network independently. Packet sizes can vary from roughly 40
to 32,000 bytes, depending on network hardware media, but the
packets are normally less than 1500 bytes long.
Packet Switching
The method used to move data around on the Internet. In
packet switching, all the data coming out of the machine is
broken up in 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 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 "shanti8". A good password might be: Ramu-9.
PINE
E-mail program which was developed by University of
Washington and available on most platforms. It is very common on
UNIX based shell accounts. It organizes your E-mail. Recently it
has become popular compared to UNIX mail or ELM mailer also
available on UNIX.
POP
Two commonly used meaning: "Point of Presence" and
"Post Office Protocol". A "Point of Presence"
usually means a city or location where a network can be connected
to, often with dialup phone lines, so if an Internet company says
they will soon have a POP in Nasik, it means they will soon have
a local phone number in Nasik and/or a place where leased lines
can connect to their network. A second meaning, "Post Office
Protocol" refers to the way E-mail software such as Eudora
gets mail from a mail server. When you obtain a SLIP, PPP, or
shell account, 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.
Port
Three meanings. First and most generally, a place where
information goes into or out of a computer, or both e.g.
"serial port" on a personal computer, is where a modem
will be connected. On the Internet "port" often refers
to a number that is part of a URL, appearing after colon ( : )
right after domain name. Every service on an Internet server
"listens" on a particular port number on that server.
Most services have standard port number, e.g., Web servers
normally listen on port 80. Services can also listen on
non-standard ports, in which case the port number must be
specified in an URL when accessing the server, so you might see
an URL of the form: gopher://peg.cwis.uci.edu:7000/ which shows a
gopher server running on an non-standard port (the standard
gopher port is 70). 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 it will run on a Macintosh.
posting
An individual article sent to USENET news group; or the act
of sending an article to an USENET news group.
PPP
(Point to Point Protocol) – most well known as a
protocol that allows a computer to use a regular phone 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.
protocol
A protocol is just a definition of how computers will act
when talking to each other. Protocol definitions how bits are
placed on a wire to the format of electronic mail message.
Standard protocols allow computers from different manufacturers
to communicate; computers can use completely different software,
providing that the programs running on both ends agree on what
the data means.
R.
RFC
(Request for comments) – a set of papers in which the
Internet’s standards, proposed standards and generally
agreed -upon ideas are documented and published.
Router
A special-purpose computer (or software package) that handles
the connection between two 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.
RTFM
Common abbreviation in mail and news, meaning "read the
(...) manual."
S.
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,
e.g. "Our mail server is down today, that is 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.
service provider (ISP)
An organization that provides connections to a part of
Internet. If you want to connect you company’s network, or
even your personal computer, to the Internet, you have to talk to
a "service provider". Also commonly known as ISP
(Internet Service Provider).
shell
On an UNIX system, software that accepts and processes
command lines from your terminal. UNIX has multiple shells
available (e.g. C shell, Bourne shell, Korn shell etc.), each
with slightly different command formats and facilities.
signature
A file, typically five lines long or so, that people often
insert at the end of electronic mail messages or USENET news
articles. A signature contains, minimally, a name and an E-mail
address. Signatures usually also contain postal addresses, and
often contain silly quotes, pictures, and other things. Some are
very elaborate, though signatures five or six lines long are in
questionable taste.
SLIP
(Serial Line IP) – a protocol that allows a computer to
use the Internet protocols (and become a full-fledged Internet
member) with a standard telephone line and a high-speed modem.
SLIP is being superseded by PPP, but still in common use.
smiley
Smiling faces used in mail and news to indicate humor and
irony. The most common smiley is :- ). You also see :- (, meaning
disappointment and lots of other variations. Since the variations
are so, er, "variant", it’s not worth going into
detail. You’ll pick up their connotations with time.
SRI
Stanford Reaserch Institute – A California-based
research institute that runs the Network Information Systems
Center (NISC). The SRI has played an important role in
coordinating the Internet.
switched access
A network connection that can be created destroyed as needed.
Dial-up connections are the simplest form of switched
connections. SLIP or PPP also are commonly run over switched
connections.
T.
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 (E-1).
T-3
A leased-line connection capable of carrying data at
45,000,000 bits per second. This is more than enough to
full-screen, full-motion video.
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.
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.
time out
A "time out" is what happens when two computers are
"talking" and one computer—for any reason
–fails to respond. The other computer will keep on trying
for a certain amount of time, but will eventually "give
up".
Terminal Server
A special purpose computer that has places to plug in many
modems on one side, and a connection to 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 SILP
services if connected to the Internet.
U.
UDP
(The User Datagram Protocol) – Another of the protocols
on which the Internet is based. For the techies, UDP is a
connectionless unreliable protocol. If you’re not techie
don’t let the word "unreliable" worry you.
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 the servers on the
Internet.
URL
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.vsnl.net.in/index.html etc. The most common way to use
a URL is to enter into a WWW browser program, such as Netscape,
or Lynx.
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, may be half. Usenet is completely
decentralized, with over 15,000 discussion areas, called
newsgroups.
UUCP
(UNIX-to-UNIX copy) –a facility for copying files
between UNIX systems, on which mail and USENET services are
built. While UUCP is still useful, the Internet provides a better
way to do the same job.
V.
Veronica
(Very Easy Rodent Oriented Net-wide Index to Computerized
Archives) – Developed at the University Nevada, Veronica is
a constantly updated databases of the names of almost every menu
item on thousands of gopher servers. The Veronica database can be
searched from the most major gopher menus.
W.
WIAS
(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 ("scored") according
to how relevant the "hits" are, and that subsequent
searches can find "more stuff like the last batch" and
thus refine the search process.
WAN
(Wide Area Network) – Any internet or network that
covers an area larger than single building or campus.
WWW(World Wide Web)
Two meanings- First, loosely used: The whole constellation of
resources tat can be accessed using Gopher, FTP, HTTP, telnet,
Usenet, WAIS and some other tools. Second, the universe of
hypertext (HTTP servers) which are the servers that allow text,
graphics, sound files etc. to be mixed together.
Z.
Zmodem
A file transfer protocol which transfers the files to &
from your PC to server (e.g. VSNL ). Outstanding feature of this
protocol compared to others available is that it has crash
recovery feature i.e. if your connection to VSNL snaps part way
through the transferring the file you can reconnect and the
transfer can resume from where it left.