Glossary of Computer and Network Terms

Anchor:

Synonymous with links, it is the word or phrase that can be clicked to connect to another page or resource.

Archie:

Derived from the word archive, Archie is a Net-based service that allows you to locate files that can be downloaded via FTP.

ASCII:

(pronounced Ask-ee) An acronym for American Standard Code for Information Exchange, ASCII is an international standard in which numbers, letters, punctuation marks, symbols and control codes are assigned numbers from 0 to 27. Easily transferred over networks, ASCII is a plain, unadorned text without style or font specifications.

Authoring Software:

Refers to software that enables the creation of multimedia or hypertext documents and presentations.

Baud:

A unit of data transmission speed, or the maximum speed at which data can be sent down a channel. Baud is often equivalent to bits per second.

Bit:

A contraction of binary digit. A bit is the smallest unit of information that a computer can hold. The speed at which bits are transmitted or bit rate is usually expressed as bits per second or bps.

Browser:

This is a type of software that allows you to navigate information databases.

Byte:

This is a number of bits used to represent a character. Eight bits is equivelant to a byte.

Client:

A computer or computer program that is one side of the client-server communication.

Client-Server Architecture:

An information-passing scheme that works as follows a client program, such as Netscape, sends a request to a server. The server takes the request, processes it, and transfers the information to the client.

Configuration:

This is a general-purpose computer term that can refer to the way you have your computer set up. It is also used to describe the total combination of hardware components that make up a computer system and the software settings that allow various hardware components of a computer system to communicate with one another.

Configure:

The act of changing software or hardware actions by changing the settings.

Cyberspace:

A term coined by William Gibson, a science fiction writer, to refer to a near-future computer network where users mentally travel through matrices of data. The term is now used to describe the Internet and the other computer networks.

Dial-up Connection:

The most popular form of Net connection for the home user, this is a connection from your computer using a modem to a host computer over standard telephone lines.

Direct Connection:

A permanent connection between your computer system to a computer network.

Document:

When used in reference to the World-Wide Web, a document is any file containing text, media or hyperlinks that can be transferred from a server.

Document Window:

This is the Netscape programUs scrollable window documents can be viewed.

Download:

To transfer to your computer a copy of a file that resides on another computer.

Ethernet:

A high-speed network connection.

External Viewer:

When referrring to a web browser this helper application is used to present graphics, audio and video.

FTP:

File Transfer Protocol is a protocol that allows the transfer of files from one computer to another. FTP is also the verb used to describe the act of transferring files from one computer to another.

GIF:

Pronounced RjiffS Q as in the peanut butter, this acronym stands for Graphic Interchange Format, a commonly used graphics format developed by CompuServe.

Gopher:

A distriabuted information system similar to the World-Wide Web, but less versitile and generally used only for text files. Gopher is also the name of a gopher client program available on most UNIX-based systems.

Home Page:

This term is used loosely. It can refer to the top or main page of an organization, University, company, or personal page for an individual.

Hotlists:

Lists of frequently used Web locations and URLs (Uniform Resource Locators).

HTML:

An acronym for HyperText Markup Language, HTML codes are interpreted by the web browser to format documents in a particular way.

HTTP:

The abbreviation for Hypertext Transfer Protocol, a protocol used to tranfer documents on the World-Wide Web.

Hypermedia:

The hypertext concept extended to include linked multiple media.

Hypertext:

This term describes the system that allows documents to be cross- linked in such a way that the reader can explore related documents by clicking on a highlighted word or symbol.

Inline Images:

These are the graphics contained within a Web document.

IP:

The abbreviation for Internet Protocol, IP refers to the set of communication standards that control communications activity on the Internet. An IP address is the number assigned to any Internet-connected computer.

JPEG:

JPEG is an image format, useful for making high-quality photographic- style images of relatively small file size.

Links:

These are the hypertext connections between Web pages. This is a synonym for hotlinks or hyperlinks.

Lynx:

A text-based Web browser available on most UNIX-based computers on campus.

Modem:

Modem stand for modulater/demodulator. It's a device that encodes data for transmission over a particular medium, such as telephone lines.

Mosaic:

This is the common name of a World Wide Web multimedia browser program developed at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications in Urbana-Champaign, Ill. The official, copyrighted name of the program is NCSA Mosiac.

MPEG:

The acronym for Moving Pictures Expert Group, MPEG is an international standard for video compression and desktop movie presentation. A special viewing application is needed to run MPEG files on your computer.

Netscape:

This is a graphical Web browser. See below for hardware configuration available for Windows, Macintosh, and UNIX systems.

NCSA:

This is the abbreviation for National Center for Supercomputing Applications at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign. They created MOSAIC as well as a commonly-used web server called httpd.

Node:

A generic term for any device attached to a network. A node uses the network as a means of communication and has an address on the network.

PPP:

T Point-To-Point Protocol. PPP is a method of communication allowing Internet access over a modem. Both PPP and SLIP provide remote access as an Ethernet connection does on campus, but can be slower.

Protocol:

A set of standards that define how traffic and communications are handled by a computer or network routers.

QuickTime:

This is a digital video standard developed for Apple Macintosh computers. Special viewing applications are needed to run QuickTime movies.

RAM:

Random Access Memory needed for running programs such as Netscape.

Relative URL's

Once you are viewing a document located somewhere on the network (say, the document http://bradley.bradley.edu/~barker/file.html), you can use a partial, or relative, URL to point to another file in the same directory, on the same machine, being served by the same server software. For example, if another file exists in that same directory called "anotherfile.html", then anotherfile.html is a valid partial URL at that point.

This provides an easy way to build sets of hypertext documents. If a set of hypertext documents are sitting linked by just their filenames -- however a reader got to one of the documents, a jump can be made to any other document in the same directory by merely using the other document's filename as the partial URL at that point. The additional information (access method, hostname, port number, directory name. etc.) will be assumed based on the URL used to reach the first document. However, when using a machine name in a URL, the full URL must be used. Url's such as http://bradley/~barker/otherfile.html inside of web documents will not work outside of Bradley's campus.

Search Engine:

This term refers to a program that helps users find information in most databases.

Server:

A computer or computer program that manages and delivers information for client computers.

Server Side Includes:

Several web servers, including NCSA's httpd, allow users to create documents which provide simple information to clients on the fly. Such information can include the current date, the file's last modification and the size or last modification of other files. See NCSA httpd server side includes for more info.

Shareware:

This term refers to software that is available on public networks and BBSs. Users are asked to remit a small amount to the software developer, but itUs on the honor system.

SLIP:

The acronym for Serial Line Internet Protocol, SLIP refers to a method of Internet connection that enables computers to use phone lines and a modem to connect to the Internet. Both SLIP and PPP provide remote access as an Ethernet connection does on campus, but may be slower.

Tags:

These are formatting codes used in HTML documents. Tags indicate how parts of a document will appear when displayed by browsing software.

TCP-IP:

The basic protocols controlling applications on the Internet.

TIFF:

This is the acronym for Tagged Image File Format, a graphic file format developed by Aldus and Microsoft.

Trumpet Winsock:

This is a TCP/IP stack used by Microsoft Windows to enable network applications to run.

URL:

This is the abbreviation for Uniform Resource Locator, The addressing system used in the World Wide Web and other Internet resources. The URL contains information about the method of access, the server to be accessed and the path of any file to be accessed.

Veronica:

This is a search utility that helps find information on gopher servers. Veronica allows users to enter keywords to locate the gopher site holding the desired information.

WAIS:

The abbreviation for Wide Area Information Service, WAIS is a Net-wide system for looking up specific information in Internet databases.

WAIS gateway:

This term refers to a computer that is used to translate WAIS data so it can be made available to an otherwise incompatible network or application.

Web Browser:

A type of software that allows you to navigate the Web.

Webmaster:

This term refers to the person in charge of administrating a World- Wide Web site.

Web Page:

An HTML document that is accessible on the Web.

World-Wide Web:

Also known as WWW, or W3, is a way that information is moved around the Internet, the world-wide network of computer networks, providing text, files, graphics, sounds and moving pictures. It is a hypertext- based Internet service used for browsing Internet resources.