| A | B |
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| Network | Two or more computers connected to share resources. |
| Node | An individual computer connected to a network. Also, a system or application (such as a Web browser or user agent) that request a service from another computer (the server) and is used to access files or documents |
| Client | An individual computer connected to a network. Also, a system or application (such as a Web browser or user agent) that request a service from another computer (the server) and is used to access files or documents |
| Server | A computer in a network that manages the network resources and provides, or serves, information to clients |
| Local Area Network (LAN) | A group of computers connected within a confined geographic area. |
| Wide Area Network (WAN | A group of computers connected over an expansive geographic area so their users can share files and services |
| Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA | A U.S Department of Defense Agency that created the first global computer network |
| Advanced Research Project Agency Network (ARPANET | A computer network, funded by ARPA, that served as the basis for early networking research and was the backbone during the development of the Internet |
| National Science Foundation (NSF) | An independent agency of the U.S. government that promotes the advancement of science and engineering |
| Backbone | The highest level in the computer network hierarchy, to which smaller network typically connect. |
| Gateway | A node on a network that serves as a portal to other networks. |
| World Wide Web (WWW | A set of software programs that enables users to access resources on the Internet via hypertext documents. |
| Hypertext link | Highlighted or underlined text in a Web page that, when clicked, links the user to another location or Web page. |
| Web page | An HTML document containing one or more elements (text, images, hyperlinks) that can be linked to or from other HTML pages. |
| Web site | A group of web pages. |
| Web Browser | software application that enables users to access and view Web pages on the Internet |
| Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP | A suite of protocols that turns data into blocks of information called packets, which are then sent across the Internet. The standard protocol used by the Internet. |
| Packet | Data processed by protocols so it can be sent across a network. |
| Router | A device that routes packets between network based on network-layer addresses; determines the best path across a network. Also used to connect separate LANs to form a WAN. |
| Internet Service Provider (ISP | An organization that maintains a gateway to the Internet and rents access to customers on a per-use or subscription basis. |
| Modem | An analog device that enables computers to communicate over telephone lines by translating digital data into audio? Analog signals (on the sending computer) and then back into digital form (on the receiving computer) |
| Integrated Service Digital Network (ISDN | A communication standard for sending voice, video or data over digital telephone lines. |
| Bandwidth | The amount of information, sometimes called traffic that can be carried on a network at one time. The total capacity of a line. |
| Network Interface Card (NIC | A circuit board within a computer’s central processing unit that serves as the interface enabling the computer to connect to a network. |
| Wireless Access point (WAP | A device that enables wireless systems to communicate with each other, provided that they are on the same network |
| Standard | A definition or format that has been approved by a recognized standards organization. |
| Digital Subscriber Line (DSL | A high speed direct Internet connection that uses all-digital networks. |
| xDSL | Collectively, the variations of Digital Subscriber Line (DSL), which include ADSL, RADSL and HDSL. |
| Internet Protocol (IP) | The data transmission standard for the Internet. Every computer connected to the Internet has its own IP address, which enables a packet of data to be delivered to a specific computer. |
| Hexadecimal | A base-16 number system that allows large numbers to be displayed by fewer characters that if the number were displayed in the regular base- 10 system. |
| Point to Point Protocol (PPP | A protocol that allows a computer to connect to the Internet over a phone line. |
| Point to Point Protocol over Ethernet (PPPoE) | A protocol that implements PPP on top of the Ethernet architecture to connect an entire network to the Internet. |
| Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) | The protocol for transporting HTML documents across the Internet. |
| File Transfer Protocol (FTP | An Internet protocol used to transfer files between computers; allows file transfer without corruption or alteration |
| Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) | The Internet standard protocol for transferring email messages from one computer to another |
| Post Office Protocol- (POP) | A protocol that resides on an incoming mail server |
| Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP | A protocol that resides on an incoming mail server. Similar to POP, but is more powerful. Allows sharing of mailboxes and multiple mail server access. |
| Usenet (User Network | A collection of thousand of Internet computers, newsgroups and newsgroup members using Network News Transfer Protocol (NNTP) to exchange information. |
| Newsgroup | On Usenet, a subject or other topical interest group whose members exchange ideas and opinions. Participants post and receive messages via a new server. |
| Network News Transfer Protocol (NNTP) | The Internet protocol used by news servers that enables the exchange of newsgroups (Usenet) articles. |
| Domain Name System (DNS) | A system that maps uniquely hierarchical names to specific Internet addresses |
| Host | A computer that other computers can use to gain information. In network architecture, a host is a client or workstation. |
| Fully qualified domain name (FQDN | the complete domain name of an Internet computer such as www.CIW-certified.com |
| Root-level Server | A server at the highest level of the Domain Name System |
| Top-level domain | The group into which a domain is categorized by common topic (company, educational institution) and/or geography (country, state). |
| Domain Name server | A server that resolves domain names into IP addresses. |
| Virtual domain | A hosting service that allows a company to host its domain name on a third-party ISP server |
| Shared domain | A hosting service that allows multiple entities to share portions of the same domain name. |
| Cloud computing | A computing paradigm in which users are able to access software and services over the Internet instead of from their desktops |
| Crowdsourcing | A problem-solving model in which a task ordinarily performed by one person is outsourced to a large group or community in order to obtain and analyze large amounts of data. |
