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| Internet | The global network of computers constantly connected to each other using standardized communications protocols specifically TCP/IP |
| Intranet | Local network of computers using TCP/IP as the standard communications protocols. |
| Packet | A collection of information. Often used to refer to the chunks of information sent over the computer networks. |
| ISP | Internet Service Provider. An ISP provides Internet access to people or corporations. |
| ISDN | Intergrated Service Digital Network. This is a digital line that is often used to connect to the internet. |
| IP Address | The specific network address of a computer on a network using TCP/IP as its network protocol. |
| PPP | Point-to-Point Protocol. The mode of transport used to connect a computer to the internet via a dail-up adaptor. |
| Extranet | A website for customers rather the general public. I can provide access to research, current inventories and internal databasees, virtually any information that is private and not published for everyone. |
| SMTP | Simple Mail Transfer Protocol. The standard e-mail protocol on the internet. It is a TCP/IP protocol that defines the message format and the message transfer agent(MIA), which stores and forwards the mail. |
| HTTP | Hyper Text Transport Protocol. The communications protocol used to connect to servers on the world wide web. Its primary function is to establish a connection with a web server and transmit HTML pages to the client browser. |
| HTML | Hyper Text Makeup Language. The document format used on the world wide web, web pages are built with HTML tags (codes) embedded in the text |
| Protocol | Rule(s) governing the transmitting and the reciving of data. |
| Router | A device that forwards data pakets from one local area network(LAN) or wide area network(WAN) to another. Based on routing tables and routing protocols, routers read the network address in each transmitted frame and make a decision on how to send it based on the most expedient route. |
| Proxy server | Also called "Proxy" or "application level gateway" it is an application that breaks the connection between sender and receiver. All input is forwarded out a different port, closing a straight path between two networks and preventing a hacker from obtaining internal addresses and details of a private network. |
| PING | Packet INternet Groper. An internet utility used to detwemine wheather a particular IP address is online. It is used to test and debug a network by sending out a packet and waiting for a response. Ping also functions like a domain name (DNS) server, because "pinging" a domain name will return its IP address. |
| LAN | (Local Area Network) A communications network that serves users within a confined geographical area. It is made up of servers, workstations, a network operating system and a communications link. |
| WAN | (Wide Area Network) A communications network that covers a wide geographic area, such as state or country. A LAN (local area network) is contained within a building or complex, and a MAN (metropolitan area network) generally covers a city or suburb. Following is a bandwidth comparison between major LAN and WAN technologies. |
| MAN | (Metropolitan Area Network) A communications network that covers a geographic area such as a city or suburb. See LAN and WAN. |
| Peer-to-Peer network | A communications network that allows all desktop and laptop computers in the network to act as servers and share their files with all other users on the network. Peer-to-peer networks are quite common in small offices that do not use a dedicated file server. Peer-to-peer networks also exist on the Internet. For example, Napster and Gnutella allow users to access files in other users' computers. |
| client-server network | A communications network that uses dedicated servers. In this context, the term is used to contrast it with a peer-to-peer network, which allows any client to also be a server. |
| Star Topology | A communications network in which all terminals are connected to a central computer, controller or hub. PBXs and telephone systems are prime examples as well as Token Ring and 10BaseT Ethernet. (star network) |
| Bus topology | A network topology that uses a common pathway between all devices. Ethernet 10Base5 and 10Base2 are examples of bus networks. (bus network) |
| Ring topology | A communications network that connects terminals and computers in a continuous loop.(ring network) |
| mesh topology | A net-like communications network in which there are at least two pathways to each node. Since the term network means net-like as well as communications network, the term mesh is used to avoid saying "network communications network."(mesh network) |
| hybrid topology | In communications, a network made up of equipment from multiple vendors.(hybrid network) |
| OSI model | consists of 7 lavers. layers can only talk with the layer above or below them(ex. layer 3 can only talk with layer 2 and 4) (Open System Interconnection) An ISO standard for worldwide communications that defines a framework for implementing protocols in seven layers. Control is passed from one layer to the next, starting at the application layer in one station, proceeding to the bottom layer, over the channel to the next station and back up the hierarchy. |
| 10base5 | The original IEEE 10 Mbps Ethernet standard which uses a thick coaxial cable. Network nodes are attached via transceivers that tap into the cable and provide a line to a 15-pin plug in the adapter card known as the AUI interface. Also called "thick Ethernet," "ThickWire" and "ThickNet," 10Base5 has a distance limit of 1,640 feet without repeaters. |
| 10 base2 | An earlier 10 Mbps Ethernet standard that uses a thin coaxial cable. Network nodes are attached to the cable via T-type BNC connectors in the adapter cards. Also called "thin Ethernet," "ThinWire," "ThinNet" and "Cheapernet," 10Base2 has a distance limit of 607 feet |
| 10baseT | A 10 Mbps Ethernet standard that uses twisted wire pairs (telephone wire). All stations connect in a star configuration to a central hub, also known as a "multiport repeater," or to a central switch. 10BaseT has been widely used due to the lower cost and flexibility of installing twisted pair. It has mostly been superseded by 100BaseT, which is 10 times as fast. |
| CSMA/CD | (Carrier Sense Multiple Access/Collision Detection) The LAN access method used in Ethernet. When a device wants to gain access to the network, it checks to see if the network is quiet (senses the carrier). If it is not, it waits a random amount of time before retrying. If the network is quiet and two devices access the line at exactly the same time, their signals collide. When the collision is detected, they both back off and each wait a random amount of time before retrying. |
