| A | B |
|---|
| Commercially developed software | COTS is ready to install and use without further modification on the part of the user. |
| Custom developed software | software which is developed by a company specifically for its own use. |
| server | must respond to requests from multiple clients ensuring that the desired data, information, or file is sent to the client. |
| client/server architecture | The most common network architecture |
| Clients | typically PCs, a type of high-powered small computer built for specialized applications called a workstation, or a network computer |
| Server | typically dedicated to a specific type of processing, such as providing files with a file server, responding to database queries with a database server, or handling high-speed processing with an application server. |
| File | Provides both software and data files to users |
| Database | Handles queries to a large database and returns matching records |
| Application | Handles high speed processing |
| Application software | the software on each computer on the network that the user sees and uses to send and receive messages and data between computers. |
| IP Address | a unique identifier given to each device directly connected to the network. Consists of four groups of numbers in the range 0 to 255 separated by periods or decimal points. The message is divided into smaller digital units called packets, each of which contains a specific number of bytes. |
| Packet switching | individual packets are routed through the network based on the destination address contained in each packet. With packet switching, the same data path can be shared among many computers in the network, and if a computer on the network is inoperable, the packet finds another way to reach its destination. |
| router | a special type of computer that has the sole purpose of accepting packets and determining the best way to send them to the destination computer--that is, the router specializes in switching the packets. |
| sequence order | allows the receiving computer to reconstruct the message. |
| Twisted pair | consists of twisted pairs of copper wires and is similar to the wiring used in much of the existing telephone system. |
| Coaxial cable | used to transmit cable television signals into your home. It is also widely used in networks |
| Fiber optic cable | consists of hundreds of glass fiber strands that can transmit a large number of signals at extremely high rates of speed. |
| Microwaves | high-frequency radio transmissions that can be sent between two stations |
| Wireless | several technologies that allow data to be transmitted without wires |
| data rate | measured in bits per second (bps |
| digital subscriber line (DSL) | transmits computer data in a digital form along the same telephone line that is used for analog voice communications. |
| T-carrier circuits | dedicated digital lines that are leased from a telecommunications company to carry data between specific points. |
| bandwidth | often used in relationship to data rate and is a measure of how fast data flows on a transmission path. Baseband - only a single digital signal is carried through the media. Broadband - variety of different analog signals are being transmitted |
| Peer-to-peer | each computer functioning as both a server and a workstation. |
| Ethernet protocol | technology standards for connecting computers into a LAN |
| bus network | uses a a main cable, called a bus, to connect all clients and servers on the network. |
| gateway | the combination of hardware and software that connects two dissimilar computer networks. |
| bridge | connects two similar networks |
| Hypertext | a method of linking related information in which there is no hierarchy or menu system. |
| Multimedia | an interactive combination of text, graphics, animation, images, audio, and video displayed by and under the control of a computer. |
| hypertext markup language (HTML) | tags in World Wide Web documents that are part of a special publishing language Documents on the Web are referred to as Web pages, and their location is a Web site. |
| value-added networks | networks that are available by subscription and provide clients with data communications facilities. |
| topology | of a network defines how the devices that are connected to the network are organized and how they communicate together |
