| Bandwidth |
 |
How much stuff you can send through a connection. Usually measured in bits-per-second. A full page of English text is about 16,000 bits. A fast modem can move about 57,000 bits in one second. |
|
| Browser |
|
A Client program (software) that is used to look at various kinds of Internet resources. |
|
| 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. |
|
| Cookie |
|
The most common meaning of "Cookie" on the Internet refers to a piece of information sent by a Web Server to a Web Browser that the Browser software is expected to save and to send back to the Server whenever the browser makes additional requests from the Server. |
|
| DNS (Domain Name System) |
|
The Domain Name System is the system that translates Internet domain names into IP numbers. A "DNS Server" is a server that performs this kind of translation.
|
|
| Domain Name |
|
The unique name that identifies an Internet site. Domain Names always have 2 or more parts, separated by dots. The part on the left is the most specific, and the part on the right is the most general. |
|
| Download |
|
Transferring data (usually a file) from another computer to the computer you are using. The opposite of upload. |
|
| Fire Wall |
|
A combination of hardware and software that separates a Network into two or more parts for security purposes. |
|
| FTP (File Transfer Protocol) |
|
A very common method of moving files between two Internet sites. |
|
| Gateway |
|
The technical meaning is a hardware or software set-up that translates between two dissimilar protocols, for example America Online has a gateway that translates between its internal, proprietary e-mail format and Internet e-mail format. |
|
| Hit |
|
As used in reference to the World Wide Web, hit means a single request from a web browser for a single item from a web server; thus in order for a web browser to display a page that contains 3 graphics, 4 hits would occur at the server: 1 for the HTML page, and one for each of the 3 graphics. |
|
| Home Page (or Homepage) |
|
Several meanings. Originally, the web page that your browser is set to use when it starts up. The more common meaning refers to the main web page for a business, organization, person or simply the main page out of a collection of web pages, e.g. "Check out so-and-so's new Home Page." |
|
| HTML (HyperText Markup Language) |
|
The coding 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. |
|
| HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol) |
|
The protocol for moving hypertext files across the Internet. Requires a HTTP client program on one end, and an HTTP server program on the other end. HTTP is the most important protocol used in the World Wide Web (WWW). |
|
| IP Number (Internet Protocol Number) |
|
Sometimes called a dotted quad. A unique number consisting of 4 parts separated by dots, e.g. Every machine that is on the Internet has a unique IP number - if a machine does not have an IP number, it is not really on the Internet. |
|
| ISP (Internet Service Provider) |
|
An institution that provides access to the Internet in some form, usually for money. |
|
| Search Engine |
|
A (usually web-based) system for searching the information available on the Web. |
|
| SPAM |
|
An inappropriate attempt to use a mailing list or other networked communications facility as if it was a broadcast medium by sending the same message to a large number of people who didn't ask for it. |
|
| SSL |
|
A protocol designed by Netscape Communications to enable encrypted, authenticated communications over the Internet. |
|
| URL |
|
An address for resources on the Internet. |
|
