Basic Network Glossary

By Atika Ali, Flora Chan, Nameerah Somani, Elakkiya and Krishanthi

cable

A group or bundle of electrical conductors sharing a common protective sheath or jacket, and insulated with a material such as plastic or rubber.

client-server paradigm

A client is a software that initiates a connection and sends requests, whereas a server is software that listens for connections and processes requests. In a network, the client/server paradigm provides a convenient way to interconnect programs that are at different locations. For example, to check your bank account from your computer, a client program in your computer forwards your request to a server program at the bank. That program may arequest to its own client program that sends a request to a database server at another bank computer to retrieve your account balance. The balance is returned back to the bank data client, which returns it back to the client in your personal computer, which displays the information for you. (Reilly, 2002)

coaxial

-Electronics formed from, using, or connected to a coaxial cable.

-A cable consisting of an electrically conductive wire surrounded by a layer of insulating material, a layer of shielding material, and an outer layer of insulating material, usually plastic or rubber. The purpose of the shielding layer is to reduce external electrical interference. Coaxial cables are used for transmission of high-frequency audio, video, computer network and other signals. ("coaxial,")

e-mail

Short for electronic mail, a system for sending and receiving messages electronically over a computer network, or between personal computers. The messages can be entered from the keyboard in a text editor and then you send the message to the recipient by specifying the recipient's address. ("What is e-mail?," )

extranet

An extranet is a private network that uses Internet technology and the public telecommunication system to securely share part of a business's information or operations with suppliers, vendors, partners, customers, or other businesses. An extranet can be viewed as part of a company's intranet that is extended to users outside the company.

FTP

Stands for "File Transfer Protocol." A common method of transferring files via the Internet from one computer to another. Some common FTP programs are "Fetch" for the Mac, and "WS_FTP" for Windows.

HTTP

Short for HyperText Transfer Protocol, the standard protocol used by the World Wide Web to transfer hypertext documents. It defines how messages are formatted and transmitted, and what actions Web servers and browsers should take in response to various commands.

hub

A common connection point for devices in a network. Hubs are commonly used to connect segments of a LAN. A hub contains multiple ports. When a packet arrives at one port, it is copied to the other ports so that all segments of the LAN can see all packets.

instant messaging

Abbreviated IM, a type of communications service that enables you to create a kind of private chat room with another individual in order to communicate in real time over the Internet (text-based).

internet

Any set of networks interconnected with routers. The Internet is the biggest example of an internet. (1997, 09 17). Retrieved from http://foldoc.org/internet

Internet

A worldwide system of computer networks that use the TCP/IP network protocols to facilitate data transmission and exchange.

intranet

A network based on TCP/IP protocols (an internet) belonging to an organization, usually a corporation, accessible only by the organization's members, employees, or others with authorization. An intranet's Web sites look and act just like any other Web sites, but the firewall surrounding an intranet fends off unauthorized access.

LAN

A local area network (LAN) is a computer network that interconnects computers in a limited area such as a home, school, computer laboratory, or office building using network media.

modem

Short for "modulator-demodulator". A modem is a device or program that enables a computer to transmit data over, for example, telephone or cable lines. Computer information is stored digitally, whereas information transmitted over telephone lines is transmitted in the form of analog waves. A modem converts between these two forms.

network

When you have two or more computers connected to each other, you have a network. The purpose of a network is to enable the sharing of files and information between multiple systems. The Internet could be described as a global network of networks. Computer networks can be connected through cables, such as Ethernet cables or phone lines, or wirelessly, using wireless networking cards that send and receive data through the air.

NIC

A network interface controller (also known as a network interface card, network adapter, LAN adapter and by similar terms) is a computer component that connects a computer to a computer network.

node

It is a connection point, either a redistribution point or a communication endpoint (some terminal equipment). The definition of a node depends on the network and protocol layer referred to. A physical network node is an active electronic device that is attached to a network, and is capable of sending, receiving, or forwarding information over a communications channel. A passive distribution point such as a distribution frame or patch panel is consequently not a node.

In network theory or graph theory, the term node refers to a point in a network topology at which lines intersect or branch

packet

A formatted unit of data carried by a packet mode computer network. Computer communications links that do not support packets, such as traditional point-to-point telecommunications links, simply transmit data as a series of bytes, characters, or bits alone. When data is formatted into packets, the bitrate of the communication medium can be better shared among users than if the network were circuit switched.

POP

POP is short for Post Office Protocol, a protocol used to retrieve email from a mail server. Most email applications (sometimes called an e-mail client) use the POP protocol, although some can use the newer IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol).

protocol

An agreed-upon format for transmitting data between two devices. The protocol determines the following: - the type of error checking to be used - how the sending device will indicate that it has finished sending a message - how the receiving device will indicate that it has received a message

router

A device that forwards data packets along networks. A router is connected to at least two networks, commonly two LANs or WANs or a LAN and its ISP??s network. Routers are located at gateways, the places where two or more networks connect.

server

A computer or device on a network that manages network resources. There are many different types of servers. For example:

- File server: a computer and storage device dedicated to storing files. Any user on the network can store files on the server.

- Print server: a computer that manages one or more printers, and a network server is a computer that manages network traffic.

- Database server: a computer system that processes database queries.

Servers are often dedicated, meaning that they perform no other tasks besides their server tasks. On multiprocessing operating systems, however, a single computer can execute several programs at once. A server in this case could refer to the program that is managing resources rather than the entire computer.

SMTP

Simple Mail Transfer Protocol, a protocol for sending e-mail messages between servers. Most email systems that send mail over the Internet use SMTP to send messages from one server to another; the messages can then be retrieved with an e-mail client using either POP or IMAP. In addition, SMTP is generally used to send messages from a mail client to a mail server. This is why you need to specify both the POP or IMAP server and the SMTP server when you configure your e-mail application.

streaming media

Streaming media is a technique for transferring data so that it can be processed as a steady and continuous stream. Streaming technologies are becoming inmportant because most users do not have fast enough access to download large multimedia files quickly. With streaming, the browser can start displaying the data before the entire file has been transmitted.

TCP/IP

Short for Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol, the suite of communications protocols used to connect hosts on the Internet. TCP/IP uses several protocols, the two main ones being TCP and IP. TCP/IP is built into the UNIX operating system and is used by the Internet, making it the de facto standard for transmitting data over networks. Even network operating systems that have their own protocols, such as Netware, also support TCP/IP.

telecommunication

The science and technology of sending and receiving information such as sound, visual images, or computer data over long distances through the use of electrical, radio, or light signals, using electronic devices to encode the information as signals and to decode the signals as information

VoIP

Short for Voice over Internet Protocol, a category of hardware and software that enables people to use the Internet as the transmission medium for telephone calls by sending voice data in packets using IP rather than by traditional circuit transmissions of the PSTN. One advantage of VoIP is that the telephone calls over the Internet do not incur a surcharge beyond what the user is paying for Internet access, much in the same way that the user doesn't pay for sending individual e-mails over the Internet.

WAN

A computer network that spans a relatively large geographical area. Typically, a WAN consists of two or more local-area networks (LANs). Computers connected to a wide-area network are often connected through public networks, such as the telephone system. They can also be connected through leased lines or satellites. The largest WAN in existence is the Internet

Wifi

Local area network that uses high frequency radio signals to transmit and receive data over distances of a few hundred feet; uses ethernet protocol

WWW

Short for World Wide Web. A system of Internet servers that support specially formatted documents. The documents are formatted in a markup language called HTML (HyperText Markup Language) that supports links to other documents, as well as graphics, audio, and video files. This means you can jump from one document to another simply by clicking on hot spots. Not all Internet servers are part of the World Wide Web. There are several applications called Web browsers that make it easy to access the World Wide Web; Two of the most popular being Firefox and Microsoft's Internet Explorer. World Wide Web is not synonymous with the Internet.