As I was clearning up my notes, I came across this ancient list of IT documents.

Alias A type of nickname (usually short and easy to remember) that refers to a type of network resource. Aliases are used so you won’t have to remember the long and difficult names.

Anonymous FTP By using the word “anonymous” as your user ID and your e-mail address as the password when you login to an FTP site, you can bypass local security checks and gain limited access to public files on the remote computer. This type of access is available on most FTP sites.

Authentication Any process that ensures that users are who they say they are. When you type your name and password, you are authenticated and allowed access.

Bandwidth This refers to the difference (measured in Hz), between the highest and lowest frequencies of a transmission. Most people loosely refer to bandwidth as the amount of data that can be transferred over a network connection.

Bookmark To mark a document or specific place in a document for later retrieval. Nearly all Web browsers support a bookmarking feature that lets you save the address (URL) of Web page so that you can easily revisit the page at a later time.

Bounce If you send e-mail and it fails to arrive at its intended recipient for any reason (wrong user name, network failure, etc.), the message “bounces” and returns to you. The subject line in a bounced message usually says something like: “Undeliverable Mail” or “Message Undeliverable.”

Browser A program used to view, download, upload, surf or otherwise access documents (pages) on the World Wide Web. Browsers can be text based meaning they do not show graphics or images but most however are text and graphical based. Browsers read “marked up” or coded pages (usually HTML but not always) that reside on servers and interpret the coding into what we see “rendered” as a Web page. Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer are examples of Web browsers. The program you are using right now to view this information is called a browser.

Bug A programming error that causes a program or computer system to perform erratically, produce incorrect results, or crash. The term bug was coined when a real insect was discovered to have fouled up one of the circuits of the first electronic digital computer, the ENIAC.

Cache A cache temporarily stores the information on a page in your computer. If you request a page that is stored in a cache, Browsers can retrieve the page from the cache more quickly than retrieving the page again from it’s location out on the network.

Client In Internet terms, it’s an application that performs a specific function, such as Telnet or FTP. It’s the “front-end” to an Internet process. In more general terms, a client is computer system or process that requests a service of another computer system or process. The much talked about “client-server architecture” refers to a workstation requesting the contents of a file from a server.

Cookie A special piece of information about you, something you clicked on, and/or your computer system which is stored in a text file on your hard drive. This information is usually accessed by a server when you connect to a Web site which wants to know some information about you or your system. One common occurrence of a “handling of a cookie”, would be when you as a user, log into a system through a Web site. After you enter in your username and password, a text file is saved by your browser for later access. This prevents you from having to log in again if you happen to leave the Web site and then return at a later time. Cookies are also used in the process of purchasing items on the Web. It is because of the cookie, that the “shopping cart” technology works. By saving in a text file, the name, and other important information about an item a user “clicks” on as they move through a shopping Web site, a user can later go to an order form, and see all the items they selected, ready for quick and easy processing.

Domain A “logical” region of the Internet. People sometimes refer to them loosely as “sites.” Generally, a domain corresponds to an IP address or an area on a host.

Electronic Mail (E-mail) A method by which computer users can exchange messages with each other over a network. E-mail is probably the most widely-used communications tool on the Internet. There are many quirky conventions to E-mail, but most entail a “To:”, “From:”, and “Subject:” line. One of E-mail’s advantages is its ability to be forwarded and replied to easily. If an e-mail is badly received by a group or user, the sender is likely to get “flamed.”

Encryption The basis of network security. Encryption encodes network packets to prevent anyone except the intended recipient from accessing the data.

Ethernet A standard and probably the most popular connection type for Local Area Networks (LANs). It was first developed by Xerox, and later refined by Digital, Intel and Xerox (see also “DIX”). In an Ethernet configuration, computers are connected by coaxial or twisted-pair cable where they contend for network access using a Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Detection (CSMA/CD) paradigm. Ethernet can transfer information at up to 10 Megabit-per-second (Mb/s).

Gateway A kind of “go-between” device or program that passes information between networks that normally couldn’t communicate. What used to be called a gateway is now called a router.

Hacker A computer user who works to understand the “ins and outs” of computers, networks, and the Internet in general. Hackers are generally benign, and believe that information should be free.

Host A computer that is attached to a network or the Internet. Hosts allow users on client machines to connect and share files or transfer information. Individual users communicate with hosts by using client application programs.

Hypertext A type of text that allows embedded “links” to other documents. Clicking on or selecting a hypertext link displays another document or section of a document. Most World Wide Web documents contain hypertext.

Image Map A single graphic image containing more than one hot spot. Image maps are used extensively on the WWW. Each hot spot in a Web image takes you to a different Web page or to another area of the same Web page.

Instant Messaging A type of communications service that enables you to create a private chat room with another individual. Typically, the instant messaging system alerts you whenever somebody on your private list is online. You can then initiate a chat session with that particular individual.

Interface Something that connect two separate entities. For example, a user interface is a part of a program that connects the computer with a human operator (user).

Internet Protocol Address (IP Address) The 32-bit address defined by the Internet Protocol. Every resource on the Internet has a unique numerical IP address, represented in dotted decimal notation. IP addresses are the closest thing the Internet has to phone numbers. When you “call” that number (using any number of connection methods such as FTP, HTTP, Gopher, etc.) you get connected to the computer that “owns” that IP address.

Macro A symbol, name, or key that represents a list of commands, actions, or keystrokes. Many programs allow you to create macros so that you can enter a single
character or word to perform a whole series of actions.

Packet The common term for the standard unit of data sent across a network. When you send or request data, it is broken up into packets which meet back together again at the destination and are rejoined.

Post Office Protocol (POP) A protocol designed to allow single users to read mail from a server. There are three versions: POP, POP2, and POP3. When e-mail is sent to you, it is stored on the server until accessed by you. Once you are authenticated, the POP is used to transmit the stored mail from the server to your local mailbox on your client machine.

Router A device that forwards traffic between networks. Forwarding decisions are made based on network layer information and routing tables, often constructed by routing protocols.

Server Simply, a computer that provides resources, such as files or other information. Common Internet servers include file servers and name servers Domain Name Service.

T1 A term used to denote the type of connection of a host to the Internet. A T1 transmits a DS-1 formatted digital signal at 1.544 megabits per second.

T3 A term used to denote the type of connection of a host to the Internet. A T3 transmits a DS-3 formatted digital signal at 44.746 megabits per second.

TCP/IP Stack To properly use the TCP/IP protocol, PCs require a TCP/IP stack. This consists of TCP/IP software, sockets software (such as WINSOCK.DLL for Windows machines), and hardware driver software (known as packet drivers). Windows 95 comes with Microsoft’s own built-in TCP/IP stack, including version 1.1 of Microsoft’s WINSOCK.DLL and packet drivers.

Virus A program which replicates itself on computer systems by incorporating itself into other programs that are shared among computer systems.

WHOIS An Internet program (related to Finger and the White Pages) that lets you enter an Internet entity (such as domains, networks, and hosts) and display information such as a person’s company name, address, phone number and e-mail address.

Winsocks Stands for “Windows Sockets.” Winsocks is a set of specifications or standards for programmers creating TCP/IP applications for use with Windows.

World Wide Web The “Web” is a collection of online documents housed on Internet servers around the world. The concept of the Web was created by Tim Berners-Lee and researchers at CERN in Switzerland. Web documents are written or “coded” in HTML. To access these documents, you have to use a Web browser, such as Netscape, Microsoft Explorer, Opera or Mosaic. When these browsers access (or hit) a page, the server uses the HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) to send the document to your computer.