dartmouth research & consulting glossaries
Internet Glossary
Term Definition

A
Address The numeric value assigned to a computer for access on the Internet. (like a telephone number)
Aggregation The process of assembling and synthesizing common data, information, functions and service for a targeted group of users.
Anonymous FTP A service available at some Internet sites that gives any user access to data files and applications using FTP. With anonymous FTP, users don't need a special password to retrieve files. They are available to the public.
ARPANET A worldwide network created in the 1960's that was maintained by the U.S. Department of Defense to facilitate communications between research facilities and universities. Advanced Research Project Agency Network
ASCII American Standard Code for Information Interchange. This code maps letters and other symbols, like periods and commas, to numbers that your computer can understand.

B
Backbone The term used to describe the wide area network that supports Internet traffic.
Bandwidth A measurement of how much information can be transmitted at a given time over the Internet.
Baud Refers to the speed in which data is transmitted over a network connection. The higher the number the faster the speed.
Browser An application that displays a Web page. Also known as a Web browser.
Browsing The use of a browser to view information on the Internet.
Bulletin board (BBS) A dial-in service that usually provides information, software, and technical support on a focused topic.

C
Cable modem A type of modem that allows for Internet-access over cable TV lines.
CGI Common Gateway Interface - a computer program that assembles dynamic web pages.
Client The software program used to access the Internet and communicate with a remote server.
Client Server A relationship between programs running on separate machine in a computer network. The server is the provider of services, while the client is the consumer of the services.
CPU Central Processing Units

D
DHTLM Dynamic Hypertext Mark-up Language
Domain name Denotes the name of a specific Internet area controlled by a company, school, or organization.
DSL Digital Subscriber Line - a technology that enables Internet access over standard telephone lines at speeds at least 15 to 20 times faster that a 56k dial-up connection.

E
EDI Electronic Data Interchange
E-mail Electronic Mail. Text messages sent through a network to specified individual or group. Email messages can also carry attached files.
E-mail app client app, sends and receives Internet e-mail
E-mail server takes e-mail, makes sure it gets to the right place, provides it to the destination e-mail app (typically uses the SMTP protocol)

F
FinXML Financial extensible mark-up language - a derived web language based upon XML for general retail banking information.
Firewall Software or hardware that limits certain kinds of access to a computer from a network or other outside source.
FIX Financial Information Exchange protocol.
FTP File Transfer Protocol. The Internet protocol that allow the viewing, downloading, and uploading of files on remote computers.
FTP application Client app, initiates file transfers (either uploads or downloads)
FTP server Server app, knows where files are archived, responds to ftp transfer requests

G
GIF Graphic Interchange Format. A bit-mapped color graphics file format that is the preferred one to use if you want to put a graphic (as opposed to a photo) on a Web page.
Gopher A browsing and searching protocol that lets you find and retrieve text and files.

H
Homepage The top page of a web site.
Host A computer that stored wed sites and web pages.
HTML Hypertext Markup Language. The standard for adding tags to a text file, so that the file is able to be interpreted by a Web browser.
HTTP Hypertext Transfer Protocol. The Internet protocol that the Web uses to send information to the client, so the client browser can view Web pages.

I
IAB Internet Architecture Board
IE Microsoft's Internet Explorer
InterNIC Internet Network Information Center - an organization that supplies and maintain Internet documentation.
IP Internet Protocol
IRC Internet Relay Chat. The Internet's version of a CB radio, IRC lets you join a channel and converse in real-time with other people who are on the same channel, through text-based typing.
IRC client client app, interactive chat program
IRC server server app, handles communication between all the IRC clients
ISO International Standards Organization
ISP Internet Service Provider - A company that provides direct access to the Internet.
ITU International Telecommunications Union

J
JAVA An object-oriented, cross-platform programming language, similar to C++, that is designed for building applications for the Internet.
JPEG Joint Photographic Expert Group. A file format using a compression technique to reduce the size of a graphics file by as much as 96 percent. JPEG is the preferred file format to use if you want to put a photograph on a Web page.

M
MIDI Musical Instrument Digital Interface - A standard that lets electronic musical devices communicate with each other. Music stored in MIDI format contains instructions for playing the music, rather than the digitized audio signal itself.
MIME Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions. MIME types are extensions to files that tell your computer what kind of program to use to view the file.
Modem A devise that translates computer signals to analog signals suitable for send across phone lines.

N
Netiquette Proper etiquette when online.
Netscape The Mozilla Browser company.
Newsgroups An area on the Internet reserved for discussion of a certain topic. Messages are posted in the Newsgroups and replies are encouraged.

P
Ping Packet Internet Groper - used to make a contact to a site
PKI Personal Key Infrastructure
Point and click A term used to describe a process of accessing an information link on a web page.
Portal A fancy name for the "start-up" page of a Web browser. This is the entry point of the Web.
Postmaster The individual or service responsible for emails routing within a host system.
PPP Point-to-Point Protocol. A communications protocol that lets users connect their computers directly to the Internet through phone lines.
Protocol A set of procedures and customs that aid in communication and relationships between people. When used in the context of computer networking, a protocol has a similar meaning, but is more specific. A network protocol is the set of very detailed rules, sequences, message formats, and procedures that computer systems use and understand when exchanging data with each other.

Network protocol (including Internet protocols) is the term to describe how computer systems communicate with each other at the bit and byte level. Network protocols are layered on top of each other, with each layer providing additional capabilities, but using the facilities provided by the lower layer.

R
Router A specialized machine that runs various protocols to direct network packets from one segment to another.

S
Search engine A utility that locates resources via searches for keywords and phrases. Click here for a large list of search engines.
Server A program that offers a service on the Internet. Often used to describe a type of computer designated for services used by clients.
SPAM Unsolicited email messages or Newsgroups postings, usually advertising a product
Surfing A term used to describe browsing for information on the web.

T
T-1 A type of data connection able to transmit a digital signal at 1.544 megabits per second.
TCP/IP Transport Control Protocol/Internet Protocol - The networking protocol for the Internet.

U
URL Universal Resource Locator. Describes the location and access method of a resource on the Internet. This is also known as the "Web site address."

V
Vortal A vertically focused web portal.
VRML Virtual Reality Modeling Language. An emerging standard that will let you model and move around in 3-D environments on the Internet.

W
WAIS Wide Area Information Service - a database service of the Internet allowing for structured searching for key words.
Web browser client application, requests Web pages to browse
Web server server application, knows where Web pages are stored, responds to Web browser requests
Web site A collection of documents under one domain name accessible on the world wide web.
Webmaster/webmistress The man (webmaster) or woman (webmistress) responsible for the administration and management of a web site.
WWW World wide web - A collection of electronic documents loosely knit by a concept called "hypertext." Documents connect to each other by clickable "hyperlinks." You need to run a browser program to access the Web.

X
XML Extensible mark-up language - the Internet standard for data exchange.
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