Glossary Of Terms

Kbs Kilo-Bits per Second	A data transmission rate expressed in 1000 bit per second units. For example, 56Kbs is 56 x 1000 = 56,000 bits per second.
Kilobyte	1,000 bytes
LAN Local Area Network	A data network intended to serve an area of only a few square kilometres or less. Because the network is known to cover only a small area, optimizations can be made in the network signal protocols that permit data rates up to 100 Mb/s.
Login	Two broad meanings (noun and verb). Noun: the account name used to gain access to a computer system. Verb: the process of entering into a computer system e.g. login to SINA.
Listserv	Refer to Mailing Lists.
Mailing Lists	A list of e-mail addresses. Generally, a mailing list is used to discuss different topics. A mailing list may be moderated, that is messages sent to the list are actually sent to a moderator who determines whether or not to send the messages on to everyone else. Many mailing lists are maintained by a "listserv" (list server program) that automatically handles operations such as adding new people to the list.
Megabyte	One million bytes or one thousand kilobytes.
Modem	Electronic hardware and software that translates what is being done on your computer into a signal that can be sent down a telephone line and recreated and understood by a modem at the other end of the telephone connection.
Newsgroups	Much like a listserv except that discussions are held over the World Wide Web and each response or message is able to be viewed by all who have subscribed to the newsgroup. There are many different newsgroups and topics to which users are able to subscribe or unsubscribe.
Netiquette	The etiquette or acceptable behaviour on the Internet. Whilst there is broad consensus in some areas, the rules are constantly changing.
Network	Basically a number of computers connected by wire or cable. These can be wired together at one physical location (see LAN) or connected via telephone or satellite (see WAN).
Network Address	The network portion of an IP address. Eg 10.23.50 for a Class C address which has 256 IP addresses after the three digits. For a Class A network, the network address is the first digits of the IP address. For a Class B network, the network address is the first two digits(separated by dots) of the IP address. For a Class C network, the network address is the first three digits of the IP address. In each case, the remainder is the host (or computer) address. In the Internet, assigned network addresses are globally unique. See also: Internet, IP Address.

Password	A code used to gain access to a locked system or network. Usually also associated with a login.
Ping	A program that searches to see whether an Internet site is still active.
Plug-in	Software that adds features to a larger piece of software or application. The plug-in is loaded into memory by the larger program adding a new feature to the larger program. Plug-ins are usually created by developers other than the developers of the larger program the plug-in works with. Examples of plug-ins are: Macromedia Shockwave, Real Time Audio, Quick Time, etc.
POP Point of Presence or Post Office Protocol.	Point of Presence usually means a physical location that a network can become connected to, usually via a local call dial over a telephone line. The other meaning, Post Office Protocol refers to the way in which e-mail is retrieved from a mail server. Whenever a person has an e-mail account, it is referred to as a POP account, where e-mail software is told to retrieve e-mail.
Port	This has three general meanings. The first (and most general) is the socket or point where information goes into or out of the computer (e.g. ports on the computer will allow for printer and modem connections). On the Internet, port also refers to that part of the URL sometimes appearing after the colon (:) at the end of a domain name. Each service on an Internet server 'listens' on a particular port on that server. Most services have standard port numbers (e.g. web servers normally listen on port 80). Finally, port can also refer to translating (or migrating) a piece of software from one computer operating system to another (e.g. moving a Windows program so that it operates on a Macintosh)
PPP (Point to Point Protocol)	A protocol used to establish TCP/IP connections using serial lines such as dial-up telephone lines. Similar to SLIP (see further on) PPP is a later standard that includes features such as demand dial-up, compression, better flow control, etc.
Protocol	A formal description of message formats and the rules two computers must follow to exchange those messages. Protocols can describe low-level details of machine-to-machine interfaces (e.g. the order in which bits and bytes are sent across a wire) or high-level exchanges between allocation programs (e.g. the way in which two programs transfer a file across the Internet).
Route	The path that network traffic takes from its source to its destination. Also, a possible path from a given host to another host or destination.
Router	A computer which forwards traffic between networks. The forwarding decision is based on network layer information and routing tables, often constructed by routing protocols.
Search Engine	A program which collects data about sites from all over the Internet and then collates and stores it. Users access search engines to seek a certain site. Examples of search engines are: AltaVista, Yahoo!, InfoSeek and LookSmart.
Server	A computer (or program) that provides services to client software running on other computers. It can be used to describe a particular piece of software (e.g. WWW Server) or to the machine on which the software is running. A single server machine can run different server software packages, thereby providing many resources to client machines (e.g. file servers and name servers). See also: client, Domain Name System.
Shareware	Software that you can download and try out on your computer. You don't have to pay for this software to try it but if you keep it you are honour bound to pay the author or owner.
SINA Schoolsnet Internet Network Administrator	A software program developed by Schoolsnet Australia, to assist schools to manage their Internet connection quickly, easily and effectively.
SLIP Serial Line Internet Protocol	A protocol used to establish TCP/IP connections using serial lines such as dial-up telephone lines. Small computers, such as PCs and Macintoshes, can use SLIP to dial up to servers, which then allow the computer to act as a full Internet node. SLIP is generally used at sites with a few users as a cheaper alternative than a full Internet connection. SLIP is being replaced by PPP at many sites.
Spam	The unwarranted posting of commercial messages to many unsuspecting Internet users.
TCP/IP Transfer Control Protocol/Internet Protocol.	This is the language used by the Internet to send and retrieve messages. Having this functionality on computers allows them to be able to read and communicate with the Internet.
Telnet	Telnet is the Internet standard protocol for remote terminal connection service. The name "telnet" is also used to refer to programs that allow interactive access to remote computers, as well as the action of using said programs. For example the phrase "Telnet to host xyzzy" means to interactively log into host "xyzzy" from some other host in the Internet.
Terabyte	1,000 gigabytes.
Terminal	A device allowing a user to send commands and operate programmes on a computer located elsewhere.

UNIX	A computer operating system. This was the first type of operating system that was used on the Internet. It remains a very popular operating system for Internet Access Providers and Internet Service Providers.
Upload	To copy data from a local computer to a remote computer. The opposite of download.
Usenet	A collection of thousands of topically named newsgroups, the computers which run the protocols, and the people who read and submit Usenet news. Not all Internet hosts subscribe to Usenet and not all Usenet hosts are on the Internet. See also: Newsgroups.
URL Uniform Resource Locator	An address for a computer or file on the Internet e.g.: http://www.schools.net.au
VicOne	VicOne is Wide Area Network (WAN) as managed by AAPT which connects Victorian government schools and Departmental sites.
Virus	A program which replicates itself on computer systems by incorporating itself into other programs which are shared among computer systems.
WAN	Wide Area Network An internet or network, usually constructed with serial lines, which covers a large geographic area. See also: LAN
Web Browser	A piece of software such as Netscape Navigator, Netscape Communicator or Internet Explorer, which acts as an interface allowing the user to view the Internet with graphics and colour, etc.
WWW World Wide Web	A hypertext-based, distributed information system created by researchers at CERN in Switzerland. Users may create, edit, or browse hypertext documents. The clients and servers are freely available. The WWW Servers are interconnected to allow a user to traverse the Web from any starting point.

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