| ARPAnet An experimental network created in '69 and established in the 70's
where the theories and software on which the Internet is based were tested. No longer in existence. |
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| CGI (Common Gateway Interface): An API (application programming interface) for http
that provides the server with the capability to run scripts or compiled client/server applications when requested. |
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| client a) A software application that works on your behalf to extract a service from
a server somewhere on the network.. |
| b) The computer on which the client software runs |
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| FTP a) The File Transfer Protocol; a protocol that defines how to transfer files from
one computer to another. |
| b) An application program which moves files using the File Transfer Protocol. |
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| gateway A computer system that transfers data between normally incompatible applications
or networks. The term is often used interchangeably with router, but this usage is incorrect. |
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| Gopher A menu-based system for exploring Internet resources. A document delivery system
for retrieving information from Internet. The information is stored on Gopher servers and retrieved by Gopher clients. The
name Gopher comes from the mascot of U. of Minnesota, which developed Gopher. |
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| homepage A top-level Web document that relates to an individual or an institution. Other
pages in th edocument are usuallu accessible by home-page hypertext links. |
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| html HyperText Markup Language. The language used to create text files with links for
use on the World Wide Web browsers. |
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| http HyperText Transport Protocol. A protocol used by the World Wide Web. |
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| hypertext More than just plain text. A document that contains links to other documents
and allows the user to move easily from one related document to another. A common example of hypertext is the help screens
in Windows and in Mac applications. |
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| Intranet Uses the Internet as the backbone of the internal network within an organization.
With an intranet you could use a Web server to publish information only available to your employees. |
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| Internet a) Generally (not capitalized), any collection of distinct networks working
together as one. |
| b) Specifically (capitalized), the world-wide "network of networks" that are connected to each other, using
the IP protocol and other similar protocols. The Internet provides file transfer, remote login, electronic mail, news, and
other services. |
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| Java An object-oriented programming language and environment similar to C++. It is used
to create network-based applications. Developed by Sun Microsystems. |
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| Mosaic Mosaic is one particular browser for the World Wide Web that supports hypermedia.
Mosaic is often used (incorrectly) as a synonym for the World Wide Web. |
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| Netscape A browser for the World Wide Web. Its GUI interface and hypertext links make
it very popular. |
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| packet A bundle of data. On the Internet, data is broken up into small chunks, called
packets, each packet traversing the network independently. Packet sizes can vary from roughly 40 to 32,000 bytes, depending
on network hardware and media, but packets are normally less than 1500 bytes long. |
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| protocol A protocol is a set of rules for the exchange of data between computers or
between a terminal and a computer. Standard protocols allow different computers, using completely different software, to interpret
the data in the same way. |
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| router A system that transfers data between two networks that use the same protocols.
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| server a) Software that allows a computer to offer a service to another computer. Other
computers contact the server program by means of client software. |
| b) The computer on which the server software runs. |
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| TCP The Transmission Control Protocol - one of the protocols on which the Internet is
based. This is a routing scheme. |
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| IP The Internet Protocol - The most important of the protocols on which the Internet
is based. It allows a packet to traverse multiple networks on the way to its final destination. This is an addressing scheme. |
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| These two acronyms are usually seen together as TCP/IP. | |
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| TELNET a) A "terminal emulation" protocol that allows you to log in to other computer
systems on the Internet, |
| b) An application program that allows you to log in to another computer system using the TELNET protocol. |
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| URL Universal Resource Locators, a standard way of writing an address. It is analagous
to phone numbers with their area codes, prefixes, and numbers. They hav a very specific order. For example: http://sailfish.peregrine.com/WebWorld/welcome.html |
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type of server http:// |
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host salifish.peregrine.com |
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| folders /WebWorld/welcome.html | |
| Note: As data is moved, addresses change, and URLs loose validity. |
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| WAIS Wide Area Information Service, a system for looking up information in databases
(or libraries) across the Internet. |
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| Webmaster The person responsible for creating and managing a Web site. |
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| Web site An individual Web document collection named by a unique URL. |
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| World Wide Web WWW is a hypertext-based system for finding and accessing Internet resources. |
