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10Base-T Standard Ethernet. A networking standard that allows computers to be attached to the network via twisted pair cable.
802.11b A wireless networking protocol.
ActiveX is a set of technologies developed by Microsoft from two of their previous technologies called OLE (Object Linking and Embedding) and COM (Component Object Model). The term ActiveX can be confusing because it applies to a whole set of COM-based technologies. Most people think only of ActiveX controls, which represent a specific way of implementing ActiveX technologies.
ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line) is a special telephone line that enables access to the Internet between 10 and 40 times faster than a normal modem. Many ISPs offer an ADSL service for businesses, which allows you to connect your office network permanently to the Internet for a fixed monthly fee. ADSL makes use of your your existing telephone line. It splits the signal into two, one for voice communications and the other for the high speed data connection. The bandwidth available for downstream connection is significantly larger then for upstream. This setup is well suited for web browsing and client-server applications as well as for some emerging applications such as video on demand. The data-rate of ADSL strongly depends on the length and quality of the line connecting the user to the telephone company.
AGP Accelerated Graphics Port A bus specification by Intel which gives low-cost 3D graphics cards faster access to main memory on personal computers than the usual PCI bus. AGP dynamically allocates the PC's normal RAM to store the screen image and to support texture mapping, z-buffering and alpha blending. AGP cards are slightly longer than a PCI card. AGP allows for efficient use of frame buffer memory, thereby helping 2D graphics performance as well. AGP reduces the overall cost of creating high-end graphics subsystems by using existing system memory.
Analogue A form of transmitting information characterized by continuously variable quantities, as opposed to digital transmission, which is characterized by discrete bits of information in numerical steps. An analogue signal is responsive to changes in light, sound, heat and pressure.
Anti-virus A software utility that searches a hard disk for viruses and removes any that are found. Most antivirus programs include an auto-update feature that enables the program to download profiles of new viruses so that it can check for the new viruses as soon as they are discovered.
Application A complete, self-contained program that performs a specific function directly for the user. Common examples are wordprocessing and spreadsheet programs. This is in contrast to system software such as the operating system kernel and server processes that exist to support application programs.
ASP 1. Application Service Provider - a company that provides access to application sofware across a network protocol, typically via the Web. Advantages include always having access to the latest versions of software not having to install the software on every PC on your network. 2. Active Server Pages - a scripting environment for Microsoft Internet Information Server in which you can combine HTML, programming scripts and reusable ActiveX server components to create dynamic web pages and integration with databases.
Asynchronous Typical transmission method of dial up modems. Data is transmitted using a start bit at the beginning of a character and a stop bit at the end. The time interval between characters may be of varying lengths. Synchronous data uses an external reference clock to unify both ends of the data circuit
Back End Typically refers to the section of a system or website which is not made available or visible to the general public such as a database which drives a website.
Backbone The main network connections and major routes that make up the Internet.
Backup A spare copy of a file, file system or other resource for use in the event of failure or loss of the original. The term is most commonly used to refer to a copy of all the files on a computer's disks which is made periodically and kept on magnetic tape or other removable medium. This essential precaution is neglected by most new computer users until the first time they experience a disk crash or accidentally delete the only copy of the file they have been working on for the last six months. Ideally the backup copies should be kept at a different site or in a fire safe since, though your hardware may be insured against fire, the data on it is almost certainly neither insured nor easily replaced.
Bandwidth The amount of data that can be transmitted in a fixed amount of time. For digital devices, the bandwidth is usually expressed in bits per second (bps), or bytes per second. A modem connection to the Internet is typically 56,000bps (56kbps), a broadband connection might be 1.5Mbps or more. For analog devices, the bandwidth is expressed in cycles per second, or Hertz Hz.
Baud The rate of data transmission based on the number of signal elements or symbols transmitted per second. Today most digital signals are characterized in bits per second
BIOS Basic Input Output System. The part of the system software of the PC that provides the lowest level interface to peripheral devices and controls the first stage of the start up process, including installing the operating system. The BIOS is stored in ROM or equivalent, in every PC. Its main task is to load and execute the operating system which is usually stored on the computer's hard disk, but may be loaded from CD-ROM or floppy disk at install time.
Bit A single digital unit of information, a byte consists of 8 bits
Bluetooth A specification for short-range radio links between mobile computers, mobile phones, digital cameras, and other portable devices
Bps Bits per second, a unit of measurement of the speed of data transmission and thus of bandwidth
Broadband The term applied to networks having bandwidths significantly greater than that found in telephony networks. Broadband systems are capable of carrying a large number of moving images or a vast quantity of data simultaneously. Broadband techniques usually depend on coaxial or optical cable for transmissions but DSL (including ADSL) technology can allow broadband bandwidth over normal copper phone lines under the right conditions.
Browser A browser (or Web browser) is an application program that finds and displays Web pages and enables navigation between pages and different sites. Examples are Internet Explorer, Netscape Navigator and Opera. The browser is the client to remote web servers
Bus A collection of wires through which data is transmitted from one part of a computer to another.
Byte A group of eight bits, usually the smallest addressable unit of information in a data memory storage unit
Cat5 An American Standards Institute standard for cables. Used, e.g., for 100BaseTX cabling
Celeron Intel Corporation's trade name for its family of microprocessors meant for use in low-end computers. A Celeron is about one third the cost of a similar speed Pentium.
CGI 1. A standard for running other server based programs from a Web server. CGI specifies how to pass parameters (for example information entered in a form on a Web page) to the program for processing. A CGI program can, for example, access information in a database and format the results as HTML for delivery to the website visitor's browser. A common choice for writing CGI scripts is the Perl programming lanuage. Some Web servers require CGI programs to reside in a special folder on the server, often "/cgi-bin" but better servers provide ways to distinguish CGI programs so they can be kept in the same directories as the HTML files to which they are related. 2. Animatied graphics produced by computer and used in film or television
Chat Any system that allows any number of logged-in users to have a typed, real-time, on-line conversation, either by all users logging into the same computer, or more commonly nowadays, via a network. Users may also send private (one-to-one) messages. Two of the most popular chat systems are run by AOL and Yahoo. Chat systems have given rise to a distinctive style combining the immediacy of talking with all the precision (and verbosity) that written language entails. It is difficult to communicate inflection, though conventions have arisen to help with this. The conventions of chat systems include special items of jargon, generally abbreviations meant to save typing. Many of these expressions are also commonly used in newsgroups and email and some have seeped into popular culture.
Codec COder/DECoder. Any hardware or software mechanism that translates video or audio streams between an analog signal and a compressed digital format
ColdFusion Macromedia 's commercial database application development tool that allows databases to have a Web interface, so a database can be queried and updated using a Web browser. The ColdFusion Server application runs on the Web server and has access to a database. Examples of ColdFusion applications include order entry, event registration, catalogue search, directories, calendars, and interactive training. ColdFusion applications are robust because all database interactions are encapsulated in a single industrial-strength CGI script.
Compression The process of reducing the information content of a signal so that it occupies less space on a transmission channel or storage device. Compression is particularly important for the transmission of multimedia content such as graphics, audio and video over the limited bandwidth of the Internet. Examples of commonly used compression formats are JPEG (for images) and MP3 (for audio).
Content Management System A program for generating, organising, storing and publishing content for a dynamic website. The use of a content manangement system means that website content can be kept up to date by editors and other contributors who do not have to have special knowledge about HTML or other Web technologies.
Cross Platform A term that describes a language, software application or hardware device that works on more than one operating system or platform (e.g. Unix, Microsoft Windows, Macintosh). The Java programming language was designed to be cross-platform, which means that you do not have to write different versions of a Java program to work on, for example, an Apple Mac and a PC.
Database A collection of information organized in such a way that a computer program can quickly select required pieces of data. A typical business database might contain data about customers and orders that can be accessed by many users at the same time. Databases are usually organized by fields, records and tables. A field is a single piece of information; a record is one complete set of fields; and a table is a complete set of records.
DHTML DHTML An extension of HTML giving greater control over the layout of page elements and the ability to have Web pages that change and interact with the user without having to communicate with the server.
Dial-up A connection to the Internet or private network that uses a modem connected to your computer and a normal phone line. The connection speed is limited to 56kbps. This is the standard type of Internet connection for home use.
Digitize Convert analogue information such as photographs, music and video into bits of data for storing or processing on a computer or for transmission over computer networks (e.g. the Internet).
Directory 1. Another name for a folder in a hierarchical computer file system. 2. A Web service such as that offered by Yahoo that lists websites that have been manually checked by humans and organised into categories. (This is different from a search engine, which maintains an index of Web pages that are returned as an uncategorised list when you enter your search terms.)
DirectX A set of APIs developed by Microsoft that enables programmers to write programs that access hardware features of a computer without knowing exactly what hardware will be installed on the machine where the program eventually runs. DirectX achieves this by creating an intermediate layer that translates generic hardware commands into specific commands for particular pieces of hardware. In particular, DirectX lets multimedia applications take advantage of hardware acceleration features supported by graphics accelerators
DNS Abbreviation for Domain Name System or Service. An Internet service that translates domain names such as ekeda.com into a IP addresses e.g. 62.189.183.221, which are used by computers. Domain names are easier to work with from a human perspective than the IP numbers, which are difficult to remember. Because the Internet is really based on IP addresses, when you use a domain name, a DNS service will translate the name into the corresponding IP address.
Domain Name A part of the Internet naming hierarchy consisting of a sequence of names (labels) separated by dots, for example, ekeda.com. Your domain name is your web identity. Visitors to your website get there using your domain name, people send you email using your domain name. A domain name consists of a Top-Level Domain (like .com, .co.uk, .org, .net, .tv) and your company subdomain.
Download To copy data, usually an entire file, from a main source to a peripheral device. The term is often used to describe the process of copying a file from an online service or website to one's own computer. Downloading can also refer to copying a file from a network file server to a computer on the network.
DRAM Dynamic Random Access Memory, the type of memory used in most personal computers.
E-commerce (EC) The conducting of business communication and transactions over networks and through computers. As most restrictively defined, electronic commerce is the buying and selling of goods and services, and the transfer of funds, through digital communications. However EC also includes all inter-company and intra-company functions (such as marketing, finance, manufacturing, selling, and negotiation) that enable commerce and use electronic mail, EDI, file transfer, fax, video conferencing, workflow, or interaction with a remote computer. Electronic commerce also includes buying and selling over the Web, electronic funds transfer, smart cards, digital cash (e.g. Mondex), and all other ways of doing business over digital networks
Encryption Any procedure used in cryptography to convert plain text into a coded format in order to prevent anyone but the intended recipient from reading that data.
Ethernet A protocol for local area networks (LANs) running on coaxial or twisted pair wiring, at 1 or 10 Mbps. See also Fast Ethernet
Fast Ethernet A way to run Ethernet at 100Mbps on one or two pairs of standard, unshielded telephone copper wire
File Sharing File sharing provides access to files,data or information to multiple computers, systems or individuals. The files which are shared are usually stored in a central repository such as a file server.
Firewall A firewall is a system (either software or hardware based) that monitors your PC or network's Internet or other external traffic and decides whether it should be allowed through or blocked. The aim is to protect your computer or your entire network from hackers, viruses, trojans and related problems.
Flash 1. A type of non-volatile memory built into the unit or available as a PC Card that can be plugged into a PCMCIA slot. Flash memory can be written in blocks or over the entire chip, making it easy to erase or update. 2. A multimedia package enabling the user to create animation, images and short graphical films for the Internet.
FTP File Transfer Protocol. The Internet protocol (and program) used to transfer files between computers. Often used for downloading software or uploading files to a website.
Gateway The original Internet term for what is now called router or more precisely, IP router. Refers to systems that translate from one native format to another
Gigabytes 1000 or 1024 Megabytes (MB), depending on who is measuring.
Graphics Card (Or "graphics adapter", "graphics card", "video adaptor", etc.) A circuit board fitted to a computer, containing the necessary video memory and other electronics to provide a display. Adaptors vary in the resolution (number of pixels) and number of colours they can display, and in the refresh rate they support. These parameters are also limited by the monitor to which the adaptor is connected. A number of such display standards, e.g. SVGA, have become common and different software requires or supports different sets
Handshake The electrical exchange of predetermined signals by devices wishing to set up a connection. Once completed the transmission begins. Used by modems, for example, when connecting to each other.
Hard Disk One or more rigid magnetic disks rotating about a central axle with associated read/write heads and electronics, used to store data. Most hard disks are permanently connected to the drive fixed disks though there are also removable disks. High speed disks have an access time of 28 milliseconds or less, and low-speed disks run 65 milliseconds or more. The higher speed disks also transfer their data faster than the slower speed units. Each surface of each disk is divided into a number of evenly spaced concentric circular tracks. The set of all tracks at a given radius on all surfaces the tracks which can be accessed without moving the heads are known as a cylinder. Each track is divided into sectors. Disk drives are commonly characterised by the kind of interface used to connect to the computer, e.g. ATA, IDE, SCSI
Hardware Refers to physical computer related objects, like disks, disk drives, display screens, keyboards, printers, boards, and memory chips. In contrast, software refers to the programs such as word processors that you run on the hardware.
Hertz (Hz) 1 complete cycle per second. This unit is most commomly used to measure transmission speeds of electronic devices, such as the clock speed of a microprocessor, the small computer chip that handles data-related tasks, often in Megahertz (MHz).
Html HyperText Markup Language The coding language used to create Hypertext documents for use on the World Wide Web. HTML looks a lot like old-fashioned typesetting code, where you surround a block of text with codes that indicate how it should appear. The "hyper" in Hypertext comes from the fact that in HTML you can specify that a block of text, or an image, is linked to another file on the Internet. HTML files are meant to be viewed using a Web Browser.
HTTP HyperText Transfer Protocol The protocol for moving files across the Web. Requires a HTTP client program on one end, and a HTTP server program on the other end. HTTP is the most important protocol used in the World Wide Web WWW.
Hub A network's or system's signal distribution point where multiple circuits convene and are connected. Some type of switching or information transfer can then take place. Switching hubs can also be used in Ethernet LAN environments
Interoperability The ability of electronic components produced by different manufacturers to communicate across product lines. The trend toward embracing standards has greatly furthered the interoperability process
IP Address The unique 32 bit number assigned to each computer connected to the Internet and used by the TCP/IP protocol to route packets of data to their destinations. The number is usually written in shorthand "dotted octet" notation in which the 32 bit address is grouped into four sets of 8 bits. Each of those eight-bit sets is converted into a decimal number, and the four resulting decimal numbers are written separated by dots
ISDN Integrated Services Digital Network. A set of protocol and interface standards that effectively constitute an integrated (voice, video, and data) telephone "network." An ISDN dial-up Internet connection operates at 64K and is therefore considerably faster that a normal modem connection.
ISP Internet Service Provider. A company that provides access to the Internet and usually other services such as email and Web hosting.
Java A computer programming language designed to be multi-platform (programs written in Java can run on different systems) and network friendly. Has become popular for Internet related software development.
JavaScript JavaScript is a programming language commonly confused with Java that is mostly used in Web pages, usually to add features that make the web page more interactive. When JavaScript is included in an HTML file it relies upon the browser to interpret the JavaScript. When JavaScript is combined with Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), and later versions of HTML 4.0, the result is often called DHTML.
JPEG ISO Joint Picture Expert Group standard for the compression of still pictures. Images in the JPEG format usually end with the either JPG or JPEG extensions.
JScript Microsoft's proprietary implementation of JavaScript (see above)
JSP JSP A freely available specification for extending the Java Servlet API to generate dynamic web pages on a web server. JSP assists developers in creating HTML or XML pages that combine static fixed page templates with dynamic content. Separating the user interface from content generation allows page designers to change the page layout without having to rewrite program code. JSP was designed to be simpler than pure servlets or CGI scripting.
Kbps Your modem's speed is measured in the number of bits it can transfer in a second. Modems rated in kilobits per second are now the standard.
Kilobyte (KB or K) Although kilo is Greek for a thousand, a kilobyte actually contains 1,024 bytes (that's 2 to the 10th power). So a thousand bytes is actually less than a kilobyte.
Kilohertz (kHz) Refers to a unit of frequency equal to 1,000 Hertz
LAN Local Area Network, a computer network linking workstations, file servers, printers, and other devices within a local area, such as an office. LANs allow the sharing of resources and the exchange of both video and data.
Leased Line A dedicated telephone circuit supplied by the telephone company (e.g. BT) that provides a high-speed always-on connection either to the Internet or between offices. The speed of leased lines starts 64Kbps and goes up through 128K, 256K, 512K to 10 or more Mbps.
Legacy System A computer system or application program which continues to be used because of the cost of replacing or redesigning it and often despite its poor competitiveness and compatibility with modern equivalents. The implication is that the system is large, monolithic and difficult to modify. If legacy software only runs on antiquated hardware the cost of maintaining this may eventually outweigh the cost of replacing both the software and hardware unless some form of emulation or backward compatibility allows the software to run on new hardware
Linux Linux is a free Unix-type operating system originally created by Linus Torvalds with the assistance of developers around the world. Linux is "open source" software, which means that the source code for Linux is freely available to everyone, as opposed to proprietary systems such as Microsoft Windows.
Megabyte (MB) Although mega is Greek for a million, a megabyte actually contains 1,048,576 bytes(1,024 x 1,024 bytes), which is 1024 kilobytes.
Megahertz (MHz) Refers to a frequency equal to one million Hertz, or cycles per second
Merge-purge The merging of two or more e-mail lists for marketing purposes such as a mailout.
Modem Acronym for modulator-demodulator. A modem is a device or program that enables a computer to transmit data over telephone 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.
Motherboard The main printed circuit board in an electronic device, particularly a computer, which may contain sockets that accept additional boards ("daughter-boards"). In a personal computer, the motherboard contains the bus, the microprocessor, and integrated circuits used for controlling any built-in peripherals such as the keyboard, text and graphics display, serial ports and parallel ports, joystick, and mouse interfaces
MPEG Moving Picture Experts Group. MPEG has established standards for compression and storage of motion video. Video files in the mpeg format end with .mpeg or .mpg
MySQL MySQL is a popular Open Source (i.e. free) database offered by many ISPs as part of a Web hosting package so that your website can have a database back end.
Network A group of stations (computers, telephones, or other devices) connected by communications facilities for exchanging information. Connection can be permanent, via cable, or temporary, through telephone or other communications links. The transmission medium can be physical (copper, wire, fiber optic cable, etc.) or wireless, for example via satellite
NIC A newtork interface card. A PCI or ISA adapter card installed in a PC to allow it to connect to a network. Some motherboards have an intergrated network chip.
Node A concentration point in a network where numerous trunks come together at the same switch
OEM Original Equipment Manufacturer. Relates to providing vendors in a related area of business a product that can enhance or add value to their own system. This is very important for software system where product life spans can be relatively short and the route to market needs to be optimised for maximum distribution
Online Payment Provider Usually a third party that provides credit card transaction processing in real time on the behalf of another website/organisation.
Operating System The most important program that runs on a computer. Every general-purpose computer must have an operating system to run other programs such as applications software. Operating systems perform basic tasks, such as recognizing input from the keyboard, sending output to the display screen, keeping track of files and directories on the disk, and controlling peripheral devices such as disk drives and printers. Examples of operating systems are Windows (NT, 2000, XP etc.), Mac OS X, and Linux.
Opt-in List A mailing list that requires a person to actively agree to recieve emails from an email list, usually by ticking a checkbox. The opposite is opt-out which requires a user to tick a box not to recieve emails.
Packet Switching Data transmission method that divides messages into standard-sized packets for greater efficiency of routing and transport through a network
PBX Private Branch Exchange. A telephone switch, usually located on a customer's premises, connected to the telephone network but operated by the customer. A PBX provides pooled access to a given number of inside (extension) lines and a smaller number of outside lines (trunks). Often, outgoing calls are dialed directly, incoming calls are handled by an operator or switched automatically by the PBX software
PCI Peripheral Component Interconnect. A high-performance, 32-bit or 64-bit bus, which has more or less replaced the older ISA system as the main method of connecting internal devices such as graphics cards and modems to a PC. A PC motherboard usually has 3 or more PCI "slots" where devices can be attached.
Pentium Intel's superscalar successor to the 486. Originally called "Pentium" because it is the fifth in the 80x86 line. It would have been called the 80586 had a US court not ruled that you can't trademark a number. The successors are the Pentium Pro,Pentium II,III and IV.
Peripheral A computer device, such as a CD-ROM drive or printer, that is not part of the essential computer. Peripheral devices can be external, such as a mouse, keyboard, printer, monitor, external Zip drive or scanner, or internal, such as a CD-ROM drive, CD-R drive or internal modem. Internal peripheral devices are often referred to as integrated peripherals.
PHP A server-side, cross-platform, HTML-embedded scripting language used to create dynamic web pages. PHP is Open Source software
Pixel Short for Picture Element, a pixel is a single point in a graphic image. Graphics monitors display pictures by dividing the display screen into thousands (or millions) of pixels, arranged in rows and columns. The pixels are so close together that they appear connected.
Platform Specific computer hardware, as in the phrase "platform-independent". It may also refer to a specific combination of hardware and operating system and/or compiler, as in "this program has been ported to several platforms". It is also used to refer to support software for a particular activity, as in "This program provides a platform for research into routing protocols".
POP3 Version 3 of the Post Office Protocol. POP3 provides a "post office" (the POP3 server) to hold email until you login to retrieve it. The POP3 server is usually at your ISP. This is especially usefull when you have a dial-up Internet connection (as opposed to being permanently connected).
Protocol The specification of how different computers will communicate over networks. There are many different protocols, the Internet uses the TCP/IP suite of protocols
RAM Random Access Memory. The "working memory" of a computer, stored in computer chips that plug into the memory slots of the motherboard. Information stored in RAM is temporary and is lost when the systems power is reset.
Rambus A high bandwidth DRAM, designed by Rambus, Inc. RDRAM is used mainly for video accelerators, and also in the Ultra 64 from Nintendo. It offers sustained transfer rates of around 1000 Mbps, compared to 200 Mbps for ordinary DRAM. Although it cannot be used as a direct replacement for existing memory, it is likely that it will replace DRAM and SDRAM as the main memory system in personal computers as the bus speeds required by these machines increase. SDRAM can operate up to around 100MHz, but RDRAM has been demonstrated by the manufacturers running at 600MHz.
RDBMS Relational Database Management System. A database based on the relational model developed by E.F. Codd. A relational database allows the definition of data structures, storage and retrieval operations and integrity constraints. In such a database the data and relations between them are organised in tables. A table is a collection of records and each record in a table contains the same fields. Certain fields may be designated as keys, which means that searches for specific values of that field will use indexing to speed them up. Where fields in two different tables take values from the same set, a join operation can be performed to select related records in the two tables by matching values in those fields. Often, but not always, the fields will have the same name in both tables. INGRES, Oracle, Sybase, Inc., and Microsoft Access are well-known database products and companies.
RGB Red, Green, Blue. The additive scheme used in color video systems. Color television signals are oriented as three separate pictures: red, green and blue. Typically, they are merged together as a composite signal but for maximum quality and in computer applications the signals are segregated
Router A hardware device that forwards packets of information between networks. Often used to connect a computer network to the Internet or another office by ISDN or leased line. The forwarding decision is based on low level network layer information and routing tables.
SCSI Small computer system interface. Pronounced "scuzzy." An I/O bus designed as a method for connecting several classes of peripherals to a host system without requiring modifications to generic hardware and software
SDRAM (SDRAM, Synchronous DRAM) A form of DRAM that can run at much higher clock speeds than conventional memory and therefore works faster.
Search Engine A remotely accessible program that lets you do keyword searches for information on the Internet. There are several types of search engine the search may cover titles of documents, URLs, headers, or the full text.
Security Updates Security updates are software released to address some security vulnerability discovered in a software product. Security updates are sometimes refered to as Patches or Hotfixes and in most cases are made available for free.
Server A computer or device on a network that manages network resources. For example, a file server is a computer and storage device dedicated to storing files. Any user on the network can store files on the server. A print server is a computer that manages one or more printers, and a network server is a computer that manages network traffic. A database server is a computer system that processes database queries.
Shopping Cart A shopping cart is a piece of software that acts as an online store's catalogue and ordering process. Typically, a shopping cart is the interface between a company's website and its deeper infrastructure, allowing consumers to select merchandise review what they have selected make necessary modifications or additions and purchase the merchandise. Shopping carts can be bought as independent pieces of software so companies can integrate them into their own unique online solution, or they can be offered as a feature from a service that will create and host a company's e-commerce site.
SMTP The main protocol used to send email from server to server on the Internet.
Software The programs that run on computers such as the operating system and applications. Anything that can be stored electronically is software. The storage devices and display devices are hardware.
SQL An industry-standard language for creating, updating and, querying relational database management systems. SQL provides language constructs for defining and manipulating tables of data, referential integrity and generalised integrity constraints and data administration.
SSL A protocol designed by Netscape Communications Corporation to provide encrypted communications on the Internet. SSL is layered beneath application protocols such as HTTP, SMTP, Telnet, FTP, Gopher, and NNTP and is layered above the connection protocol TCP/IP. It is used by the HTTPS access method
Switch A special type of network device that filters and forwards packets across a network making it much more efficient than a normal hub. LANs that use switches to join segments are called switched LANs or, in the case of Ethernet networks, switched Ethernet LANs.
System Software Software is generally divided into systems software and applications software. System software is the operating system and all utility programs that manage computer resources at a low level.
TCP/IP The collection of protocols underlying the functioning of the Internet. Each computer connected to the Internet is identified by a unique IP Address
Trojan A seemingling harmless program that hides a malicious virus, such as a password program that secretly records the passwords entered and emails them to the author of the virus.
Unix A popular multi-user, multitasking operating system developed in the early 1970s. Created by just a handful of programmers, UNIX was designed to be a small, flexible system used exclusively by programmers. Although it has matured considerably over the years, UNIX still betrays its origins by its cryptic command names and general lack of user-friendliness. This is changing, however, with graphical user interfaces such as MOTIF.
URL A standard way of specifying the location of an object, typically a Web page, on the Internet. Other types of object are described below. URLs are the form of address used on the Web. They are used in HTML documents to specify the target of a hyperlink which is often another HTML document possibly stored on another computer, eg. http://www.ekeda.com/about_us.htm.
USB Universal Serial Bus. A bidirectional, isochronous, dynamically attachable serial interface for adding peripheral devices such as game controllers, serial and parallel ports, and input devices on a single bus. (This serial protocol runs at 1-12 megabits per second.)
Virus A program or piece of code that is loaded onto your computer without your knowledge and runs against your wishes. Viruses are usually hidden within another program or file and can be destructive or harmless. Viruses are spread from PC to PC by the infected host program over networks, by email or from disks.
WAN Wide Area Network. A communications network that services a geographic area larger than that served by a local area network. A corporate private network linking offices in different locations is an example of a WAN.
WAP Wireless Application Protocol. An open international standard for applications that use wireless communication, e.g. Internet access from a mobile phone
Web Hosting Web hosting is the process of storing a website on a web server to it accessible on the Internet. This service is usually provided by your ISP or a specialist hosting company. It requires a permanent Internet connection and Web server.
Web Server Usually refers to the computer that runs software that is able to deliver HTML and other files in response to requests from Web browsers over the Internet or other network. A Web server computer (unless it is running an intranet) must have a permanent Internet connection and is usually located at an ISP. The term also refers (more accurately) to the Web server software itself, examples of which are Apache and Microsoft IIS.
Wireless Transmission via radio waves or satellite. Wireless transmission is likely to be used in many computer networks of the future.
XML Extensible Markup Language. An initiative from the W3C defining an "extremely simple" dialect of SGML suitable for use on the Web
XSL Extensible Stylesheet Language. A W3C standard defining stylesheets for (and in) XML.
