Internet And Computer Jagon
Internet and computer jargon can be as confusing as any other, but it can also be fun!
One of the main features is the taking of existing words, such as mouse and bootstrap, long used for other purposes, and giving them a whole new computer or internet related meaning.
Address: An unique identifier assigned to a web site or web page. When referring to a website this is more often called a domain name or URL (universal resource locator).
ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line): A method used for broadband internet. This connects your computer to the internet over an ordinary phone line using Ethernet office networking technology instead of an ordinary dial-up modem. This produces a much faster connection, which can be 10 time, 20 times – and more - faster than ordinary dial up speeds.
Another advantage of ADSL is the ability to use the telephone, whilst also being connected to the internet – something not possible with dial-up.
API (Application Programming Interface): The interface that a computer system, library or application provides in order to allow requests for service to be made of it by other computer programs, and/or to allow data to be exchanged between them.
Application Software: Software dedicated to a specific task, such as a word processing program or spreadsheet.
Archive: These are usually large files containing several smaller files, which are often compressed. Commonly used archive file formats are .zip; .tar; .uc2 .arj; and .lzh.
ARP (Ariaware RIA Platform): This is a basic structural framework for Flash media use.
Automatic Responders - Autoresponders:
This is just like your own e-mail in you computer - only turbocharged. Here are the three main choices:
Immediate response: If a visitor to your website types their name and address into a special form on the webpage, this can be set up to immediately trigger an e-mail to be sent to that person address.
Sending out a series of pre-timed messages: The e-mail can be set up to be a single e-mail – or one of a series. An example of this would be when the visitor subscribes to a course in several parts, delivered over a period of days. So, they would receive part one right away and the rest of the course at daily, weekly or monthly intervals.
In that situation, you would write the various e-mails that make up the whole course, load them into the autoresponder (it's a simple copy and paste job) and forget them, because it will all be carried out automatically.
Sending a single e-mail to a large number of people with a single click: Suppose you wanted to have complete control over when you sent out an e-mail to a large number of people – a newsletter, for example.
In that case, you would not want to preload the e-mail because, being a newsletter, you would want to write it fresh every time and send it out immediately you've finished it.
In that instance you simply copy and paste your completed newsletter into a page on the autoresponder. Then simply press the "Broadcast" button for it to be delivered to as many thousands of subscribers as you have on your list. You can even send out a "selective broadcast" to specific names in that list, if you wish.
Those are the three basic ways to use autoresponders. They really are the "staff" of your website and make your website come alive. They don't go sick, spend all morning discussing last night's TV and don't go on holiday. In short, they are what allows you to set up an automatic business, that needs minimal attendance, so you really can develop an internet lifestyle and escape to freedom!
Bandwidth: The amount of information than can travel through a single channel at any one moment in time. If you are using a dial up internet connection of 56 K, you will receive a maximum of 56 K bits per second of information. If you are using a cable or Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL) connection to the internet you can expect to receive upwards of 300 K bits per second.
Baud Rate: The speed at which data travels through a modem, measured in bps (bits per second). Most modems today range from 2400 to over 50,000 bps
Bit: A Binary DigIT is the smallest unit of computerized data, comprising of either a 1 or 0. A combination of bits can indicate an alphabetic character, a numeric digit, or perform a signaling, switching or other function. Eight bits make up a byte.
Bitmap: This has a file tag of .bmp and is a type of image file, used in graphic creation that doesn't use compression and is consequently very large in file size.
Bot: This is short for robot and is a program set up by the search engines to "crawl" the internet to scout for new sites to list on their database. Google's robots are thus named "Googlebots".
Bootstrap: The small piece of software code activated by switching on the computer. This, in turn, starts up the full operating system of the computer to make it fully functional. This gives rise to the expression "booting up".
Bps: (Bits per second): The rate of data transfer between servers and computers.
Broadband: is a wide band of frequencies used to transmit information. Information is multiplexed and sent on many different frequencies or channels within the band, allowing more information to be transmitted at the same time. This is why you cannot use your telephone whilst you are on line with dial up, yet can use the telephone and even have two or more computers connected to the internet with broadband.
Browser: Also known as a Graphical User Interface, it allows connection to the internet via an internet service provider (ISP).
Bug: An error in a software program.
Byte: A set of bits representing a single character. There are 8 bits in a byte.
Cache: A temporary storage area on a computer for frequently or recently used data, either in memory or on your hard disk. Return to a web page recently visited and your PC will probably display it from a cache on your hard disk, rather than download it again.
Content Delivery Network: A network optimized to deliver specific content, such as fixed web pages, transaction-based web sites, streaming media, or even real-time video or audio. Its purpose is to quickly give users the most current content in a readily available form.
CGI (Common Gateway Interface): This is software written so it can be used for a variety of interactive purposes, such as internet membership sites.
Client: A computer that accesses shared network resources provided by another computer (the server). Hence the expression, "client/server relationship".
CMS (Content Management System): A method of managing the content of a web site. A CMS usually consists of two elements: the content management application (CMA) and the content delivery application (CDA)
Compressed Files: A method of reducing the size of a file before sending it over the internet. These are usually in Zip format and have the file tag .zip. There is a free program, called "Winzip", which will unzip the files to their proper size, once they are downloaded into your computer.
Cookie: is a unique identifier placed on your computer whilst you visit a website. This snippet of script remembers your personal settings (including your password, if you wish) and enables pages to be loaded quicker and relevant information to be shown
CPU (Central Processing Unit): The nerve centre of the computer; everything flows through it. Often just called the processor
CSS (Cascading Style Sheets): A protocol allowing designers finer control over certain elements of a web page.
CSV (Comma Separated Values): A plain text representation of spreadsheet data. The values are separated by commas, indicating the separate columns. Many spreadsheet programs, notably Microsoft Excel and Legacy, use CSV data.
DBMS (Database Management System): A single program or a set of computer programs dedicated to managing a database and running operations on the data requested by numerous clients.
Desktop Publishing: Creating documents, such as web pages, flyers, posters, catalogues, newsletters on a personal computer.
Development: The act of analysis, design, coding and testing of software
Dynamic Hyper Text Markup Language: This is a combination of Hyper Text Mark-up Language (HTML), JavaScript, and Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) which create web pages with special interactive features, such as the user being able to drag items around on the web page and often includes some basic form of animation.
DNS (Domain Name System): The method that translates the meaningful, easy to remember domain name (www.MySite.com), that humans use, into a set of meaningless Internet Protocol (IP) numbers computers actually use to find each other.
Domain Name: The unique name that identifies an internet site, commonly followed by .com or .co.uk or .org. Sometimes called a URL (Unique Resource Location).
Download: Transferring a file from a website or other computer to your computer.
Downtime: A period when a website or network is not connected to the internet and therefore cannot be accessed
Driver: A piece of software providing an interface between a piece of computer hardware and the operating system. It translates the proprietary functionality of the hardware into a language understood by the operating system.
DSL (Digital Subscriber Line): A system for delivering high-speed internet access. Using your existing telephone line, it delivers download speeds of up to 50 times faster than 56K dial up modems. The service lets you send data and voice over the same line at the same time. So you can use the telephone whilst one or more computers are also connected to the internet.
DTS (Data Transformation Service): A selection of objects (called DTS packages) and utilities (called DTS tools) to automate the extract, transform and load operations to or from a database. DTS is included with Microsoft SQL Server, and is almost always used with SQL Server databases, although it can be used independently with other databases.
DTS also provides an alternative method of version control and backup for packages when used in conjunction with the Microsoft Visual SourceSafe version control system.
DVD: Stands for Digital Versatile Disc. As the name implies, the discs are very versatile with powerful variable bit-rate MPEG-2 video compression. Multiple audio format support allows it to be used for far more that the obvious video storage.
The disc can hold either a single layer of information or be dual layer. Dual layer DVDs work by having two separate layers of information, which are read, one after the other, by a change in the focal length of the lens, reading the pluses of light being bounced off the spinning disc.
The fact that these discs can hold a single or double layer of information and a dual layer disc can accommodate a full length movie, ensured it was quickly accepted by all consumer electronics manufacturers and all the Hollywood studios.
Most movies are on dual layer discs, although for information publishing single layer discs, storing a maximum of about 4.7 Gigabytes are more manageable and popular.
With the advent of Sony's Blu Wave, and other technologies, storing even greater amounts of information is now possible.
E-Learning: A form of learning utilizing a network for delivery and interaction.The learning can be on an individual basis, guided or instructed by a computer, or as part of a class. There is even no need for online classes to meet in real time.
E-mail: Electronic mail is content sent from one person to another via computer over the internet.
EDA (Event Driven Architecture): Any applications reacting intelligently to events and changes in conditions. This can be the impending failure of a hard drive or a sudden change in stock price.
Enterprise Resource Planning Systems (ERPS): Management information systems (MIS) that integrate and automate many of the operations of a company engaged in manufacturing products or providing services.
Ethernet: The application provided on a computer to allow it to use high speed broadband internet connection. This has a separate, and larger, socket than the ordinary telephone line input socket.
Exe:. The file extension given to an executable file ( .exe). Exe files include programs, downloaded from the internet, which then require installation into the target computer before they can be used.
Fiber optics: Optical fiber is made of flexible glass and can support very high data transfer rates. An individual glass fiber strand is about the thickness of a human hair, yet is capable of carrying a distinct signal transmitted in the form of pulses of light. A single strand of fiber is capable of transmitting over a million simultaneous telephone calls, or nearly 80 gigabits of digital information per second (80,000,000,000 pulses of light per second).
Filename extension: A three or four-letter extension on the end of a file name, describing the type of file. Examples are: .txt (text file), .gif , jpg (images), .zip (compressed file), .exe (executable file)
Firewall: An important part of a computer security system, which defends the computer against incursion by suspicious material from the internet.
Flash: This is a vector graphics based animation program. The resulting files, sometimes called "flash files", may be included in a web page to view in a web browser as streaming video, or they may be played on a standalone player.
Flash is used increasingly on the internet, because it can integrate many different types of media, including video, audio, graphics and text, as well as allow a high degree of interactivity. The file extension is .swf.
Forms: Certain Browsers support electronic fill-in forms. Users can fill in a form on a web page, and the information sent electronically to the relevant domain site. Software is available that holds your standard information and complete forms at the click of a mouse. One such program is now available from Google for use on the Morzilla Firefox browser.
FTP (File Transfer Protocol): This is one of the main ways files are uploaded to a website from the webmaster's computer.
Hacker: A person who breaks through computer security systems for nefarious purposes.
Hand Holding: being mentored or trained by a more experienced person.
Hard Drive: A computer's main long term storage area for programs and data. All PCs are fitted with hard drives. The hard drive is usually called "C:" by the computer. It is possible to increase the hard drive capacity of a computer by plugging in an external hard drive. These have capacities up to 250 Gigabytes, which is essential for producing videos, which require massive storage space. Trying to produce video with just the hard drive within the computer, where 80 Gigabytes is considered a large capacity, will quickly lead to clogged up computer!
Hardware: The physical items such as computer, printers, scanners and external modems in a computer, as opposed to the software.
Hit: A single visit to a web site or single request from a web browser for a single item from a web server
Home Page: The main page of a web site. Usually the first one you see, although if you are coming to the site via a link you might be taken direct to a specific page within the site.
Host: These are the host computers or servers which can be accessed by the public and which hold all the information making up a website.
HTML (Hyper Text Mark-up Language): The tagging language used to format web pages. Allows pictures and text to be combined to create web documents. The most important feature is the hypertext, which makes it possible for live links to be created between different documents – even if they are different websites.
Hyper Text Transport Protocol (HTTP): The application-level protocol which is essential for the distribution of information throughout the Web. Although this is now usually omitted from website addresses, it is still important to use the http:// prefix when creating links between websites.
Hub: A device used to connect computers together
Hyperlink: A piece of highlighted text or image which, when clicked on, take the viewer to a link on another page or website. Hyperlinks can also be used to automatically download other files as well as sounds and video clips – usually by right clicking the mouse (on Windows) and selecting "Save target as . . . "
Internet Explorer: This is Microsoft's internet interface, which comes bundled with Windows software. It is now being superseded by the more recent Morzilla Firefox browser, which is a free download.
Infrastructure: This is the physical hardware used to interconnect computers and users. It includes the telephone lines, cable television lines, and satellites and antennas, and also the routers, aggregators, repeaters, and other devices that control transmission paths.
Infrastructure refers to interconnecting hardware and software and not to computers and other devices that are interconnected. However, to some information technology users, infrastructure is viewed as everything that supports the flow and processing of information
Internet: is a vast collection of inter-connected worldwide networks.
Intranet: A private internal network inside a company or organization that runs on the same software used by the internet.
Intellectual Property (IP): Similar to copyright, this is the legal right to exclusive ownership of certain information or ideas.
This entitles the owner of the intellectual property to make money by licensing others to enable them to use the information or idea in return for a fee.
IP Address (Internet Protocol Address): Each computer (even your own personal computer), when linked to the internet, is identified by a unique series of numbers, known as its IP Address.
Every website address also has an IP address, but for ease of use this is translated from a memorable website address into a hard to remember IP Address using a domain name server (DNS).
ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network): A system to enable the movement of large amounts of data over existing telephone lines. This is now being rapidly superseded by the much faster Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL). Requires a modem called a Terminal Adaptor
ISO (International Organization for Standardization): An international standard-setting body founded February 23, 1947, consisting of the representatives of various country's national standards bodies. The organization produces agreed global industrial and commercial standards for products and services, the so-called ISO standards.
ISP (Internet Service Provider): A company or organization providing businesses or home users access to the Internet.
IT Asset Managemen( ITAM): The method used by companies to keep track of fixed assets, for example factory equipment, desks and chairs, computers, even buildings. Although the exact details of the task varies widely from company to company, asset management often includes tracking the physical location of assets, managing demand for resources, and accounting tasks such as amortization of loans and depreciation of assets.
Supermarkets, and similar retail organizations, use ITAM to record all items sold and ensure their timely replenishment.
Java: An advanced programming language used on web sites. It allows far more flexibility than Hyper Text Mark-up Language (HTML) and offers more functionality. It is generally used to create small programs, called applets, which create special actions on the web site, such as the ability to "bookmark" certain pages.
Java Script: A set of program instructions, similar to Java - but not actually related. Unlike Java, these scripts are incorporated directly into the Hyper Text Mark-up Language (HTML) of a web page, instead of as an applet.
JPEG: (Joint Photographic Experts Group): An image compression system widely used on the internet. It enables an image to be compressed to a high degree without any noticeable degradation of the image quality.
Kb (Kilobyte): 1024 bytes of data. A floppy disk can hold 1,474 Kilobytes (1.44MB) of data
Kbps (Kilobytes per second): The measure of the speed at which data that can be transferred by a modem.
Kernel: The code at the very heart of the system providing the functionality of a computer operating system, particularly the interface between the user input devices, such as the keyboard and mouse, and the internal computer components (memory and other storage systems and display hardware) and external peripheral equipment.
Keywords: These are single words or multiple words (keyword phrases) searchers type into a search engine, when they are seeking a product or information. Due to the vast number of searches made daily, these keywords and keyword phrases fall in groups which are recorded by the search engines. So for example, there may be a million searches for the exact phrase "Golf", half a million searches for the exact phrase: "Golf Shoes" and a quarter of a million searches for the phrase "Men's Golf Shoes".
So a webmaster, with a website about golf, will make "Golf "a keyword for their home page and " Golf Shoes" a keyword phrase for a sub page, dealing with Golf Shoes. He would then make a sub page of the Golf Shoes page, devoted to men's golf shoes, with the keyword phrase "Men's Golf Shoes".
He would place these keywords in the title of the relevant pages, in the text of the relevant pages and in his meta tags. Then, when the search engine bot crawls his website, it would list his various pages on the search engine database, under the different headings.
Therefore, all things being equal, anyone typing "Golf" or "Golf Shoes" or Men's Golf Shoes" into a search engine would see a link to that webmaster's golf website come up on the search engine results page (SERP). In theory, he could get a total of 1 ¾ million visitors to his website, just by using these three relevant keywords and keyword phrases.
LAN (Local Area Network): A group of computers in the same area. This could be a neighborhood, college campus or company building, all linking into the same area network.
Latent Semantic Indexing: An advanced method of search engine robotics, primarily used by Google and based on artificial intelligence research, which can more effectively decide the content of a webpage. This technology is used to place the relevant AdSense advertisements on webpages and is increasingly being used to independently assess the quality of content, rather than rely purely on off-page factors, such as the "votes" cast by incoming links.
Link: This is a piece of HTML embedded in a web page, which - when clicked – will take the viewer to another, related, page, either on the same web site or on another website entirely.
Mailserver: Usually this is software on an area of your ISP server which allows sorting and retrieval of e-mail messages. If you have a web site on a server, it can be on this server for e-mails to your website. It can even run on your own computer, if you wish, using a program such as Mailloop.
Mb (Megabyte): 1024KB of data. A CD holds up to 650MB of data
Mbps: When spelt this way (with a lower case b), this is a measure of data transmission (such as broadband) speed and means one million bits per second.
MBps: When spelt this way (with a capital B) it means megabytes per second.
MEP (Message Exchange Pattern): Is a template that establishes a pattern for the exchange of messages between SOAP nodes.
Meta Tag: This is special hidden code placed on a webpage for the benefit of the search engine bots. Meta tags contain keywords and keyword phrases for that particular page as well as a meta "description", which is usually the couple of lines that show up on a search engine result for that page.
Due to abuse by unscrupulous webmasters, these have largely been abandoned by the major search engines, in favor of more sophisticated methods of evaluating and indexing a page. However, you should always include these as some smaller search engines still rely on them.
MHz (MegaHertz): A measurement of internal processor speed or click speed. A megahertz represents a million cycles per second.
Microprocessor: An integrated circuit that accepts coded instructions for execution
Microsoft Internet Information Services or Server. Microsoft don't just produce software for personal computers. They also provide software for web servers. Originally supplied as part of the Option Pack for Windows NT, they were subsequently integrated with Windows 2000 and Windows Server 2003. The current (Windows 2003) version is IIS 6.0 and includes servers for FTP, SMTP, NNTP and HTTP/HTTPS.
MIPS (Millions Of Instructions Per Second): Primarily used as a measurement of overall computer speed.
MIPS is also the architecture used by silicon graphics workstations and servers.
Modem: The device that connects your computer to the telephone system and allows it to access the internet. It is both a MOdulator and a DEModulator – hence the name: Modem
Motherboard: Is the main circuit board at the heart of the computer, containing the CPU and other major components. Peripherals, such as, Random Access Memory (RAM), sound cards graphics cards, modems, are connected to the motherboard.
Mount: The action of making a group of files in a file system structure accessible to a user or user group. In some usages, it means to make a device physically accessible
MPEG (Motion Picture Experts Group): A video compression format used for movie or animation clips on both DVD and the internet. MPEG (Motion Pictures Experts Group): Pronounced "em peg". Is the standard for compressing all that mass of digital information and fitting it onto a relatively tiny DVD or for use on streaming video on the web.
The basic principle is to slim down the information needed to reproduce the creator's original intention by predicting how much or how little the video image will change from one frame to the next, by using a form of digital shorthand. This results in the need for far less information to be stored and thus making a DVD capable of storing a full length movie.
MPEG1: This was the original, and most basic of the standards. It generally produces a resolution of 352X240 pixels at 30 frames per second (NTSC) and is the method used to provide digital video files on CD ROMS and VCDs. The picture quality is roughly equal to VHS tape.
The MP3 format is part of MPEG1, being defined as Layer Three in the MPEG1 Specification. Hence the corruption to MP3.
MPEG2: This is a more advanced standard and is currently used for DVDs, digital cable transmission and digital television broadcasting. This system allows for higher compression and better quality than MPEG1. It is most commonly used as 720 X 480 pixels at 30 frames per second (NTSC) for both DVD and Digital TV broadcasts.
The audio compression system used for MPEG2 is Advanced Audio Coding (AAC). This features more advanced compression, whilst producing better audio quality than MP3.
MPEG4: This is the latest of the MPEG formats - and the most advanced. Not only is the compression improved over MPEG2, it also has the ability to describe different areas of the video image as separate objects. This allows interactivity with parts of the video.
MPEG4 can also customize the audio and picture quality to the particular device being used. For this reason it is the system used in cell phones and streaming media, animated graphics and interactive television.
MS: An abbreviation added onto the beginning of product titles indicating it is of Microsoft origin. For example: MSWord – Microsoft's word processing program "Word".
Multimedia: A combination of text, graphics, sounds and video
Nameservers: This is simply typing in the address of your website host into the website of your domain name supplier to link the two.
But, instead of 12345 Any Avenue, you type in either a series of numbers or letters – possibly both. Your web host will tell you what to type in. As with all computer work, make sure it is typed in exactly. Usually there are at least two sets to be put in, sometimes three. These are for the mirror servers your website host might have to act as backup should the main server fail.
NAS (Network Attached Storage): Systems that are generally computing-storage devices which can be accessed over a computer network (usually TCP/IP), rather than directly being connected to the computer (via a computer bus such as SCSI). This enables multiple computers to share the same storage space at once, which minimizes overhead by centrally managing hard disks. NAS systems usually contain one or more hard disks, often arranged into logical, redundant storage containers or RAID arrays.
Network: Two or more computers linked together and able to share resources
Open Source Software: Software that may be redistributed freely, and for which plain-text source code is openly and easily available to all comers. The most famous of these is Linux.
OS (Operating System): A program used to help run programs on a computer. Were a computer human, the operating system would get it breathing and alive.
You need to add a program, such as MSWord, to get the computer to actually perform a useful function.
The main operating systems are: Windows XP (soon to be updated by Vista), Macintosh OSX or Linux.
Parallel Port: A socket on your computer, used to connect peripherals, such as external hard disc storage, printers, scanners and digital cameras.
Patch: An additional piece of software used to upgrade and update an existing program.
PC (Personal Computer): Generally taken to be a small, personal, computer running on the windows operating system. When IBM first developed the personal computer in the early 1980s, it was Bill Gates's first software programs that brought it to life.
PCL (Printer Control Language): A language developed by Hewlett Packard for the printing industry
PDA (Personal Digital Assistant): Generic term for a tiny, hand held computer, such as a blackberry or IMac.
PDF (Portable Document Format): A format developed by Adobe Corporation to allow documents to be easily transferred between computers. One of the main features is the documents can be read perfectly on both Windows and Mac operating systems.
As a result, PDF is now the industry standard.
In order to view and print a PDF file you need the Adobe Acrobat reader installed in your computer. Virtually all computers come with this program ready installed. If not, you can download the free Adobe Acrobat Reader from the Adobe Website.
Peripheral: Any piece of equipment attached to the computer, rather than built in. For example, external hard discs, CD and DVD burners, printers, scanners CD-Rom readers, digital camera downloading.
PERL (Practical Extraction and Report Language): A programming language, using Perl interpreter, commonly used for creating Common Gateway Interfaces (CGI) for websites.
PHP (Hypertext Pre-processor): A widely used scripting language, which can be embedded into HTML pages on a website. It is used for creating dynamic web pages and web pages that work seamlessly with databases. An example of its use would be a discussion forum.
PKI (Public Key Infrastructure): A system of digital certificates, Certificate Authorities, and other registration authorities that verify and authenticate the validity of each party involved in an Internet transaction
Plug Ins: Although there are many things that your browser can do such as displaying images and web pages, more advanced, specialist applications are beyond it. That's where plug ins come in.
Flash Players, QuickTime and RealAudio, RealVideo and Shockwave,are all examples of plug-ins required for audio and video
POP3 (Post Office Protocol version 3): A system for transmitting and receiving email, but mostly used just for receiving. Transmitting is still mostly handled by it's less powerful predecessor, Simple Mail Transport Protocol (SMTP)
Priority 1, 2 & 3: These are priorities – as defined by the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) – of the relative priorities, according to its view of their relative decreasing importance in enabling web access by people with impairments
Processor: The nerve centre of the computer through which all data flows. It is also known as the Central Processing Unit (CPU). The best known are Intel's Pentium and AMD's Athlon.
The most important single specification on any computer is the processor speed – also known as the clock speed. This is measured in megahertz (MHz), or gigahertz (GHz). A megahertz represents a million cycles per second
Protocol: Another name for a method or procedure to achieve some task. An example of this is File Transfer Protocol (FTP), which is a method of transferring files from your computer to your server.
PSD File: First developed by the Adobe Corporation for their Photoshop software this is a very versatile graphic software that works in layers. So popular and versatile did it prove to be, most other graphics program are now written to be compatible with PSD.
Public domain software: Similar to open source software, This is deliberately not protected by copyright and so may be freely used by everyone in shareware and freeware programs.
Rack Unit: Servers are relatively small pieces of hardware, compared with the power they possess and are stored on racks. The rack unit is the space taken up by a particular server - particularly dedicated ones, measured in rack units (or 'U'). This is the unit of measurement used for defining the vertical space used. A 'U' is equivalent to 1.75 inches (4.45cm). A full rack contains 40 to 42U
RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Discs – sometimes known as: Redundant Array of Inexpensive Discs): A system, with many variations, involving the use of several hard disc drives connected together. This results in increased data integrity, fault-tolerance and capacity, compared to single drives.
A variation of this system is used to ensure data contained on a server is never lost by the use of mirror servers, where an exact copy of the original data is stored and updated whenever the original data is changed.
RAM (Random Access Memory): A computer's main "every day" working memory, which it uses to hold whatever you are currently working on. Unlike information stored more or less permanently on your hard disc, the contents of the RAM are lost when the computer is switched off.
RIA (Rich Internet Applications): These are web applications with functions and features of traditional desktop applications. RIA's work by transferring the processing necessary for the user interface from the server to the user's computer browser. In doing so, it retains most of the data back on the application server.
ROM (Read Only Memory): These are fixed data sources which cannot be edited or altered in any way. Examples include: CD-ROMS and DVDs.
Router: A device used to forward a batch of data to its destination. A good example is a broadband modem router, which both receives information from the internet as well as passing information out to the internet.
Rich Text Editor: This is a "What You See Is What You Get" (WYSIWYG) editor component, running in a web browser using Microsoft's Dynamic Hyper Text Markup Language (DHTML) Editing Control. This system allows anyone to edit HTML quickly and easily without any knowledge of the HTML language because all you see on the screen is –literally - what you will get in the finished document.
Small Computer System Interface also known as "skuzzy", is a method of connecting devices to a computer such as hard drives and CD-Rom drives.
SDSL (Symmetric Digital Subscriber Line): This system, being developed primarily for use in Europe, allows data to be sent over traditional copper telephone lines (as opposed to fiber optic cable) at speeds up to 3Mbps, both incoming and outgoing – hence the "symmetric".
However – unlike the Asymmetric digital subscriber line (ASDL), which is more popular in North America - it cannot support both data transmission and telephone conversations at the same time.
Search Engines: These are specialized directory type websites, such as Google, Msn and Yahoo!, which list websites by robotic search. Using complicated and closely guarded formulae, called algorithms, thought to be broadly based on keywords, content and links to and from other websites, they provide lists of relevant websites in real time, based on whatever keyword phrase is typed into their website by the searcher.
Secure Server: Distinguished by the special URL prefix "https://"and a gold padlock logo in the bottom right hand side of the screen, this is a hacker secure region, for dealing with credit card payments for goods, bank account information and other confidential transactions.
SEO (Search Engine Optimization): Such is the value in terms of free website traffic the prize of getting your website listed on the first page of the search engine results page (SERP) has spawned a whole industry dedicated to second guessing the methods the search engines use to decide which pages are worthy of top billing on their index for that particular keyword or keyword phrase.
Within the SEO industry there are many practices – usually which yield only short term success, at best, and (at worst) can get the website dropped from the listings entirely – called "black hat techniques". Such methods – such as "keyword stuffing" and "blog and ping" tend to have a limited shelf life, before the search engine rocket scientists cotton on and change their algorithms.
If you are interested in long term and continuing search engine approval, creating and maintaining a high quality website with good, fresh and regularly updated content of value to your visitors is the best route.
Serial Port: A type of socket in your computer suitable for the connection of a mouse or modem.
Server: Put simply a heavy duty computer and hard disc, permanently logged onto the internet. It accepts material uploaded from a webmaster's computer, via FTP, and makes the information available to anyone who cares to log onto that particular website address. Servers can be dedicated (limited to one large user) or shared with other webmasters.
Service Provider: (also called Internet Service Provider (ISP). A specialized company which, for a regular monthly fee, supplies users with a gateway to the internet.
Shareware: Software distributed initially without charge, but with certain conditions attached.
The software may be released for a limited trial period and must be registered and paid for after a certain period has elapsed. Alternatively, it is available for an unlimited period free of charge, but without support, updates or other backup – unless payment is made.
SLA (Service Level Agreement): Part of the contract between an Internet Service Provider (ISP), setting out exactly the level of support and assistance the ISP will render to the customer.
SMTP (Simple Mail Transport Protocol): Often referred to as "Send mail"because it's primary function is to deliver e-mail messages to other internet users.
SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol): A method of exchanging XML-based messages over a computer network, normally using HTTP. SOAP forms the foundation layer of the web services stack, providing a basic messaging framework upon which more abstract layers can be built.
SPARC: The CPU architecture devised by Sun Microsystems, and used in the company's high-end workstations and servers.
SQL (Structured Query Language): An early computer language, developed by IBM, back in the 1970s originally to be used in System R for providing an interface to relational database systems. SQL is now an ISO, ANSI and de facto standard.
SSL (Secure Socket Layer): A protocol primarily used on secure servers, which adds a layer of encryption to the session in order to keep the communication secure from hackers. Certificates issued by Certificate Authorities are used to verify a client is communicating with the intended party.
Tag: These are used in Hyper Text Transport Protocol, for instructing how text and images appear on a web page.
TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol): These two important protocols form the entire foundation for the internet.
Trojan Horse: Unlike a virus, this is a single, non replicating program, which arrives (as the name implies) in the guise of something else. The most evil version is a program (invariably free), claiming to rid your computer of viruses but which, immediately it is downloaded, sets about introducing new viruses!
UML (Unified Modeling Language): A computer language for creating new software, based on modeling the best practices proved to be successful in the creation of large and complex systems
Unix: An Operating System which has Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) built in. As a result, it is one of the most popular operating systems for servers.
UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply): An anti surge, anti spike device that smoothes out the power supply to delicate hardware, such as computers, guarding against the electricity supply adversely affecting them or their software programs.
Uptime: The time since last reboot of the front-end server hosting a web site. This is recorded on the server data log.
URL (Universal Resource Locator): Also known as the website address or even domain name.
USB (Universal Serial Bus): The socket on your computer into which you can attach peripherals, such as printers, scanners, external hard drives and digital cameras. Most computers have two or three of these sockets.
Visual Basic: Microsoft's programming language.
VSB Visual Basic Script: A lighter, scripting version of Microsoft's programming language Visual Basic.
Virus: A file or program, often arriving as an e-mail attachment, which – once downloaded – sets about replicating itself causing great harm to the software in the computer.
VPN (Virtual Private Network): A private direct and secure connection between the user’s computer and the company’s server that allows private data by mobile employees to be sent securely over a shared or public network, such as the Internet.
World Wide Web Consortium: A web industry co-operative publishing accessibility guidelines to make web content accessible to people with disabilities.
WAN (Wide Area Network): A group of networks, such as Local area Networks (LAN) connected together to form a larger unit.
WAP (Wireless Application Protocol): Provides access to digital communications and internet over a mobile phone network
Web Server: A program found on every server, which serves up files to form web pages.
Webcast: Using the Internet to broadcast live or delayed streaming video like traditional television and radio broadcasts. Users need to have the relevant multimedia application, such as Flash viewer, installed in their computer to view a webcast.
Webpage: A single page on a website. Note that Google indexes pages, rather than entire web sites, so every page in your web site has the change to appear on the first page of the Search Engine Results Page (SERP) for the particular content and keywords on that page.
Website: A collection of pages on a related theme and all accessable at the same website address.
WWW: World Wide Web: All the resources, networks and users on the internet.
WYSIWYG: An acronym which stands for: "What You See Is What You Get". Used to describe applications, such as HTML editors, which hide all the coding and only show the viewer exactly what the content will look like when uploaded to the web site.
x86: The 32-bit microprocessor architecture used by Intel of Pentium Processor fame.
XHTML (Extensible Hypertext Markup Language): A hybrid computer language created out of Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML) and Extensible Mark-up Language (XML). This is used in Web pages and search engines because it is more universally acceptable than XML
XML: (Extensible Mark-up Language): An extension of Hyper Text Transport Protocol (HTTP), and a simplification of Standard Generalized Mark-up Language (SGML), HTML's parent or super-set mark-up technology. XML will allow groups of people or organizations to create their own customized mark-up languages for exchanging information in their domain.
ZIP: A method of compressing large files for faster downloading times. Using a software product called WinZip, files can be compacted to a fraction of their original size and then unzipped once the intended recipient has received them.
Files which are "zipped" have the file extension " .zip". The WinZip software to unzip zipped files is available as a free evaluation download from their website.
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