:)
An Internet keyboard shortcut for smile, often used during instant messaging with friends or family. Other Web keyboard shortcuts include:

802.x
802.x is a set of IEEE standards for defining networking protocols for the definition of fixed and wireless LAN and MAN protocols which include the physical layer and link layer of a LAN. Physical layers include both wired and wireless, as in 802.11 series.

ActiveX
ActiveX is a set of technologies from Microsoft that enables interactive content for the World Wide Web. Before ActiveX, Web content was static, 2-dimensional text and graphics. With ActiveX, Web sites come alive using multimedia effects, interactive objects, and sophisticated applications that create a user experience comparable to that of high-quality CD-ROM titles. ActiveX provides the glue that ties together a wide assortment of technology building blocks to enable these "active" Web sites. ActiveX is comparable to Sun Microsystems' Java only its a technology developed and owned by Microsoft.

Here's a page that further explains ActiveX and its benefits for Web interactivity.

Analog vs. Digital
In communication and electronics systems, data is transmitted from one point to another by means of these electronic signals. These signals are divided up into analog and digital. Amplitude modulation (AM), and frequency modulation (FM) are both Analog transmission schemes. Analog signals are, "continuously varying electronic waves that may be transmitted over a variety of media depending on frequency." Digital signals contain a "sequence of voltage pulses that may be transmitted over a wire medium."

Check Google for more info on the difference between analog vs. digital.

Anonymous FTP
Anonymous File Transfer Protocol allows the public to log into an FTP server with a common login (usually "ftp" or "anonymous" and any password (usually the person's e-mail address is used as the password). Anonymous FTP is beneficial for the distribution of large files to the public, avoiding the need to assign large numbers of login and password combinations for FTP access.

Anonymous FTP is a type of FTP. It allows website visitors to download information from a website without entering a username and password, thus the name "Anonymous FTP". Regular FTP, in contrast, requires a username and password. You might need Anonymous FTP if you plan to distribute software, images, PDF documents, or other types of files to your website visitors. 

ANSI
Acronym for the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). Founded on October 19, 1918, the American National Standards Institute is a private, non-profit organization (501(c)3) that administers and coordinates the U.S. voluntary standardization and conformity assessment system. The Institute's mission is to enhance both the global competitiveness of U.S. business and the U.S. quality of life by promoting and facilitating voluntary consensus standards and conformity assessment systems, and safeguarding their integrity.

The official ANSI website can be found at www.ansi.org.

Applet
A small Java program that can be embedded in an HTML page. Applets differ from full-fledged Java applications in that they are not allowed to access certain resources on the local computer, such as files and serial devices (modems, printers, etc.), and are prohibited from communicating with most other computers across a network. The current rule is that an applet can only make an Internet connection to the computer from which the applet was sent.

Archie
A software program for finding files stored on Anonymous FTP sites. You need to know the exact file name or a substring of the file, though, to use Archie. Archie and other Internet / Web utilities can be downloaded from C|Net's Download.com.

ARPAnet
ARPAnet stands for Advanced Research Projects Agency Network. The precursor to the Internet. Landmark packet-switching network established in 1969 by the US Department of Defense as an experiment in wide-area-networking that would survive a nuclear war.

More information about the history of the Internet and ARPAnet by visiting the following link - Google search for arpanet.

ASCII
ASCII is the acronym for American Standard Code for Information Interchange. The American Standard Code for Information Interchange is a standard seven-bit code that was proposed by ANSI in 1963, and finalized in 1968. Other sources also credit much of the work on ASCII to work done in 1965 by Robert W. Bemer (www.bobbemer.com). ASCII was established to achieve compatibility between various types of data processing equipment. Later-day standards that document ASCII include ISO-14962-1997 and ANSI-X3.4-1986(R1997).

ASCII, pronounced "ask-key", is the common code for microcomputer equipment. The standard ASCII character set consists of 128 decimal numbers ranging from zero through 127 assigned to letters, numbers, punctuation marks, and the most common special characters. The Extended ASCII Character Set also consists of 128 decimal numbers and ranges from 128 through 255 representing additional special, mathematical, graphic, and foreign characters.

Check out the ASCII table and descriptions at www.asciitable.com.

Auto-Responder
An e-mail Auto-Responder automatically sends a generic or pre-written reply to anyone that e-mails the e-mail address assigned with an Auto-Responder. It's like a voice mail message for your e-mail. For example, if someone sends a question to sales@domain.com, you can send them a generic auto-response that thanks them and assures them you will then back write soon.  

AVI
AVI is an early Microsoft video file format, that stands for Audio Video Interleave. AVI was one of the very first recognized audio-video standard formats for the PC and the Web. AVI files require a special audio-video player designed specifically for viewing or listening to audio-video content. Such players include Microsoft's own Windows Media Player or Real Networks' Real Player.

You can find more info about AVI at www.jmcgowan.com/avi.html.

Backbone
A Backbone is a larger transmission line (OC3, OC2, OC1) that carries enormous amounts of data (audio, video, voice) gathered from smaller lines that interconnect with it:

a) At the local level, a Backbone is a line or set of lines that local area networks connect to for a wide area network connection or within a local area network to span distances efficiently (for example, between buildings).

b) On the Internet or other wide area network, a backbone is a set of paths that local or regional networks connect to for long-distance interconnection. The connection points are known as network nodes or telecommunication data switching exchanges (DSEs).

A Backbone provider is an organization that supplies Internet access (high-speed transmission lines that connect users to the Internet) to Internet Service Providers (ISPs) which then offer individual Internet access connections to customers. Backbone providers supply ISPs with the cake (T3, T1 lines) which, in turn, cut up the cake and resell and connect individual pieces (DSL, dial-up) to its customers.

BBS
BBS stands for Bulletin Board System. A BBS is a computerized meeting and announcement system that allows people to carry on discussions, upload and download files, and make announcements without the people being connected to the computer at the same time. In the early 1990's there were many thousands (millions?) of BBS?s around the world, most are very small, running on a single IBM clone PC with 1 or 2 phone lines. Some are very large and the line between a BBS and a system like AOL gets crossed at some point, but it is not clearly drawn.

Blog
A Blog is basically a journal that is available on the web. The activity of updating a Blog is "blogging" and someone who keeps a Blog is a "blogger." Blogs are typically updated daily using software that allows people with little or no technical background to update and maintain the Blog. Postings on a Blog are almost always arranged in cronological order with the most recent additions featured most prominantly.

For example of a blog, check out Steve Jobs' personal blog at http://justonemorething.com/.

Bps
Bps is the acronym for "bits per second", which is the standard measure of data transmission speeds. A "bit" represents the smallest unit of data in a computer; 8 bits make up one byte, which can represent a character like "A" or "3". Usually you'll hear us talk about not bps but Kbps, for kilobits per second. If you have a 28.8 Kbps modem, it means that your modem can transmit at speeds up to 28,800 bits of information per second.

Broadband
A transmission facility having a bandwidth sufficient to carry multiple voice, video or data channels simultaneously. Each channel occupies (is modulated to) a different frequency bandwidth on the transmission medium and is demodulated to its original frequency at the receiving end. Channels are separated by ìguardbandsî (empty spaces) to ensure that each channel wonít interfere with its neighboring channels. This technique is used to provide 50 CATV channels on one coaxial cable.

In other words, really fast!

Browser
Software which lets you view material designed for the World Wide Web. Microsoft Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator are the most commonly used Web browsers. A browser usually displays documents created in Hypertext Markup Language (HTML), the language used for creating Web pages.  

BTW
An Internet abbreviation for "By The Way." Other common newsgroup abbreviations include: TIA (Thanks In Advance), IMHO (In My Humble Opinion), AFAIK (As Far As I Know), and the now-common LOL (Laughing Out Loud).

Byte
The unit of data storage and transmission in computers. A byte is usually considered the code for a single character. The number of bits in a byte varies among computer systems.

We usually think of a byte as being 8 bits long. The English Latin alphabet has 52 characters (upper and lower case) and computers commonly also use punctuation marks and a few special characters such as the period, exclamation mark, slashes, equal sign, tilde, ampersand, dollar symbol, pound sign, percent mark, asterisk, plus sign, and carriage return. Including punctuation mark and special characters, we need approximately 100 unique codes.

Each bit can exist in only two states, 0 or 1. Thus, a 6 bit word can define only 64 characters, a 7 bit word can define 128 characters, and an 8 bit word can define 256 characters. If one bit is used to check the integrity of the entire byte, then we need at least an 8 bit byte (or "word") for common computer uses.

Cache
A section of a computer's memory which retains recently accessed data in order to speed up repeated access to the same data. Your computer and browser use cache memory to load Web pages more quickly. Your ISP also uses a cache for this purpose. If you ask your computer to view a page, and it finds the page in the cache, it will read the cached page instead of the page from the Internet, unless you reload the page.

To further explain Cache, the term refers to: 1) a region of computer memory where frequently accessed data can be stored for rapid access; or 2) a optional file on your hard drive where such data also can be stored. Examples: Inernet Explorer and Netscape have options for defining both memory and disk cache. The act of storing data for fast retrieval is called "caching".

Chat Room
The name given to a place or page in a Web site or online service where people can "chat" with each other by typing messages which are displayed almost instantly on the screens of others who are in the "chat room." Chat rooms are also called "online forums." In order to chat in a Chat Room you need to use a chat room program that you access with your Web browser.

Another explanation of a Chat Room would be a place on the Internet where people go to "chat" with other people in an online "room". Chat Rooms are usually organized by topic. For example in a California Chat Room you would expect that most of the participants in the room are probably from California. When you're in a Chat Room you can view all of the conversations taking place at once on your screen. You can also get into a private chat room where only you and one or two others may converse back and forth. This can be an inexpensive way to keep up with friends and relatives who are online.

Chat Rooms are similar to Instant Messaging (IM) but the difference is in the software. Chat Room software is stored on an Internet server and is accessible through a Web browser, where an IM software program is stored on your local computer. You need to launch an IM program in order to IM someone. Both require connection to the Internet.

CGI
CGI is the acronym for Common Gateway Interface, a set of rules that describe how a Web Server communicates with another piece of software on the same machine, and how the other piece of software (the 'CGI program') talks to the web server. Any piece of software can be a CGI program if it handles input and output according to the CGI standard. Usually a CGI program is a small program that takes data from a web server and does something with it, like putting the content of a form into an e-mail message, or turning the data into a database query. CGI "scripts" are just scripts which use CGI. CGI is often confused with Perl, which is a programming language, while CGI is an interface to the server from a particular program. Perl is an application of CGI, as well as MIVA, Python, PHP3, and other scripting languages.  

CGI-Bin
CGI-Bin is the most common name of a directory on a web server in which CGI programs are stored. The 'bin' part of 'cgi-bin' is a shorthand version of 'binary', because once upon a time, most programs were referred to as 'binaries'. In real life, most programs found in cgi-bin directories are text files -- scripts that are executed by binaries located elsewhere on the server. While most programs using CGI are stored in this directory, it is not a requirement for using CGI. See Also: CGI

Client
A misleading name for a type of application that runs on a local computer or workstation. For example, Outlook Express is an email client that enables you to send and receive email.  

Co-Location
A type of dedicated server that involves your your own machine and server administration.  A leased server, on the other hand, involves renting a server from JTLnet and includes basic OS configuration and administration. 

COMchannel
COMchannel is a web-based email service from JTLnetT Communications.  To access your mail via COMchannel, point your browser to www.comchannel.com. Type in your username and password to view your email.  If you have an IMAP account, you can access all messages and folders using COMchannel. POP users, however, can only see new mail messages that have not yet been downloaded onto their computer at home or work.  

Cookie
A Cookie is a piece of information sent by a Web server to a user's browser. (A Web server is the computer that "hosts" a Web site, and responds to requests from a user's browser.) Cookies may include information such as login or registration identification, user preferences, online "shopping cart" information, etc. The browser saves the information, and sends it back to the Web server whenever the browser returns to the Web site. The Web server may use the cookie to customize the display it sends to the user, or it may keep track of the different pages within the site that the user accesses. Browsers may be configured to alert the user when a cookie is being sent, or to refuse to accept cookies. Some sites, however, cannot be accessed unless the browser accepts cookies.

Cron Jobs
Cron Jobs (or just Cron) is the ability to run programs based on the system clock. Most hosting companies allow up to one operation per day between the hours of 12:00 a.m. and 8:00 a.m. Cron can also be explained as server commands for scheduling jobs to be executed sometime in the future. A Cron is normally used to schedule a job that is executed periodically - for example, to send out a notice every morning. It is also a daemon process, meaning that it runs continuously, waiting for specific events to occur.

CSS
CSS stands for Cascading Style Sheet. A CSS is used to assign a style to a web page, in particular, styles for fonts, font colors, font sizes, links, link colors, text navigation, and the like, that go into the web page than could be provided by raw HTML or text. CSS code resides within the <HEAD> </HEAD> tags of the HTML code or can be a separate file altogether. The advantages of using a CSS file for your website is consistency of design and you only have to write one CSS file for your entire website. Here's an example of a CSS file and CSS code - www.jtlnet.com/css.css.

Cyberspace
This term was coined by author William Gibson in his science fiction novel Neuromancer. Cyberspace is currently used to describe the whole range of information available through computer networks. Cyberspace refers to the various information resources that are available through computer networks and the Internet, as well as to "communities" which have developed through their common use of such resources, and to the culture which is developing in such electronically connected communities. May also be used to distinguish the physical world from the digital, or computer-based world.

Database
A collection of organized information in which a computer can easily display and select different fields of data. You can think of a database as an electronic filing system. You can include anything from birthdays to travel itinerary in a database. MySQL is one of the database management system we feature at JTLnet.  

Common database software for creating, manipulating, viewing, and updating database "data" include Microsoft SQL, Microsoft Access, FileMaker (for Apple Macintosh computers), and Oracle.

Data Transfer
Data Transfer (or Data Download) refers to the amount of information (measured in Megabytes, or Mb) transferred from our servers here at JTLnet to your website visitors.  For example, you are requesting about 1/20th of a MB from www.JTLnet.net right now because you clicked on this page.  Typically, the more people that visit your site, or the larger the files that people request from your site, the more data transfer you will need. Media-intensive websites in particular can require large amounts of data transfer.  

Dedicated Line
A Dedicated Line is a telephone wire that is run from one location, such as your home, to another location, such as your office. A dedicated line is not switchable. It may only be used to communicate between the two designated locations. A switched line (normal telephone line) can be connected to different locations by a switching mechanism such as a telephone dial. Types of Dedicated Lines include T-3, T-1 or ISDN data connections used to transfer data between a client and a server.

Dedicated Server
A dedicated server is a computer that only runs one type of server software, and is usually constructed according to the user's specifications. Dedicated servers are typically used for websites that have high traffic, and need many resources and much processing power. When your site is hosted on a Dedicated Server, the hosting company or Internet service provider (ISP) provides a Windows NT or UNIX / Linux server and connects it to a high-speed Internet network. All you have to do is develop content for your site and install the necessary applications on the server. 

DHTML
DHTML is the acronym for Dynamic Hyper-Text Markup Language. DHTML is HTML on steroids. Web authors today face significant challenges when making their Web pages interactive. The static nature of HTML pages limits their creative choices, and interactive components can be difficult to build. Dynamic HTML gives authors creative control so they can manipulate any page element and change styles, positioning, and content at any time -- not only when the page is loaded. Dynamic HTML adds more elegance to basic HTML. With DHTML, you can make changes without causing the whole screen to redraw. So, for example, in a DHTML site, users can roll over a menu and see the choices change color, or they see one graphic to turn into another graphic. A good DHTML programmer can write code that will be 'friendly' to all browsers and types of computers.

Digital Certificate
A digital certificate is an electronic means of establishing your credentials when doing business or other transactions on the Web. It is issued by a certification authority (CA). It contains your name, a serial number, expiration dates, a copy of the certificate holder's public key (used for encrypting and decrypting messages and digital signatures), and the digital signature of the certificate-issuing authority so that a recipient can verify that the certificate is real. Some digital certificates conform to a standard, X.509. Digital certificates can be kept in registries so that authenticated users can look up other users' public keys.

A Digital Certificate is a digital representation of information which at least (1) identifies the certification authority issuing it, (2) names or identifies its Subscriber, (3) contains the Subscriber's public key, (4) identifies its operational period, and (5) is digitally signed by the certification authority issuing it. A Digital Certificate is a data structure used in a public key system to bind a particular, authenticated individual to a particular public key.

Directory
A unit of organization for storing information on a computer. Within a directory, you can store subdirectories and files. Directories and subdirectories are analogous to drawers in a filing cabinet. The top directory, or home directory, refers to the directory you log into. The current directory, or working directory, refers to the directory you are working in presently.

A Directory can also be defined as a special kind of file used to organize other files into a hierarchical structure. Directories contain bookkeeping information about files that are, figuratively speaking, beneath them. You can think of a directory as a folder or cabinet that contains files and perhaps other folders. In fact, many graphical user interfaces use the term folder instead of directory.   

Domain Alias
A Domain Alias allows additional domain names to point to a common website. This feature is useful when you want users to be able to access the same web site through a number of different addresses. An example: Acme Corporation registers two domain names, A and B. It places its web site at A, and makes B a domain alias of A. Whenever someone types in the address of domain B, they are automatically redirected to domain A. 

Domain Mirror
A Domain Mirror creates two separate copies of your website, each on a different server. This is ideal for high-profile sites that need a 100% uptime guarantee. Website mirrors also provide convenient management of heavily trafficked websites. For example, you could direct East-Coast users to one server, and West-Coast users to another server.  

Domain Name
The unique name that identifies an Internet site. Domain Names always have 2 or more parts, separated by dots. For example, www.jtlnet.com, or www.xyz.net. The part on the left is the most specific, and the part on the right is the most general. A given machine may have more than one Domain Name but a given Domain Name points to only one machine. This means that the Domain Names www.domain.net, mail.matisse.net, and workshop.matisse.net can all refer to the same machine, but each Domain Name can refer to no more than one machine.

Usually, all of the machines on a given Network will have the same thing as the right-hand portion of their Domain Names (matisse.net in the examples above). It is also possible for a Domain Name to exist but not be connected to an actual machine. This is often done so that a group or business can have an Internet e-mail address without having to establish a real Internet site. In these cases, some real Internet machine must handle the mail on behalf of the listed Domain Name.

Domain Registration
The act of registering an Internet Domain Name is with interNIC, the governing body of domain names. An Internet domain name is an organization's unique name combined with a top level domain name (TLD). For example, arishost.com is the domain name of this registrar. Following are the top level domains. The .edu, .mil and .gov domains are traditionally U.S. domains. At the end of 1999, more than six million domain names were registered. Needless to say, many more are expected.

Before registering a Domain, you need to first research to find out if it is available. www.whois.sc is the best website for researching available domain names. If your desired Domain is available, you can register it at the first and the best Domain registrar, Network Solutions, at www.networksolutions.com.

DNS
DSN is short for Domain Name System or Domain Name Server. This is a system that using a database, translates your IP address or Internet Protocol address into an easy to remember name such as, www.jtlnet.com. So essentially, it makes it to where you don't have to remember a long series of numbers, but rather an actual name of a place. The DNS server's main job is to bind the IP address to a domain name. It can also be referred to as a name server, or domain name server. Whether you are using ftp, gopher, or http (web) these all require IP addresses. 

DSL/ADSL
Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line is a method for moving data over regular phone lines. An ADSL circuit is much faster than a regular phone connection, and the wires coming into the subscriber's premises are the same (copper) wires used for regular phone service. An ADSL circuit must be configured to connect two specific locations, similar to a leased line.
A commonly discussed configuration of ADSL would allow a subscriber to receive data (download) at speeds of up to 1.544 Megabits per second, and to send (upload) data at speeds of 128 kilobits per second. Thus the 'Asymmetric' part of the acronym.

Another commonly discussed configuration would be symmetrical: 384 kilobits per second in both directions. In theory ADSL allows download speeds of up to 9 megabits per second and upload speeds of up to 640 kilobits per second.

ADSL is often discussed as an alternative to ISDN, allowing higher speeds in cases where the connection is always to the same place.

Dynamic IP
The term used to describe how an IP Address is dynamically assigned to computers as and when needed. Unlike Static IP addresses, the IP Address is temporary e.g. when you connect to your ISP using a dial-up connection , you PC or router will be dynamically assigned an IP address whilst you are on-line.

E-Commerce
E-commerce (or electronic commerce) is any business transaction whose price or essential terms were negotiated over an online system such as an Internet, Extranet, Electronic Data Interchange network, or electronic mail system. It does not include transactions negotiated via facsimile machine or switched telephone network, or payments made online for transactions whose terms were negotiated offline. The end-to-end digital exchange of all information needed to conduct business. Examples include EDI transactions, electronic mail, archives, audit trails, and all forms of records, including graphical images. Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), Electronic Funds Transfer, (EFT) and Continuous Acquisition and Life-cycle Support (CALS).   

EFF
EFF stands for the Electronic Frontier Foundation which was founded in July 1990, to assure freedom of expression in digital media, with a particular emphasis on applying the principles embodied in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights to computer-based communication.

For further information about the EFF, contact:

Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF)
1001 G Street NW
Suite 950
East Washington, DC 20001
tel: (202) 347-5400
fax: (202) 393-5509
www.eff.org
eff@eff.org

E-Mail
E-Mail is short for electronic mail. It is the official term for electronic communication in text or HTML format over the Internet. E-Mail is the transfer of information from one computer to another, provided that they are hooked up via some sort of network. E-mail works similarly to FAXing, but its contents typically get printed out on the other end only on demand, not immediately and automatically as with FAX. A machine receiving e-mail will also not reject other incoming mail messages as a busy FAX machine will; rather they will instead be queued up to be received after the current batch has been completed. E-mail is only seven-bit clean, meaning that you should not expect anything other than ASCII data to go through uncorrupted without prior conversion via something like uucode or bcode. Some mailers will do some conversion automatically, but unless you know your mailer is one of them, you may want to do the encoding manually.   

E-Mail Alias
E-Mail Aliases allow you to setup as many e-mail addresses as you would like for your domain. E-mail aliases are just "aliases" of a POP3 account within your domain. Aliases can only be setup to direct something@yourdomain.com (Alias) to a POP or forwarding or the default email account. This means that they will not be able to point to another domain. You can have multiple aliases pointing to the same POP3 account. 

You can forward any alias email account (which is any email account that ends with your domain name that is not defined as a forwarding or pop3 account) to an email forwarding account, but remember you are limited to the number of forwarding accounts. Unlimited Alias email accounts will automatically forward to your default email account.

An Example: say Bill is the president of your business. He needs alias email addresses president@yourdomain.com, pres@yourdomain.comto be directed to bill@yourdomain.com his POP3 email address. President@yourdomain.com and pres@yourdomain.com would both be e-mail aliases of bill@yourdomain.com and all mail sent to any of these three e-mail addresses would be directed to the bill@yourdomain.com POP3 account.

E-Mail Forwarding
A service that directs e-mail messages sent to one address to another address. E-mail forwarding is analogous to call forwarding for telephones. Once your domain name is active worldwide, you can receive all e-mail addressed to your domain such as webmaster@yourname.com, sales@yourname.com, etc. By default, all e-mail addressed to your domain will forward to your real e-mail address (POP3 account) which is your_login@yoursite.com. For convenience, specific mail forwarding options are available if you need specific addresses each to be forwarded to different addresses on the internet. For example, e-mail addressed to webmaster@yourname.com could forward to an account at AOL, but sales@yourname.com could forward to a Prodigy e-mail account.   

Encryption
Encryption is the transformation of data into a form unreadable by anyone without a secret decryption key. Its purpose is to ensure privacy by keeping the information hidden from anyone for whom it was not intended, including those who can see the encrypted data. Encryption may be used to make stored data private (e.g., data that is stored on a potentially vulnerable hard disk), or to allow a nonsecure communications channel to serve as a private communications channel. Encryption is sometimes described as the process of converting plain text into cipher text.

Encryption prevents any non-authorized party from reading or changing data. The level of protection provided by encryption is determined by an encryption algorithm. In a brute-force attack, the strength is measured by the number of possible keys and the key size. For example, a Triple-Data Encryption Standard system (3 DES) uses 112-bit or 168-bit keys and, based on currently available processing power, is virtually immune to brute-force attacks. Business to Business VPNs (Extranets) share sensitive data with multiple organizations, so demand the highest level of security. This requires public key encryption and/or secure key exchange, both of which are designed to eliminate the risk of the key becoming known to an unauthorized party.

Ethernet
Ethernet is a Local-Area Network (LAN) protocol developed by Xerox Corporation in cooperation with DEC and Intel in 1976. Ethernet uses a bus or star topography and supports data transfer rates of 10 Mbps. The Ethernet specification served as the basis for the IEEE 802.3 standard, which specifies the physical and lower software layers. Ethernet uses the CSMA/CD access method to handle simultaneous demands. It is one of the most widely implemented LAN standards. A newer version of Ethernet, called 100Base-T (or Fast Ethernet), supports data transfer rates of 100 Mbps. And the newest version, Gigabit Ethernet supports data rates of 1 gigabit (1,000 megabits) per second.

Ethernet is the most popular communication system for Local-Area Networks (LAN). Each machine on the network has an Ethernet card connected to the computer's bus, and to either 10base-T (twisted pair) or coaxial cable. The computer lab's network is Ethernet. Another, less popular networking standard is Token Ring. Ethernet supports "packet switching." Each Ethernet NIC has a unique address that is attached to the packets it sends and receives.

More information including a complete history of Ethernet can be found at www.web-hosting-reviewer.com/glossary/ethernet.html.

Extranet
An Extranet is a private network that uses the Internet protocols and the public telecommunication system to share part of business information with suppliers, vendors, customers, or other businesses. An extranet can be viewed as part of a company's Intranet that is extended to users outside the company.

Extranet can also be described as a collaborative network that uses Internet technology to link businesses with their suppliers, customers, or other businesses that share common goals. An extranet can be viewed as part of a company's intranet that is made accessible to other companies or that is a collaboration with other companies. The shared information might be accessible only to the collaborating parties or, in some cases, might be public.

FAQ

Favicon

Firewall
A special server which works in conjunction with and prevents unauthorized access to or from a private network of computers.  

FTP
FTP stands for "File Transfer Protocol". FTP is a standard way to transfer data on the Internet.  You can use FTP to upload web pages to our servers here at JTLnet.  

Gateway

GIF

GigaByte (GB)

Gbps

Gopher

GUI

Hacker

HTML
Hypertext Markup Language: A code which creates hypertext documents used for websites.  

HTTP/Hypertext
Text that is also a link to another webpage.  

Hit

Hub

IEEE

Every company in high-tech wants to control or at least create and then control the technology standards and protocols. Thankfully, organizations and institutions such as the IEEE determine what's best for the industry and community by approving standards and protocols that will serve everyone so that all of our computers will speak the same language and get along.

IMAP E-Mail
Internet Message Access Protocol: A type of email Internet protocol used by JTLnet to handle your email.  Unlike POP, IMAP Email does not permanently download messages from JTLnet's mail server onto your computer at home or work.  IMAP email allows you to store and file email messages in different folders on the server. IMAP is ideal for people who need comprehensive email access and functionality from more than one location.  

Instant Message (IM)

Intranet
A private company of networks (such as th.net) created for private, internal use.  

IP Address
The numeric address of a website used as an identification tool by the DNS server.  

IRC

ISP

JavaScript

JPG

Kazaa

KiloByte (KB)

LAN

Leased Server
A type of dedicated server that involves renting a machine from JTLnet and includes basic OS configuration and administration.  A leased server, on the other hand, requires your  own machine and server administration. 

Listserv

Load Balancing

Local Exchange Carrier (LEC)

Local Web
In a network of computers, local means files, computers, or other resources at a home or personal, i.e. "local" workstation. 

Mail Server (SMTP and POP3)
A SMTP and POP3 mail server is a server software program that distributes files or information in response to requests sent via e-mail. Internet examples include Almanac and netlib. Mail servers have also been used in Bitnet to provide FTP-like services. May also be used to refer to a computer system used as an electronic mail server. See also: electronic mail, FTP. Mbps Mega bits per second (Mega = 1,000,000) See also: bits per second.

SMPT refers to Outgoing e-mail and POP3 is your Incoming e-mail.

Mailing Lists
Mailing Lists are a convenient and automated way to broadcast email to a group of email addresses.  When an email message is sent to the mailing list name, it is automatically forwarded to all the addresses in the list. Mailing list members can receive and reply to all emails sent to the list.  Members can also automatically subscribe or un-subscribe from a mailing list. JTLnet Internet features Majordomo mailing lists. 

Mbps

MegaByte (MB)
About one million bytes (1,048,576 bytes) of computerized data. A byte is a set of 8 bits. Bits are the smallest data units. 

Metatags

MIME

Mosaic

MP3

MPEG

Newsgroup

Open Source

Operating System (OS)
Every computer has an platform which makes up its basic structure as a computer: it performs and organizes inherent tasks and commands. JTLnet servers use two different operating systems: Windows NT and UNIX. 

Outsourcing

Packet

PAN

PayPal

P2P

Perl
Practical Extraction and Report Language: A type of HTML scripting language. 

PHP
PHP is an advanced website program that runs on our servers here at JTLnet.  PHP lets you create dynamic web pages that can display a variety of data, depending on what the viewer choses to click on. PHP web pages often work in conjunction with a database o)f information they draw from. 

PHP Info (on JTLnet)

POP/POP3 E-Mail
Post Office Protocol: An type of email Internet protocol used by JTLnet to handle your email. POP Email downloads messages from our server directly onto your computer at home or work.. After you download your email using a POP configuration in your email client, messages are erased from JTLnet's mail server and saved on your local computer.  POP email typically downloads messages faster than IMAP email, because the mail server doesn't have to check as many folders and messages. 

Player

Plug-In

Portal

Protocol

PPP Connection
Point to Point Protocol. Protocol that handles sending information from a local computer to a remote computer. Enables you to go online. 

Remote Access
In a network of computers, remote servers, files, devices, etc, which are not located at a home workstation. 

Router

Search Engine
A search engine is a type of program which searches for specific keywords on your website.  Search Engines roam around the web with sophisticated spidering software, picking up all the tidbits of information that interest them. Examples of different sites that are powered by search engines are AltaVista, Excite, and Google. 

Secure Pages & Directories
Pages which utilize special encryption software to protect information traveling over the Internet. 

Secure Server
A Secure Server encrypts confidential information, such as credit card numbers,  in order to send them safely over the Internet.  You may need a secure server if you want to enable your website with a comprehensive shopping cart and online payment system.  To enable your site to use a secure server, you will need to purchase a Digital Certificate. 

Server
A powerful computer serving centralized applications & files. 

Shared Server
A WWW Server which is hosts more than one website. A shared server is the opposite of a dedicated server.  At JTLnet, we are proud to feature no more than 250 sites per shared server. 

Shareware / Freeware

Shopping Cart
A kind of software which acts like an online catalog or virtual store. Most shopping carts serve as a connection between a company's website and databases, enabling customers to select and purchase merchandise.  

Sites Per Server
JTLnet provides superior and unique service by maintaining a maximum of 250 sites per server; many plans come with even less.  Other hosting companies often cram hundreds of sites onto one machine, thus slowing down website load time as well as creating security risks.  

Site Statistics
Statistics about the numbers of hits on your website.  With a website hosted by JTLnet, you can access online various data about traffic on your website. JTLnet supports Urchin Website statistics, the best online stats reporting tool on the Web. 

SMTP
Simple Mail Transfer Protocol: Mail protocol to send and receive email between servers (such as our server at mail.th.net) and the Internet. 

SQL Database
Structured Query Language: SQL is a standardized query language for used in database construction. 

SSH
Secure Shell or SSH allows you to securely access your website using SSH encryption software. Advanced web programmers sometimes may need use SSH. 

Standards

Static IP

Sub-Domains

SWF & FLA

Tag

TCP/IP
Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol: a suite, or group, of protocols used to connect hosts on the Internet. TCP/IP is built into the UNIX operating system and is used by the Internet, making it the standard network protocol. 

Telnet
Internet protocol which enables you to manipulate files on your server  from a remote terminal. 

TeraByte (TB)

Tooltips

Unique IP
An IP address is a number which is used to define the exact address of the host that serves your domain name on the Internet. Most domain names on JTLnet servers use virtual web servers which share an IP address, so a Unique IP for a single domain name is unnecessary.  Complex web development applications may require you to assign your domain name its own unique IP address. 

UNIX

URL
URL stands for Uniform Resource Locator. A URL is the address of any resource on the Internet. The URL of JTLnet Internet is www.JTLnet.net. All of JTLnet Internet's hosting plans include your own website URL. 

USENET

VAR

Virus

VoIP

VPN

W3C

WAN

WAV
WAV files are sound files which enable you to hear and play music. Until MP3, WAV files were the best type of compression files. 

Web Services

Worm

WS_FTP

WWW Server
An Internet server which stores websites. JTLnet Internet hosts websites on powerful Unix and NT servers.  At JTLnet, we are proud to host a maximum of only 250 site per server!

WYSIWYG
What You See Is What You Get. A WYSIWYG word processor, for example, lets a user work view an on-screen document as it will appear on the printed page, e.g., with text in italics appearing on-screen in italics. This approach to software was pioneered by Xerox Palo Alto Research Center in the 1970s and widely copied since then, notably by the Apple Macintosh. WYSIWYG is extremely effective for structurally simple documents that are printed once and never worked on again. WYSIWYG is extremely ineffective for the production of complex documents and documents that must be maintained and kept up-to-date over many years. Thus Quark Xpress and Adobe Frame facilitated a tremendous boom in desktop publishing while Microsoft FrontPage and similar WYSIWYG tools for Web page construction have probably hindered development of interesting Web services.

XML
Short for eXtensible Markup Language. XML is a programming language that enables designers to create their own tags to indicate specific information. The House of Representatives, for example, has recently issued a list of XML tags to be used for Web forms on Member Web sites and other Web sites that send e-mail to congressional offices. The purpose of these forms is to enable correspondence management systems (CMS) and other software to easily identify and process types of information -- such as name, city, state, zip code, issue, etc. -- which will help make the software more efficient and more effective. These tags will help CMS vendors that do not currently offer the ability to process incoming e-mail provide this feature.