Glossary of Terms

ADSL - (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line); Technology that converts existing phone lines into faster ones capable of carrying vast amounts of information, more quickly

Always-on - You don't have to dial into a broadband connection. If your PC is on and you're logged on to your broadband service, you're online

ASP - An Active Server Page (ASP) is an HTML page that includes one or more scripts (small embedded programs) that are processed on a Microsoft Web server before the page is sent to the user

Bandwidth - Refers to the rate at which information can move across a connection. The greater the bandwidth the faster the information moves.

Broadband - High speed Internet connection that is always on

Browser - A piece of client software that is used to look at various Internet resources, such as web pages.

CGI - The common gateway interface (CGI) is a standard way for a Web server to pass a user's request to an application program and to receive data back to the user

Chili!Soft - Chili!Soft ASP is a platform-independent implementation of ASP, the de facto standard for Web applications.

Contention ratio
The number of users who share the bandwidth on a single connection. Demon's entry level service (Demon Express) gives you contention rates of 50:1 so you will share the maximum bandwidth with no more than 49 other users. A contention ration of 20:1 is adequate for most small business which frequently use high-bandwidth, while Demon Premier Express Gold will give you the full 2Mbps bandwidth to yourself (this is known as uncontended or 1:1 contention)

Dial-Up Connection - The current way that most modems access the Internet on which you usually pay call charges at a local call rate for the time spent on the web

Downstream - The flow of Internet data from the Internet to yourself

Firewall - A device or computer running special software that can protect your network, and computers on your network, from being accessed without authority

FrontPage - Microsoft FrontPage provides Web designers and developers of all skill levels the ability to create intranet and Internet sites with relative ease

FTP - File Transfer Protocol (FTP), a standard Internet protocol, is the simplest way to exchange files between computers on the Internet

HTML - HTML 4.0 was the final version of the Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) before the Extensible Markup Language (XHTML) and remains the language on which most large websites today are based

ISDN - (Integrated Services Digital Network) An international telecommunications standard for providing a digital service from the customer's premises to the dial-up telephone network.

ISDN2e- ISDN2e access provides the equivalent of two digital telephone lines (known as channels). The channels can work independently of each other, allowing you to use the Internet and the phone at the same time

IP address- (Internet Protocol address) The address of a computer attached to an IP network (TCP/IP network). Every client and server station must have a unique IP address. Client workstations have either a permanent address or one that is dynamically assigned to them when booted. IP addresses are written as four sets of numbers separated by periods; for example, 204.171.64.2.

LAN - (Local Area N etwork) A network of computers and other devices (including routers and printers) that are in the same geographical location

Microfilter - Similar in functionality to the aforementioned Splitter, but these are used for self-install variants of ADSL. They usually present two sockets as before, but instead of replacing the master socket faceplate, they plug-in to the original one

Modem - A device for sending data over an analogue connection between a computer and a remote network using a standard telephone line

MySQL - MySQL is an open source relational database management system (RDBMS)

NAT - (Network Address Translation) A standard that allows an organization to present itself to the Internet with far fewer IP addresses than there are nodes on its internal network. The NAT technology, which is typically implemented in cable, DSL and ISDN routers, converts private IP addresses to one or more public IP addresses for the Internet.

PDA - (Personal Digital A ssistant) A lightweight, hand-held computer designed for use as a personal organizer with communications capabilities. In addition to including such applications as a word processor, spreadsheet, calendar, and address book, PDAs are used as notepads, appointment schedulers, and wireless communicators for sending and receiving data, faxes, and electronic-mail messages.

PERL - (Practical Extraction Report Language) A programming language that combines syntax from several Unix utilities and languages. Perl is designed to handle a variety of system administrator functions. It is widely used to write Web server programs for such tasks as automatically updating user accounts, synchronizing databases and generating reports. Perl has also been adapted to non-Unix platforms

PHP - PHP is a scripting language and an interpreter that is freely available and used primarily on Linux Web servers

POP3 - POP3 (Post Office Protocol 3 ) is the most recent version of a standard protocol for receiving e-mail

RDBMS - (Relational DataBase Management System) A database organization method that links files together as required.

Router - The devices that direct data traffic around the Internet to ensure that it arrives at it's intended destination intact

SAN - (Storage Area N etwork) A resilient network of storage disks. In large enterprises, a SAN connects multiple servers to a centralized pool of disk storage. Compared to managing hundreds of servers, each with their own disks, SANs improve system administration.

Self-install - Where you are responsible for installing software (using a wizard)

SMTP - SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) is a TCP/IP protocol used in sending and receiving e-mail

Splitter - A device installed by BT on managed ADSL services which replaces your master socket faceplate. The new faceplate provides a socket for normal telephony equipment, and one for your ADSL router/modem

SSI - Server Side Includes (SSIs) are special tags that can be placed in your HTML document and are the simplest way to generate dynamic content from your web server

SSL - The Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) is a commonly used protocol for managing the security of a message transmission on the Internet

Static IP address - Every client and server station must have a unique IP address. A static IP is a permanent Internet Protocol address assigned when booted

Streaming - Allows you to watch video and listen to music without waiting for it to download

TCP/IP - A protocol for communication between computers, used as a standard for transmitting data over networks and as the basis for standard Internet protocols

3G - This refers to generations of wireless technology. The third generation (3G) is designed for high-speed multimedia data and voice. It is also expected to provide advanced global roaming, which means being able to go anywhere and automatically be handed off to whatever wireless system is available (inhouse phone system, cellular, satellite, etc.)

Unmetered "always on" access - Unlimited access to the Internet for a flat rate which enables you to leave your computer constantly connected to the web

Upstream - The flow of Internet data from yourself to the Internet

WAN - (Wide Area N etwork) A network connecting two or more local area networks that are geographically separate

WAP - (Wireless Application Protocol) A standard for providing cellular phones, pagers and other handheld devices with secure access to e-mail and text-based Web pages

Web Server - A computer permanently connected to the Internet running software that allows information placed on it to be accessible on the web

Web Space - The amount of storage space you get on a server to enable you to store emails or run a website

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