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Old August 15th, 2006, 04:14 PM
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z1p z1p is offline
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Arrow .... Glossary of Networking Terms ....

The glossary has grown too large for a single post so we split it up.

1394 - See IEEE 1394.

802.11b - The specification for wireless networking at a maximum transfer rate of 11 Mbps. Operates in the 2.4 GHz range.

802.11g - The specification for wireless networking at a maximum transfer rate of 54 Mbps. Operates in the 2.4 GHz range.

802.11n - The draft specification for wireless networking at a maximum transfer rate of 540 Mbps. Also, adds Multiple Input/Multiple Output (MIMO) to the 802.11 specification. Operates in either 2.4 GHz range or the 5 GHz range.

access point [AP] - In a wireless LAN, a transceiver connected to a wired network that links the two network types. Also, referred to as a Wireless access point [WAP].

Address Resolution Protocol [ARP] - The networking protocol used to determine a hardware (physical) address, such as a MAC address, for a given networking address, such as an IP address. On most computer systems, ARP information is cached and the arp command can be used to manually view and manipulate this cache.

adhoc mode - A wireless network made of direct connections between computers. An adhoc network does not make use of wireless network devices such as routers and WAPs.

Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line [ADSL] - a form of DSL that transfers information downstream and upstream at
different rates. It is usually the downstream (to the local network) rate that is higher.

Bluetooth - Bluetooth is the name given to a radio technology making transmission of signals over short distances( < 30ft [10m]) between telephones, computers and other devices. A network created using the Bluetooth technology is commonly referred to as a Personal Area Network [PAN] or piconet.

bridge - A device that connects two or more physical networks and allows messages to flow between them.

broadband - High capacity circuits along which many individual transmissions are multiplexed. It is commonly used
to refer to Cable, DSL, or Fiber Optic connections to the Internet.

cable modem - The device used to connect a PC or LAN to a cable television outlet in order to provide access to the Internet
or WAN. Cable modems do not operate at the same rate upstream (when sending information) and downstream (when receiving information).
It is usually the downstream rate that is higher.

category 5 cable [CAT5] - Cable that uses 4 pairs of twisted wire. This was cable commonly used in a 10/100 Ethernet
based networks but is being replaced with CAT5e.

category 6 cable [CAT6] - Cable that uses 4 pairs of twisted wire. This cable is designed to support high speed Ethernet (1000BaseT and 10000BaseT) networks.

Computer Browser Service - The Microsoft Windows service responsible for maintaining and supplying information on Windows workgroups or domains. In order for file or printer sharing to operate for a workgroup, there must be at least one computer in the workgroup that is running the Computer Browser Service.

crossover ethernet cable - This type of UTP cable derived its name from the way in which the RJ45 connectors were fitted to the cable.
Some of the wires cross over others so as to change the function of the cable. It is used to directly connect two computers or when attaching a computer to a hub. [picture]

crossover cable - See crossover ethernet cable.

Dynamic DNS [DDNS] - A system that allows the DNS name to IP address mapping of a computer to be updated in real time. This allows computers that do not have a statically assigned IP address to include in a DNS servers database.

dynamic IP address - An IP address that automatically assigned to a computer using DHCP. It is assigned on a lease basis, which varies from network to network, and may possibly change whenever the current lease expires. The IP addresses and lease times are managed by a DHCP server that may be running on another machine on the network or embedded in a network device such as a router.

Domain Name Service [DNS] - A distributed name to IP address system used by IP networks, including the internet, that maps a computer's name to its IP address.

Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol [DHCP] - An Internet protocol for automating the configuration of computers that use TCP/IP. It is used to assign computers dynamic IP addresses along with other networking related system settings, such as DNS servers and netmasks.

De-Militarized Zone [DMZ] - A subnet or group of computers that reside between a protected LAN and the internet usually containing publicly accessible servers, such and web and ftp servers. It is also commonly used in the configuration of broadband routers to refer to computers that are to be made externally visible to the internet, even though a true DMZ is not created.

Digital Subscriber Line [DSL] - A digital communications technology that can provide high-speed transmissions over
standard copper telephone wiring. DSL is often referred to as xDSL, where the x stands for one or two characters
that define variations of the basic DSL technology. Currently, ADSL (Asymmetric DSL) is the form most likely to
be provided. See also ADSL, HDSL, SHDSL.

DSL Modem - The device used to connect a PC or LAN to a standard telephone wiring in order to provide high speed
access to the Internet or WAN.

enhanced category 5 cable [CAT5e] - Cable that uses 4 pairs of twisted wire. This cable is now commonly used in a 10/100 Ethernet based networks, but can support 1000BaseT networks.

ethernet - A widely used network that formed the basis for the IEEE 802.3 standard. Essentially, it is a 10 Mbps [10BaseT] or
100 Mbps network, although there is also a recently developed Gigabit Ethernet that operates at 10 times 100 Mbps speed.

fast ethernet - 100Mbps ethernet network. Also referred to as 100BaseT

firewall - A piece of security software that protects a network. It may run on a dedicated piece of hardware, be embedded in another network device, such as a router, or run as an application on a computer.

firewire - See IEEE 1394.

File Transfer Protocol [FTP] - A simple network protocol used to transfer files between computers.

gateway - The original Internet term for what is now called router or more precisely, IP router.

gigabit ethernet - 1000Mbps ethernet network. Also referred to as 1000BaseT. Makes use of all 4 pairs of wires in an ethernet connection, unlike the slower speed ethernet that only use 2 of pairs.

High Bitrate DSL [HDSL] - A form of DSL that transmits at 1.544 Mbps in both directions.

Hypertext Transfer Protocol [HTTP] - The protocol used to carry requests from a browser to a Web server
and to transport pages from Web servers back to the requesting browser.

hub - A hardware device to which nodes connect on star-wired networks. A passive hub simply acts
as a connection point; an active hub both acts as a connection point and has the ability to regenerate signals; an intelligent hub is one with additional capabilities, such as the ability to configure the network.

hotspot - A public wireless access point where you can connect your mobile computer to the Internet, using Wireless LAN (Wi-Fi) technology. Most new laptops come with Wireless adapters built in. One can add wireless capabilities to mobile computers by use of a USB or PCMCIA wireless adapter.

IEEE 1394 - A high speed external bus commonly used to connect digital video and audio equipment to a computer. It can also be used to connect other external devices to a computer as well as networking multiple computers. The IEEE 1394a standard supports speeds up to 400 Mbps, while IEEE 1394b supports speeds up 800 Mbps. It is frequently referred to as firewire.

intelligent hub - A type of hub that, in addition to transmitting signals, has built-in capability for other network chores, such as monitoring or reporting on network status.

internet - A collection of networks interconnected by a set of routers
which allow them to function as a single, large virtual network.

Internet - (note the capital "I") The largest internet in the world consisting of large national backbone nets and a myriad of regional and local campus networks all over the world.

Internet Control Message Protocol [ICMP] - The protocol used to handle errors and control messages at the IP layer. This is the protocol used by ping.

Internet Connection Sharing [ICS] - Software used to allow a computer running Windows to share an internet connections with other Windows computers connected to it. It is available for Windows 98 2nd Ed. and comes with Windows XP.
[Note: Using ICS is no longer recommended as home routers offer a better solution]

Internet Protocol [IP] - The protocol used to transfer data from one computer to another over the Internet and other networks. It is typically layered under TCP, which is why "TCP/IP" is often used in the context of internet communication. Usually used to refer to IP version 4, but can also include IP version 6.

Internet Protocol version 6 [IPv6] - The latest standard for the IP protocol. To date the internet still is using IPv4 except for a few specialized IPv6 sites.

Internet Service Provider [ISP] - A company that provides access to the internet. It may provide dial-up service, broadband service, or both.

IP address (v4) - A 32-bit address assigned to hosts using TCP/IP. It usually shown as 4 decimal numbers separated by '.', such as in 10.0.0.1.

IP address (v6) - A 128-bit address assigned to hosts using TCP/IP. The full form is eight 16 bit hexadecimal numbers separated by ':', such as in FEBC:A574:382B:23C1:AA49:4592:4EFE:9982. The full form can be shorten by omitting any part of the address which is all zeros. For example, 2002:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0a00:0001 can be written as 2002::a00:1.

IP-masquerading - See Network Address Translation.

IPsec (IP Security) - A framework of open standards for securing IP communication. The standards that are part of IPsec address the issue of authentication and encryption. IPsec is one of technologies that is used to implement VPNs. [While IPsec is optional for IPv4, it is required in an IPv6 implementation.]

latency - The elapsed time between the when data is sent on the network and the time a response to that data is received and processed. Latency is the sum of several delays affecting the transmission of data over a network (RTT + xmit time + processing time + queuing time). Latency can often be perceived in the responsiveness of a distributed environment, such as online games and the world wide web.

Local Area Network [LAN] - A network that is relatively limited in scope. For example, one that connects computers within a single building.

localhost - A 'special' hostname used to refer to the computer itself and is associated with the IPv4 address 127.0.0.1 or the IPv6 address ::1. Pinging localhost is a simple test to determine if the computer's network stack is functioning properly.

Last edited by z1p; April 4th, 2009 at 04:06 PM. Reason: added ipsec