SuperHighway Glossary

A

anonymous FTP	The process of connecting to a remote system to run the FTP protocol by using the login name "anonymous".  Generally, you use your own IP address as a password on the remote system.

archie	Derived from the word "archive", archie is a file finding utility.  Archie does not download files, but it does report files' locations on anonymous FTP servers.

ascii	(A)merican (S)tandard (C)ode for (I)nformation (I)nterchange.  An 8-bit code used to represent characters.

authorization/key	A text string used like a password to authenticate your right to use a computer system or piece of software.

B

baud	A measure of data transmission speed, approximately equal to bits per second.

binary	A numbering system containing only 2 digits - 0 and 1 (on and off).

bitmap	A type of graphics image file format.

BOOTP	A protocol used by a computer on a network to determine the IP address of its Ethernet interfaces, in order to affect network booting.

bookmark	A decription of how to retrieve a Gopher item from the Internet.  A bookmark includes the name of the remote host computer, a port number to use to connect to the remote host, and the type of file to be retrieved (e.g., text file, image file, audio file, etc.)

C

client	A computer or program that requests that a service be performed by another computer or program.  See also Server.

COM port	A physical interface on the back of a PC that allows you to connect peripheral devices to your computer.  Typically, modems are connected ("plugged into") to COM ports.

compression	The practice of reducing the size of a set of data to speed transmission and/or reduce storage requirements.

context sensitive	Refers to Help information that is directly accessible (as opposed to browsing/searching through a Help File) by placing focus on a selected topic onscreen and pressing your F1 key.

CSLIP	(C)ompressed (S)erial (L)ine (I)nterface (P)rotocol.  A variation on the SLIP protocol, designed to run the Internet Protocol over serial lines such as telephone lines.  See also SLIP.

D

data packet	The basic unit of transmitted information on a network.  A data packet usually contains a header (carrying identity and addressing information) and data.  Also known as datagram, frame, packet, segment or message.

dce	(D)ata (C)ommunications (E)quipment.  Devices that connect a communications circuit (e.g., a network) with the end device (e.g., a terminal).  A modem is an example of a DCE device.

dns	(D)omain (N)ame (S)ystem.  A distributed name system used on the Internet.  The Domain Name System is used to translate host names into IP addresses so that data packets are transmitted to their correct destinations.

download	To transfer data from a remote computer to your local computer.

dte	(D)ata (T)erminal (E)quipment.  A device that functions as the source or destination of information on a network.  Contrasted with DCE devices (see above), which connect DTE devices to the network.  A computer is an example of a DTE device.

E

email	(E)lectronic Mail.  The electronic transmission of mail messages over a network.

encapsulation	The "wrapping" of data in a particular protocol header before transmission.  If your data is conceived of as a letter, encapsulation is analogous to placing the letter in an envelope and addressing it.

expect text	Refers to a text string(s) that a modem expects to receive from a remote host when a connection attempt is performed.  For example, most hosts will send username and password prompts in response to a connection being made.  See also send.

F

F1 Help	A Tapestry feature that allows you to place focus on a particular item in the current window and press your F1 key to get help on that item.

flow control	A technique for preventing a transmitting device from overflowing a receiving device with data.

folders	Folders are a means of logically organizing your mail messages into subjects.

font	The style and point size of text.

fragment	To break a data packet into smaller pieces for transmission over a network medium that is unable to handle the original packet size.

FTP	(F)ile (T)ransfer (P)rotocol.  An application protocol used for transferring data between computers on a network.

G

gateway	A special type of router device capable of converting information from one protocol to another.  See also router.

GIF	(G)raphics (I)nterchange (F)ormat.  A type of graphics file format.

gopher	A hierarchical browser (similar to Windows File Manager) designed to retrieve a variety of file types (images, text files, sound files, etc.) from special Gopher servers on the Internet.

H

header	The portion of a data packet containing identification and addressing information.

host name	The name assigned to a computer system on a network.  Host name can usually be substituted for the numerical IP address.

I

initialization	The process by which SuperHighway Access configures your modem, based on your answers to the modem prompts during the installation process.

interface	Usually refers to a device or to software that functions as a connection or "go-between".  For example, a COM port on your PC is a device interface between your PC and a peripheral device such as a modem.  Windows is a software interface between you and your computer.

Internet	The world's largest WAN, the Internet is a "network of networks"; i.e., it is composed of literally thousands of smaller networks worldwide, all connected by routers to function as a single giant network.

IP address	The address of a computer on a network.  The address is in the "dotted decimal" format "nnn.nnn.nnn.nnn", where "nnn" is a decimal number between 0 and 255.  Network applications rely on the network address to route information from one computer to another.

J

jpeg	(J)oint (P)hotographic (E)xperts (G)roup.  A type of graphics file format.

L

LAN	(L)ocal (A)rea (N)etwork.  A network covering a relatively small geographical area (e.g., within a building or small group of buildings).

login	To "sign on" to a computer, i.e., make yourself known to the system.  Usually involves entering a user name and a password, which serves to authenticate your right to use the system.

M

MIME	(M)ultipurpose (I)nternet (M)ail (E)xtension.  An encoding protocol that permits attaching various file types to text oriented email messages.  For example, you could attach an entire spreadsheet or database table to an email message.

modem	From "Modulator/Demodulator".  A device to allow a computer to communicate over regular telephone lines.

multisession	Refers to running multiple instances of an application concurrently.

N

name server	A computer that functions to resolve network addresses, so that you can connect to or transmit data to a remote host.

networking	The general term for connecting two or more computer systems such that they can share resources - data, messages, printers or other devices, etc..  A network consists of the computers themselves, some form of cabling to physically connect them, and software to control the connections, identify the computers connected, manage data "traffic", etc.

node	An individual computer on a network.

null modem	A device used to connect computers directly, rather than over a network.

P

parity	A technique for determining whether a transmission error has occurred.

password	Usually associated with a user name, a password is a means if authenticating your identity to the computer.

ping	(P)acket (I)nternet (G)roper.  A diagnostic software tool to test whether a remote host is available by sending a message to the remote host and waiting for a reply.  If no reply is received, the remote host is said to be unreachable.

POP2, 	(P)ost (O)ffice (P)rotocol.  An email protocol that allows you to access your email messages from a server machine.  Your local machine functions as a POP "client"; once authentication information (usually, a user name and password) has been exchanged with the POP server machine, you can download your email messages from the server.

POP3	A variant of the POP2 protocol.

port	An interface device on a computer.  For example, if you have an external modem, it is attached to your computer at one of the COM ports on the back of your computer.  Port also can refer to the process on a networked computer which receives transmitted information.

PPP	(P)oint to (P)oint (P)rotocol.  A common communications protocol that can provide router-to-router and host-to-network connections.

print server	A computer or progam whose function is to manage print requests.

profile	A set of parameters that can be stored so that every time a process is executed, it is executed in the same way.  For example, connections to remote hosts on a network require knowing the remote host name, the port to which to connect, perhaps the modem speed, etc.  If you routinely connect to a variety of hosts, you could create profiles to represent each of them individually, so that continually changing the required parameters becomes unnecessary.

protocol	A formalized set of rules that describe and control how devices on a network exchange data.

provider	An organization that offers a service such as a connection to the Internet.

Q

queue	Usually, an ordered list of jobs waiting to be processed.  For example, if multiple print requests are submitted to a computer functioning as a print server, the server's printer software will place the requests in a "print queue", processing them one at a time until the queue is empty.

R

RARP	(R)everse (A)ddress (R)esolution (P)rotocol.  Typically used with portable computers needing their IP addresses to be automatically configured by the network to which they are currently connected.

relay	A device that connects two or more networks or networked computers.

relay host	A relay host is a system that handles email delivery.  Since the relay host becomes responsible for IP address resolution and email delivery, this allows you to "send and forget"an email message, freeing your local host for other tasks.

remote host	Refers to a networked computer at which you are not directly working.  Depending on what kind of network to which you are connected, a remote host may be across the room or on the other side of the world.

route	The actual "path" information takes as it travels from one networked computer to another.  Here, path refers to a list of the various computers that data packets have "visited" as the packets travel from their source computer to their destination computer.

router	A networked computer whose function is to forward data packets from one network to another.  See also gateway.

S

script	A file containing commands to be executed without user interaction.

security	In general, the techniques and procedures to safeguard computer systems and information from unwanted access, theft, deliberate destruction, etc.  Requiring a user to use a password to gain entry into a system is a common example of a security procedure.

send text	Refers to a text string(s) that is sent to a modem to perform a connection attempt.  Typically, this is one of the AT command set, especially the ATDT<phone-number> command, used to dial the remote host's modem number.  See also Expect Text.

server	A computer or program that accepts and processes requests from other computers or programs.  See also Client.

session	Refers to an instance of running an application.

SLIP	(S)erial (L)ine (I)nterface (P)rotocol.  A protocol designed to run the Internet Protocol over serial lines such as telephone lines.  See also CSLIP.

smart bar	Refers to Tapestry's tool bar in its "Smart Bar" format - large buttons with their functions clearly labelled.

SMTP	(S)imple (M)ail (T)ransfer (P)rotocol.  Used to transfer email messages from one host to another.

SNMP	(S)imple (N)etwork (M)anagement (P)rotocol.  Used to gather information about a network's operation and to remotely modify system parameters if necessary.

T

TCP/IP	(T)ransmission (C)ontrol (P)rotocol/(I)nternet (P)rotocol.  The two most common Internet communications protocols.

telnet	The standard Internet terminal emulation protocol (see terminal emulation).

terminal emulation	Application software that one computer (typically a PC) runs to make it appear to a remote host computer across a network as if it were a terminal directly connected to that remote host.

time-out	If a connection to a remote computer is not made within a pre-defined length of time, the connection attempt is said to "time out".  A time-out may cause a retransmission of the information, or it may result in the connection attempt being aborted.  Time-outs have a variety of causes, including the remote system being down, bad physical connections such as a noisy telephone line or a break or short in the network's cabling, unknown or unresolvable network addresses, etc.

transparent	Invisible to the user.  Usually used to describe a complex process that is executed without requiring detailed interaction from a user.  For example, the process of connecting to a remote system and downloading a picture file is said to be transparent to the user, who only needs to select the desired picture file and click his or her mouse button.

U

user name	How you identify yourself to the computer.

V

veronica	Veronica is an index and retrieval system that searches for resources found on Gopher servers by searching for user-defined words in the titles of those resources.  Veronica must be used with Gopher - you select it from a Gopher menu, and its search results are returned in another gopher menu.

vt100	A class of terminals based on Digital Equipment Corporation's VT100 series.

W

WAIS	(W)ide (A)rea (I)nformation (S)ervers.  Pronounced "ways", WAIS is an information retrieval system that searches Internet databases for articles containing a user-specified word or phrase.

WAN	(W)ide (A)rea (N)etwork.  A network spanning a large geographical area.

World Wide Web	(W)orld (W)ide (W)eb.  The World Wide Web is an information retrieval tool based on hypertext links.  Hypertext is text that is linked in a "web" of associations.  This "web" is non-sequentially oriented, thus allowing you to browse related information without regard to the order (or even location) in which the information is actually stored.  The non-sequential orientation of WWW hypertext links adds additional flexibility to your information search and retrieval as compared to hierarchically oriented browsers such as Gopher.