Technical Net Jargon

Bots crawl along the backbone, swinging from serverbetween computers on the Internet. You can
to server and round a few routers. If this makes nodownload files from web pages, but FTP is a more
sense at all, you need to get acquainted with someefficient means of doing it.
technical Net terms.Firewall
AppletA security setup that prevents unauthorized users
A small java application designed to run on a webgaining entry to a private network, such as a
page. Java is a programming language that can becorporate network.
used to produce games and utilities such as currencyGateway
converters. Applets are downloaded by your browserA computer that controls access on to the Internet -
and run on your computer.for example, you'll go through a gateway computer
Arpanetto get to the Net from your company's local area
The Advanced Research Project Agency NETwork.network. This means your system administrator can
Arpanet was a military network built by the USmonitor all your Net activities - so watch out.
government at the height of the Cold War, and wasHop
designed to withstand a possible nuclear attack.A connection between computers during the transfer
Arpanet was the forerunner to today's Internet.of information across the Net. Data travels on the
BackboneNet from computer to computer - from your
The main data highway that carries enormouscomputer, to your ISP's, to a web site computer,
numbers of bits and bytes around the world. Theseand so on. Depending on computer activity around
are the high speed connections that cross the globethe world, there can be any number of hops
and form the top level of the network hierarchy thatbetween you and, say, a web page you want to
in turn forms the Net.retrieve. The more hops there are, the longer it will
Bottake to retrieve information.
A program designed to search the Net forHypertext Markup Language (HTML)
information automatically. Many of the search enginesThe mark-up language used to create web pages.
use bots to scout the Net for URLs and appropriateHTML consists of formatting commands which a
keywords to include in their database. There are alsobrowser reads, and then uses to display the web
IRC Bots, and Bots designed by hackers to dopages accordingly.
various tasks.Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP)
Client ServerThe protocol used to transfer HTML documents
Describes the relationship between two differentacross the Net. When there's an 's' on the end, giving
computers. One computer, the client, requestshttps at the start of a web address, you have
information from another computer, the server. Theaccessed a secure server and are transferring files
server gives, the client takes. When you access asecurely.
web page, your client computer requests that pageOff Line
from a web server.When you are not connected to the Internet.
Domain NameOnline
Identifies a computer connected to the Net. DomainWhen you are connected to the Internet.
names typically consist of a host name such asPing
netmag, followed by a top level domain category,Or packet InterNet Groper, to be precise. It's a small
such as .com, .co, .org, and then perhaps a countryprogram that can send a test message to a server
abbreviation, like uk. Domain names are easy toto see whether it exists.
remember aliases for numerical IP addresses.Router
Domain Name SystemsA computer that redirects data - your ISP has a
A bit like a phone book of Internet addresses. Everyrouter that'll send your Net requests in the right
Net address or, to use its proper name, IP address,direction. Also known as a switch.
consists of a series of digits, such as 194.217.172.1. ItServer
isn't easy to remember a series of digits, for eachA computer that handles requests from client
website you want to visit, so the Domain Namemachines. Mail servers deliver mail, FTP servers give
System was created. This is a database system thatout files, web servers store web pages.
looks up Internet addresses based upon domainSecure Server
names.A computer that handles encrypted data for secure
Downloadtransactions, for example, when you buy something
When you downloading something from the Net -online you are connected to a secure server so your
web page or a piece of software - you arecredit card details cannot be read by anyone else.
transferring it to your computer from anotherUpload
computer.To transfer data from your computer to another
File Transfer Protocol (FTP)computer.
A protocol that enables files to be transferred