TECHIE TERMS - Add & Ask

Fran

Godders has suggested a glossary which is a great idea. This thread is for anyone to either add or ask.

If experienced pc users could post terms etc. that they think would be useful, that would be great. Also this would be a great place to ask what those initials really mean. For instance have you ever wondered what "chap", "gopher", "sock", "boot" or a "slip connection" is? Or what those initials stand for?



Let me kick off with a question:-

What does PPPoE refer to and what does it mean? What is Ethernet?

Toxteth_OGrady

PPPoA - Point to point protocol over asynchronous transfer mode (ATM): A networking method used to connect DSL and cable modems to the Internet. Note that all UK ADSL uses PPPoA. For more info see here.

Ethernet - A packet-based computer networking technology for local area networks (LANs). It defines wiring and signaling for the physical layer, and packet formats and protocols for the media access control (MAC)/data link layer of the OSI model. Ethernet is mostly standardized as IEEE's 802.3. It has become the most widespread LAN technology in use during the 1990s to the present (2003), and has largely replaced all other LAN standards such as token ring, FDDI, and ARCNET. For more info see here.

maninblack_3

LAN - Local Area Network, a network describing machines that are physically near you connected by ethernet

WAN - Wide area Network - A network such as the internet that covers a large geographical area through a series of comms links such as adsl or dialup

CHAP  - challenge handshake authentication protocol -  a means of communication where two machines agree on a way to exchange data - i ask you a question give me the right answer and we can talk.

GOPHER - Used in the early days of the internet as a means of getting information from one place to another. Completely superceded by the web.

BOOT - generally some kind of initialisation sequence

SLIP - Serial Line interface protocol - a means of communication generally utilised on older unix and VMS machines

NIC - Network Interface card -  a physical device that lets a machine participate on a LAN see above

Modem - short for modulator/demodulator - converts a digital signal to an anlogue signal back to a digital one for communication down a phone line

POP - Post office protocol - a way of communication to receive email

SMTP - Simple mail transfer protocol - A means of communication to send email

DNS - Domain name service translates host names into ip addresses

IP address - a unique identifier for every machine onthe internet used in conjucntion with dns

host name - the name of a machine on the internet or your local network

FTP - File transfer protocol -  an efficient protocol for transferring files over the internet.

Proxy server - A server that caches web pages for fast retrievel. only queries updates for a web page if it is in its cache rather than the whole page.

end of part 1

maninblack

F1F1

I did an HNC eCommerce course last year (web design and business on the net) and these websites were handy for computer references -

https://www.whatis.com
http://wombat.doc.ic.ac.uk/foldoc/ -
(Free Online Dictionary of Computing)

Stumpy

Well, its says at the top about MP4 - was that a mistake? Or is there something called MP4? And if so, what is it?!

maninblack_3

MP4 is a video compression technology.
Divx is based around it.

maninblack

Rochdale_Guy

OEM - see my separate thread under this one !

Godders

A quickie term I've used a lot over the last couple of days:

ISP = Internet Service Provider. A company who provide access onto the Internet either through you ringing them using a modem when you require access(Dial-Up) or through an 'Always On' connection such as ADSL or Cable. They then charge you for providing this service to you.

Godders

And another

DHCP = Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol.

Bored of trying to guess what your IP address should be? where your nearest DNS server's are? which gateways to use and other interesting things? ??? Then forget it all and just ask your local DHCP server what it should be and it will fill the blanks in for you.

When you connect to any TCP/IP based network (including the Internet) then the commonest way to establish where eveything is around you is to ask a local DHCP server to give you all the information you need (most ISP's have them). This includes a TCP/IP address (who you are), DNS server addresses (computers that act like a huge directory of where everthing else is), and a Gateway (another topic!).

These settings are generally found in the Network / Network Connections section of your Control Panel (using Windows anyway) under a section labelled TCP/IP. Unless you are told otherwise then normally these are left at 'Automatically obtain a xxxxxxx'

Toxteth_OGrady

Patch Cable

Cable used to connect computer equipment using Ethernet.

Fully described as Category 5 Enhanced Unshielded Twisted Pair - Cat5E UTP. Each end of the cable has a plastic male RJ45 connector.

There are other categories but 5E is the most common today and will support Fast Ethernet and copper Gigabit Ethernet.

Also available for specialised uses as Shielded Twisted Pair (STP - for reduced electromagnetic interference) and exterior grade for outdoor use.

There are two types of wiring configuration, straight and crossover.

Straight is used to connect PCs to hubs, switches, modems and routers. Crossover is used for direct PC to PC connections.

Many newer network adaptors and hubs/switches have Auto-sensing Uplink which means they will work with either cable wiring pattern.

Cables come in many lengths from about 0.2m upwards and many colours.

Godders

Port Scanning:

'Hackers' will try to scan the ports of your PC to see if any are open and vulnerable to attack. A hacker may be able to gain access to your PC via an open port. Firewalls are designed to prevent just such an occurence.

Quote provided from here Thanks Lincslad