| Term | Description |
abstract syntax | abstract syntax - A description of a data structure that is independent of machine-oriented structures and encodings.[Source: RFC1208]
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Abstract Syntax Notation One (ASN1) | Abstract Syntax Notation One (ASN1) - The language used by the OSI protocols for describing abstractsyntax. This language is also used to encode SNMP packets. ASN.1is defined in ISO documents 8824.2 and 8825.2. See also: BasicEncoding Rules.
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Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) | Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) - Many transit networks have policies which restrict the use towhich the network may be put. A well known example is NSFNET'sAUP which does not allow commercial use. Enforcement of AUPsvaries with the network. See also: National Science Foundation.
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Access Control List (ACL) | Access Control List (ACL) - Most network security systems operate by allowing selective use ofservices. An Access Control List is the usual means by whichaccess to, and denial of, services is controlled. It is simply alist of the services available, each with a list of the hostspermitted to use the service.
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ACK | ACK - See: Acknowledgment
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acknowledgment (ACK) | acknowledgment (ACK) - A type of message sent to indicate that a block of data arrived atits destination without error. See also: NegativeAcknowledgement.[Source: NNSC]
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ACL | ACL - See: Access Control List
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AD | AD - See: Administrative Domain
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address | address - There are three types of addresses in common use within theInternet. They are email address; IP, internet or Internetaddress; and hardware or MAC address. See also: email address, IPaddress, internet address, MAC address.
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address mask | address mask - A bit mask used to identify which bits in an IP address correspondto the network and subnet portions of the address. This mask isoften referred to as the subnet mask because the network portionof the address can be determined by the encoding inherent in an IPaddress.
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address resolution | address resolution - Conversion of an internet address into the corresponding physicaladdress.
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Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) | Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) - Used to dynamically discover the low level physical networkhardware address that corresponds to the high level IP address fora given host. ARP is limited to physical network systems thatsupport broadcast packets that can be heard by all hosts on thenetwork. It is defined in RFC 826. See also: proxy ARP.
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Administrative Domain (AD) | Administrative Domain (AD) - A collection of hosts and routers, and the interconnectingnetwork(s), managed by a single administrative authority.
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Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET) | Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET) - A pioneering longhaul network funded by ARPA (now DARPA). Itserved as the basis for early networking research, as well as acentral backbone during the development of the Internet. TheARPANET consisted of individual packet switching computersinterconnected by leased lines. See also: Defense AdvancedResearch Projects Agency.[Source: FYI4]
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agent | agent - In the client-server model, the part of the system that performsinformation preparation and exchange on behalf of a client orserver application.[Source: RFC1208]
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Aggregate | Aggregate - (noun) A total created from smaller units. For instance, the population of a county is an aggregate of the populations of the cities, rural areas, etc. that comprise the county. (verb) To total data from smaller units into a large unit. Example: "The Census Bureau aggregates data to preserve the confidentiality of individuals."
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Aggregate Data | Aggregate Data - Data that have been aggregated . Contrast with Microdata .
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AJAX | Asynchronous JavaScript + XML - The term Ajax is used to describe a set of technologies that allow browsers to provide users with a more natural browsing experience. Before Ajax, Web sites forced their users into the submit/wait/redisplay paradigm, where the users' actions were always synchronized with the server's "think time." Ajax provides the ability to communicate with the server asynchronously, thereby freeing the user experience from the request/response cycle. With Ajax, when a user clicks a button, you can use JavaScript and DHTML to immediately update the UI, and spawn an asynchronous request to the server to perform an update or query a database. When the request returns, you can then use JavaScript and CSS to update your UI accordingly without refreshing the entire page.
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alias | alias - A name, usually short and easy to remember, that is translatedinto another name, usually long and difficult to remember.
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American National Standards Institute (ANSI) | American National Standards Institute (ANSI) - This organization is responsible for approving U.S. standards inmany areas, including computers and communications. Standardsapproved by this organization are often called ANSI standards(e.g., ANSI C is the version of the C language approved by ANSI).ANSI is a member of ISO. See also: International Organization forStandardization.[Source: NNSC]
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American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII) | American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII) - A standard character-to-number encoding widely used in thecomputer industry. See also: EBCDIC.
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Anchor | Anchor - Synonymous with hyperlinks, anchor refers to non-linear links among documents Or more simply put, it's the word or phrase that can be selected to connect to another page or resource
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Anchor Color | Anchor Color - You guessed it--the color on screen that represents the anchors The reason so many are blue is that is often the default color This color can be changed to any combination of red, green and blue
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Annotations | Annotations - Personal notes you can attach to the documents you have saved in your Web browser The notes are available to you whenever the document is viewed
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anonymous FTP | anonymous FTP - Anonymous FTP allows a user to retrieve documents, files,programs, and other archived data from anywhere in the Internetwithout having to establish a userid and password. By using thespecial userid of "anonymous" the network user will bypass localsecurity checks and will have access to publicly accessible fileson the remote system. See also: archive site, File TransferProtocol.
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ANSI | ANSI - See: American National Standards Institute
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API | API - See: Application Program Interface
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Appletalk | Appletalk - A networking protocol developed by Apple Computer forcommunication between Apple Computer products and other computers.This protocol is independent of the network layer on which it isrun. Current implementations exist for Localtalk, a 235Kb/s localarea network; and Ethertalk, a 10Mb/s local area network.[Source: NNSC]
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application | application - A program that performs a function directly for a user. FTP, mailand Telnet clients are examples of network applications.
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application layer | application layer - The top layer of the network protocol stack. The applicationlayer is concerned with the semantics of work (e.g., formattingelectronic mail messages). How to represent that data and how toreach the foreign node are issues for lower layers of the network.[Source: MALAMUD]
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Application Program Interface (API) | Application Program Interface (API) - A set of calling conventions which define how a service is invokedthrough a software package.[Source: RFC1208]
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archie | archie - A system to automatically gather, index and serve information onthe Internet. The initial implementation of archie provided anindexed directory of filenames from all anonymous FTP archives onthe Internet. Later versions provide other collections ofinformation. See also: archive site, Gopher, Prospero, Wide AreaInformation Servers.
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archive site | archive site - A machine that provides access to a collection of files across theInternet. An "anonymous FTP archive site", for example, providesaccess to this material via the FTP protocol. See also: anonymousFTP, archie, Gopher, Prospero, Wide Area Information Servers.
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ARP | ARP - See: Address Resolution Protocol
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ARPA | ARPA - See: Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
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ARPANET | ARPANET - See: Advanced Research Projects Agency Network
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AS | AS - See: Autonomous System
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ASCII | ASCII - A character encoding scheme used by many computers. The ASCII standard uses 7 of the 8 bits a byte to define the codes for 128 characters. Example: in ASCII, the number seven is a treated as a character and is encoded as: 00010111. Because a byte can have a total of 256 possible values, there are an additional 128 possible characters that can be encoded into a byte, but there is no formal ASCII standard for those additional 128 characters. Most IBM compatible personal computers do use an IBM "extended" character set that includes international characters, line and box drawing characters, Greek letters, and mathematical symbols. (ASCII stands for American Standard Code for Information Interchange.) See also EBCDIC .
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ASN1 | ASN1 - See: Abstract Syntax Notation One
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assigned numbers | assigned numbers - The RFC [STD2] which documents the currently assigned values fromseveral series of numbers used in network protocolimplementations. This RFC is updated periodically and, in anycase, current information can be obtained from the InternetAssigned Numbers Authority (IANA). If you are developing aprotocol or application that will require the use of a link,socket, port, protocol, etc., please contact the IANA to receive anumber assignment. See also: Internet Assigned Numbers Authority,STD.[Source: STD2]
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Asychronous Connection | Asychronous Connection - The type of connection a modem makes over a phone line, this connection is not synchronized by a mutual timing signal or clock
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Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) | Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) - A method for the dynamic allocation of bandwidth using a fixed-size packet (called a cell). ATM is also known as "fast packet".
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ATM | ATM - See: Asynchronous Transfer Mode
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AU Sounds | AU Sounds - This is an audio format developed for Sun workstations and often used to distribute sound clips via the Web
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AUP | AUP - See: Acceptable Use Policy
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authentication | authentication - The verification of the identity of a person or process.[Source: MALAMUD]
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Authoring Software | Authoring Software - This term refers to software that enables the creation of multimedia or hypertext documents and presentations
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Autonomous System (AS) | Autonomous System (AS) - A collection of routers under a single administrative authorityusing a common Interior Gateway Protocol for routing packets.
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Avatar | Avatar - This term refers to an interactive representation of a human in a virtual reality environment term was popularized by Neal Stephenson's novel "Snow Crash"
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