160GLOSSARY

DNS

Domain Name System. This system maps a numerical Internet Protocol

 

(IP) address to a more meaningful and easy-to-remember name. When

 

you need to access another device on your network, you enter the

 

name of the device, instead of its IP address.

Ethernet

A LAN specification developed jointly by Xerox, Intel and Digital

 

Equipment Corporation. Ethernet networks use CSMA/CD to transmit

 

packets at a rate of 10 Mbps over a variety of cables.

Ethernet address

See MAC address.

Fast Ethernet

An Ethernet system that is designed to operate at 100Mbps.

FTP

File Transfer Protocol. A protocol based on TCP/IP for reliable file

 

transfer.

full duplex

A system that allows packets to be transmitted and received at the

 

same time and, in effect, doubles the potential throughput of a link.

gateway

See router.

half duplex

A system that allows packets to transmitted and received, but not at

 

the same time. Contrast with full duplex.

HTTP

Hypertext Transfer Protocol. This is a set of rules for exchanging files

 

(text, graphic images, sound, video, and other multimedia files) on the

 

World Wide Web.

IETF

Internet Engineering Task Force. An organization responsible for

 

providing engineering solutions for TCP/IP networks. In the network

 

management area, this group is responsible for the development of the

 

SNMP protocol.

Intranet

An Intranet is an organisation wide network using Internet protocols

 

such as web services, TCP/IP, HTTP and HTML. An Intranet is normally

 

used for internal communication and information, and is not accessible

 

to computers on the wider Internet.

IP

Internet Protocol. IP is a layer 3 network protocol that is the standard

 

for sending data through a network. IP is part of the TCP/IP set of

 

protocols that describe the routing of packets to addressed devices.

IP address

Internet Protocol address. A unique identifier for a device attached to a

 

network using TCP/IP. The address is written as four octets separated