Glossary

IP

Internet Protocol

The IP protocol is one of the TCP/IP protocols. It is responsible for addressing parties in a network using IP addresses, and routes data from the sender to the recipient. It decides the paths along which the data packets travel from the sender to the recipient in a complex network (routing).

IP address

An IP address is a network-wide unique address for a network component in a network based on the TCP/IP protocol (e.g. in a local network (LAN) or on the Internet). The IP address has four parts (values from 0 to 255) separated by periods (e.g. 192.168.2.1). The IP address consists of the network address and the PC address. Depending on the subnet mask, one, two or three parts form the network address, the remainder the PC address. You can find out the IP address of your PC by entering ipconfig in the command prompt.

IP addresses can be assigned manually (see Static IP address) or automatically (see Dynamic IP address).

On the Internet, domain names are normally used instead of IP addresses. DNS is responsible for assigning domain names to IP addresses.

ISP

Internet provider, see Internet Service Provider

LAN

Local Area Network

A local area network links network components so that they can exchange data and share resources. The physical range is restricted to a particular area (e.g. a company site). As a rule users and operators are identical. A local network can be connected to other local networks or a wide-area network (WAN) such as the Internet.

MAC address

Media Access Control address

The MAC address is used for the globally unique identification of a network adapter. It comprises six parts (hexadecimal numbers), e.g. 00-90-96-34-00-1A. The MAC address is assigned by the network adapter manufacturer. You can find out the MAC address of your PC by entering the ipconfig /all command in the "physical address" entry at the prompt.

Mbps

Megabits per second / millions of bits per second (MBit/s)

Mbps is a unit that can be used to describe the speed of data transmission in a network.

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