Glossary

http proxy

An HTTP proxy is a Server that network components use for their Internet connections. All requests are sent via the proxy.

Hub

A Hub connects several network components in a star-topology network by sending all the data it receives from one network component to all the other network components.

See also Switch, Bridge, Router, Gateway

IEEE

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers

IEEE is an international body for defining network standards, especially for standardizing LAN technologies, transmission protocols and speeds, and wiring.

IEEE 802.11

IEEE 802.11 is a standard for wireless 2.4-GHz band LANs. In so-called Infrastructure mode end devices can be connected to a base station (Access point) or connect with each other spontaneously (Ad-hoc mode).

Infrastructure mode

Infrastructure mode is a way of operating wireless local networks (WEP), in which an Access point handles the data traffic. Network components cannot establish a direct connection with each other as is the case in Ad-hoc mode.

Internet

The Internet is a wide-area network (WAN) linking several million users around the world. A number of Protocols have been defined for exchanging data known by the name TCP/IP. All participants in the Internet are identifiable by an IP address. Servers are addressed by a Domain name (e. g. siemens.com). Domain Name Service (DNS) is used to assign Domain names to IP addresses.

Among the most important Internet services are:

◆electronic mail (email)

◆the World Wide Web (WWW)

◆file transfer (FTP)

◆discussion forums (Usenet / Newsgroups)

Internet Service Provider

An Internet Service Provider offers access to the Internet for a fee.

IP

Internet Protocol

The IP Protocol is one of the TCP/IP protocols. It is responsible for the addressing of participants 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 of 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 (decimal numbers) separated by periods (e. g. 192.168.2.1). The IP address comprises the network number and the computer number. Depending on the

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