Prestige 645 ADSL Internet Access Router

Internet

 

(Upper case I) The vast collection of inter-connected networks that all use the TCP/IP

 

 

protocols and that evolved from the ARPANET of the late 60’s and early 70’s. The Internet

 

 

now (July 1995) connects roughly 60,000 independent networks into a vast global internet

 

 

 

Intranet

 

A private network inside a company or organization that uses the same kinds of software that

 

 

you would find on the public Internet, but that is only for internal use.

 

 

 

IP

 

Internet Protocol he IP (currently IP version 4, or IPv4), is the underlying protocol for

 

 

routing packets on the Internet and other TCP/IP-based networks.

 

 

 

IPCP (PPP)

 

IP Control Protocol allows changes to IP parameters such as the IP address.

 

 

 

IPX

 

Internetwork Packet eXchange The native NetWare internetworking protocol is IPX

 

 

(Internetwork Packet Exchange). Like IP (Internet Protocol), IPX is an internetworking

 

 

protocol that provides datagram services.

 

 

 

ISP

 

Internet Service Providers provide connections into the Internet for home users and

 

 

businesses. There are local, regional, national, and global ISPs. You can think of local ISPs

 

 

as the gatekeepers into the Internet.

 

 

 

LAN

 

Local Area Network is a shared communications system to which many computers are

 

 

attached. A LAN, as its name implies, is limited to a local area. This has to do more with the

 

 

electrical characteristics of the medium than the fact that many early LANs were designed

 

 

for departments, although the latter accurately describes a LAN as well. LANs have different

 

 

topologies, the most common being the linear bus and the star configuration.

 

 

 

MAC

 

On a local area network (LAN) or other network, the MAC (Media Access Control) address

 

 

is your computer's unique hardware number. (On an Ethernet LAN, it's the same as your

 

 

Ethernet address.) The MAC layer frames data for transmission over the network, then

 

 

passes the frame to the physical layer interface where it is transmitted as a stream of bits.

 

 

 

Multi-

 

A method that combines information from multiple connections into one connection for

plexing

 

transfer over an ATM circuit.

 

 

 

NAT

 

Network Address Translation is the translation of an Internet Protocol address used within

 

 

one network to a different IP address known within another network.

 

 

 

Network

 

Any time you connect 2 or more computers together so that they can share resources, you

 

 

have a computer network. Connect 2 or more networks together and you have an internet.

 

 

 

NIC

 

Network Interface Card. A board that provides network communication capabilities to and

 

 

from a computer system. Also called an adapter.

 

 

 

Node

 

Any single computer connected to a network

 

 

 

F

Glossary