Network Chico Computer
terms glossary
Some definitions from the Sharpened Glossary
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=W=
WAIS: "Wide Area
Information Server" This is a program that can index enormous
amounts of information and make it searchable across large networks
(including the Internet). People can search the WAIS index and
it will return results by relevance. Searches can then be narrowed
down by subsequent searches on the original results. Search engines
are a new and improved version of WAIS specifically for the web.
Wall plate: A module that
includes couplers for telephone (RJ-11) and network (RJ-45, BNC
or other female connectors) jacks.
WAN: "Wide Area Network"
It is similar to a Local Area Network (LAN)
but it's a lot bigger. Unlike LANs, WANs are not limited to a
single location. Many wide area networks span long distances
via telephone lines, fiber-optic cables, or satellite links.
They can also be composed of smaller LANs that are interconnected.
The Internet could be described as the biggest WAN in the world.
Web browser: The client-side
software that's used to display content from the World Wide Web;
also called a browser.
Web page: Web pages are
what make up the World Wide Web. These documents are written
in HTML (hypertext markup language) and are translated by your
web browser. Web pages can either be static or dynamic. Static
pages show the same content each time they are viewed. Dynamic
pages have content that can change each time they are accessed.
These pages are typically written in scripting languages such
as PHP, Perl, ASP, or JSP. The scripts in the pages run functions
on the server that return things like the date and time, and
database information. All the information is returned as HTML
code so when the page gets to your browser all the browser has
to do is translate the HTML. Please note that a web page is not
the same thing as a web site. A web site is a collection of pages.
A web page is an individual HTML document.
Web ring: A web ring is
a way of interlinking related web sites so that people can visit
many similar web sites by just following the "web ring"
link on each page. Most web rings allow people to browse backwards
or forwards through the sites in the ring, or choose to visit
individual sites from a list. The rings are typically run from
a main site which uses a web scripting application to select
random sites and keep the ring up to date. This includes getting
rid of outdated pages and links and adding new ones. There are
tens of thousands of web rings for things like football, cars,
celebrities, computers, TV shows, etc. You can tell if a web
page is part of web ring if on the bottom of the page it has
some graphic linking to other sites in the ring.
Web server: The combination
of hardware and software that stores information that is accessible
over the Internet via the World Wide Web (WWW).
Web site: To put it simply,
a web site is a collection of web pages. For example, Amazon.com
is a web site, with millions of web pages that make up the site.
Webmaster: The webmaster
is the person in charge of maintaining a web site. The jobs of
a webmaster include writing HTML for web pages, organizing the
web site's structure, responding to e-mails about the web site,
and keeping the site up-to-date. On some web sites you might
see a phrase that says "send dead links and other web site
problems to webmaster@domainame.tld."
White paper: This term
has historically been used to describe a report that states the
social or political position of an organization. In recent years,
however, the IT industry has adopted the term to describe articles
that explain an certain technology or product. For example a
company may release a white paper to the public in order to educate
consumers about one of their products. The terminology used may
be somewhat technical but the goal of a white paper is usually
to describe the technology or product in terms most people can
understand.
WHOIS: This is an Internet
service that finds information about a domain name or IP address.
If you enter a domain name in a WHOIS search engine it will scour
a huge database of domains and return information about the one
you entered. This information typically contains the name, address,
and phone number of the administrative, billing, and technical
contacts of the domain name. WHOIS can also be used to simply
check if a certain domain name is available or if it has already
been registered. To see the WHOIS service in action check out
DomainNamesWhois.net.
Wi-Fi: Short for "Wireless
Fidelity." Wi-Fi refers to wireless
network components that are based on one of the Wi-Fi Alliance's
802.11 standards. The Wi-Fi Alliance created the 802.11 standard
so that manufacturers can make wireless products that work with
other manufacturers' equipment. So, if you have a "Wi-Fi
Certified" wireless network card, it should be recognized
by any "Wi-Fi Certified" access point, and vice-versa.
Win32: This is the Windows
application programming interface (API) for developing 32-bit
applications. It has been used for Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows
NT, and newer Windows operating systems. This means that if you
use Windows 95 or later you can run 32-bit applications on your
computer. Win32 is a term that is important to programmers but
is not crucial for the average user to know. Just know that if
you have Windows 95 or later you can run Win32 applications.
If you want to learn more about Win32, including a bunch of technical
jargon, you can visit Microsoft's
Developer Website for more information.
Win32 Driver Model (WDM):
A unified driver architecture that allows a single driver to
be written for both Windows 95 and Windows NT.
Windows: This is the most
popular operating system for personal computers. It is developed
and distributed by Microsoft. There are several versions of the
Windows operating system including Windows XP Home and XP Pro.
Earlier versions of Windows include Windows 3.1, 95, 98, ME,
and NT. All Windows platforms use a graphical user interface
(GUI), like the Mac OS, and also offer a command-line interface
for typing text commands.
WINMSD.EXE: The Windows
NT 4.0 built-in diagnostics program. WINMSD.EXE can report on
IRQs, base memory addresses, HMA use and other internal system
data.
Wireless: Indicates that
a network connection depends on transmission at some kind of
electromagnetic frequency through the atmosphere to carry data
from one networked device to another.
Wireless bridge: A pair
of devices, typically narrow-band and tight beam, that relay
network traffic from one location to another. Wireless bridges
that use spread-spectrum radio, infrared and laser technologies
are available and can span distances from hundreds of meters
up to 25 miles.
Wiring center: A set of
racks with associated equipment that generally includes hubs,
punchdown blocks or patch panels, backbone access units and other
network management equipment, which brings twisted-pair (TP)
wired network cables together for routing, management and control.
Wizard: In computer terminology
a wizard is a part of a program that guides you through certain
steps. For example a wizard in Microsoft Word would help you
create and format a new document according to your needs. This
is helpful when creating a resume, outline, invoice, etc. Some
other examples of wizards are the Finale 2000 wizard, which helps
you create a new music composition with your desired instruments,
and the PowerPoint wizard, which helps you set up a presentation
using a certain theme. Basically a wizard acts as a guide for
creating a new document in a software program. Though wizards
can be helpful sometimes they can be more of a hassle than a
help for experienced users. Some users would rather just create
a new document from scratch without using a wizard. This is because
wizards typically don't offer as much customization as an experienced
user may want. Be sure not to confuse a "wizard" with
a "template." A template is a pre-formatted document
that has already been created whereas a wizard is a step-by-step
guide that helps you create your own document.
Workgroup model: The Windows
NT and Windows 2000 name for a peer-to-peer network that includes
one or more Windows NT-based computers.
Working set: Data that
a program actively uses at any given time. The working set is
only a small subset of the total amount of data that the program
could use.
WWW: "World Wide
Web" It is important to know that this is not a synonym
for the Internet. The World Wide Web, or just "the web,"
as ordinary people call it, is a subset of the Internet. The
web consists of pages that can be accessed using a web browser.
The Internet is the actual network of networks where all the
information resides. Things like Telnet, FTP, Internet gaming,
Internet Relay Chat (IRC), and e-mail are all part of the Internet,
but are not part of the World Wide Web. The Hyper-Text Transfer
Protocol (HTTP) is the method used to transfer web pages to your
computer. With hypertext a word or phrase can contain a link
to another web site. All web pages are written in the hyper-text
markup language (HTML) which works in conjunction with HTTP.
Network Chico Computer
terms glossary
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