i ii Internet Reference Book 900 Acronyms & Terminologies iii Dedicated To My dear Pakistan Which is my identity And which Deserves to be returned More than It gave me iv Preface Being an Internet and Telecommunication student, I am always on a learning curve of understanding various aspects of technology. To go along the curve, I have to keep myself updated through reading. However, the major problem, I always came across, was the endless presence of various jargons, terminologies and technical acronyms in any article, book or brochure. I needed something handy, to which I could immediately refer. The rarely available Internet dictionaries, being very brief, are no good and searching Internet for each terminology, while reading, is next to impossible. There is nothing available in the market, which goes beyond mere definitions and could explain by examples. The solution was found from Internet. I downloaded over 900 terminologies & acronyms and compiled them in the form of a good handy reference book for my use. I can now read and understand any Internet related material with ease, during travel or at my bedtime. It also gives me pleasure of understanding the technology even when read independently. I am now publishing this material for the benefit of all the young and old Internet students of Pakistan and expect that all of the readers will be equally benefited from this of my effort. The book is organized in alphabetical order on the pattern of any dictionary. Each term has been presented in the form of a continuous paragraph for continuity purpose. Wherever necessary, bullet points have been used to describe features, types and characteristics. The terms and acronyms are not merely defined but are explained in detail. Any term/acronym used within each of the explanation is underlined so that the reader not only becomes aware but also registers the same in mind subconsciously. The reader will be able to study the related terms so underlined generally within the same book elsewhere. The book also describes, certain products, services and protocols, which are offered by various international organizations of the industry and have become world industry standards. All the terms have been presented without any changes or amendments as they were downloaded from highly authentic websites (Please refer to bibliography at the end). I am thankful to all my friends who assisted me in organizing this book, especially Mr. Naseemullah Malik, who designed its beautiful and meaningful cover. I hope this small effort will be appreciated. Ahmad Nadeem Syed [email protected] v Table of Contents A ________________________________________________________________ 1 B _______________________________________________________________ 23 C _______________________________________________________________ 35 D _______________________________________________________________ 54 E _______________________________________________________________ 72 F _______________________________________________________________ 90 G _______________________________________________________________ 97 H ______________________________________________________________ 103 I _______________________________________________________________ 111 J ______________________________________________________________ 130 K ______________________________________________________________ 133 L ______________________________________________________________ 135 M ______________________________________________________________ 141 N ______________________________________________________________ 152 O ______________________________________________________________ 160 P ______________________________________________________________ 165 Q ______________________________________________________________ 182 R ______________________________________________________________ 184 S ______________________________________________________________ 193 T ______________________________________________________________ 215 U ______________________________________________________________ 224 v ______________________________________________________________ 230 w ______________________________________________________________ 238 X ______________________________________________________________ 252 Y ______________________________________________________________ 258 Z ______________________________________________________________ 259 Numbers & Signs ________________________________________________ 261 vi A A AAA Authentication, authorization, and accounting (AAA) is a term for a framework for intelligently controlling access to computer resources, enforcing policies, auditing usage, and providing the information necessary to bill for services. These combined processes are considered important for effective network management and security. As the first process, authentication provides a way of identifying a user, typically by having the user enter a valid user name and valid password before access is granted. The process of authentication is based on each user having a unique set of criteria for gaining access. The AAA server compares a user's authentication credentials with other user credentials stored in a database. If the credentials match, the user is granted access to the network. If the credentials are at variance, authentication fails and network access is denied. Following authentication, a user must gain authorization for doing certain tasks. After logging into a system, for instance, the user may try to issue commands. The authorization process determines whether the user has the authority to issue such commands. Simply put, authorization is the process of enforcing policies: determining what types or qualities of activities, resources, or services a user is permitted. Usually, authorization occurs within the context of authentication. Once you have authenticated a user, they may be authorized for different types of access or activity. The final plank in the AAA framework is accounting, which measures the resources a user consumes during access. This can include the amount of system time or the amount of data a user has sent and/or received during a session. Accounting is carried out by logging of session statistics and usage information and is used for authorization control, billing, trend analysis, resource utilization, and capacity planning activities. Authentication, authorization, and accounting services are often provided by a dedicated AAA server, a program that performs these functions. A current standard by which network access servers interface with the AAA server is the Remote Authentication Dial-In User Service (RADIUS). AAA server An AAA server is a server program that handles user requests for access to computer resources and, for an enterprise, provides authentication, authorization, and accounting (AAA) services. The AAA server typically interacts with network access and gateway servers and with databases and directories containing user information. The current standard by which devices or applications communicate with an AAA server is the Remote Authentication Dial-In User Service (RADIUS 1 Access log An access log is a list of all the requests for individual files that people have requested from a Web site. These files will include the HTML files and their imbedded graphic images and any other associated files that get transmitted. The access log (sometimes referred to as the "raw data") can be analyzed and summarized by another program. In general, an access log can be analyzed to tell you: The number of visitors (unique first-time requests) to a home page The origin of the visitors in terms of their associated server's domain name (for example, visitors from .edu, .com, and .gov sites and from the online services) How many requests for each page at the site, which can be presented with the pages with most requests listed first Usage patterns in terms of time of day, day of week, and seasonally Access provider An access provider is any organization that arranges for an individual or an organization to have access to the Internet. Access providers are generally divided into two classes: Internet access providers (ISPs) and online service providers (OSPs). ISPs can be local businesses that pay for a high-speed connection to one of the companies (such as AT&T, Sprint, or MCI in the U.S.) that are part of the Internet. They can also be national or international companies that have their own networks (such as AT&T's WorldNet or IBM's Global Services). OSPs, sometimes just called "online services," also have their own networks but provide additional information services not available to non-subscribers. America Online is the most successful example of an OSP. Hours of use beyond the arranged number are billed as an extra charge at an hourly rate. Both national and local access providers compete for business in national and local publications. Microsoft's Windows systems offer personal computer users access to the Microsoft Internet service as well as to America Online, IBM, and several other services. An access provider may have its own point-of-presence (POP) on the Internet, or it may be a company that has a telecommunication connection to someone else with a POP. An access provider is not the same as a "space provider" (virtual host), a company that provides space and management for individual or business Web sites. However, some access providers do provide a certain amount of space for a Web site as part of their service. ActionScript ActionScript is an object-oriented programming