Authentication Technique by which access to Internet or intranet resources requires the user to enter a username and password.

Bandwidth The amount of data that can be transmitted along a communications channel in a fixed amount of time. For digital devices, the bandwidth is usually expressed in bits per second (bps) or bytes per second.

Browsers A browser is actually more accurately termed a user agent. In other words, it is whatever software was used to access your website. This will usually be things like "Explorer" (for Microsoft Internet Explorer) and "Netscape" (for Netscape Navigator), but will also commonly be things like "Googlebot" (an automated robot that scours the web for website content to include in its search engine).

Bytes (Transfer / Bandwidth) A byte is a unit of information transferred over a network (or stored on a hard drive or memory). Every web page, image, or other type of file is composed of some number of bytes. Large files, such as video clips, may be composed of millions of bytes ("megabytes"). Since website and server performance is heavily affected by the amount of bytes transferred, and web hosting providers often charge according to this measure, it is very important for site owners to be aware of and understand. Common terms incorporating the word "byte" are:

• Kilobytes (KB) - one thousand bytes
  
• Megabyte (MB) - one million bytes
  
• Gigabyte (GB) - one billion bytes
  
• Terabyte (TB) - one trillion bytes
  

Cache A temporary storage area that a web browser users to store pages and graphics that it has recently opened. The cache enables the browser to quickly load the same pages and images/glossary if they are opened again soon.

Code Anything written in a language intended for computers to interpret.

Cookie A message given to a web browser by a web server. The browser stores the message in a text file called cookie.txt. The message is then sent back to the server each time the browser requests a page from the server.

The main purpose of cookies is to identify users and possibly prepare customized web pages for them. When you enter a website using cookies, you may be asked to fill out a form providing such information as your name and interests. This information is packaged into a cookie and sent to your web browser, which stores it for later use. The next time you go to the same website, your browser will send the cookie to the web server. The server can use this information to present you with custom web pages. So, for example, instead of seeing just a generic welcome page you might see a welcome page with your name on it.

The name cookie derives from UNIX objects called magic cookies. These are tokens that are attached to a user or program and change depending on the areas entered by the user or program. Cookies are also sometimes called persistent cookies because they typically stay in the browser for long periods of time.

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Domain Name System (DNS) An Internet addressing system that uses a group of names that are listed with dots (.) between them, working from the most specific to the most general group. In the United States, the top (most general) domains are network categories such as edu (education), com (commercial), and gov (government). In other countries, a two-letter abbreviation for the country is used, such as ca (Canada) and au (Australia).

Domain Name Lookup The process of converting a numeric IP address into a text name, for example, 63.212.171.4 is converted to www.quantified.com. (See also Reverse DNS)

Domains A domain is a specific virtual area within the Internet, defined by the "top level" of the address or URL (Uniform Resource Locator). The top level is the end of the address; example: "whitehouse.gov". In this example, the top-level part of the domain is ".gov", indicating a US government entity. The "whitehouse" part is the second-level domain, indicating where within the ".gov" domain the information in question is to be found. Other common top-level domains include ".com", ".net", ".uk", etc.

Download To retrieve a file or files from a remote machine to your local machine.

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E-commerce The buying and selling of goods and services, and the transfer of funds, through digital communications. Buying and selling over the WWW, etc.

Encryption The process of encoding information so that it is secure from other Internet users.

End User The final user of the computer software. The end user is the individual who uses the product after it has been fully developed and marketed.

Error Errors are defined as pages that visitors attempted to view, but that returned an error message instead. Often these errors occur because of broken links (links to pages that do not exist anymore) or when an unauthorized visitor attempts to access restricted pages (for example, if the visitor does not have a password to access the page).

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Firewall A security device placed on a LAN (local area network) to protect it from Internet intruders. This can be a special kind of hardware router, a piece of software, or both.

Frame A rectangular region within the browser window that displays a web page alongside other pages in other frames.

FTP (File Transfer Protocol) The basic method for copying a file from one computer to another through the Internet.

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GIF File extension for graphics interchange format, a compressed, bitmapped graphics format often used on the web for graphics.

Graphic User Interface (GUI) Pronounced gooey. A method of controlling software using on-screen icons, menus, dialog boxes, and objects that can be moved or resized, usually with a pointing device such as a mouse.

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