Computer Science - Selected Terms

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Computer Science

Selected Terms


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Bandwidth

The range of frequencies, expressed inKilobits per second, that can pass over agiven data transmission channel within aframe relay network. The bandwidthdetermines the rate at which informationcan be sent through a channel thegreater the bandwidth, the moreinformation that can be sent in a givenamount of time. Usually measured in bits-per-second. A full page of English text isabout 16,000 bits. A 56Kbs modem caneasily move 16,000 bits in less than onesecond.


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Bluetooth

Chip technology enabling seamless voiceand data connections between a widerange of devices through short-range

digital two-way radio. It is an openspecification for short-rangecommunications of data and voicebetween both mobile and stationarydevices. For instance, it specifies how

mobile phones, computers and PDAsinterconnect with each other, withcomputers, and with office or homephones.


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Blog

A blog is basically a journal that isavailable on the web. The activity of updating a blog is blogging and someone

who keeps a blog is a blogger. Blogs aretypically updated daily using software thatallows people with little or no technicalbackground to update and maintain theblog. Postings on a blog are almost always

arranged in chronological order with themost recent additions featured mostprominently.


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C onfiguration

This is a general-purpose computer termthat can refer to the way you have your computer set up. It is also used to describe

the total combination of hardwarecomponents that make up a computer system and the software settings thatallow various hardware components of acomputer system to communicate with one

another.


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D omain NameThe unique name that identifies an Internet site. DomainNames always have 2 or more parts, separated by dots.The part on the left is the most specific, and the part onthe right is the most general. A given machine may havemore than one Domain Name but a given Domain Namepoints to only one machine. For example, the domain

names: matisse.net mail.matisse.networkshop.matisse.net can all refer to the same machine,but each domain name can refer to no more than onemachine. Usually, all of the machines on a given Networkwill have the same thing as the right-hand portion of their Domain Names (matisse.net in the examples above). It isalso possible for a Domain Name to exist but not beconnected to an actual machine. This is often done sothat a group or business can have an Internet e-mailaddress without having to establish a real Internet site. Inthese cases, some real Internet machine must handlethe mail on behalf of the listed Domain Name.


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F irewall A firewall is a set of related programs, located at anetwork gateway server, that protects theresources of a private network from users fromother networks. Basically, a firewall, workingclosely with a router program, filters all network

packets to determine whether to forward themtoward their destination. A firewall is often installedaway from the rest of the network so that noincoming request can get directly at private networkresources. There are a number of firewallscreening methods. A simple one is to screenrequests to make sure they come from acceptable

(previously identified) domain names and IPaddresses. For mobile users, firewalls allow remoteaccess in to the private network by the use of secure logon procedures and authenticationcertificates.


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M otherboardThe main circuit board of a microcomputer. Themotherboard contains the connectors for attachingadditional boards. Typically, the motherboardcontains the CPU, BIOS, memory, mass storageinterfaces, serial and parallel ports, expansionslots, and all the controllers required to controlstandard peripheral devices, such as the displayscreen, keyboard, and disk drive. Collectively, allthese chips that reside on the motherboard areknown as the motherboards chipset. On most PCs,it is possible to add memory chips directly to themotherboard. You may also be able to upgrade to afaster CP by replacing the CPU chip. To addadditional core features, you may need to replacethe motherboard entirely.


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R outer

A device that determines the next networkpoint to which a data packet should beforwarded enroute toward its destination.The router is connected to at least twonetworks and determines which way tosend each data packet based on itscurrent understanding of the state of thenetworks it is connected to. Routers create

or maintain a table of the available routesand use this information to determine thebest route for a given data packet.


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S treaming A technology for transmitting electronic informationin a stream, rather than in a complete package.This technology has enabled more accessibleInternet audio and video. Audio, and especially

video, files tend to be large, which makesdownloading and accessing them as a completepackage a very time-consuming operation. Withstreaming technology, however, the files can bedownloaded and accessed at the same time, whichmakes using them much faster and easier.Streaming is the technology behind RealPlayer andTiVO.


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T emplate

Refers to a web page template that appliesto all ClassWeb pages on our (or your)server. ClassWeb generates web pagesfor individual files that are based upon acommon template, and thus are exactlyalike in terms of layout, style, etc. Thedifferences between ClassWeb sites aredue to the course specific information that

the page calls from our (or your)database.


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W izard An interactive utility that leads a user through all of the steps required to complete a complex task.Wizards produce a step by step guide for the user,with each possible alternative displayed. If a

condition occurs which prevents a step from beingcompleted, methods for resolving the problem arepresented. When the problem is resolved, the user is returned to the next step in the process, until thetask has been completed.WYSIWYG - abbreviaton for What You See IsWhat You Get [data prints out exactly as on thescreen]

Computer Science - Selected Terms

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