Glossary
Services - Network Integration - Security Services
A - B - C -D - E - F- G - H - I - J - K - L - M - N - O - P - Q - R - S - T - U - V - W - X - Y - Z
- Browser / Web Browser
- The program that you use to view web pages—you are viewing this page with your web browser. Popular web browsers include Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Internet Explorer, Netscape, Safari. etc. AOL also has its own built-in proprietary browser.
- Domain / Domain Name
- A domain name identifies a computer or computers on a network, the largest network being the Internet. It consists of a series of alphanumeric characters separated boy dots and ending with a top-level domain (TLD) such as .com, .net, .org, .gov, .edu, etc. Domain names must be registered via a domain name registrar. In order to have a functioning web site you must first have both a hosting provider and a registered domain name.
- E-mail Client
- The program that you use to download & view your e-mail. Popular e-mail clients include Microsoft Outlook & Outlook Express, Eudora, Mozilla Thunderbird, (Mac) Mail, Lotus Notes, etc. AOL has its own built-in proprietary e-mail client.
- Hosting Provider
- Your web hosting provider is the company that provides hosting services for your web site. In other words, they provide the web server that your web site resides on. Depending on their size, hosting companies may either own their own servers or lease them from a server farm. Web hosting is separate from domain name registration, though some companies provide both. In order to have a functioning web site you must first have both a hosting provider and a registered domain name.
- HTML (Hypertext Markup Language)
- The most prevalent markup language for web pages. It provides the underlying structure for web pages (see hypertext for more info). You may view the HTML markup of any web page by looking at the your browser's top text menu and choosing View > Source (or View > Page Source).
- Hypertext
- Text on a computer that links to other related text, documents, or media. Clicking on a hypertext link (hyperlink) causes the linked content to be displayed on demand.
- Internet
- A global, publicly accessible series of millions of interconnected computer networks. The Web is is accessed via the Internet.
- IP Address
- A unique address consisting of four sets of numbers separated by dots (ex. 192.168.0.1) that is assigned to a computer (or other device) which allows it to communicate with other computers (or devices) on a network. Every computer connected to the internet has an IP address. Visit ShowMyIP
or IP Chicken to view your own computer's IP address. - ISP (Internet Service Provider)
- Your internet service provider is the company that provides your home or business with internet access, such as AOL, Comcast, Earthlink, Verizon, etc.
- Nameserver
- A server running a special name service that maps domain names to their respective IP addresses and vice versa.
- Registrar
- A domain name registrar is a company accredited by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) to register internet domain names.
- Server
- A computer designed to run a server operating system and other server applications, enabling it to provide various services to client computers. For example, your e-mail client allows you to connect to your ISP or domain's e-mail server to download your e-mails for viewing on your local computer, so in this case your computer is the “client”.
- Server Farm
- A data center that houses a collection of powerful server computers, such as web servers, backup servers, etc.
- Web / World Wide Web (www)
- A system of interlinked hypertext documents accessed via the Internet. your browser allows you to access web pages and view text, images, video, etc.
- Web Server
- A computer that runs a program responsible for serving up web pages.
- Webmail
- Webmail, as its name suggests, is any web-based e-mail program that is accessed using your browser, such as Hotmail, GMail, Yahoo!, AIM Mail, etc. Most hosting providers also include webmail access to the e-mail accounts belonging to your domain.