CIS 105 Survey of Computer Information Systems

1. CIS 105Survey of Computer Information Systems Essential Concepts and Terminology Study Unit 7

2. Media Convergence. • The unification of all earlier media forms (print, audio, video, animation, telephone) in a single medium.

3. Internet. • The worldwide communication technology and infrastructure that links computer networks using TCP/IP protocol, enabling direct data exchange between any two connected computers.

4. ISP (Internet Service Provider). • A company that provides Internet access, often by paid subscriptions, to businesses, organizations, and individuals.

5. Internet Protocol (IP). • The rules enabling data to be sent from one computer to another on the Internet. The protocol specifies that each computer have at least one uniquely identifier, its IP address.

6. IP Address. • The unique four-part number separated by periods (such as 216.239.39.120) used for identifying each computer connected to the Internet.

7. WWW (World Wide Web). • The network of computer networks enabling connected users to access billions of pages of information.

8. Platform. • A distinct class of computers, distinguished as using a specific type of processor and operating system.

9. Interoperability. • The characteristic of the Internet that enables cross-platform computer operations.

10. Online Service. • A proprietary network offering customized, fee-based access, client software, and services.

11. Portal. • An Internet gateway providing organized content, often with free services to attract commercial activity and advertisers.

12. ARPANet. • The network created in 1969 by the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA). ARPANet was the first network to use the technology that is the basis of the Internet.

13. Client. • A program running on a computer, such as a Web browser, that requests information from another computer.

14. Server. • Any computer providing a service to other computers on a network. A program on a networked computer that provides data to client computers.

15. Hyperlink. • Portion of a hypertext markup language document that directs a client program to retrieve another document. This technological advance enabled the World Wide Web.

16. Hypertext. • Text strings in documents that are often underlined, highlighted, or otherwise emphasized to indicate their hyperlink property.

17. URL (Uniform Resource Locator). • The unique address that specifies precisely the location of a Web page.

18. FTP (File Transfer Protocol). • The set of rules enabling downloading and uploading of ASCII and text files via the Internet.

19. ASCII. • Acronym for American Standard Code for Information Interchange, the predominant computer character set encoding, currently using 7 bit binary code to define 128 possible characters.

20. Executable File. • A file containing instructions capable of running on a computer, usually with an .exe extension if intended for use on a PC.

21. Macro. • Any set of instructions that automates a task. A macro can be written or created by performing a task while recording the steps.

22. Usenet. • An Internet discussion group news service for collecting and storing information by topic categories, called newsgroups and forums. More than 50,000 newsgroups exist.

23. Thread. • A series of newsgroup articles with a continuing commentary on a particular subject.

24. Netiquette. • Etiquette rules pertaining to use of Internet communications.

25. Flames. • Angry or critical Internet communications.

26. Internet Chat Relay (ICR). • Internet service that supports many channels of real-time, text-based conversation among multiple participants.

27. Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP). • A standard set of communication rules used by every computer connected to the Internet.

28. Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP). • A version of PCP/IP to connect a dial-up computer to the Internet using a temporarily assigned IP address.

29. Digital Subscriber Line (DSL). • A protocol that enables high-speed, permanent online Internet connections using telephone lines.

30. Backbone. • A transmission line that carries data gathered from smaller interconnected lines, at the local level, from LAN to LAN or from a LAN to a wide area network connection, or, on the Internet or other wide area network, a set of paths that local or regional networks connect to for long-distance interconnection.

31. Network Access Points (NAPS). • Several major Internet interconnection points that provide major switching facilities and tie all the Internet access providers together.

32. Domain Name System (DNS). • The system of Internet addressing that stores and translates meaningful and easy-to-remember text aliases (such as www.mc.maricopa.edu) into Internet Protocol addresses.

33. Internet Network Information Center (InterNIC). • The organization originally responsible for registering and maintaining top-level domain names on the World Wide Web. Recently, competition was introduced and the Internet Corporation of Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) conducts registrar accreditation.

34. Top-Level Domain Names • .gov • Government agency • .edu • Educational institution • .org • Nonprofit organizations • .com • Commercial business • .net • Network organizations

35. Intranet. • A local or wide-area computer network based in TCP/IP, and not necessarily available to external connections.

36. Firewall. • A program to prevent or limit external access to a computer from networked connections.

37. End of Study Unit 7. Return to first slide Move to Study Unit 8 CIS 105 Home Page Created by James Q. Jacobs