| ActiveX
| | A loosely defined set of technologies developed by Microsoft. ActiveX, formerly known as Network OLE control, is a segment of binary codes that can run only on the platform for which it was compiled. ActiveX is an outgrowth of two other Microsoft technologies called OLE (Object Linking and Embedding) and COM (Component Object Model). Understanding the entire ActiveX environment can be very confusing because it applies to a whole set of COM-based technologies.
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| ADSL
| Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line
| A method of sending high-speed data (fast enough to carry digitized movies, for example) over the existing pair of wires from a telephone company's central office to most residences. A line-encoding scheme (that uses both carrier amplitude and carrier phase modulation) provides the following:
A high-speed, one-way data channel at up to 6 Mbits/s (enough for MPEG-compressed full-motion, full-color movies). A full-duplex data channel at up to 576 Mbits/s, which can be subdivided in many ways to provide several simultaneous services. Support for the existing analog POTS (e.g., voice, Group 3 Fax, etc.) even if the ADSL part fails. Runs over a single copper twisted pair (ideally, the one that already exists between the user's home and the central office), up to 23,000 feet long.
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| AppCenter Server
| | AppCenter provides a variety of features for managing a large cluster of Web servers and application servers, including load balancing, fault tolerance, replication and testing tools. AppCenter Server is a product from Microsoft.
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| Applets
| | Software components that work with other software components to create or make up a full application. All components work within a GUI framework. Components can also work individually or within a Web browser.
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| Application Server
| | In local area networks, a node dedicated to hosting a networked application. This server usually does not host database applications, e-mail, or any other enterprise application. However, the application server usually seamlessly integrates with these or servers and services. Application servers are used most often in an “N-tiered” architecture.
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| API
| Application Program Interface
| A set of formalized software calls and routines that can be referenced by an application program to access underlying network services.
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| ASP
| Application Service Provider
| An application service provider uses the Internet or private extranet to host, manage, and support applications for companies. ASPs make it possible for enterprises to access enterprise class software solutions without deep investments in the software, hardware, and personnel to support those solutions.
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| Authentication
| | The function of ensuring that the receiver can positively identify the sender. Authentication is the process of forcing users to prove their identity before they can gain access to network resources.
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| Authorization
| | Authorization, or access control, is a method of establishing access privileges for users. Access can be granted to all network resources or restricted to specific LAN segments, network servers, devices, or applications. This task can be accomplished via password or encryption key.
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| Backbone
| | A transmission facility designed to interconnect low-speed distribution channels or clusters of dispersed user devices.
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| Bandwidth
| | The data-carrying capacity of a communications channel; measured (in Hertz) as the difference between the highest and lowest frequencies of the channel. Bandwidth varies depending on the transmission method.
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| Baud
| | Unit of signaling speed. The speed in baud is the number of line changes (in frequency, amplitude, etc.) or events per second. At low speeds, each event represents only one bit condition, and baud equals bps. As speed increases, each event represents more than one bit, and baud rate does not truly equal bps. But in common usage, baud rate and bps are often used interchangeably.
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| Biztalk
| | An initiative from Microsoft to spearhead XML usage. The BizTalk Framework provides a special set of XML tags that provide a common transport envelope for wrapping XML documents for business-to-business and application-to-application interoperability.
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| Biztalk Server
| | An integration product from Microsoft that combines elements of messaging middleware and Web-based application servers. It provides rules-based routing, conversion between data formats, and serves as a protocol bridge between HTTP, SMTP, MQSeries, and other applications.
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| BlackBerry
| | Handheld wireless e-mail device that integrates with e-mail servers and groupware applications such as MS Exchange. Research In Motion Limited (RIM) manufactures the device. The BlackBerry device additionally provides access to contact information, a personalized calendar, and a task list. Developers' toolkits are available for customer applications.
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| Boolean Logic
| | The “mathematics of logic,” developed by English mathematician George Boole in the mid-19th century. Its rules govern logical functions (true/false). AND, OR, and NOT are the primary operations of Boolean logic. Boolean logic is turned into logic gates on circuit boards.
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| Bps
| Bits Per Second
| The basic unit of measurement for serial data transmission capacity; Kbps for kilo (thousands of) bits per second; Mbps for mega (millions of) bits per second; Gbps for giga (billions of) bits per second; Tbps for tera (trillions of) bits per second.
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| Broadband PCS
| | The new implementation of Personal Communication Services (PCS) using digital technologies such as GSM, CDMA, and TDMA.
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| Bulgy Client
| | A term used for computer clients that maintain more information than “Thin Client” computers such as network computers (NC computers). Bulgy Clients do not carry as much information as “Thick Clients” but can still operate without a network connection. Examples of Bulgy Clients would be portable units that run the JAVA, Windows CE, Geoworks, or PalmPilot operating systems.
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| Byte
| | A unit of information, used mainly in referring to data transfer, semiconductor capacity, and data storage; also referred to as a character; a group of eight (sometimes seven) bits used to represent a character.
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| C#
| C Sharp
| An object-oriented programming language from Microsoft that is based on C++ with elements from Visual Basic and Java. For example, like Java, C# provides automatic garbage collection, whereas C++ does not. Geared to Microsoft's .NET platform, C# supports XML and SOAP and has access to the .NET class library.
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| Cable Modem
| | A device that enables the user to hook up a PC to a local cable TV line and receive data at about 1.5 Mbps. This data rate far exceeds that of the prevalent 56 Kbps telephone modems and the 128 Kbps of ISDN. The data rate available is comparable to subscribers of Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL) telephone service.
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| Call Back
| | A system security procedure that calls back an incoming dial-up caller and verifies the validity of the caller, usually by means of a password, prior to allowing access to the system.
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| CCITT
| Comité Consultatif International Télégraphique et Téléphonique
| An international consultative committee that set worldwide communications standards (such as V.21, V.22, and X.25). Replaced by the ITU-TSS.
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| CDE
| Common Desktop Environment
| An e-mail platform common to UNIX platforms. This e-mail platform is also becoming a standard platform for JAVA-based environments.
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| CDMA
| Code Division Multiple Access
| An improvement on AMPS and TDMA cellular telephone. Uses a technology called direct-sequence spread-spectrum to provide more conversations for a given amount of bandwidth and digital service. Defines 64 channels (forward direction, transmitted from base station), which support a maximum of 63 simultaneous users, per 1.25-MHz frequency band taken from the standard AMPS allocation (this is 42 standard AMPS channels, which is 10 percent of an operator's 12.5-MHz bandwidth). Data transmission capability has not yet been developed.
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| CDPD
| Cellular Digital Packet Data
| An industry standard for data communication at 19,200 bps across unused portions of analog cellular voice channels. 138-byte packets of data are sent at 19,200 bits/s during gaps in conversations or on unused (e.g., no voice conversation established at that time) channels, using the full 30-kHz bandwidth of the channel. Voice always has priority.
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| Cellular
| | Based on the use of cells. Cellular telephone and data networks divide an area into regional cells, each of which has its own central transmission facilities; that way, every point in the area is within range of some transmission facility.
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| Centralized Data Warehouse
| | A data warehouse implementation in which a single warehouse serves the need of several business units simultaneously with a single data model, which spans the needs of the multiple business divisions.
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| CGI
| Common Gateway Interface
| A standard for interfacing external applications with information servers, such as HTTP or Web servers.
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| Circuit-Switching
| | A technique in which physical circuits (as opposed to virtual circuits) are transferred (switched) to complete connections. Contrast with a packet-switched network.
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| Client
| | A device or entity in a distributed computing architecture that requests services and information.
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| CO
| Central Office
| The building in which common telephone carriers terminate customer circuits (also known as Central Exchange).
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| Collaborative Computing
| | Software that enables users to set up a workgroup and exchange documents with version control, chat on project issues, and update schedules. Video conferencing is an additional feature that can be added. The industry standard for collaborative computing is the H.323 protocol.
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| COM
| Component Object Model
| A model for binary code developed by Microsoft. COM, a broad set of object-oriented technology standards, enables programmers to develop objects that can be accessed by any COM-compliant application. Both OLE and ActiveX are based on COM. COM does specify an object model and programming requirements that enable COM objects (also called OLE components, or sometimes simply objects) to interact with other objects. These objects can be within a single process, in other processes, even on remote machines. They have been written in other languages, and may be structurally quite dissimilar. COM is referred to as a binary standard—it is a standard that applies after a program has been translated to binary machine code.
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| Communication Protocol
| | The rules governing the exchange of information between devices on a data link (such as TCP/IP, IPX/SPX, NFS, X.25 and others).
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| Communication Server
| | An intelligent device (e.g., a computer) providing communications functions; an intelligent, specially configured node on a LAN, designed to enable remote communications access and exit for LAN users.
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| CORBA
| Common Object Request Broker Architecture
| A standardized blueprint worked out by the OMG (Object Management Group) defining how application objects and ORBs can co-operate to deliver services or perform processes independent of platform, network, or location.
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| Corporate Data
| | All the databases of the company. This includes legacy systems, old and new transaction systems, general business systems, client/server databases, data warehouses, and data marts.
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| CRM
| Customer Relationship Management
| CRM is an enterprise integration of the following 10 components:
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| CTI
| Computer Telephony Integration
| Enables computers to know about and control telephony functions such as making and receiving voice, fax, and data calls, telephone directory services, and caller identification. It also includes functions such as making and receiving calls, forwarding and conferencing; call and data association —provision of information about the caller from databases or other applications automatically before the call is answered or transferred are some basic functions of CTI enabled applications.
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| Data Cleansing
| | Cleansing refers to the elimination of anomalies or outright mistakes in data that will otherwise impede with its intended usage. These include the discovery and elimination of homonyms, “fake” entries such as 999-99-9999 in a social security field, and so on.
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| Data Completeness
| | An indication of whether all the data necessary to meet the current and future business information demand are available in the data resource. It deals with determining the data needed to meet the business information demand and ensuring those data are captured and maintained in the data resource so they are available when needed.
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| Data Extract
| | Data which normally resides on an operational system and which is removed from that system for loading into a data warehouse.
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| Data Loading
| | Once the data is mapped and cleansed, it must be periodically updated and loaded into a single repository where it will be used by the organization.
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| Data Mapping
| | Not all databases capture exactly the same information in the same way, and so merging databases into single consistent structure requires transformations, calculations, and other “mappings” from one context to the other. For example, one database may capture a client's age in years, while another captures the date of birth, and a third captures the age in terms of defined ranges (20–35, 35–50, etc.).
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| Data Mining
| | (1) A process of analyzing large amounts of data to identify hidden relationships, patterns, and associations. This is often called “discovery-driven” data analysis.
(2) The process of utilizing the results of data exploration to adjust or enhance business strategies. It builds on the patterns, trends, and exceptions found through data exploration to support the business. It is also known as data harvesting.
(3) A technique using software tools geared for the user who typically does not know exactly what he's searching for, but is looking for particular patterns or trends. Data mining is the process of sifting through large amounts of data to produce data content relationships. This is also known as data surfing.
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| Data Rate, Data Signaling Rate
| | A measure of how quickly data is transmitted, expressed in bps. It is commonly, but often incorrectly, expressed in baud.
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| Database Marketing
| | A term used to describe the art/science of selecting a database of a potential set of customers for a given product or need. For example, defining a target mailing list for people likely to acquire a new mutual fund product.
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| Database Server
| | In local area networks, a node dedicated to providing mass data storage services to the other stations on the network.
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| DCOM
| Distributed Component Object Model
| An extension of COM which provides for support of objects distributed across a network. DCOM was developed by Microsoft and submitted to standards bodies. DCOM has been part of MS Windows 95 and NT since 1996. The protocol is based on ActiveX technology that enables software components to communicate directly with each other across a network in a reliable, secure, and efficient manner.
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| DES
| Data Encryption Standard
| A scheme approved by the National Bureau of Standards that encrypts data for security purposes. DES is the data-communications encryption standard specified by Federal Information Processing Systems (FIPS) Publication 46. Standard for encryption chips used in devices such as smart cards and PCs.
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| DHTML
| Dynamic HTML
| HTML documents with dynamic content; the three components of DHTML pages are HTML, JavaScript, and cascading style sheets. The three components are tied together with DOM, the Document Object Model.
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| Digital Certificate
| | An electronic “credit card” that establishes the user's credentials when doing business or other transactions on the Web. It is issued by a certification authority (CA). It contains the user's name, a serial number, expiration dates, a copy of the certificate holder's public key (used for encrypting and decrypting messages and digital signatures), and the digital signature of the certificate-issuing authority so that a recipient can verify that the certificate is real. Some digital certificates conform to a standard, X.509.
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| Digital Data
| | Information transmitted in a coded form from a computer, represented by discrete signal elements.
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| Digital Service
| | High-speed digital data-transmission services offered for lease by telecommunication service providers. Services include ADSL, HDSL, ISDN, Frame Relay, T1, and dedicated or switched 56-Kbps transmission lines.
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| DNS
| Domain Name Services
| Directory naming convention used for IP addresses, network user names, locations, etc.
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| DOM
| Document Object Model
| A programming interface specification developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), that lets a programmer create and modify HTML pages and XML documents as full-fledged program objects.
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| DS-3
| | North American data transmission line that runs at the rate of 45 Mbit/sec.
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| E-1
| | European digital data circuit transmission line that runs at 2.048 Mbps.
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| E-3
| | European digital data circuit transmission line that runs at the rate of 34 Mbps.
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| EAI
| Enterprise Application Integration
| Translating data and commands from the format of one application into the format of another. It is essentially data and command conversion on an ongoing basis between two or more incompatible systems using connectivity tools.
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| E-Business
| | Electronic business (derived from such terms as “e-mail” and “e-commerce”) is the conduct of business on the Internet or extranet, not only buying and selling but also servicing customers and collaborating with business partners.
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| E-Commerce
| | The buying and selling of goods and services on the Internet, especially the World Wide Web. E-commerce is performed via EDI or secure servers that use public key encryption.
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| EDI
| Electronic Data Interchange
| The intercompany computer-to-computer transmission of business data in a standard format. For pure EDI, “computer-to-computer” means originating application program to processing application program. To the purist, EDI consists only of business data (not verbiage or freeform messages) in a standard format, approved by a national or international organization.
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| EIP
| Enterprise Integration Portals
| Web-based portals that use the features of a consumer information portal to distribute mission-critical enterprise data, applications, and processes to employees and partners connected to the Internet.
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| EJB
| Enterprise JavaBeans
| A component software architecture from Sun that is used to build Java applications that run in the server. It uses a “container” layer that provides common functions such as security and transaction support and delivers a consistent interface to the applications regardless of the type of server.
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| Encryption
| | The function of ensuring that data in transit may only be read by the intended recipient. Encryption disguises/scrambles the contents of a message as it travels over a network, making it unintelligible to hackers who may wish to monitor or copy it. Encryption uses a mathematical algorithm and a digital key (series of bits) based on the algorithm to code a message at one end of a transmission and then decode it at the other end.
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| Enterprise Data
| | Data that is defined for use across a corporate environment.
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| ERM
| Enterprise Relationship Management
| An integrated information system that serves the “front office” departments within an organization, which are sales, marketing, and customer service.
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| ERP
| Enterprise Resource Planning
| Enterprise Resource Planning is a business management system which integrates all the back office business functions of a business, e.g., inventory, sales, marketing, planning, manufacturing, finance, etc.
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| Ethernet
| | A network standard first developed by Xerox, and refined by DEC and Intel. Ethernet interconnects personal computers and transmits at 10 megabits per second. It uses a bus topology that can connect up to 1,024 PCs and workstations within each main branch. Ethernet is codified as the IEEE 802.3 standard.
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| Exchange
| | A unit established by a common carrier for the administration of communications services in a specified geographic area such as a city. It consists of one or more central offices together with the equipment used in providing the communications services. Frequently used as a synonym for central office.
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| Extranet
| | A new buzzword that refers to an intranet that is partially accessible to authorized outsiders. Whereas an intranet resides behind a firewall and is accessible only to people who are members of the same company or organization, an extranet provides various levels of accessibility to outsiders. Users can access an extranet only if they have a valid password and username, and the user's identity determines which parts of the extranet the user can view. Extranets are becoming a very popular means for business partners to exchange information. Sales Channel Automation is one form of extranet.
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| Fast Ethernet
| | Any 100-Mbps Ethernet-based networking scheme.
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| Fat Client
| | A term used for PCs (Personal Computers) that have internal storage and are connected or occasionally connected to the network. Both laptops and desktops are included in this category.
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| Fax
| Facsimile
| A device for transmitting copies of documents by wire or radio; also, a document transmitted by fax.
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| FDDI
| Fiber Distributed Data Interface
| An American National Standards Institute (ANSI)-specified standard for fiberoptic links with data rates up to 100 Mbps. The standard specifies: multimode fiber; 50/125, 62.5/125, or 85/125 core cladding; an LED or laser light source; and 2 km for unrepeated data transmission at 40 Mbps.
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| FFA
| Field Force Automation
| Term for applications and devices that allow mobile employees easy access to inventory management data, work orders, dispatch components, history, limited access to a knowledge base, skill and location based routing, SLA management and other multiple features.
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| Fiber Optics
| | A technology that uses light as a digital information carrier. The transmission medium is made up of small strands of glass, each of which provides a path for light rays that carry the data signal. Fiber optic technology offers large bandwidth, very high security, and immunity to electrical interference. The glass-based transmission facilities also occupy far less space than other high-bandwidth media, which is a major advantage in crowded underground ducts.
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| File Server
| | In local area networks, a node dedicated to providing file- and mass data-storage services to the other stations on the network.
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| Filtering
| | In LAN technology, discarding packets that do not meet the criteria for forwarding.
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| Firewall
| | The shielding mechanism, or gatekeeper, used to qualify users or limit access to files. Firewalls can either be hardware applications or software applications. In either form, the application is a secured entry to corporate networks via an outside connection.
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| Firewire
| | A high-speed serial peripheral interface invented by Apple to replace SCSI.
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| FLEX
| | A digital transmission protocol developed by Motorola that allows better control both one-way and two-way of the paging network.
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| Follow-The-Sun Support
| | Support options are available to users worldwide, regardless of time zone.
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| Fractional T1
| | A service aimed at customers who don't need or can't afford all 24 channels of a full T1 line. Fractional T1 service offers the use of one or more channels. The customers then pay only for the channels they use.
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| Frame Relay
| | A packet network service, relying on the data integrity inherent in digital transmissions to speed up transmission. Unlike old X.25 networks, frame relay “assumes” the data is correct and starts checking as soon as it receives the header, in a half-dozen error-checking steps. Frame-relay services are offered with T1 and DDS connections. Current packet data at speeds up to 45 Mbit/sec.
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| FTAM
| File Transfer, Access, and Management
| An OSI application utility that provides transparent access to files stored on dissimilar systems.
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| FTP
| File Transfer Protocol
| An upper-level TCP/IP service that allows copying of files across a network.
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| G3
| Third Generation
| The latest generation of cellular services. G3 is based on larger bandwidth thereby allowing the transmission of data, voice, and limited video. G3 is in testing modes in the U.S. and Europe and limited deployment in Japan.
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| Gateway
| | A hardware-software combination that connects two LANs (or a LAN and a host computer) that run different protocols, for example, a TCP/IP LAN and an SNA mainframe. The gateway provides the protocol conversion. Gateways, because they operate on the top three layers of the OSI model, are much more complex than bridges.
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| GPS
| Global Positioning System
| A system of 24 satellites, each of which orbits the earth every 12 hours at a height of 20,200 km. Four satellites are located in each of six planes inclined at 55° to the plane of the earth's equator. When receivers “see” three satellites simultaneously, they can calculate their latitude and longitude. When a fourth satellite is in view, altitude information is also available.
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| Group III Fax
| | The standard for current facsimile devices. Most facsimile systems marketed today are digital devices offering operating speeds of one minute or less.
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| Groupware
| | Software designed for network use by a group of users working on a related project. Applications might include, but are not limited to, sales team selling, calendaring, bulletin boards, project management, and other global software application environments.
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| GSM
| Global System for Mobile Communications (previously Groupe Spécial Mobile)
| The current and rapidly gaining acceptance, Pan-European (also Pacific Rim and South African) digital cellular telephone standard developed by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute's (ETSI) Groupe Spécial Mobile. Also used in some Middle Eastern countries, parts of Australia, and limited U.S. regions. The frequencies allocated to the service are divided into 200-kHz blocks, each of which supports eight simultaneous users per channel.
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| GSTN
| General Switched Telephone Network
| Same as PSTN.
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| GUI
| Graphical User Interface
| A graphics-based user interface that incorporates icons, pull-down menus and a mouse. The GUI has become the standard way users interact with a computer.
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| H.323
| | An International Telecommunications Union (ITU) industry standard manner for providing video, audio, and data conferencing over nonguaranteed bandwidth packet-switched networks, such as the Internet or other IP-based networks.
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| Handshaking
| | Exchange of predetermined signals between two devices, establishing a connection, or providing flow control. Handshaking is usually part of a communications protocol.
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| HDSL
| High-Bit-Rate Digital Subscriber Line
| A technology developed by Bellcore that provides full-duplex T1 service (using two twisted pairs of cable) over greater distances than the alternate mark inversion encoding that is traditionally used by T1.
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| Header
| | The control information added to the beginning of a message; contains the destination address, source address, and message number.
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| HTML
| Hypertext Mark-up Language
| HTML is developing into a platform-independent resource definition language to specify interfaces and graphic representations, and assemble applications from components.
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| HTTP
| Hypertext Transfer Protocol
| Protocol that enables Web browsers to interact with other applications or applets.
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| Hz
| Hertz
| A measure of frequency or bandwidth; 1 Hz equals one cycle per second.
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| IDL
| Interface Definition Language
| A descriptive language that is independent of any programming language; the IDL defines object interfaces. It lets an object reveal to potential clients what operations it can do.
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| IEEE
| Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers
| An international society of professional engineers that issues widely used networking standards.
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| IETF
| International Engineering Task Force
| The IETF is a large, open, international community of network designers, operators, vendors, and researchers concerned with the evolution of the Internet architecture and the smooth operation of the Internet.
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| IFC
| Internet Foundation Classes
| A set of Java classes that help speed the development of complex, robust, network-based applications. They introduce new functionality to the developers of network applications, and they expose existing functionality via a unified Java interface.
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| IIOP
| Internet Inter-ORB Protocol
| An open industry standard for distributing objects. IIOP will allow the browsers to interact with enterprisewide legacy systems based on the CORBA distributed objects standard.
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| IMAP
| Internet Mail Access Protocol
| An Internet mail access protocol that provides robust messaging. Many vendors feel IMAP may replace POP as a more robust, scaleable and manageable messaging protocol.
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| IMAP4
| Internet Message Access Protocol, Version 4
| Allows a client to access and manipulate electronic mail messages on a server. IMAP4 permits manipulation of remote message folders, called “mailboxes,” in a way that is functionally equivalent to local mailboxes. IMAP4 also provides the capability for an offline client to resynchronize with the server.
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| Intranet
| | Intranet is widely used to describe the application of Internet technologies in internal corporate networks. Sometimes referred to as the Internet behind the firewall.
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| IP
| Internet Protocol
| The protocol used in gateways to connect networks at the OSI Network Level (Layer 3) and above.
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| IPX
| Internet Packet eXchange
| A communication protocol in Novell NetWare that creates, maintains, and terminates connections between network devices, such as workstations and servers. This was an early competitor to TCP/IP.
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| ISAPI
| Internet Server API
| A replaceable, dynamic-link library (DLL) that the server calls whenever there is an HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) request. ISAPI can be used to create applications that run as DLLs on the user's Web server.
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| ISDN
| Integrated Services Digital Network
| A CCITT standard for a network that accommodates a variety of mixed digital-transmission services; the access channels are basic rate (144 Kbps) and primary rate (1.544 Mbps).
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| ISDN BRI
| ISDN Basic Rate Interface
| An ISDN service referred to as 2B+D. BRI provides two 64-Kbps digital channels to the user's desktop. It is capable of simultaneously transmitting or receiving any digital signal—voice, video, or data. ISDN Terminal Adapters replace modems as the customer-premise connection to this service, enabling the user to make direct connections of data terminals and telephones. Service is also referred to as Narrowband ISDN.
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| ISDN PRI
| ISDN Primary Rate Interface
| An ISDN service that provides:
23 B channels plus one D channel (but sometimes 24 B channels and no D channels if the D channel information can be carried over another circuit) in North America and Japan. In North America, PRI is implemented using a standard T1 circuit. 30 B channels plus one D channel in Europe and Australia.
Also referred to as Wideband ISDN.
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| ISP
| Internet Service Provider
| A company that provides end users and companies access to the Internet via POPs (points of presence).
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| Integrity
| | The function of ensuring the receiver that the data has not been tampered with by a third party en route.
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| IVR
| Interactive Voice Response
| An automated telephone answering system that responds with a voice menu and allows the user to make choices and enter information via the keypad. IVR systems are widely used in call centers as well as a replacement for human switchboard operators.
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| J2ME
| Java 2 Micro Edition
| SUN's Java programming environment for mobile devices such as smart phones. The program is made up of components that operate on the mobile device and components that operate on the application server.
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| JAVA
| | A platform independent programming language similar in nature to C++ developed by Sun Microsystems. Java applications, or applets, are different from ordinary applications in that they reside on the network in centralized servers. The network delivers the applets to the user's system when the user requests the applets.
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| JavaBeans API
| | An application programming interface which integrates Java, ActiveX, OpenDoc, and Live Connect objects into a new cross-platform framework.
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| Java OS
| | A highly compact operating system that runs Java applications on devices such as network computers, cellular phones, PDAs, and other devices.
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| Java Servers
| | Server software designed to support Java applications and clients.
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| Java Virtual Machine
| | A layer of software, embedded in computer operating systems such as UNIX or Windows, that enables the computer to run Java applications.
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| JDBC
| Java Database Connectivity
| A protocol which provides SQL-oriented connectivity to databases.
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| Jini
| | A programming language Sun Microsystems calls “spontaneous networking.” Using the Jini architecture, users are able to plug printers, storage devices, speakers, and any kind of device directly into a network and every other computer, device, and user on the network knows that the new device has been added and is available. Each pluggable device defines itself immediately to a network device registry. Jini can be viewed as the next step after the Java programming language.
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| JIT
| Just-in-time compilation
| This technique is used in the Java computing environment. Java application code is dynamically downloaded from server to client on demand and compiled upon arrival at the client.
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| Kbps
| Kilobits per second
| Standard measurement of data rate and transmission capacity. One Kbps equals 1000 bits per second.
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| Kerberos
| | Security system developed by MIT and in use by several vendors.
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| Kilobyte
| | A standard quantity measurement for disk and diskette storage and semiconductor circuit capacity: one kilobyte of memory equals 1024 bytes (8-bit characters) of computer memory.
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| L2F
| Layer 2 Forwarding
| A protocol created by Cisco Systems. It is designed to tunnel the link level of higher level protocols over the Internet. Specifically, it is designed to tunnel PPP and SLIP sessions over the Internet. Competes with PPTP.
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| LAN
| Local Area Network
| A data communications system confined to a limited geographic area (up to 6 miles or about 10 kilometers) with moderate to high data rates (100 Kbps to 50 Mbps). The area served may consist of a single building, a cluster of buildings, or a campus type of arrangement. The network uses some type of switching technology and does not use common-carrier circuits, although it may have gateways or bridges to other public or private networks.
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| Language Mappings
| | Rules that specify how IDL is translated into a programming language, such as Java, C++, or Inferno, by following the rules defined in the IDL mapping for that programming language.
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| Latency
| | The time interval between when a network station seeks access to a transmission channel and when access is granted or received; equivalent to waiting time.
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| Layer
| | In the OSI reference model, one of seven basic layers, referring to a collection of related network processing functions; one level of a hierarchy of functions.
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| LDAP
| Lightweight Directory Access Protocol
| A protocol used to access a directory listing. LDAP services are seamless across all operating environments and applications on the Intranet and Internet. End users can discover information about people, including e-mail addresses, security keys, and phone numbers. Administrators can centrally manage access control and server configuration parameters across the entire enterprise. It is expected that LDAP will provide a common method for searching e-mail addresses on the Internet, eventually leading to a global White Pages.
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| LDPA
| Lightweight Document Printing Application
| Proposed IETF standard for printing across the Internet and corporate intranets.
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| Leased Line
| | A telephone line reserved for the exclusive use of a leasing customer without interexchange switching arrangements. A leased line may be point-to-point or multipoint.
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| LEC
| Local exchange, local central office
| The exchange or central office in which the subscriber's lines terminate.
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| Link Layer
| | Layer 2 of the OSI reference model, also known as the Data Link Layer (preferred usage).
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| MAN
| Municipal Area Network
| An extended network or cluster of networks serving a city, an academic or business campus, or any site featuring several widely separated buildings.
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| MAP
| Manufacturing Automation Protocol
| A suite of networking protocols that track the seven layers of the OSI model. Originated by General Motors.
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| MAPI
| Messaging API
| Messaging transport layer developed and promoted by Microsoft.
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| Mbps
| | Millions of bits per second (bps).
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| Megabyte, Mbyte, MB, Meg, or M
| | 1,048,576 bytes, equal to 1024 kilobytes; basic unit of measurement of mass storage. See Byte.
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| Metadata
| | Data that describes other data. Data dictionaries and repositories are examples of metadata. The meta tag that describes the content of a Web page is called metadata. The term may also refer to any file or database that holds information about another database's structure, attributes, processing, or changes.
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| MHS
| Message Handling System
| The standard defined by the CCITT as X.400 and by the ISO as Message Oriented Text Interchange Standard (MOTIS).
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| MHz
| Megahertz
| A unit of frequency equal to 1,000,000 cycles per second.
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| MIME
| Multipart Internet Mail Encoding
| SMTP extension that allows audio, binary and visual data to be included as part of a mail message.
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| MNP
| Microcom Networking Protocol
| Networking protocols that include standards for error correction and data compression. MNP is used primarily in modems.
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| Modem
| MOdulator-DEModulator
| A device used to convert serial digital data from a transmitting terminal to an analog signal suitable for transmission over a telephone channel, or to reconvert the transmitted analog signal to serial digital data for acceptance by a receiving terminal.
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| MPEG
| Motion Picture Experts Group
| A standard for lossy compression of full-motion video.
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| MSMQ
| Microsoft Message Queue Server
| MSMQ provides the messaging services to support online transactions between users and programs and between programs.
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| MTBF
| Mean Time Between Failures
| A stated or published period of time for which a user may expect a device to operate before a failure occurs.
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| MTS
| Microsoft Transaction Server
| MTS provides the transaction services to support online transactions between users and programs and between programs.
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| Multicast bit
| | A bit in the Ethernet addressing structure used to indicate a broadcast message (a message to be sent to all stations). This is used in electronic meetings.
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| NAMPS
| | A Motorola initiative to digitize the AMPS infrastructure so more channels would be available for cellular communications
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| NC
| Network Computer
| The Network Computer represents a different approach to desktop computers. It is based on the Java language and Web protocols, and has no permanent local storage. The operating system, applications, and data are centrally stored and loaded over the network as needed. Unlike terminals connected to a shared central computer, however, much of the application processing takes place on the local NC client, and therefore NCs do not have the scaling problems of X-Terminals where all the processing occurs on the central computer and bulky screen-display commands tend to clog the network.
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| NDIS
| Network Driver Interface Specification
| A standard established by Microsoft for writing hardware-independent drivers.
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| NDMP
| Network Data Management Protocol
| Proposed IETF protocol that ensures interoperability between different file servers, tape drives and management software.
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| .NET
| | A Web-based development platform from Microsoft. It includes tools to develop and deploy Web-based applications that can be accessed from anywhere (e.g., browsers, handhelds, cellphones, etc.). Microsoft will also .NET enable its own applications such as its popular Office suite.
.NET provides a complete development infrastructure that enables programming languages to be compiled into a Common Intermediate Language (CIL) that is executed on the fly or compiled into machine language by the Common Language Runtime (CLR) software in the target computer. This is similar to Java's intermediate bytecode, except that Java is one programming language, whereas Microsoft is allowing all programming languages to be compiled into the intermediate code.
.NET applications can run on intranets as well as public Web sites, thus .NET is an all-inclusive software platform for internal and external use. Microsoft browsers and upcoming versions of Windows are expected to include .NET code which takes more advantage of .NET-based applications. Microsoft has enhanced its programming languages to support the .NET platform (e.g., Visual Studio.NET, Visual Basic.NET, etc.). It also introduced the .NET-enabled C Sharp (C#) programming language. .NET also supports existing Windows components (e.g., DLLs, COM objects, etc.).
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| NetWare
| | A LAN operating system from Novell.
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| NFS
| Network File System
| A method of mapping (technically called “mounting”) shared remote disk drives so that they appear to be local. Developed and licensed by Sun Microsystems. NFS uses UDP, not TCP.
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| NFS
| Network File Server
| An extension of TCP/IP that allows files on remote nodes of a network to appear locally connected.
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| NI-1
| National ISDN-1
| While ISDN is a great idea, the many incompatible implementations have adversely affected its acceptance. The national ISDN effort is a successful effort to have a common implementation standard.
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| NNTP
| Network News Transport Protocol
| An open protocol that allows Internet and intranet servers to interact with ongoing newsgroups.
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| Notebook
| | A small portable computer, usually about the size of a standard letter-size notebook.
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| N-PCS
| Narrowband PCS
| Often referred to as two-way paging or enhanced paging.
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| Object Interface
| | Defines an object's boundaries and all the operations performed on that object.
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| Objects
| | A reusable packet that contains related data (called variables) and procedures (called methods) that can operate on the data. Generally, any item that can be individually selected and manipulated. This can include shapes and pictures that appear on a display screen as well as less tangible software entities. In object-oriented programming, for example, an object is a self-contained entity that consists of both data and procedures to manipulate the data.
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| OC-1
| | Synchronous data carried over optical fiber networks with data rates of 51.8 Mbits/s.
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| OC-3
| | Synchronous data carried over optical fiber networks with data rates of 155 or 311 Mbits/s.
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| OC-12
| | Synchronous data carried over optical fiber networks with data rates of 622 Mbits/s.
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| OC-48
| | Synchronous data carried over optical fiber networks with data rates of 2,488 Mbits/s.
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| OC-192
| | Synchronous data carried over optical fiber networks with data rates of 9.6 Gbits/s.
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| ODBC
| Open Database Connectivity
| Microsoft's effort to provide a single API for database (called data sources) access. Most database vendors have adopted the ODBC as a standard.
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| OLAP
| OnLine Analytical Processing
| Decision support software that allows the user to quickly analyze information that has been summarized into multidimensional views and hierarchies.
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| OMG
| Object Management Group
| An organization with over 600 members formed in 1989 by vendors and users, whose mission is “establishing industry guidelines and object management specifications to provide a common framework for distributed application development.”
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| ORB
| Object Request Broker
| Acts as a middleman, connecting objects that request services or functions with objects that can satisfy the request. Application programmers do not have to know locations of remote objects.
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| OSI
| | An ISO standard for worldwide data communications. The standard is a framework for implementing communication protocols in seven layers. During the communication session control is passed from one layer to another, in a hierarchical approach. Both X.400 and X.500 e-mail and directory standards are OSI-compliant. As Internet communication protocols mature, the OSI standard is becoming less relevant.
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| Packet-Switched Network
| | A data-communications network that transmits packets. Packets from different sources are interleaved and sent to their destination over virtual circuits.
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| Palm
| | Handheld electronic organizer from Palm Computing, Inc., Santa Clara, CA. The first Palm was the PalmPilot introduced in April 1996, which sold more than 350,000 units by year end. Later renamed simply the “Palm,” these devices fit into a shirt pocket, contain an address book, scheduler and to-do list, and newer versions can download e-mail.
The Palm uses a pen interface and “Graffiti” handwriting recognition for entering data. Its HotSync technology lets the user synchronize the Palm and a PC with the touch of a button. Palm Computing supports an open architecture for its Palm operating system, and third-party developers have created a huge variety of software for it.
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| PAN
| Personal Area Newtork
| Refers to a wireless network that operates in the one to five foot area. Either RF or infrared technology is used in this environment. The new Bluetooth wireless technologies are in the PAN category.
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| PBX
| Private Branch eXchange
| An in-house telephone switching system that interconnects telephone extensions to each other, as well as to the outside telephone network. It may include functions such as least cost routing for outside calls, call forwarding, conference calling, and call accounting.
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| PCMCIA
| Personal Computer Memory Card International Association
| The name of the group that produced the specification for the credit card-sized plug-in boards known as PC cards (initially) for laptop computers.
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| PCS
| Personal Communication Services
| The name for a new wireless voice and data communications system. Lower transmit power (than standard AMPS cellular telephones) is to be used, so the telephones can be smaller and lower-cost (since smaller batteries and less-powerful components are needed).
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| PDA
| Personal Digital Assistant
| A small, handheld, battery-operated, microprocessor-based device that:
Stores telephone numbers, addresses, and reminders Sends and receive e-mail and faxes (wirelessly) Receives pages (just like an alphanumeric pager) Recognizes handwriting
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| Pocket PC
| | A handheld Windows-based computer that runs the Pocket PC operating system (formerly Windows CE). The Pocket PC operating system (Version 3.0 of Windows CE) adds a new interface along with greater stability, Pocket Office applications (Internet Explorer, Word, and Excel), handwriting recognition, an e-book reader, wireless Internet and longer battery life. The Pocket PC was designed to compete more directly with Palm devices.
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| POP
| Point of Presence
| An Internet service providers (ISP) point of entrance into the Internet.
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| POP
| Post Office Protocol
| Internet mail server protocol that provides basic message transfer capabilities using SMTP.
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| POTS
| Plain Ordinary Telephone Service
| The only type of telephone service available 20 years ago. A simple analog telephone (and the corresponding service from the phone company) on which the user can dial and receive calls. The lowest common telephone service available everywhere. A pair of copper conductors (a twisted pair of wires, called the local loop) connects a telephone to the nearest central office. It is estimated that there are about 560 million such local loops in the world.
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| PPP
| Point to Point Protocol
| Standardized dial-in protocol for Internet access from client to Internet Point of Presence (POP) equipment
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| PPTP
| Point to Point Tunnel Protocol
| The specification was developed by the PPTP forum, a collaboration between Microsoft Corporation and a group of several leading manufacturers of Internet Service Provider (ISP) equipment. PPTP enables implementation of secure, multi-protocol Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) through public data networks such as the Internet.
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| PRM
| Partner Relationship Management
| Allows for a more seamless relationship with partners through the management of channel programs, opportunities, sales, marketing, and leads.
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| PSDN
| Packet-Switched Data Network
| Provides connections to computers in other parts of the world using the X.25 protocol. The interface between a PSDN and a PSDN user normally operates over a data communications link (e.g., an ISDN link). Each PSDN interface is capable of supporting multiple virtual circuits. A virtual circuit is a logical connection between two PSDN users. Data is exchanged across virtual circuits as packets. A packet is the smallest unit of data transfer supported by the PSDN.
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| PSTN
| Public Switched Telephone Network
| The telephone system over which calls may be dialed.
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| Push
| Server-push
| The delivery of information from the Internet, an intranet, or news server that appears to be initiated by the information server rather than by the information user or client, as it usually is.
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| QoS
| Quality of Service
| The ability to define a level of performance in a data communications system. For example, ATM networks specify modes of service that ensure optimum performance for traffic such as real-time voice and video. QoS has become a major issue on the Internet as well as in enterprise networks, because voice and video are increasingly traveling over IP-based data networks that were not designed for continuous speech or viewing. The protocols of the Internet were designed for the military with exactly the opposite in mind: to withstand an enemy attack. Thus, transmissions are broken into packets that can travel different routes and arrive at different times.
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| RAID
| Redundant (or Reliable) Array of Inexpensive Disks
| A disk subsystem (that appears as a single large, fast, super-reliable disk drive) composed of more than one (usually equal-sized) disk drives (called an array) to provide improved reliability, response time, and/or storage capacity.
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| RAS
| Remote Access Services
| A method used to allow remote computing users to access multiple computing environments from a dial-up connection.
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| RBOC
| Regional Bell Operating Company
| One of the regional Bell telephone companies that were created when AT&T was dismantled in 1984.
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| Real-Time Enterprise
| | A new business model for the 21st century. In a real-time enterprise all company departments, customers, suppliers, and partners are electronically connected via internal and Internet applications (i.e., the e-enablement of all business functions). This allows the company's information systems to function like a 24-hour live video cam on its operations, instantly alerting managers to changes in customer demand, competitive situations, inventory, availability of supplies, and profitability. Real-time enterprises will benefit from recent technological advancements such as real-time computing and e-business. These technologies will allow companies to streamline business processes and manage customer relationships with such proficiency that they will achieve sustainable productivity gains, decreased costs, and long-term profitability. The result will be a fundamental and permanent economic change in the companies' operations.
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| Remote Access
| | The ability of a computer in one location to reach a device that is some distance away, perhaps at another site.
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| RF
| Radio-Frequency Modulation
| The electromagnetic format in which broadcast and cable TV signals are transmitted.
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| Router
| | A network device that examines the network addresses within a given protocol, determines the most efficient pathway to the destination, and routes the data accordingly. Operates at the Network Layer of the OSI model.
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| RSA
| | A de-facto standard for untappable public-key encryption developed by RSA Data Security Inc.
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| RSVP
| Resource Reservation Protocol
| A standard for reserving resources required in each network (there could be many networking technologies involved) along an end-to-end path so that an application (likely multimedia) receives the required quality of service.
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| RTSP
| Real-Time Streaming Protocol
| A proposed standard that was submitted to the IETF for delivery of real-time media over the Internet. RTSP is a communications protocol for control and delivery of real-time media. It defines the connection between streaming media client and server software, and provides a standard way for clients and servers from multiple vendors to stream multimedia content. Audio, video, and other content can be streamed in real-time using this protocol. It incorporates aspects of the International Telecommunications Unions H.323 specification.
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| SET
| Secure Electronic Transactions
| MasterCard, VISA, and several other technology vendors have developed a single method that consumers and merchants will use to conduct bankcard transactions in cyberspace as securely and easily as done in retail stores today.
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| SFA
| Sales Force Automation
| The first generation of automating the sales force with contact management, forecasting, sales management, and team selling. SFA has evolved into CRM.
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| S-HTTP
| Secure Hypertext Transfer Protocol
| A method that is used to support the encryption and decryption of specific WWW documents sent over the Internet. S-HTTP uses RSA public-key encryption. A main use is expected to be for commerce (payments). An alternative method is SSL, which encrypts all traffic for specific TCP/IP ports.
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| Smart Phone
| | A telephone with advanced information access features. It is typically a digital cellular telephone that provides normal voice service as well as any combination of e-mail, text messaging, pager, Web access and voice recognition. Smart phones emerged in the late 1990s and are expected to become widespread.
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| S/MIME
| Secure Multipurpose Internet Mail Encoding
| A standard way to send and receive secure electronic mail. Based on the popular Internet MIME standard, S/MIME provides the following cryptographic security services for electronic messaging applications: authentication, message integrity and nonrepudiation of origin (using digital signatures), and privacy and data security (using encryption).
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| SMS
| Short Message Service
| A text message service that enables short messages of generally no more than 140-160 characters in length to be sent and transmitted from a cellphone. SMS is supported by GSM and other mobile communications systems.
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| SMTP
| Simple Mail Transfer Protocol
| Dominant e-mail messaging protocol for use on TCP/IP networks.
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| SNA
| Systems Network Architecture
| IBM's proprietary data communication protocols. Original SNA (introduced in 1974) is now sometimes called Subarea SNA. SNA was mainframe-centric, since all communications were directly from a dumb 3270-type terminal to a mainframe (running Advanced Communication Facilities/Virtual Telecommunications Access Method--ACF/VTAM).
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| SNMP
| Simple Network Management Protocol
| SNMP services allow centralized, replicated, secure management of user information, access control parameters, and server configuration information.
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| SOAP
| Simple Object Access Protocol
| A protocol from Microsoft, IBM, and others for accessing services on the Web. It employs XML syntax to send text commands across the Internet using HTTP. Similar in purpose to the COM and CORBA distributed object systems, but lighter weight and less programming intensive (at least initially), SOAP is expected to become widely used to invoke services throughout the Web. Because of its simple exchange mechanism, SOAP can also be used to implement a messaging system. SOAP is supported in COM, DCOM, Internet Explorer, and Microsoft's Java implementation.
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| SONet
| Synchronous Optical Network
| A synchronous data framing and transmission scheme for (usually single-mode) fiber optic cable. Based on multiples of a base rate of 51.84 Mbits/s. This base rate (called OC-1) can carry 672 DS-0s, or 28 T1s, or 21 E1s, or 7 T2s, or 7 digitized television channels (typical for submarine fiber optic cables), or 1 T3, or combinations of these. It has additional capacity for an order-wire (a digitized-voice intercom for technicians to use), error detection, and framing and bit-rate matching.
The 51.84 Mbits/s comes from the basic frame of 810 bytes (nine rows of 90 columns of bytes each), which is sent 8,000 times per second.
Speeds up to OC-192 are currently standardized. An equivalent scheme for copper media (called STS-1) has identical rates, formats, and features.
SONet can be used to carry ATM traffic as well as any other type of traffic (for example, it can be a “faster point-to-point T1”).
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| SQL
| Structured Query Language
| An English-like, ASCII text, standardized language that is used to define and manipulate data in a database server.
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| SSL
| Secure Sockets Layer
| A security protocol that provides communications privacy over the Internet. The protocol allows client/server applications to communicate in a way that is designed to prevent eavesdropping, tampering, or message forgery.
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| STS-1
| | Synchronous data carried over copper networks with data rates of 51.8 Mbits/s.
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| STS-3
| | Synchronous data carried over copper networks with data rates of 155.5 or 311 Mbits/s.
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| STS-12
| | Synchronous data carried over copper networks with data rates of 622 Mbits/s.
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| STS-48
| | Synchronous data carried over copper networks with data rates of 2,488 Mbits/s.
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| Sub-notebook
| | A small portable computer, usually smaller than the size of a standard letter-size notebook. Size is less than 5 lbs.
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| T-1
| | A digital carrier facility used to transmit a DS-1 formatted digital signal at 1.544 Mbps. A T1 carrier can transmit large volumes of information across great distances at high speeds at a (potentially) lower cost than that provided by traditional analog service. A T1 carrier uses time-division multiplexing to manipulate and move digital information. It consists of one four-wire circuit providing 24 separate 64-Kbps logical channels; the aggregate data rate equals 1.544 Mbps. T-1 lines are asynchronous.
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| T-3
| | 28 T1 lines in one; the aggregate data rate is 44.746 Mbps. T-3 lines are asynchronous.
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| T.120
| | An International Telecommunications Union (ITU) industry standard for multipoint data conferencing.
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| TAPI
| Telephony Application Programming Interface
| Microsoft's and Intel's method of integrating telephone services and computers so that the user's computer can control the user's telephone.
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| TCP
| Transmission Control Protocol
| UNIX's connection-oriented layer 4 protocol (also called transport), which provides an error-free connection between two cooperating programs, which are typically on different computers.
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| TCP/IP
| Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol
| A layered set of protocols that allows sharing of applications among PCs, hosts, or workstations in a high-speed communications environment. Because TCP/IP's protocols are standardized across all its layers, including those that provide terminal emulation and file transfer, different vendors' computing devices (all running TCP/IP) can exist on the same cable and communicate with one another across that cable. TCP/IP corresponds to Layers 4 (Transport) and 3 (Network) of the OSI reference model.
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| TDMA
| Time-Division Multiple Access
| A high-speed, burst mode of operation that can be used to interconnect LANs; TDMA was first used as a multiplexing technique on shared communications satellites.
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| Thin Client
| | See NC or Network Computer.
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| TSAPI
| Telephony Services Application Programming Interface
| AT&T's and Novell's method of integrating telephone services and computers.
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| Tunneling
| | Tunneling is a technology that allows a network transport protocol to carry information for other protocols within its own packets. For example, IPX data packets can be encapsulated in IP packets for transport across the Internet, which isn't normally possible. The packets are delivered unmodified to a remote device that has been set up to handle them. The packets may be secured using data encryption, authentication or integrity functions. A VPN can be created by using tunneling.
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| Unicode Character Set
| | A character coding scheme designed to be an extension to ASCII. By using 16 bits for each character (rather than ASCII's 7), virtually every character of every language, as well as many symbols (such as “&”), can be represented in an internationally standard way, and the current complexity of incompatible extended character sets and code pages should be eliminated.
The first 128 codes of Unicode correspond to standard ASCII.
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| URL
| Uniform Resource Locator
| The “address” that is used to specify a WWW server and home page. For example, http://www.yourcompany.com, which indicates that the host's address is www.yourcompany.com.
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| vCalendar
| | An industry standard format developed by the Versit Consortium for exchanging scheduling and activity-recording information electronically. If a person sends the user a week's schedule in a vCalendar attachment to an e-mail note, the user can drag-and-drop it to a personal information manager (PIM) type of application program and integrate it with or relate it to the user's own schedule. Several CRM and SFA vendors are developing to this standard.
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| vCard
| | An industry standard format developed by the Versit Consortium for the exchange of an electronic business (or personal) card. Many people are beginning to attach vCards to e-mail notes. Software application developers can create programs that process vCards by letting the user view them, or drag-and-drop them to an address book or some other application. vCards can include images and sound as well as text.
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| VCS
| Version Control System
| A software management scheme that keeps software up to date on clients connected to the server.
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| VoIP
| Voice Over IP
| The two-way transmission of audio over a TCP/IP channel. VoIP can be transmitted over the Internet, private intranet, or WAN. QoS issues must be taken into account.
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| VPN
| Virtual Private Network
| A virtual private network utilizes a public network such as the Internet as a secure channel for communicating private data. VPN technology allows the creation a of secure link between a corporate LAN (local area network) and a remote user's PC. Encryption and other security mechanisms are utilized to ensure that only authorized users can access the network and that the data cannot be intercepted.
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| VRML
| Virtual Reality Modeling Language
| An extension of HTML to support 3D views, simulation and modeling.
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| VXML
| Voice XML
| An extension to XML that defines voice segments and enables access to the Internet via telephones and other voice-activated devices.
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| W3C
| World Wide Web Consortium
| An organization that is dedicated to keeping open standards as part of the Internet infrastructure.
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| WAN
| Wide Area Network
| A data communications network that spans any distance and is usually provided by a public carrier. In contrast, a LAN typically has a diameter (the maximum distance between any two stations) limited to less than a few kilometers and is entirely owned by the user.
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| WAP
| Wireless Application Protocol
| The Wireless Application Protocol is an open, global specification that allows mobile users to use handheld wireless devices to instantly obtain and make use of real-time information.
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| Web Services
| | Self-contained, self-describing, modular application that can be published, located, and invoked across the Web. Web services perform functions, which can be anything from simple requests to complicated business processes. Once a Web service is deployed, other applications (and other Web services) can discover and invoke the deployed service
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| Webtop
| | Refers to a desktop environment that can run Java or Windows CE applications. This may be either a Java-enabled browser on an existing desktop platform, or a Java device desktop.
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| Wideband
| | A system in which multiple channels access a medium (usually coaxial cable) that has a large bandwidth, greater than that of a voice-grade channel; typically offers higher-speed data-transmission capability.
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| Windows CE
| | A streamlined version of Windows from Microsoft for handheld PCs (HPCs) and consumer electronics devices. It runs “Pocket” versions of popular applications such as Microsoft Word and Excel, as well as many applications that are geared specifically for the smaller platform. As of Version 3.0, Windows CE was changed substantially and renamed Pocket PC.
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| Windows DNA
| Distributed InterNet Architecture
| Microsoft's umbrella term for its enterprise network architecture built into Windows 2000. It includes all the following components, which collectively provide a Web-enabled infrastructure for an organization.
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| WWW
| World Wide Web
| The network of servers on the Internet, each of which has one or more home pages, which provide information and hypertext links to other documents on that and (usually) other servers. Servers communicate with clients by using the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP). WWW server addresses (Uniform Resource Locators or URLs) are typically of the form http://www.orgname.com where orgname.com is the DNS name of the organization running the server.
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| X.25
| | The standard interface for packet-switched data communications networks, as designated by the CCITT.
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| X.400
| | International standard for message transmission, used for e-mail and EDI data.
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| X.435
| | International standard within the X.400 family for EDI messaging. Offers improved ability for EDI and e-mail to travel together, a purchase order and an e-mail plea for meeting the schedule mentioned in the PO, as an example. The PO and e-mail plea are called “body parts.”
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| X.500
| | A CCITT directory services standard.
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| X.509
| | Public key encryption protocol. A certificate is the digital equivalent of an employee badge, passport, or driver's license.
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| XML
| eXtensible Markup Language
| A new Internet language that will make the World Wide Web smarter, an ISO-compliant subset of SGML, HTML is a markup language, consisting of text interspersed with a few basic formatting tags. XML is a meta-language, containing a set of rules for constructing other markup languages. With XML, people can make up their own tags, which expands the amount and kinds of information that can be provided about the data held in documents.
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| XSL
| eXtensible Stylesheet Language
| A style sheet format for XML documents. It is the XML counterpart to the Cascading Style Sheet (CSS) language in HTML, although XML supports CSS1 and CSS2 as well. XSLT (XSL Transformations) are extensions to XSL for converting XML documents into XML or other document types and may be used independently of XSL.
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