IT Glossary

IT Glossary

• Access point: Device that allows wireless devices to communicate with other devices connected in a wired network.
• Application: Program designed for a specific purpose. For example, word processing.
• ASCII file: A file thar can be opened and read by standard text editor programs. Also, they are called "plain text files".
• Attachment: A file that is sent along with an e-mail message.
  
• Binary file: A file that cannot be read by standard text editors.
• Bluetooth: Wireless networking technology that allows the communication between two devices using radio waves.
• Browser: A program used to access World Wide Web pages.
• Byte: A group of eight binary digits. A computer processes them as a unit.
  
• Captcha: A challenge-response test in the form of an image of distorted text. The user must enter that to determine whether the user is human or a bot.
• CD-ROM: Compact Disk, Read Only Memory; a high-capacity secondary storage medium which its data is written using a laser ray.
• CPU: Central processing unit, the part that makes all operations and calculations.
  
• DNS: Domain Name System, a service for accessing a networked computer by name rather than by IP address.
• DVD: Digital Video Disk; a type of compact disk that holds more information than CD-ROMs. Can hold a minimum of 4.7GB of data. MPEG-2 is the codec used to compress video data for storage in DVDs.
  
• E-mail: The exchange of messages between users who have access to either the same system or who are connected via a network.
• Extension: A suffiex preceded by a period at the end of a filename; used to describe the file type.
  
• Hard disk: A storage device that holds large amounts of data, usually in the range of hundreds of Gigabytes. There are internal disks for the normal function of the computer and external disk, which are used as a supplemental disk space.
• Hardware: The physical components of a computer including the keyboard, monitor, disk drive, and internal chips and wiring. It's the counterpart of software.
  
• Internet: A worldwire network based on the TCP/IP protocol that can connect almost any make or model of popular computers from micros to supercomputers. Special programs called "clients" enable users with a network connection to do things like process e-mail or browse web sites.
• IP address: Internet Protocol address; every computer connected to the Internet has a unique identifying number.
  
• LAN: Local area network; a network that extends over a small area connecting a group of computers for the purpose of sharing resources.
  
• RAM: Random Access Memory; the amount of memory available for use by programs on a computer. Also referred to as "main memory".