| Analogue |
The
original technology still used for local telephone telecommunications
transmission. Analog signals are direct reproductions of sound
waves. Voice conversations, computer data, and video can be
sent via analog technology. Digital technology can be more
reliable, particularly at high bandwidths (speeds). As the
world adopts digital as the new standard, some modem digital
phone equipment will not work with analog lines. |
| Back
Up |
The
process of creating a copy of the computer data on an external
storage medium, such as a floppy disk tape or external hard
drive. If the external storage medium is remotely located,
some form of data communications channel must be established
between sites. |
| Backbone |
The
part of the communications network intended to carry the bulk
of communications traffic. Provides connectivity between sub
networks in an enterprise-wide network. |
| Backbone
Router |
Router
designed to be used to construct backbone networks using leased
lines. Typically do not have any built in digital dial up
WAN. |
| Bandwidth |
Capacity
or volume inherent in every telecommunications line. For example,
the standard business data line has a bandwidth capacity of
64 KBPS (kilobits per second), which is more than enough for
clear voice conversations. Higher bandwidths are needed for
the transfer of more complicated information such as large
amounts of computer data or video. Sometimes companies with
high bandwidth demands need dedicated private lines to ensure
the whole bandwidth capacity is available to them at all times. |
| Bandwidth |
The
range of electrical frequencies that a device can handle.
The amount of bandwidth a channel is capable of carrying is
equivalent to how much capacity is possible. |
| Consumables |
Items
that need replacing at intervals such as inkjet cartridges,
laser printer toner, etc. |
| CRT |
Cathode
Ray Tube. A type of computer monitor or screen. A CRT is sealed
glass bottle with no air inside. It begins with a slim neck
and tapers outward until it forms a large base. The base is
the monitor's "screen" and is coated on the inside
with a matrix of thousands of tiny phosphor dots which emit
light when excited by a stream of electrons: different phosphors
emit different coloured light. Each dot consists of three
blobs of coloured phosphor: red, green and blue These groups
of three phosphors make up what is known as a single pixel.
In the "bottle neck" of the CRT is the electron
gun, which is composed of cathode heat source and focusing
elements. Colour monitors have three separate electron guns,
one for each phosphor colour. Images are created when electrons,
fired from the electron gun converge to strike their respective
phosphor blobs. |
| Desktops |
Shorthand
for Desktop Personal Computer. In other words, a personal
computer not intended to me mobile. |
| Dial-Up
Access |
A
data connection made between two computers through a standard
telephone line using a modem. Dial up access is used by travelling
employees to connect to the company's network or to other
services such as the Internet from a remote locations. Dial
connections are limited by the speed of the modem and the
capacity and quality of the public switched telephone network
- often a copper telephone line. |
| Digital |
A
way of sending voice, video, or data that reconstructs the
signals using binary codes. Digital transmission offers faster
speeds, better accuracy, and more flexibility than analog
transmission. |
Domain
Name System
(DNS) |
Like
a directory service system for the Internet. Automatically
looks up the IP address for a website based on the website
name you type in to the browser. |
Dynamic
Host Configuration Protocol
(DHCP) |
A
protocol that provides a means to dynamically allocate IP
addresses to computers on a local area network (LAN). The
system administrator assigns a range of IP addresses to DHCP
and each client computer on the LAN has its TCP/IP software
configured to request an IP address from the DHCP server. |
| Ethernet |
A
local area network that connects devices like computers, printers,
terminals. Ethernet operates over twisted-pair or coaxial
cable at speeds at 10Mbps. |
| Fibre
Optics |
A
means of transmitting digital information over a glass strand
or "fibre". Laser light pulses are sent over glass
strands in the form of digital signals (O's and 1's). Each
fibre optic strand has a far greater capacity, or bandwidth,
to carry information, than copper wire. |
| Firewall |
A
software program or hardware device that prevents unauthorised
access to computers or computer files. Firewalls are sometimes
specific machines containing security software and devices;
these machines provide connection to networks from dial-in
lines. These special machines protect the computers on a network
"behind" the firewall. Computers behind the firewall
can connect to an outside network but the firewall protects
these computers from unauthorized access from the outside
network. |
| FTP |
Foil
Twisted Pair |
| Inkjet
Printer |
A
class of printer in which small ink droplets are sprayed electrostatically
from a nozzle onto the paper. |
| Interactive
Whiteboard |
An
interactive whiteboard connects to a computer with a USB optional
serial cable and draws the power it needs from the computer.
The driver automatically starts when the computer is turned
on, and the interactive whiteboard becomes active once the
driver is running.
When you connect a digital projector to the computer, you
can project the computer image onto the interactive whiteboard.
The interactive whiteboard converts contact with the board’s
surface into mouse clicks or electronic ink. This enables
you to use your finger as a mouse or write over top of applications.
|
| ISDN |
Integrated
Services Digital Network is a dial up that digitally enhances
regular telephone lines. This provides users with faster data
connections through a single channel to the user premises.
ISDN is an international standard to end to end digital transmission
of voice, data, and signalling. |
| LAN |
Local
Area Network. A network that interconnects devices over a
geographically small area, typically in one building or a
part of a building. The most popular LAN type is Ethernet,
a 10Mbps standard that works with 10baseT, 10base2, or 10base5
cables. |
| Laser
Printer |
A
non-impact high-resolution printer which uses a rotating disk
to reflect laser beams to form an electrostatic image on an
imaging drum. The developer drum transfers toner from the
toner bin to the charged areas of the imaging drum, which
then transfers it onto the paper into which it is fused by
heat. Toner is dry ink powder, usually a plastic heat-sensitive
polymer. |
| Mother
Board |
The
main printed circuit board in an electronic device, particularly
a computer, which may contain sockets that accept additional
boards ("daughter-boards"). |
| Multi-Function
Device |
Usually
a printer that also serves as a scanner and photocopier. |
| Networking |
The
hardware and software required to link computers and other
devices to form an integrated data communication system. |
| Notebooks |
A
portable personal computer that’s bigger than a palmtop
and smaller than a laptop. |
| Peripherals |
Any
part of a computer other than the central processing unit
(CPU) or working memory – e.g. disks, keyboards, monitors,
mouse, printers, scanners, tape drives, microphones, speakers,
webcams, etc. |
| Personal
Computer |
A
general-purpose single-user microcomputer designed to be operated
by one person at a time. |
| Plasma
Screens |
Plasma
technology is very different from that used in other display
systems in that red, green and blue lights are created in
every pixel, reducing the need for space. Charged electrodes
sandwiched between two glass panels react with tiny pockets
of inert gas that change to a state of plasma. This process
results in the production of UV light, which in turn reacts
with red, green and blue phosphor in each pixel to emit visible
light. Unlike traditional displays, where the image is scanned
across the screen, plasma technology uses pixels that are
all "lit" at once. Therefore, having no electron
beam, back lighting or light polarization, the image is inherently
sharper, brighter and perfect from edge to edge. Unlike traditional
monitors or projection displays, plasma has extraordinarily
slim dimensions relative to its screen size. Which means,
screens can be installed almost anywhere. |
| Plotter |
A
printing device that uses one or more pens that can be raised
lowered and moved over the printing media to draw graphics
or text. |
| Remote
LAN Access |
The
process of allowing branch offices, telecommuters, and travelling
computer users to access the corporate LAN backbone over dedicated
or dialled, digital or analog lines. |
| Router |
An
interconnection device that can connect individual LAN's.
Unlike bridges, which logically connect at OSI layer 2, routers
provide logical paths at OSI layer 3. Like bridges, remote
sites can be connected using routers over dedicated or switched
lines to create WAN's |
| Servers |
A
program that provides some service to other programs. The
connection between client and server is normally by means
of message passing, often over a network, and uses some protocol
to encode the client's requests and the server's responses.
There are many servers associated with the Internet, such
as those for HTTP, Network File System, Network Information
Service (NIS), Domain Name System (DNS), FTP.
2. A computer which provides some service for other computers
connected to it via a network. The most common example is
a file server which has a local disk and services requests
from remote clients to read and write files on that disk.
Another common example is a web server. |
| SNMP |
Simple
Network Management Protocol. A protocol governing network
management and monitoring of network devices and their functions.
Originally developed in TCP/IP environment |
| STP |
Shielded
twisted pair |
| TCP/
IP |
Transmission
Control Protocol. A set of protocols that link dissimilar
computers across networks. TCP/IP is popular because you can
connect computers and networking equipment to a variety of
other systems and protocols. |
| TFT/
LCD |
A
display screen made with TFT (thin-film transistor) technology
is a liquid crystal display (LCD), common in notebook and
laptop computers, that has a transistor for each pixel (that
is, for each of the tiny elements that control the illumination
of your display). Having a transistor at each pixel means
that the current that triggers pixel illumination can be smaller
and therefore can be switched on and off more quickly. TFT
is also known as active matrix display technology (and contrasts
with "passive matrix" which does not have a transistor
at each pixel). A TFT or active matrix display is more responsive
to change. For example, when you move your mouse across the
screen, a TFT display is fast enough to reflect the movement
of the mouse cursor. (With a passive matrix display, the cursor
temporarily disappears until the display can "catch up.") |
Uninterruptible
Power Supply
(UPS) |
A
battery powered power supply that is guaranteed to provide
power to a computer in the event of interruptions in the incoming
electrical power. Different rating UPSs will provide power
for different lengths of time. Modern UPSs connect to the
computer's serial port and provide information such as battery
time remaining, allowing the computer to shut down “gracefully”
before complete loss of power. |
| UTP |
Unshielded
twisted pair |
Virtual
Private Network
(VPN) |
The
use of encryption in the lower protocol layers to provide
a secure connection through an otherwise insecure network
such as the Internet. VPNs are generally cheaper than real
private networks using private lines but rely on having the
same encryption system at both ends. The encryption may be
performed by firewall software or by routers. |
| Wide
Area Network |
A
data network typically extending a LAN outside a building
or beyond a campus, over IXC or LEC lines to link to other
LAN's at remote sites. Typically created by using bridges
or routers to connect geographically separated LAN's. |
Windows
Internet Naming Service
(WINS) |
Software
which resolves NetBIOS (a set of network commands that the
application program issues in order to transmit and receive
data to another host on the network) names to IP addresses. |
| Wireless
Networking |
A
term describing a computer network where there is no physical
connection (either copper cable or fibre optics) between sender
and receiver, but instead they are connected by radio. |
