This glossary of home and small-business IT terms is written in a way to help you understand these terms that will crop up in the blog whether through editorial or advertisement.
3G: May also be marketed as NextG by some operators. One of many wireless-broadhand transmission technologies (HSDPA or HSUPA) that uses GSM-based cellular mobile-telephone technology to transmit data to the customers.
4G: One of many wireless-broadband transmission (LTE or WiMAX) technologies that can move data over a cellular mobile-telephone system at a rate faster than the 3G technologies.
ADSL: A standard high-speed method of transporting data down a regular telephone line between the exchange and the customer that permits the telephone line to be used for regular voice-grade traffic. while the data is being transferred It is considered the most common way of providing broadband Internet to the residential and small-business user.
Backbone: A common path used for transferring data between network infrastructure devices or network client devices.
BIOS: The software that runs in a computer just after it is switched on in order to initialise the computer before loading the main operating system. It can also be used to describe firmware that is part of a dedicated computing device.
Broadband: A term used to describe any always-on Internet service that can transfer data at a rate of at least 512kbps.
Cable modem: A wired-broadband modem that provides broadband Internet service using cable-TV infrastructure. This term is also used to describe wired-broadhand Internet service provided through cable-TV infrastructure.
DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance): See UPnP AV – A super-standard for networked AV devices that includes compatibility with UPnP AV network devices.
Extended Service Set: A Wi-Fi wireless network segment that is identified by a particular SSID and WEP / WPA security-parameter set. The segment can be served by one or more access points as long as they have the same wired backbone or WDS distribution infrastructure.
Firewall: A hardware device or software program that works as a data gatekeeper to protect a computer or network against unauthorised and malicious data traffic.
Firmware: Any software that is installed in a dedicated-function computing device to enable it to perform its duty. Can similarly be used to describe the BIOS software that runs in a computer to initialsie the computer before loading the main operating system.
Fixed-Wireless Broadband: A term for any broadband service that uses radio waves to transmit data from a base station to a customer’s premises using equipment that isn’t designed to be relocatable by the customer; including a fixed outdoor antenna (aerial).
FTTB (Fibre To The Building): A fibre-optic next-generation broadband setup that has the fibre-optic cable run to a multiple-tenant building like a shopping centre or apartment block and has copper-based cabling to distribute Internet service to the customers within that building.
FTTC (Fibre To The Curb / Fibre To The Cabinet): A fibre-optic next-generation broadband setup that has fibre-optic cable run to a street-side cabinet that covers a neighbourhood. The customers are connected to this cabinet using copper-based wiring methods like Ethernet or VDSL2.
FTTH (Fibre To The Home) / FTTP (Fibre To The Premises): A fibre-optic next-generation broadband setup that has fibre-optic cable to the customer’s premises.
HomePlug: A technology that is considered as the standard for using a building’s AC wiring as a data network without displacing the infrastructure’s role as AC power-supply wiring. The high-throughput version of this standard that can move 200Mbps of data is known as HomePlug AV. Also a generic term used primarily in the United Kingdom for a HomePlug-Ethernet bridge that plugs in to the wall.
IGD: Short for Internet Gateway Device: A device, commonly a broadband router, that connects between the local network and the Internet, providing Internet access to all equipment connected to the local network.
IMAP4: An open-standard Internet email protocol that allows the email to be managed from multiple client computers by requiring the email to exist on the mail server
IPTV (Internet Protocol Television): Regular broadcast television service delivered through the Internet
MoCA (Multimedia over Coaxial): A technology that is considered as the standard for using the TV antenna (aerial) or cable-TV cabling infrastructure in a premises as a local-area data network without displacing the infrastructure’s role as a TV-signal carrier.
Modem: Short for Modulator / Demodulator. A device that either connects to a computer or similar device to provide communications services for that device over a common carrier like the telephone service. Also a device that connects between a physical interface for a broadband Internet service and a router that works as an Internet Gateway Device.
Modem Router: An Internet-gateway-device router which has an integrated modem, typically an ADSL modem, for connection to the physical interface of a broadhand Internet service.
NAS (Network-Attached Storage): Typically describes a purpose-built dedicated data-storage device with hard disks that is connected to a network. It is different from a regular computer that is pressed in to service as a file server.
Next-Generation Broadband: A term used to describe a broadband Internet service that is capable of providing a bandwidth of at least 10 Mbps to the customer’s door.
ONT (Optical Network Terminal): A modem used to connect a fibre-optic network to a copper-based network.
Over-the-top TV: A US term used to describe broadcast or on-demand TV content that is provided independently of the major over-the-air, cable or satellite TV services. It typically describes the TV content that is streamed or downloaded via the Internet.
Peripheral: Any device that is primarily connected to a particular computer system in order to provide services to that computer system.
POP3: A commonly-used incoming email protocol that works alongside with the SMTP email protocol for sending email. This protocol implies that the user transfers the email from the server to the client computer.
Primary Storage: Typically RAM (Random Access Memory), this is volatile storage in a computer for programs to store the data they are working with at the current time.
QoS (Quality Of Service): The ability of network technology to manage data-transfer in such a way to give priority to time-sensitive data streams like VoIP telephony or Internet-based broadcasting.
Router: A device that transfers data between two or more logical networks. The most common application is the device that provides Internet access obtained from a modem to all devices that are on a small network.
Secondary Storage: A non-volatile storage subsystem in a computer that stores the operating system, applications and user data in a manner available to the computer and its user through its service life. This typically would describe the hard disk, solid-state devices, optical drives, memory cards and USB memory keys.
Smartphone: A term used to describe a cellular mobile phone that is capable of being connected to the Internet and working with programs that a user deploys themselves.
SSD (Solid-State Storage Device): A secondary-data-storage device that relies on flash memory rather than a mechanical means like spinning disks to store the data. This term is used mainly for such devices that are intended to replace the role of a hard disk as a computer’s main secondary storage device.
SSID (Service Set Identifier): Also known as an ESSID, the identifyoing name used for a Wi-Fi wireless network segment.
Tether: To connect a device that normally can function alone to a computer using USB, Bluetooth or another peripheral-connection method to provide extra functionality to either the device or the computer. Typically used to describe the practice of connecting a smartphone or 3G mobile phone to a computer for use as a wireless-broadhand modem or connecting a digital camera or MP3 player to a computer to transfer files to or from the device.
UPnP (Universal Plug And Play): Set of standard protocols and standardised device classes which allows network devices to discover and control each other across a small computer network.
UPnP AV (Universal Plug And Play Audiovisual): Set of standard protocols and device classes which allow a client device to find audio, photo or video content made available on a server device located on a small computer network. This standard also allows one audiovisual device to control another audiovisual device thus having it play or show media held on a particular server device, all through the same small network.
USB: Short for Universal Serial Bus. This is a simple wired-connector type that is used to connect different peripheral devices to one host computer device and uses this same connection for transferring the data between the peripherals and the host computer as well as providing the necessary power for some peripherals.
VDSL: A newer data-transmission standard that is based on ADSL technology and uses phone lines to transmit data to the customer’s premises. The only difference to ADSL is that it is designed for a short run between the exchange, communications cabinet or wiring closet and the customer’s premises and has a bandwidth that is larger than ADSL technology. It is primarily used for copper runs in fibre-optic-based “next-generation broadband” setups other than “fibre-to-the-premises” setups.
VoIP (Voice Over IP): The transmission of voice-based telephone calls over an IP-based network like the Internet. This can encompass video telephony applications where a video image is sent synchronously with the VoIP voice data.
Wi-Fi, WiFi: A term used to describe any wireless data network that works to any of the following IEEE wireless-data-network standards: 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g or 802.11n.
Wi-Fi hotspot: Also a wireless hotspot: A Wi-Fi wireless network that is primarily set up by an establishment to provide Internet access to the public.
Wireless Broadband: Also known as Wireless WAN, WWAN or mobile broadband, A broadband service that uses radio waves from terrestrial transmitters to transmit data to the customer’s equipment. Most such services are designed so that the customer’s equipment has integrated antennas (aerials) and can be easily relocated by the customer or used “on the move” by the customer.
WMM: A standard that manages quality-of-service for data on Wi-Fi wireless local area networks.
WMM Power Save: An auxiliary standard for signalling client-device power-status information across a Wi-Fi wireless local area network in order to allow battery-operated client devices to work in a power-efficient manner/
WPA: A highly-secure data-protection standard for Wi-Fi wireless networks. WPA2 describes the variant of this technology that uses an improved AES encryption method.
WPA-Enterprise: A variation of the WPA Wi-Fi network security standard where the access points authenticate the client devices based on factors unique to the client device or its users. Typically, this is implemented in larger organisations who usually have an in-house IT team and who want greater user control.
WPA-PSK: Also called WPA-Personal: A variation of the WPA data-protection standard which is based around the fact that all the access points and wireless client devices use a single common passphrase for authentication.
WPS: A newly-established method of providing simple yet secure client-device configuration for home and small-business Wi-Fi wireless networks. This can be achieved through the user entering a PIN number in a device’s user interface or the user pressing a “setup” button on the access point and the client device.
Print This Page
Loading ...