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eight wires, whereas telephone connectors have only four.
Server
A computer that provides its resources to other computers and devices on a
network. These include print servers, Internet servers and data servers. A server
can also be combined with a hub or router.
Site survey
The process whereby a wireless network installer inspects a location prior to
putting in a wireless network. Site surveys are used to identify the radio- and
client-use properties of a facility so that access points can be optimally placed.
SSL
Commonly used encryption scheme used by many online retail and banking sites
to protect the financial integrity of transactions. When an SSL session begins, the
server sends its public key to the browser. The browser then sends a randomly
generated secret key back to the server in order to have a secret key exchange for
that session.
Subnetwork or
Subnet
Found in larger networks, these smaller networks are used to simplify addressing
between numerous computers. Subnets connect to the central network through a
router, hub or gateway. Each individual wireless LAN will probably use the same
subnet for all the local computers it talks to.
Switch
A type of hub that efficiently controls the way multiple devices use the same
network so that each can operate at optimal performance. A switch acts as a
networks traffic cop: rather than transmitting all the packets it receives to all
ports as a hub does, a switch transmits packets to only the receiving port.
TCP
A protocol used along with the Internet Protocol (IP) to send data in the form of
individual units (called packets) between computers over the Internet. While IP
takes care of handling the actual delivery of the data, TCP takes care of keeping
track of the packets that a message is divided into for efficient routing through
the Internet. For example, when a web page is downloaded from a web server,
the TCP program layer in that server divides the file into packets, numbers the
packets, and then forwards them individually to the IP program layer. Although
each packet has the same destination IP address, it may get routed differently
through the network. At the other end, TCP reassembles the individual packets
and waits until they have all arrived to forward them as a single file.
TCP/IP
The underlying technology behind the Internet and communications between
computers in a network. The first part, TCP, is the transport part, which matches
the size of the messages on either end and guarantees that the correct message
has been received. The IP part is the user's computer address on a network. Every
computer in a TCP/IP network has its own IP address that is either dynamically
assigned at startup or permanently assigned. All TCP/IP messages contain the
address of the destination network as well as the address of the destination
station. This enables TCP/IP messages to be transmitted to multiple networks
(subnets) within an organization or worldwide.
VoIP
Voice transmission using Internet Protocol to create digital packets distributed
over the Internet. VoIP can be less expensive than voice transmission using
standard analog packets over POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service).
