Define the Key Terms Essay

Application: Generally, a function on any kind of computer or electronic device that is useful to the user, which can give the user a reason to want to own and use the device. More specifically, software that performs some useful function for a user. Computer network: A combination of many components that work together so that many different devices can communicate. Computer networking: The gerund form of the term computer network. Email: Electronic mail. An application in which the user can type text and attach other files to create the electronic equivalent of a postal letter, and send the email to another person using his or her email address. Enterprise network: A network owned and operated by a company, with that company being somewhat larger than typical, generally (but not exactly) with more than 1000 employees. HTTP: Hypertext Transfer Protocol, The protocol  used by web browsers and web servers to define the format of URLs (web addresses) and the messages used to exchange web objects. Internet/the Internet: The global network formed by interconnecting most of the networks on the planet, with each home and company network connecting to an Internet service provider (ISP), which in turn connects to other ISPs. Link: A generic term for any network cable or wireless communications path between two devices over which bits can be transmitted. Node: A generic term for any networking device that sits on the end of links, for the purpose of both connecting links to create physical paths and to make decisions about how to forward data through the network. Protocol: A set of rules that different devices and/or software must follow so that the network works correctly. Video frame: A grid of pixel locations of a chosen width by height that contains the lights/colors to be shown in a video at a single point in time. Voice call: A more modern term for a telephone call that does not use the word telephone, instead emphasizing the fact that the traffic that flows between the endpoints is voice. Web address: Text that identifies details about one object in a network so that a client can request that object from a server. An informal term for URL. Web browser: Literally, software controlled directly by a user that requests web pages from a web server, and after receiving a page, displays the web page in a window. More generally, this term refers to both the software and the hardware on which it executes. Web page: In a web browser, all the text, images, video, and sound that fill the window of the browser when the user opens a link to some web address. Web server: Literally, software that stores web pages and web objects, listens for requests for those pages, and sends the contents of those pages/objects to clients. More generally, this term refers to both the software and the hardware on which it executes.