All posts by Bedi

IT Glossary

Glossary

 

Access Point (AP): An access point is a base station or network access point in a WLAN (wireless network), enabling WLAN clients (computers, mobile devices) to access network resources connected to Temple’s network.

 

Authentication: The process of determining whether a set of credentials is valid (ie: logging in to a website).

 

Client: A client is a system (computer hardware) or program (software), which accesses a service made available by a server.

 

Computer Program: (a computer or other machine) with coded instructions for the automatic performance of a particular task.

 

Diamond/Millennium ILS: An ILS is an enterprise resource planning system used by libraries to track items in its collections, ordering, billing and patron borrowing.Millennium: is the name of the ILS software used by the Temple Libraries.Diamond: is the name of the server hosting the Millennium system as well as the address of the online catalog.

 

Disk Image: A replicated copy of a storage device that can be mirrored onto multiple devices making clones of the original storage media.

 

Domain Name System (DNS): A system that translates domain names (e.g.: example.com) into IP addresses.

 

Drupal: Drupal is free, open source software that can be used by individuals or groups of users. It includes a content management platform and a development framework.

 

Encryption: The process of converting data into a form (ciphertext), which cannot be easily read without a decryption “key”

 

Ethernet: A widely installed local area network technology that uses coaxial cables to transmit data within a network.

 

Host: The term “host” means any computer that has full two-way access to other computers on the Internet. A host has a specific “local or host number” that, together with the network number, forms its unique IP address.

 

HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol): A set of rules for transferring files on the World Wide Web.

 

HTTPS (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol over Secure Socket Layer): HTTPS (HTTP over SSL or HTTP Secure) is the use of Secure Socket Layer (SSL) or Transport Layer Security (TLS) as a sub layer under regular HTTP application layering

 

IP address: A unique string of numbers separated by periods, which identifies each computer using the Internet Protocol to communicate over a network.

 

Libproxy/EZproxy
EZproxy is software is a web proxy server used to enable access to library research databases from outside Temple’s network.Libproxy is the name of the server hosting the EZproxy system.

 

Local area network (LAN):  A computer network which
interconnects devices within a limited area such as a home, office, school, etc.

 

Open Data:  Open data is information or content made freely available to use and redistribute, subject only to the requirement to attribute it to the source.  The term also may be used more casually to describe any data that is shared outside the organization and beyond its original intended use, for example, with business partners, customers or industry associations.

 

Peer-to-peer (P2P) network: A network in which peers (equally privileged devices/nodes) communicate directly rather than through a centralized server.

 

PHP (Hypertext Preprocessor): PHP, originally derived from Personal Home Page Tools, now stands for PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor is widely used script language and interpreter that is freely available and used primarily on Linux Web servers

 

Ruby: Ruby is an open source, interpreted, object-oriented programming language created by Yukihiro Matsumoto, who chose the gemstone’s name to suggest “a jewel of a language.”

 

S:\ Drive:  University Computer Services provide secure networked file storage for departments so that they can access and share files in a central location. Since it is mean for “shared” files it appears as the S:\ drive on your staff computer .

 

Script: A script is a program or sequence of instructions that is interpreted or carried out by another program rather than by the computer processor (as a compiled program is)

 

Server: A server is a running instance of an application capable of accepting requests from a client and giving responses accordingly.

 

Single sign on (SSO): A method of access control through which a user can access multiple related but independent software systems with a single set of credentials.

 

Virtual machine: An operating system installed on software, which mimics dedicated hardware, allowing an OS to be run without a full installation or reboot.

 

Voice over IP (VoIP): A group of technologies, which allow the delivery of voice communications and multimedia sessions over Internet Protocol networks.

 

Web development: Web development is a broad term for the work involved in developing a web site for the Internet (World Wide Web) or an intranet (a private network).

 

Tech Tip: Reboot Your Computer, It Will Thank You For It.

Do you ever wonder why technical support people always seems to recommend you to try rebooting your computer whenever you report a problem?  Do you think it’s because they don’t know how to fix the problem?  Do you think they are just trying to be annoying?

 It could be a mixture of both, but seriously the real reason a technician will always ask you to try rebooting your computer is because they know that a lot more occurs during a system restart than many people are aware of.  When you reboot a computer it does not simply power itself off and then back on again, though it seems that way.

 When a computer is restarted the operating system performs a series of diagnostic checks and fixes any problems it detects automatically.  If a program was eating up your memory or temporary hard drive space those resources will be freed up following a reboot.  Computers, even those just out of the box have lots of software installed on them, some you will never see or interact with.  The longer software runs the more likely it will begin to misbehave.  Rebooting a computer restores the hardware and software to a refreshed state.TU

 Also, rebooting helps in troubleshooting.  If you reboot and the problem goes away then we know that the computer was just ready for a reboot.  If you reboot and the same problem repeats itself the list of possibilities are narrowed and further troubleshooting can focus on resolving the problem rather than identifying the problem.

 Here are additional tips:

 You do not have to wait until you have a problem to reboot!  Be proactive and reboot nightly or weekly.   Wouldn’t you rather reboot on your terms than be forced to reboot when you are in the middle of typing a paper?

This is not a Windows thing!  Macs and Linux computers will also suffer from resource overload if they are not rebooted regularly.

More info :
Microsoft: Turning Off your computer properly
OS X Mavericks: Schedule a shutdown

Amazon Same-day shipping

One of my students came in to my office today and announced that Amazon now ships items the same day. I did not believe it at first but after some research, I found it to be true and fantastic news! Amazon does ship items the same-day to certain cities, including Philadelphia, for one flat rate.  Amazon Prime members will pay a lower rate then non-Prime members.  (This should be an incentive to sign up for Amazon Prime.)  Disclaimer: This is just the writer’s opinion.

Amazon announced today that it will ship items the same day by 9pm if ordered by noon. For more details about which cities are eligible, click here: Amazon East Coast & Mid West Delivery.

For a full press release, please click here: Amazon Media Rooms

Happy shopping!