Category Archives: IT Glossary

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).