Appendix A: Glossary

CD-RW: (Compact Disc, ReWritable) A CD-ROM drive that can write CDs, also referred to as a CD-ROM writer.

CIT: Name of the Windows 2000 Domain. There is some confusion as to what CIT stands for; the most adopted convention is Coordinated Information Technology.

Ctrl-Alt-Del: Shorthand for holding down the Control and Alt keys while pressing the Delete key.

DFS: A Distributed File System is an enhancement that allows files scattered across multiple servers to be treated as a single group.

DHCP: Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol is used to dynamically assign Internet Protocol (IP) addresses to client systems.

Domain: A collection of computers that share a common database and security policy/network perimeter.

Domain Controller: A server computer that maintains the Domain infrastructure.

DOS: A Disk Operating System is a single-user operating system from Microsoft for the PC or a generic term for an operating system.

DNS: A Domain Name System is a name resolution software that lets users locate computers on a UNIX network or the Internet (TCP/IP network) by domain name. The DNS server maintains a database of domain names (host names) and their corresponding IP addresses.

FTP: File Transfer Protocol is used to transfer files from one networked system to another.

GUI: (Graphical User Interface) A graphics-based user interface that incorporates icons, pull-down menus
and a mouse.

IP: The Internet Protocol on which the NCAR network is based.

IP Address: A network address that is assigned to computers on the network.

IMAP: Internet Messaging Access Protocol is more sophisticated than the Post Office Protocol. Messages can be archived in folders, mailboxes can be shared, and a user can access multiple mail servers. E-mail programs like Eudora and Netscape Messenger use it to download e-mail from a server.

ISDN: An Integrated Services Digital Network is an international telecommunications standard for providing a digital service from the employee's premises to the dial-up telephone network.

ISP: Internet Service Provider is a dial-in service that allows a computer to connect to the internet.

NTFS: A file system (NT File System) used in Windows. The NTFS is designed to recover on the fly from hard disk crashes.

PDF: Portable Document Format files read and created by Adobe Acrobat. Adobe Acrobat Reader is freely available on the web.

POP: The Post Office Protocol which e-mail programs like Eudora and Netscape Messenger use to download e-mail from a server.

RAS: Remote Access Server, a dial-in service.

SMTP: Simple Mail Transfer Protocol is a protocol that defines the message format and the message transfer agent (MTA), which stores and forwards mail.

SSH: Secure Shell is a set of commands that allows users to make secure connections to other systems

VPN: Virtual Private Network is used for a system outside the security perimeter to tunnel into the network.