Quova - Location Matters

Glossary

A - G | H - M | N - R | S - Z

A collection of networks whose routing policies are managed by a single authority, such as a university or a corporation. There are almost 30,000 ASs worldwide. Anonymous systems are assigned an Autonomous System Number (ASN).

An exterior gateway routing protocol for an autonomous system (AS) to exchange routing information. A BGP describes the network topology (set up) through a set of tables describing how to connect to IP ranges.

A combination of a top-level domain (TLD) and a second-level domain (SLD). E.g., "bbc.co.uk" (".co.uk" is the TLD, and "bbc" is the SLD).

Domain Name System. A system by which symbolic domain and host names can be translated to and from actual IP addresses (e.g., "staging.quova.com" is equivalent to the IP address 64.41.241.140).

The search for, or lookup of, an IP address when the domain name or host name is unknown. This can be achieved via a command such as "nslookup": nslookup blackbird.csc.calpoly.edu will resolve to 129.65.128.1.

A DHCP server "owns" an IP address range. Rather than pre-assign "static" IP addresses to every device that could connect to it, a DHCP server temporarily assigns one of these IP addresses a device (e.g., computer, printer, router) when it joins the network. If your device stays connected to the Internet, it may keep the same IP address for a while, but the DHCP server can re-assign/change the IP address periodically.

Return to Top

An intermediate connection in a string of connections linking two devices. On the Internet, for example, most packets need to go through several routers before they reach their final destination. Each time the packet is forwarded to the next router, a hop occurs. The more hops, the longer it takes for data to go from source to destination. You can see how many hops it takes to get to another by using the PING or traceroute utilities on your PC.

A unique name by which a network-attached device is known and identified on a network.

The umbrella organization charged with delegating local registrations of IP addresses to Regional Internet Registries. IANA administers the data in the root name servers, which are at the top of the hierarchical DNS tree. The IANA works with the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) regarding registry-related parameters and protocols on the Internet.

• Local Internet Registries (LIR)
• National Internet Registries (NIR)
• Regional Internet Registries (RIR)

ICANN is a nonprofit organization assigned to coordinate the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA)'s functions. It manages generic top-level domains (gTLDs) and country code top-level domains (ccTLDs). In addition, ICANN helps preserve the operational stability of the Internet, promotes competition, and achieves broad representation of the global Internet community.

A routing protocol used to exchange routing information among routers within an autonomous system.

Supply Internet connectivity and services (hosting, email) to corporations and consumers.

The method or protocol by which data is sent from one computer to another on the Internet. Each computer (known as a host) that is connected to the Internet has at least one IP address that uniquely identifies it from all other computers. The most widely used version of IP today is Internet Protocol Version 4 (IPv4). However, IP Version 6 is also beginning to be supported. IPv6 provides for much longer addresses and therefore for the possibility of many more Internet users. IPv6 includes the capabilities of IPv4 and any server that can support IPv6 packets can also support IPv4 packets.

An identifier for a computer or device on a TCP/IP network. Networks using the TCP/IP protocol route messages based on the IP address of the destination. Numbers are divided into four octets. This is the public IP address you are using right now to access our site:

38.107.191.83

. Your public IP address is the address the Internet sees for your connection. This may be the public IP address of a router, firewall, proxy, or gateway through which you connect to the Internet. You also have a private IP address (e.g., 192.168.0.33 or 10.1.3.16) inside your local area network. However, your access to the Internet requires the use of a unique public IP address.

IP version 4 uses a 32-bit addresses. There are 4,294,967,296 possible IP addresses, and almost 2 billion currently active with large unassigned ranges remaining. IANA periodically assigns unallocated ranges to the registries.

IP version 6 uses 128-bit addresses. Within version 6,there are 340,282,366,920,938,463,374,607,431,768,211,456 possible IP addresses.

The Internet service provider (ISP) through which you connect to the Internet.

Return to Top

DNS Lookup and Reverse Lookup queries are completed by computers called Name Servers or DNS Servers.

Translates private IP addresses to and from the unique public (i.e., publicly routable) addresses required for Internet traffic.

Referred to as Global Backbone Providers, they operate large fiber optic cables and provide access to the Internet backbone and to smaller ISPs.

Private IP addresses have been designated specifically for internal or "local" networks, including everything from small home networks to large corporate networks. They are not routable on the Internet.

Any device used between two ends (end devices) of an Internet connection. For example, many corporations use proxy servers to route all internal connections out to the Internet. A remote Web site sees only the address for the proxy. If an anonymizing proxy is used, the user's identity and location are not visible to the remote site.

The Internet service provider (ISP) used by the remote sites you are communicating with as a user.

IP addresses have been set aside for future use and are not assigned. They are not routable on the Internet.

A process to determine the hostname or host associated with a given IP address or host address. Reverse DNS allows the lookup of a Domain Name or Host when the IP address is known.

A device or, in some cases, software in a computer, that determines the next network point to which a packet should be forwarded toward its destination. The router is connected to at least two networks and decides which way to send each information packet based on its current understanding of the state of the networks it is connected to. A router is located at any gateway (where one network meets another).

Each router has a routing table to determine to which router a packet should be directed.

Return to Top

An Internet connection involving at least one "hop" that is transmitted via a Satellite link. Such connections often serve remote areas. There can be a great distance between where the user connects to the Satellite link, and where the resulting Internet connection actually enters the public Internet.

The "second"-level domain immediately precedes the TLD in a domain name. It is typically the company, organization, or agency name for the given domain – e.g., "quova" as in "quova.com" (SLD.TLD), or "iana" as in "iana.org".

The ability to trace a packet from one computer to another Internet host. It displays the individual hops the packet requires to reach the destination and how long each hop took.

The "top"-level domain is the rightmost part of the domain name – e.g., ".com", ".net", ".nl"; a TLD can also include two segments, to denote type of domain, plus a country-level domain – e.g., ".co.uk", or "com.hk"

Ensures all packets arrive at their destination in the correct order.

The WHOIS service on the Internet associates a given domain name with a registrant (or registering organization). For example, "whois quova.com" would yield the registration information for Quova's domain name including contact information, the Internet name servers (DNS servers) ability to resolve this domain name (to one or more IP addresses), and the registration authority controlling the registration.

An access point (AP) created specifically to allow Internet connections from wireless/mobile devices. Such APs include "hot spots" at Internet cafes. While the local connection is wireless, the gateway ultimately connects to the Internet backbone, potentially several miles away.

Return to Top