Glossary of terms (General)
Acquiring bank:
An acquiring
bank provides merchants with Internet Merchant Accounts.
Active Server Page (ASP):
An HTML page that contains embedded scripts. ASPs are especially useful for
storing and retrieving information in an online database.
Administrative FTP
: A
type of FTP access that allows someone with your administrator username and
password to have complete access to your Web server’s files through an FTP
client.
Administrator
: The
individual responsible for administering and maintaining your Server.
Aliasing
(redirecting): The redirecting of email from
one address to another address or multiple addresses. Aliases are typically
used in place of actual addresses that are long or subject to change.
Aliases also allow you to create a larger, more professional company image.
Anonymous FTP
: A
type of FTP access that allows a person to connect to your Web server with
an FTP client and retrieve files from the usr/home/username/ftp/pub
directory of your Web server without the need for a username and password.
Optionally, anonymous FTP can be configured to allow users to send files to
your Web server on a directory-by-directory basis.
Auto-Responder
:
An automated program on your server that can be configured to return a
prewritten response to all mail sent to a particular email alias.
Autoreply
Message: A pre-written email response
triggered by an Auto-Responder.
BCD
Bounced
Message: A returned, undeliverable email
message.
Certification
Authority: A “trusted third-party”
organization which is used to confirm the relationship between a party to
the https transaction and that party’s public key.
Digital
Certificate or Digital
ID: Used to present credentials online, Digital Certificates are issued
by companies that act as “trusted third parties.” A Digital Certificate
is digitally “signed” by a certification authority so that none of the
details can be changed without invalidating the signature.
Directory: A
directory can contain a collection of files, other directories, or both.
Domain name
:
A name that resolves or points to an IP address. Domain names are used to
more easily identify a computer on the Internet.
Download
:
To retrieve a file from an online service such as your NT server.
Email
(Electronic
Mail
):
An Internet service that allows you to send and receive messages from one
computer to another.
Email Account
:
Allows a user to receive and store email messages. These messages then
can be retrieved, read, forwarded, replied to and deleted through an email client program or
WEBMAIL
Email Address
:
A unique address that allows email messages to be sent to or retrieved from
an email account. Email addresses consist of a username, an @ symbol, and a
domain name.
Email Client
:
A program that can retrieve email from an email account, allowing a user to
read, forward, delete, and reply to email messages.
Encryption:
The process of scrambling a message for secure transaction.
FTP
(File
Transfer Protocol
): A
resource for transferring files between a server and a client across an
Internet connection.
FTP Client
: A
program that uses FTP to connect to a server and transfer files to and from
the server.
HTML (HyperText
Markup Language
):
a language that is used to create documents for the World Wide Web. HTML documents are also called Web pages
, and are easily formatted by a Web browser for quick
display.
http (HyperText
Transfer Protocol): The protocol that makes it
possible for Web browsers and Web servers to communicate with one other,
HTTP is used between a Web browser and a server to request a document and
transfer its contents. The specification is maintained and developed by the
World Wide Web Consortium.
https:
https is ordinary http exchanged over an SSL-encrypted session.
IMAP (Internet
Message Access Protocol
):
A mail protocol that allows an email client to retrieve copies of email
messages, yet still store them on your server until you delete them. By
default, IMAP clients download only the header information of new messages
and then download copies of the messages themselves upon request.
Internet
Merchant Account (IMA): An Internet Merchant
Account enables a merchant to accept credit cards over the Internet. IMAs
can be obtained through an acquiring bank.
IP Address
:
A numerical address that identifies a computer on the Internet. It takes the
form of four numbers, up to three digits each, separated by periods.
Logging In
: The
process of identifying yourself through a username and password.
Merchant: A
merchant is any person or business that accepts credit cards over the
Internet.
ODBC Driver:
An ODBC driver acts as a “translator” between an application and a
database.
Open Database
Connectivity (ODBC): A protocol developed by
Microsoft that allows applications to interact seamlessly with databases.
Parent
Directory: A directory that contains other
directories.
Password
: A
security measure to prevent other people from accessing your account
without your permission. Only someone who knows the correct username and
password can administer your account.
POP (Post
Office Protocol
):
A mail protocol that allows an email client to retrieve email messages from
your mail server. Mail is held until the account is accessed, at which time
the mail is transferred to the user’s computer and deleted from the mail
server.
Private Key:
The part of a key pair that is kept secret and is used only by its owner.
This is the key used for decrypting messages and for making digital
signatures.
Protocol: A
protocol is an algorithm, or step by step procedure, carried out by more
than one party. Examples are network protocols, in which the steps are
intended to ensure reliable transmission of information, or cryptographic
protocols, in which the aim is to maintain some form of security
relationship between the parties.
Public Key:
The part of a key pair that is widely distributed, and is not kept secure.
This is the key used for encryption (as opposed to decryption) or for
verifying signatures.
Redirecting:
See Aliasing.
Shopping cart: A
shopping cart is an online catalog that allows a shopper to add items to a
virtual basket, or cart. A running total is kept as the shopper adds and
removes items from the cart.
SMTP
(Simple
Mail Transfer Protocol
):
A method for sending mail from an email
client through your mail server to a recipient, or from your mail
server to another destination on the Internet.
Spam: Unsolicited
commercial email, usually sent indiscriminately in large amounts, to
discussion groups or subscriber bases. The Novates Solutions Service
Agreement strictly prohibits “Spamming,” the process of sending
unsolicited email.
Spam Relay: The
practice of sending large amounts of unsolicited email through someone
else’s outbound mail server
SSL (Secure
Socket Layer): A protocol developed by
Netscape for transmitting data via the Internet, in order to protect the
data from being intercepted by someone other than the intended viewer. SSL
works by using a private key to encrypt data that’s transferred over the
SSL connection. Both Netscape Navigator and Internet Explorer support SSL.
It is often used to securely transfer credit card numbers and other
sensitive information. By convention, Web pages that require an SSL
connection start with https rather
than http.
Subdirectory:
A directory within another directory.
Telnet
: A
service that allows you to access your Server from a remote computer
and issue text commands. It is similar to a DOS environment, but the text
commands given are unique to the UNIX environment.
UNIX
: An
operating system specifically designed to facilitate multiple users and
networking.
URL
(Uniform
Resource Locator
):
An address that identifies a specific file on the Internet. URLs follow a
standardized format that consists of a protocol type, a domain name or IP
address identifying the computer that contains the file, and a path to the
file.
Username
: A
name given to your Server so that the physical machine it resides
on can identify it. You enter this username when logging in.
VeriSign:
VeriSign is the dominant certification authority on the Internet at the
present time.
Virtual server:
A directory on a server that has its own Internet address and appears as a
standalone server to outside users.
Web browser
:
A program that allows you to view files on a Web server from your computer.
Web server
:
A computer connected to the Internet that stores files and makes them
available to the public.
Web site
:
A collection of linked files on a Web server.
WWW
(World Wide Web
):
A
network of files spread out among the vast number of computers connected to
the Internet. These files contain information, pictures, sounds, and other
media and can be easily viewed through a client program called a Web
browser. When most people refer to the Internet, they are actually referring
to the World Wide Web. |