Glossary of Internet Terms
The Internet is full of confusing technical terms and there are very few sites that explain them with any clarity. This section of our web site is designed to give a short introduction to the basic terms. Click on a link to find out about a particular jargon word used on the Internet.
| Caching | Getting information more quickly | Domains | Giving a Name to a Site |
| Errors | Decoding Server Error Reports | Virus | Server Virus Attacks |
| Sockets | Making the connection | SecureFTP | Transferring files securely |
| Port | Connecting to the Service | IP Address | Your unique access address |
| Query | Getting information from a user | HTML | Displaying WWW Pages |
| DNS | Looking up a site's name | HTTP | Getting at the information |
| CSS | Giving style to a web site | Registrars | Getting a domain name registered |
| Google the leading search engine | Hyper Links | Links are at the heart of the Internet | |
| URL | Specifying what you want to access | Firewall | Protecting the Server |
| FTP | Transferring files | Ping | Checking a Server is working |
| Cookies | Keeping track of user visits | Log Format | Logging accesses to a web site |
| ISP | Providing access to the Internet | Keywords | Specifying what a page is all about |
| Log Files | The server's log file has many answers | Ranking | Determine how important is that web site |
| MIME | Specifying information format | Proxy | Indirect access to the Internet |
| HTTPS | Secure access to information | Traffic | Monitoring visits to a Web Site |
| TCP/IP | Communicating over the Web | Watch | Track accesses to key pages |
| RFC | Internet Standards and Proposals | Referrals | Looking at how visitors find your site |
| Robots | Automated Internet Access | Browser | Surfing the Internet |
| Speed | Is access speed acceptable | Availability | Make sure the server is always up |
| Hosting | Choose the most appropriate web host for your business | Scripts | Make a web page much more lively |
| Spider | Checking all the pages on a web site | Search Engines | Finding the right site |
| Whois | Finding out about the owner |
If you would like an excellent layman's guide to the Internet please try How Stuff Works ➚
The Site Vigil product produced by Silurian Software is designed to help you manage web sites without burying you in all the associated technical jargon.