IT Resource

A B C D | E F G H | I J K L | M N O P | Q R S T | U V W X | Y Z 0-9

I

ICANN Internet Corporation For Assigned Names and Numbers
A non-profit corporation that is responsible for allocating IP addresses and managing the domain name system.

Every computer connected to the Internet, from servers to home PCs, has an IP address. However, it would be unrealistic for the ICANN to directly assign each computer an individual IP address. Instead, the ICANN allocates blocks of IP addresses to companies, educational institutions, and Internet service providers. These organizations then allocate IP addresses to computers that use their Internet connections.

While the ICANN is a US-based organization, it is also a global Internet community. According to ICANN’s website, the organization is “dedicated to preserving the operational stability of the Internet; to promoting competition; to achieving broad representation of global Internet communities; and to developing policy appropriate to its mission through bottom-up, consensus-based processes” (icann.org).

IMAP Internet Message Access Protocol
A method of accessing e-mail messages on a server without having to download them. This is the main difference between IMAP and another popular e-mail protocol called POP3. POP3 requires you to download messages before reading them. The advantage of using an IMAP is that you can check email from multiple computers and always see the same messages. This is because the messages stay on the server until you decide to download them.

InterNIC Internet Network Information Center
An organization created by the National Science Foundation to provide Internet information and domain name registration services. While the InterNIC was started as a joint effort between Network Solutions and AT&T, it is now run by the Internet Corporation For Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).

IPX Internetwork Packet Exchange
A networking protocol used to connect networks based on Novell’s NetWare. IPX is “connectionless,” meaning it doesn’t require connections to be maintained during an exchange of packets, like a phone call does. It can just pick up where it left off when a connection is temporarily dropped. Another nice thing about IPX is that it usually only loads when you log on to a network, so it doesn’t take up unnecessary resources. As some video game players may know, IPX used to be the standard protocol for network games. However, most video games now use the more robust TCP/IP protocol, which allows for long distance network gaming.

J

JAVA
A programming language developed by Sun Microsystems. The syntax of Java is much like that of C/C++, but it is object-oriented and structured around “classes” instead of functions. Java can also be used for programming applets — small programs that can be embedded in Web sites. The language is becoming increasingly popular among both Web and software developers since it is efficient and easy-to-use.

Sun Micorsystems describes Java as a “simple, object-oriented, distributed, interpreted, robust, secure, architecture-neutral, portable, high-performance, multithreaded, dynamic, buzzword-compliant, general-purpose programming language.”

JPEG Joint Photograhic Experts Group
A common image format. Art and photographic pictures are usually encoded as JPEG files.

JSP Java Server Page
Developed by Sun Microsystems as an alternative to Microsoft’s active server page (ASP) technology. JSP pages are similar to ASP pages in that they are compiled on the server, rather than in a user’s Web browser.  However, JSP is Java based, whereas ASP is Visual Basic based. JSP pages are useful for building dynamic Web sites and accessing database information on a Web server. Though JSP pages may have Java interspersed with HTML, all the Java code is parsed on the server therefore, once the page gets to the browser, it is only HTML.

K

KVM Keyboard, Video, and Mouse
A KVM allows you to use multiple computers with the same keyboard, video display (monitor), and mouse.

For example, software developers might use a KVM switch to alternate between two or more computers with different operating systems. This allows them to test their software on multiple platforms when developing a crossplatform application.

Network administrators often use KVM’s to monitor and control multiple servers at a time.

KVM’s can support from 2 computers to as many as 8 or more. By simply pressing a button on the KVM, you can view the display of any one of the computers attached to it and control it using a single keyboard and mouse.

L

LAN Local Area Network
Typically a high speed network that connects computers, printers and other network devices together in a single building or over small geographical area.