nexus Glossary:

Bandwidth: The amount of data that can be transmitted in a fixed amount of time. The more bandwidth your connection has, the faster the data travels long it.

You get an allotment of bandwidth with your hosting plan. Bandwidth is the amount of data transfer that your site is allowed usually measured per month. People often refer to this as "the pipe". The pipe can only handle so much traffic before a larger pipe is needed. If your traffic numbers keep growing then the pipe will become too small and you will to have to upgrade your hosting plan. Again, this is an area that is rarely exceeded although it is possible. If you are service streaming video or Websites with large picture content in conjunction with high traffic numbers then you could run out of pipe.

Bluetooth: A radio technology built around a new chip that makes it possible to transmit signals over short distances between computers and hand held devices such as mobile phones, PDA's (personal digital assistants), etc without the use of wires.

Broadband: Broadband is the common term for a high bandwidth internet connection.

Carrier: A carrier is an electromagnetic signal that is used as a medium for an information channel.

CLI: Calling Line Identity. The network will transmit the telephone number of the call originator to the recipient.

CTI: Computer Technology Integration. Connection of the telephone system and LAN allowing information to be passed from the telephone system to the LAN.

DDI: Direct Dialling Inwards. Allows each extension user the ability to have their own personal telephone number.

DHCP: Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol allows each device on the network to acquire its own unique IP address in order for it to communicate correctly with other devices.

Firewall: Filter that protects an intranet from outsiders and monitors what people inside a company can access.

Frame Relay: Industry standard switched data link that handles multiple virtual circuits.

Full mesh: Network in which devices are organised in a mesh topology.

Infrared: Wire-free communication and data transfer via an infrared port. Infrared devices have to be lined up (requires line of sight) before data transmission can commence.

IP: Internet Protocol: The standard for sending the basic unit of data, an IP datagram through the internet.

ISDN: Integrated Services Digital Network. Basic Rate ISDN (2 channels) European standard. Providing 128k for data transfer etc,

ISDN30: Provision of up to 30 exchange lines on fibre optic cable allowing connection of Direct Dial Inward (DDI), Calling Line Identity (CLI) etc.

ISP: Internet Service Provider.

LAN: Local Area Network. On-site networking of computers.

PBX: Private Branch Exchange. Premises based telephone system which allows organisations to handle calls efficiently. Internal calls will also be handled in this way, such as switchboards.

Protocol: A set of rules and conventions by which two computers pass messages across a network. Two devices require a common protocol in order to communicate.

PSDN: Packet Switched Data Network.

PSTN: Public Switched Telephone Network. Exchange lines provided by a network provider.

Router: Protocol dependent device that connects sub-networks together. Useful in breaking down a very large network into smaller sub-networks.

Simplex: Flow of data in one direction only.

TSAPI: Telephone Server Application Interface. Interface for CTI.

URL: Universal Resource Locator.

VoIP: Voice over Internet Protocol.

VPN: Virtual Private Network. Access line installed by the Network Provider into customer premises which takes all network traffic.

WAN: Wide Area Network. When you connect two physically separate networks together using a low speed medium you are forming a Wide Area Network (WAN).

WAP: The Wireless Application Protocol is a secure specification that allows users to access information instantly via handheld wireless devices such as mobile phones, pagers, two-way radios, smartphones and communicators.