What is Name Server?
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A name server translates domain names into IP addresses. This makes it possible for a user to access a website by typing in the domain name instead of the website's actual IP address. For example, when you type in "www.microsoft.com," the request gets sent to Microsoft's name server which returns the IP address of the Microsoft website.
Each domain name must have at least two name servers listed when the domain is registered. These name servers are commonly named ns1.servername.com and ns2.servername.com, where "servername" is the name of the server. The first server listed is the primary server, while the second is used as a backup server if the first server is not responding.
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What is NAT?
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Stands for "Network Address Translation." NAT translates the IP addresses of computers in a local network to a single IP address. This address is often used by the router that connects the computers to the Internet. The router can be connected to a DSL modem, cable modem, T1 line, or even a dial-up modem. When other computers on the Internet attempt to access computers within the local network, they only see the IP address of the router. This adds an extra level of security, since the router can be configured as a firewall, only allowing authorized systems to access the computers within the network.
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What is Native File?
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When you save a file using a certain program, the file is often saved in a proprietary format only that program can recognize. For example, if you save a Microsoft Word document, it is saved as a Word document (i.e. mydocument.doc). This is a native Word file -- that is, the file format is native to the Microsoft Word application and may not be recognized by other programs.
When you use the "Save As..." command to save a file, you may be given the option to save the file in a different format. For example, you might be able to save a Word document as a plain text (.txt) file or a rich text (.rtf) file. These formats are not native to Microsoft Word, but can still be opened by the Microsoft Word program. Similarly, Adobe Photoshop saves files as Photoshop documents (.psd files), but can also save them in .jpg and .gif formats, among others.
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What is NetBIOS?
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Stands for "Network Basic Input/Output System." NetBIOS was introduced in 1983 by IBM as an improvement to the standard BIOS used by Windows-based computers. The BIOS provides an interface between the computer's operating system and the hardware. As the name implies, NetBIOS adds support for networking, including the ability to recognize other devices connected to the network.
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What is Netiquette?
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Netiquette, or net etiquette, refers to etiquette on the Internet. Good netiquette involves respecting others' privacy and not doing anything online that will annoy or frustrate other people. Three areas where good netiquette is highly stressed are e-mail, online chat, and newsgroups. For example, people that spam other users with unwanted e-mails or flood them with messages have very bad netiquette. You don't want to be one of those people. If you're new to a newsgroup or online chat room, it may help to observe how people communicate with each other before jumping in.
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What is Network?
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A set of computers linked to one another for data sharing, or the link itself.
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What is Newbie?
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A new user of a technology, such as a computer, a certain computer program, or the Internet, is often referred to as a "newbie." The term originated sometime around 1990 and supposedly comes from the English phrase, "new boy," which refers to someone in their first year of public schooling. In online chat rooms, veteran net users like to call anybody who asks an easy question a newbie. If you ever get called a newbie, just shake it off -- everybody has to learn sometime.
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What is Newsgroup?
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A newsgroup is an Internet-based discussion about a particular topic. These topics range from sports, cars, investing, teen problems, and some stuff you probably don't want to know about. Users post messages to a news server which then sends them to a bunch of other participating servers. Then other users can access the newsgroup and read the postings. The groups can be either "moderated," where a person or group decides which postings will become part of the discussion, or "unmoderated," where everything posted is included in the discussion.
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What is NIC?
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Stands for "Network Interface Card." Pronounced "nick," this is the card that physically makes the connection between the computer and the network cable. These cards typically use an Ethernet connection and are available in 10, 100, and 1000 Base-T configurations. A 100 Base-T card can transfer data at 100 Mbps. The cards come in ISA and PCI versions and are made by companies like 3Com and LinkSys. So if you want to connect your computer to a network, you better get yourself a NIC.
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What is NNTP?
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Stands for "Network News Transfer Protocol." For a message to be posted to a newsgroup, it must be sent through this protocol that interacts between news servers and newsreader programs. NNTP is basically the software foundation of a newsgroup server. It is what queries, distributes, posts, and retrieves news articles. Not too exciting, I know. But what do you expect -- this is computer terminology.
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What is NOC?
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Stands for "Network Operations Center." It is the central location where a company's servers and networking equipment are located. The NOC may reside either within a company's campus or at an external location. Smaller businesses and organizations often have an internal NOC, in which local technicians administer and monitor the servers. Larger companies may have a NOC setup at a location developed specifically to house server equipment.
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What is Node?
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Any system or device connected to a network is also called a node. For example, if a network connects a file server, five computers, and two printers, there are eight nodes on the network. Each device on the network has a network address, such as a MAC address, which uniquely identifies each device. This helps keep track of where data is being transferred to and from on the network.
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What is NTFS?
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Stands for "New Technology File System." NTFS is a file system introduced by Microsoft with Windows NT and is supported by subsequent versions of Windows, such as Windows 2000 and Windows XP. (The file system is how the operating system organizes and accesses files on the hard drive.) NTFS has a number of advantages over the older file system, named FAT, or file allocation table. One major advantage of NTFS is that it incorporates features to improve reliablity. For exmaple, the new technology file system includes fault tolerance, which repairs hard drive errors without displaying error messages. It keeps detailed transaction logs, which tracks hard drive errors. This can help prevent hard disk failure as well as make it possible to recover files if the hard drive does fail.
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What is NTSC?
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National Television Standards Committee (NTSC) is the most prevalent video standard in North America. NTSC uses 525 lines per frame (as opposed to 625 with PAL) and frame rate is 30 frames per second (as opposed to 25 with PAL). This gives NTSC smoother motion but also lower resolution than PAL.
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What is Null?
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When a variable has no value, it considered to be null. Having a null value is different than having a value of 0, since 0 is an actual value. However, when used in a boolean test, both null and zero result in a FALSE value. Programmers often use boolean tests to determine whether a variable has been given a value or not.
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What is Null Character?
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A null character is a character with all its bits set to zero. Therefore, it has a numeric value of zero and can be used to represent the end of a string of characters, such as a word or phrase. This helps programmers determine the length of strings. In practical applications, such as database and spreadsheet programs, null characters are used as fillers for spaces.
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What is Nybble?
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A nybble, sometimes spelled "nibble," is a set of four bits. Since there are eight bits in a byte, a nybble is half of one byte. While it may take the average person several nibbles to equal one bite of a cookie, in the computer world, two nybbles always equal one byte.
The four bits in a nibble allow it to have 16 possible values, which is the same as one hexadecimal digit. Therefore, a nybble is sometimes referred to as a "hex digit." In data communications, nybbles are sometimes called "quadbits," because of the four bits that make up each nybble.
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