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P314 Broadband Sharing Gateway with 4-Port Switch
Glossary of Terms I
that run the DHCP server program. DHCP leases addresses for a period of time which
means that addresses are made available to assign to other systems.
DNS Domain Name System. A database of domain names and their IP addresses. DNS is
the primary naming system for many distributed networks, including the Internet.
Domain Name
The unique name that identifies an Internet site. Domain Names always have 2 or
more parts, separated by dots. The part on the left is the most specific and the part on
the right is the most general.
DRAM
Dynamic RAM that stores information in capacitors that must be refreshed periodically.
DSL
Digital Subscriber Line technologies enhances the data capacity of the existing
twisted-pair wire that runs between the local telephone company switching offices and
most homes and offices. There are actually seven types of DSL service, ranging in
speeds from 16 Kbits/sec to 52 Mbits/sec. The services are either symmetrical (traffic
flows at the same speed in both directions), or asymmetrical (the downstream capacity
is higher than the upstream capacity). DSL connections are point-to-point dedicated
circuits, meaning that they are always connected. There is no dial-up. There is also no
switching, which means that the line is a direct connection into the carrier’s frame
relay, ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode), or Internet-connect system.
DSLAM
A Digital Subscriber Line Access Multiplexer (DSLAM) is a network device, usually at a
telephone company central office, that receives signals from multiple customer Digital
Subscriber Line connections and puts the signals on a high-speed backbone line using
multiplexing techniques. Depending on the product, DSLAM multiplexers connect DSL
lines with some combination of asynchronous transfer mode ATM, frame relay, or IP
networks.
DTE
Originally, the DTE (data terminal equipment) meant a dumb terminal or printer, but
today it is a computer, or a bridge or router that interconnects local area networks.
EMI
ElectroMagnetic Interference. The interference by electromagnetic signals that can
cause reduced data integrity and increased error rates on transmission channels.
Ethernet
A very common method of networking computers in a LAN. There are a number of
adaptations to the IEEE 802.3 Ethernet standard, including adaptations with data rates
of 10 Mbits/sec and 100 Mbits/sec over coaxial cable, twisted-pair cable and fiber-optic
cable. The latest version of Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet, has a data rate of 1 Gbit/sec.
FAQ
(Frequently Asked Questions) -- FAQs are documents that list and answer the most
common questions on a particular subject.
FCC
The FCC (Federal Communications Commission) is in charge of allocating the
electromagnetic spectrum and thus the bandwidth of various communication systems.
Flash Memory
The nonvolatile storage that can be electrically erased and reprogrammed so that data
can be stored, booted and rewritten as necessary.
FTP
File Transfer Protocol is an Internet file transfer service that operates on the Internet
and over TCP/IP networks. FTP is basically a client/server protocol in which a system
running the FTP server accepts commands from a system running an FTP client. The
service allows users to send commands to the server for uploading and downloading
files. FTP is popular on the Internet because it allows for speedy transfer of large files
between two systems.