- agent
- Software that runs the network management software in a network device, such as a router, host, or X terminal.
- authentication
- Allows client to make sure they are connected to a secure server, preventing another computer from impersonating the server or attempting to appear secure when it isn't.
- authorization
- Controls who has access to an entire server or particular files and directories on it. Restrictions can include hostnames and IP addresses.
- browser
- Software used to request and view World Wide Web material. Also known as a client program.
- cache
- A copy of original data stored locally so that it doesn't have to be retrieved from a remote server again when requested.
- CGI
- Common Gateway Interface. An interface for external programs to "talk" to the HTTP server. Programs that are written to use CGI are called CGI programs or CGI scripts. CGI programs handle forms or perform output parsing not normally done by the server.
- client
- Also see browser.
- collection
- A document set that contains "meta" information about documents, such as word list and document properties. Collections are used by a search engine to retrieve documents matching specified search criteria.
- community string
- A password used by an SNMP agent for authentication, which means that a network management station would have to send the special password with each message it sent to the agent.
- common logfile format
- The common logfile format is the format used by the server for entering information into the access logs. The format is the same among all of the major servers, including the Netscape FastTrack and Enterprise servers.
- daemon
- A background process responsible for a particular system task.
- DNS
- Domain Name System. The system used by machines on a network to associate standard IP addresses (such as 198.93.93.10) with hostnames (such as www.netscape.com). Machines normally get this translated information from a DNS server, or look it up in tables maintained on their systems.
- DNS alias
- A DNS alias is a hostname that the DNS server knows points to a different host--specifically a DNS CNAME record. Machines always have one real name, but they can have one or more aliases. For example, www.[yourdomain].[domain] might be an alias that points to a real machine called realthing.[yourdomain].[domain] where the server currently exists.
- document root
- A directory on the server machine that contains the files, images, and data you want to present to users accessing the server.
- expires header
- The expiration time of the returned document, specified by the remote server.
- fancy indexing
- Fancy indexing provides more information than simple indexing. Fancy indexing displays a list of contents by name with file size, last modification date, and an icon reflecting file type. Because of this, fancy indexes might take longer than simple indexes for the client to load.
- file extension
- The last section of a file name that typically defines the type of file (for example, .GIF and .HTML). For example, in the filename index.html the file extension is html.
- file type
- The format of a given file. For example, a graphics file doesn't have the same file type as a text file. File types are usually identified by the file extension (.GIF or .HTML).
- flexible log format
- The flexible log format is a format used by the server for entering information into the access logs.
- FTP
- File Transfer Protocol. An Internet protocol that allows files to be transferred from one computer to another over a network.
- GIF
- Graphics Interchange Format. A cross-platform image format originally created by CompuServe. GIF files are usually much smaller in size than other graphic file types (.BMP, .TIFF). GIF is one of the most common interchange formats. GIF images are readily viewable on Unix, Microsoft Windows, and Apple Macintosh systems.
- hard restart
- Terminating the process, and starting it up again.
- home page
- A document that exists on the server and acts as a catalog or entry point for the server's contents. The location of this document is defined within the server's configuration files.
- host name
- A name for a machine of the form machine.domain.dom, which is translated into an IP address. For example, www.netscape.com is the machine www in the subdomain netscape and com domain.
- HTML
- Hypertext Markup Language is a formatting language used for documents on the World Wide Web. HTML files are plain text files with formatting codes that tell browsers such as the Netscape Navigator how to display text, position graphics and form items, and display links to other pages.
- HTTP
- Hypertext Transfer Protocol. The method for exchanging information between HTTP servers and clients.
- HTTP-NG
- The next generation of HyperText Transfer Protocol.
- HTTPD
- An abbreviation for the HTTP daemon, a program that serves information using the HTTP protocol. The Netscape Enterprise Serveris often called an httpd.
- HTTPS
- A secure version of HTTP, implemented using the secure sockets layer, SSL.
- imagemap
- A process that makes areas of an image active, letting users navigate and obtain information by clicking the different regions of the image with a mouse. Imagemap can also refer to a CGI program called "imagemap," which is used to handle imagemap functionality in other httpd implementations.
- inittab
- A Unix file that lists programs that need to be restarted if they stop for any reason (this ensures a program continually runs). It is also called /etc/inittab because of its location. This isn't available on all Unix systems.
- IP address
- Internet Protocol address--a set of numbers, separated by dots, that specifies the actual location of a machine on the Internet (for example, 198.93.93.10).
- ISINDEX
- Documents can often use a network navigator's capabilities to accept a search string and send it to the server to access a searchable index without using forms. In order to use ISINDEX, you must create a query handler.
- ISMAP
- ISMAP is an extension to the IMG SRC tag used in an HTML document to tell the server that the named image is an imagemap.
- last-modified header
- The last modification time of the document file, returned in the HTTP response from the server.
- MD5
- A message digest algorithm by RSA Data Security, Inc., which can be used to produce a short digest of data of any size, that is unique with high probability, and it is mathematically extremely hard to produce a piece of data that will produce the same message digest.
- MD5 signature
- A message digest produced by the MD5 algorithm.
- MIB
- Management Information Base. A database with a tree-like hierarchy that contains managed objects used in network management.
- MIME
- Multi-Purpose Internet Mail Extensions. This is an emerging standard for multimedia email and messaging.
- NIS
- Network Information Service. A system of programs and data files that Unix machines use to collect, collate, and share specific information about machines, users, file systems, and network parameters throughout a network of computers.
- password file
- A file on Unix machines that stores Unix user login names, passwords, and user ID numbers. It is also known as /etc/passwd, because of where it is kept.
- protocol
- A set of rules that describes how devices on a network exchange information.
- public information directories
- Directories not inside the document root that are in a Unix user's home directory, or directories that are under the user's control.
- RAM
- Random access memory. The physical semiconductor-based memory in a computer.
- rc.local
- A file on Unix machines that describes programs that are run when the machine starts. It is also called /etc/rc.local because of its location.
- realm
- A term used in HTTP and proxy access authorization that helps the user identify what part of the system is asking for an HTTP or proxy user name and password.
- redirection
- A system by which clients accessing a particular URL are sent to a different location, either on the same server or on a different server. This is useful if a resource has moved and you want the clients to use the new location transparently. It's also used to maintain the integrity of relative links when directories are accessed without a trailing slash.
- resource
- Any document (URL), directory, or program that the server can access and send to a client that asks for it.
- RFC
- Request For Comments. Procedures or standards documents submitted to the Internet community. People can send comments on the technologies before they become accepted standards.
- root
- The most privileged user available on Unix machines. The root user has complete access privileges to all files on the machine.
- server daemon
- The server daemon is a process that, once running, listens for and accepts requests from clients.
- server root
- A directory on the server machine dedicated to holding the server program, configuration, maintenance, and information files.
- simple index
- The opposite of fancy indexing--this type of directory listing displays only the names of the files without any graphical elements.
- SNMP
- Simple Network Management Protocol. A protocol used for managing IP devices.
- SOCKS
- Firewall software that establishes a connection from inside a firewall to the outside when direct connection would otherwise be prevented by the firewall software or hardware (for example, the router configuration).
- soft restart
- Causes the server to internally restart, that is, reread its configuration files, by sending the process the HUP signal (signal number one). The process itself does not die, as it does in hard restart.
- SSL
- Secure Sockets Layer. A software library establishing a secure connection between two parties (client and server) used to implement HTTPS, the secure version of HTTP.
- strftime
- A function that converts a date and a time to a string. It's used by the server when appending trailers. strftime has a special format language for the date and time that the server can use in a trailer to illustrate a file's last modified date.
- superuser
- The most privileged user available on Unix machines (also called root). The superuser has complete access privileges to all files on the machine.
- symlinks
- Abbreviation for symbolic links, which is a type of redirection used by the Unix operating system. Symlinks let you create a pointer from one part of your file system to an existing file or directory on another part of the file system.
- TCP/IP
- Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol. The network protocol suite for the Internet and for enterprise (company) networks.
- telnet
- A protocol where two machines on the network are connected to each other and support terminal emulation for remote login.
- timeout
- A specified time after which the server should give up trying to finish a service routine that appears hung.
- top
- A program on some Unix systems that shows the current state of system resource usage.
- top-level domain authority
- The highest category of hostname classification, usually signifying either the type of organization the domain is (for example, .com is a company, .edu is an educational institution) or the country of its origin (for example, .us is the United States, .jp is Japan, .au is Australia, .fi is Finland).
- trap
- A message the SNMP agent sends to a network management station.
- uid
- A unique number associated with each user on a Unix system.
- URI
- Universal Resource Identifier. The location of a resource on the server. For example, for http://www.a.com:8080/special/docs, the URI would be /special/docs.
- URL
- Uniform Resource Locator. The addressing system used by the server and the client to request documents. It is often called a location. The format of a URL is [protocol]://[machine:port]/[document].
- A sample URL is http://www.netscape.com/index.html.
- URL database repair
- A process that repairs and updates a URL database that has been damaged by a software failure, a system crash, a disk breakdown, or a full file system.