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Backbone
Backbone is a cable to which multiple nodes or workstations are attached.
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Backplane
This refers to the difference (measured in Hz), between the highest and lowest frequencies of a transmission. Most
people loosely refer to bandwidth as the amount of data that can be transferred over a network connection.
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Balun (BALanced UNbalanced)
A device that connects a balanced line, such as twisted pair, to an unbalanced line, such as coaxial cable.
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Bandwidth
This refers to the difference (measured in Hz), between the highest and lowest frequencies of a transmission. The
range of frequencies available for signaling; the difference between the highest and lowest frequencies of a band,
measured in Hertz. Most people loosely refer to bandwidth as the amount of data that can be transferred over a
network connection.
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Bank
Bank is a collection of memory chips or modules that make up a block of memory. This can be 1, 2 or 4 chips. Memory
in a PC must always be added or removed in full-bank increments.
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Banner
An image, usually displayed at the top of each page in a Web site, containing text and design elements.
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Banner Ad Manager
A FrontPage component that shows each of a series of designated images for a specified number of seconds, then
transitions to the next image using any of several transition effects.
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Base target
The frame in which a linked file displays.
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Base URL
A URL that you can optionally assign to a page to convert relative URLs on that page into absolute URLs. A base
URL should end with a document name part, such as http://samples.microsoft.com/sample.htm, or a trailing slash,
such as http://samples.microsoft.com/subdir/. See also absolute URL.
The base URL for a Web page sets the URL upon which all links in the Web page are based.
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Baud
A unit of signaling speed. The speed in baud is the number of line changes (in frequency, amplitude, etc.) or events
per second. At low speeds each event represents only one bit condition, and baud rate equals bits per second (bps).
As speed increases, each event represents more than one bit, and baud rate does not truly equal bps.
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Baud rate
Term used to describe the speed of data transmission, usually referring to a modem. It specifies the number of
signal variations per second.Baud rate is commonly used as a synonym for bits-per-second, but this can be inaccurate.While
one signal change can represent one bit of data, in today's high-speed communications one signal change usually
encodes more than a single bit.
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BBS (Bulletin Board System)
A computer which typically provides email services, file archives, and announcements of interest to the bulletin
board system's operator (known as a sysop). BBS's started out as hobbies for computer enthusiasts, and were mostly
accessible by modem. Recently, however, more and more BBS's are being connected to the Internet.
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BERT/BLERT (Bit Error Rate Test/Block Error Rate Test)
Tests that measure data-transmission quality by comparing received data with an established data pattern and
then counting the number of mismatches (errors). Measurements are made of either bits or block errors.
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BinHex (BINary HEXadecimal)
A method for converting non-text files (non-ASCII) into ASCII. This is needed because Internet e-mail can only
handle ASCII.
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BIOS (Basic Input/Output System)
The part of the operating system that provides the lowest level interface to peripheral devices. The BIOS is stored
in the ROM on the computer's motherboard. So, it is a computer subsystem that stores routines to support the transfer
of information between computer components, such as memory, disk drives, and the monitor. The system BIOS for PCs
is stored in ROM, so is often called "ROM BIOS". In addition, many components include their own BIOSs.
Windows bypasses many of the stored BIOS routines, enabling these operations to take place in protected mode rather
than in real mode. New BIOS standards are being devised to provide plug-and-play capabilities for hardware devices.
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Bisynchronous Transmission (BSC)
A byte- or character-oriented IBM® communication protocol that has become an industry standard. It uses a defined
set of control characters for synchronized transmission of binary-coded data between stations in a data-communication
system.
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Bit (Binary Digit)
Bit (Binary digit) belongs to the binary numbering system. Its value can be 0 or 1. In an 8-bit character scheme,
it takes 8 bits to make a byte (character) of data. Bit is the smallest unit of information in a binary system;
a one (1) or zero (0) condition.
1. A single character of a language having just two characters, as either of the binary digits 0 or 1.
2. A unit of information equivalent to the choice of either of two equally likely alternatives.
3. A unit of information storage capacity, as of memory.[Blend of b(inary) (dig)it]
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Block
A group of consecutive bytes of data that is read from or written to a disk as a unit.
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BNC Connector (Bayone-Neill-Concelman)
BNC Connector is a standard connector used to connect 10Base2 coaxial cable.
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Bookmark
To mark a document or specific place in a document for later retrivel. Nearly all Web brousers support a bookmarking
feature that lets you save the address (URL) of Web page so that you can easily revisit the page alater time.
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Boolean Logic
AND / OR ; AND = both statements are TRUE OR = either statement is TRUE.
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Boot
Boot means to start up the computer. Because the computer gets itself up and going from an inert state, it could
be said to lift itself up "by its own bootstraps", this is where the term 'boot' originates.
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Boot Disk (Bootable Disk)
Any disk that contains the system files necessary to start your computer. While today's computers include a bootable
hard disk that is normally used to start the machine, bootable disk" usually refers to a floppy disk that
can be used to start the machine if the hard disk has been damaged. The magnetic disk (usually a hard disk) from
which an operating system kernel is loaded (or "bootstrapped"). MS-DOS and Microsoft ® Windows®
can be configured (in the BIOS) to try to boot off either floppy disk or hard disk, in either order (and on some
modern systems even from CD or other removable media). A special floppy boot disk (often called a System Rescue
Disk) can be created that will allow your computer to boot even if it cannot boot from the hard disk.
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Boot Record (Boot Sector)
The boot sector stores the boot record. It is the first physical sector on a floppy disk, or the starting sector
of a logical disk (a hard disk partition). The boot sector identifies the disk's architecture (sector size, cluster
size, etc.). For bootable disks, it also contains a program that loads the operating system. Once the BIOS determines
which disk to boot from, it loads the first sector of that disk into memory and executes it. Besides this loader
program, the Boot Record contains the partition table for that disk. If the Boot Record is damaged, it can be a
very serious situation and the computer may not boot up.
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Bootstrap
Bootstrap means to load and initialize the operating system on a computer. Often abbreviated to boot.
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Bounce
If you send email and it fails to arrive at its intended recipient for any reason (wrong user name, network
failure, etc.), the message "bounces" and returns to you. The subject line in a bounced message usually
says something like: "Undeliverable Mail" or "Message Undeliverable".
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bps (bits per second) Baud rate
Bps refers to how fast a modem can transfer data. A unit used to measure the number of data bits a modem
can transfer in one second. One baud is how many signals a modem can handle in one second. Information is measured
in bits, and bits come in the signal. Higher baud modems can send and receive more signals in a second, and the
faster speeds also cram more bits into a signal.
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BRI (Basic Rate Interface)
An ISDN service referred to as 2B+D, BRI provides two 64-kbps, bearer digital channels plus a 16-kbps delta channel.
ISDN terminal adapters replace modems as the customer-premise connection to this service for direct connections
of data and voice transmissions.
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Bridge
A device that connects two LAN segments together, which may be of similar or dissimilar types, such as Ethernet
and Token Ring. So mainly, bridge uses devices that connect and pass packets between two network segments that
use the same communications protocol.
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Browser
A browser is a local application you use to connect to an Internet server. It interprets and displays HTML encoded
documents in a graphic format. A program used to view, download, upload, surf or otherwise access documents
(pages) on the World Wide Web. Browsers can be text based meaning they do not show graphics or images but most
however are text and graphical based. Browsers read "marked up" or coded pages (usually HTML but not
always) that reside on servers and interpret the coding into what we see "rendered" as a Web page. Netscape
Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer are examples of Web browsers. The program you are using right now to
view this information is called a browser.
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Buffer
A temporary-storage device used to compensate for a difference in data rate and data flow between two devices
(typically a computer and a printer); also called a spooler.
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Bug
A programming error that causes a program or computer system to perform erratically, produce incorrect results,
or crash. The term bug was coined when a real insect was discovered to have fouled up one of the circuits of the
first electronic digital computer, the ENIAC.
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Bus pl. bus·es or bus·ses
Bus ia a set of conductors (wires or connectors in an integrated circuit) connecting the various functional units
in a computer. There are busses both within the CPU and connecting it to external memory and peripheral devices.
The bus width (i.e., the number of parallel connectors) is one factor limiting a computer's performance. So, bus
is a parallel circuit that connects the major components of a computer, allowing the transfer of electric impulses
from one connected component to any other. A system of electrical channels that connect different components of
a computer, such as the CPU, input/output ports, and memory. Data is transferred from one component to another
as electrical signals transmitted over a data bus. Data buses having more lines for data transfer are said to be
"wider," and can accommodate more data at one time than "narrower" busses.PCs also include
a memory address bus (often called simply the "address bus") that directs data to and from locations
in the computer’s memory. The size of the address bus limits the number of memory locations that can be accessed
directly by the CPU.
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Byte
A unit of information, usually shorter than a computer "word." Eight-bit bytes are most common. Also
called a character.
A group of eight bits. The computer recognizes a byte as a unit, or a single character.
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