| PACKET |
The unit
of data transmission on the Internet. A packet consists of the data being
transferred with additional overhead information, such as the transmitting
and receiving addresses. In TCP/IP, a term referring to the data passing
between the internet layer and the data link layer. Also a generic term
used to refer to data transferred through a network. |
| PACKET
SWITCHING |
The communications
technology that the Internet is based on, where data being sent between
computers is transmitted in packets. |
| PARALLEL |
Means
of communication in which digital data is sent multiple bits at a time,
with each simultaneous bit being sent over a separate line. |
| PARAMETER |
Means
the same as argument. |
| PASSIVE
OPEN |
An action
taken by a server daemon to prepare it to receive requests from clients. |
| PATTERN |
An expression
defining a set of strings that match the pattern and a set that do not. |
| PDIAL |
A list
of mailing lists maintained by Stephanie da Silva (arielle@taronga.com),
periodically posted to the news.answers, news.announce.newusers, and news.lists
UseNet newsgroups. |
| PEER-TO-PEER |
Internet
services that can be offered and accessed by anyone, without requiring a
special server. |
| PERL |
(Practical
Extraction and Report Language) a language well suited to text file processing
as well as other tasks. |
| PGP |
(Pretty
Good Privacy) An application that allows you to send and receive encrypted
e-mail. |
| PID |
Process
identifier, a number indicating the number assigned by the operating system
to that process. |
| PING |
(Packet
Internet Groper) A utility program used to test a system's TCP/IP software
by sending an ICMP echo request and then waiting for a response. |
| PIPE |
The concept
in an operating system where the output of one program is fed into the input
of another. |
| PIPELINE |
A complete
Internet service package. |
| POP |
(Point
of Presence) Indicates availability of a local access number to a public
data network. |
| PORT |
A number
used to identify TCP/IP applications. Generally a port is an entry or exit
point. |
| PORT (HARDWARE) |
A physical
channel on a computer that allows you to communicate with other devices
(printers, modems, disk drives, and so on). |
| PORT (NETWORK) |
An address
to which incoming data packets are sent. Special ports can be assigned to
send the data directly to a server (FTP, Gopher, WWW, telnet, or e-mail)
or other specific program. |
| POST |
To send
a message to a UseNet newsgroup. |
| POSTMASTER |
An
address to which you can send questions about a site (asking if a user has
an account there or if they sell a particular product, for example). |
| PPP |
(Point-To-Point
Protocol) A driver that allows you to use a network communications protocol
over a phone line, used with TCP/IP to allow you to have a dial-in Internet
host. |
| PRECEDENCE |
The order
in which operators are evaluated is based on their precedence. |
| PROCESS |
In multitasking
operating systems such as UNIX, many programs may be run at once and each
one as it is running is called a process. |
| PROTOCOL |
The standard
that defines how computers on a network communicate with one another. case,
the author gives up all rights to the software.) More general, rules governing
the behavior or method of operation of something. |
| PROTOCOL
CONVERSION |
The process
of changing one protocol to another. |
| PROTOCOL
DATA UNIT |
(PDU)
A term used in TCP/IP to refer to a unit of data, headers, and trailers
at any layer in a network. |
| PROTOCOL
INTERPRETER |
(PI) A
process that carries out FTP functions. FTP uses one Protocol Interpreter
for the server and another one for the user. |
| PROXY |
A mechanism
whereby one system functions for another when responding to protocol requests. |
| PUBLIC
DOMAIN SOFTWARE |
Software
that is made available by the author to anyone who wants it |
| PUSH SERVICE |
A service
provided by TCP to enable an application to specify when data must be transmitted
as soon as possible. |