Vocabulary and Frequently Asked Questions for networks

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Introduction

The purpose of this documentation is to provide you with definitions for everything to do with networks.

At the end of this documentation, you will find a Frequently Asked Questions section for any questions you may have.

Network vocabulary

What isa DDOS?

Distributed Denial Of Service Attack, an attack that makes a specific IT service unavailable.

What isISPConfig / CPANEL / Plesk / WHMCS?

These are web interfaces that allow you to manage a website or server using your web browser.

What isa VPN?

Virtual Private Network, used to create a direct link between remote computers with encryption security.

What is Remote Desktop?

This is a remote virtual desktop, i.e. you can see your Windows/Linux/Mac OS desktop from your computer without physically being in front of it, but from the screen of another computer.

What is a Proxy?

Software that acts as an intermediary between two computers in order to monitor or facilitate data exchanges.

What isan IP firewall?

This is software that allows you to accept or refuse certain IP addresses for a website or other destination.

What is anApplication firewall?

This is software that allows you to accept or refuse certain expressions or words sent to a website or other destination.

Whatis Adwords?

Google's advertising network. This system displays ads or advertising banners targeted according to the keywords typed in by Internet users. The advertiser pays a fee for these keywords. The more relevant the ad to the user, the lower the price per click.

What isAdsense?

Google's advertising network. Unlike Adwords, which allows you to buy traffic, Adsense allows you to sell traffic. This involves placing ads supplied by Adsense on your site in order to earn a commission based on various criteria: number of displays, clicks or purchases made from this ad.

What isPHPbb?

It's a software package that lets you manage a forum.

What isPiwigo?

Photo gallery software.

What isCloudflare?

It's a CDN (Content Distribution Network) system that compresses the data on your website so that when an Internet user visits your pages, they are stored on an intermediate server. The aim of this system is to save bandwidth and therefore improve the performance of your website.

What isJAVASCRIPT / JQUERY (framework)?

It is a programming language for web pages.

What isSPF?

Sender Policy Framework is a standard for checking the domain name of the sender of an e-mail. This standard is used to limit spam.

What is an API?

Application and Programming Interface. A system that enables commands to be carried out without going through a web interface and clicking on buttons. A file can launch several commands without requiring the user to validate each action.

What isa CGI?

Common Gateway Interface. A program running on the server that enables data from other applications to be processed and displayed. The most widespread use of this type of programme is the use of HTML forms to enter data for processing at server level (sending an e-mail or populating a database).

What arecookies?

Text files recorded on the client computer in order to store information about the user, and to "recognise" this user the next time he visits the same site.

What is aDatacenter?

Adata centre is a physical site on which different types of IT equipment are grouped together: servers, storage bays, mainframes, etc.

What is a secondary DNS?

To guarantee good quality of service, several machines must simultaneously play the role of DNS server for a domain name. This ensures continuity of service if one of the DNS machines is temporarily unavailable or breaks down. Your domain name then remains visible as normal.

What is drag and drop?

Drag and drop is a system that allows you to easily move an element on your web page from point A to point B by holding down the mouse button until you reach the point where you want to drop the element.

What is an ISP?

Internet Service Provider. This is an organisation that provides an Internet connection (e.g. Bouygues, Orange, SFR, Free, etc.).

What is a Hit?

A request to an HTTP server asking for a file (image, HTML, Javascript, CSS, etc). This request is used by web page counters. Loading a simple HTML page containing five images generates six hits on the server. One request for the page and five requests for the image.

What isHTTP?

HyperText Transfer Protocol, a protocol for transmitting files defined on a server via a URL.

What isan htpasswd?

File used to configure the security of your site, containing the logins and passwords of users authorised to view the pages on your site.

What isa MIME Type?

Protocol specifying the format of messages containing multimedia elements. Originally reserved for e-mail only, this standard is also used by browsers to display documents and/or to determine which external application should be launched.

What isa Port?

When you are connected to a network, you can do several things at once: view pages, download files, check e-mail, etc. In order to do this, your computer needs to be able to pass different types of information over a connection. This is made possible by the port, a number linked to a type of application. This port, associated with an IP address, is used to define the type of application running on a computer.

What isa TTL?

Time To Live is the time (in seconds) that a DNS server can cache a DNS record, for example.

What isa WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get)?

This term is used to generally define a website editor. It's an abbreviation of "What You See Is What You Get". In other words, what you do and what you see on the screen is what you'll end up with on the site.

What isan Upload / Download?

Upload means to send Download means to download These terms are often used for files or to indicate a bandwidth rate depending on the direction.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the differences between Owncloud and Pydio?

Owncloud and Pydio allow you to store, back up, synchronise and access your files from any device connected to the Internet. The many applications and protocols available give you a huge portfolio of possibilities.

The Standard Pro backup package lets you automate your backups using software that you install directly on your computer.

The special photos package is dedicated to private individuals, allowing you to archive your photos without any limits on a secure server, but also to view them from anywhere with a simple Internet browser. (Smartphone compatible too).

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