User`s guide

Pinnacle Systems DekoMOS User’s Guide 187
Appendix E: Glossary
Browser
A Client program (software) that is used to look at various kinds of resources across a
network.
Client
A software program that is used to contact and obtain data from a Server software program on
another computer, either nearby or far away. Each Client program is designed to work with
one or more specific kinds of Server programs, and each Server requires a specific kind of
Client. A Web Browser is a specific kind of Client.
FTP
File Transfer Protocol is a protocol for transferring files from one computer to another. A
protocol is an agreed upon format for transmitting data between two devices. Protocol
determines the type of error checking to be used, compression method, if any, how the sending
device will indicate that it has finished sending a message, and how the receiving device will
indicate that it has received a message.
IP Address
Internet Protocol Address, an identifier for a computer or device on a TCP/IP network.
Networks using the TCP/IP protocol route messages based on the IP address of the
destination. The format of an IP address is a 32-bit numeric address written as four numbers
separated by periods. Each number can be zero to 255. For example, 1.160.10.240 could be an
IP address.
Within an isolated network, you can assign IP addresses at random as long as each one is
unique. However, connecting a private network to the Internet requires using registered IP
addresses (called Internet addresses) to avoid duplicates. The four numbers in an IP address
are used in different ways to identify a particular network and a host on that network.
Operating System
Every general-purpose computer must have an operating system to run other programs.
Operating systems perform basic tasks, such as recognizing input from the keyboard, sending
output to the display screen, keeping track of files and directories on the disk, and controlling
peripheral devices such as disk drives and printers.
Operating systems provide a software platform on top of which other programs, called
application programs, can run. The application programs must be written to run on top of a
particular operating system. Your choice of operating system, therefore, determines to a great
extent the applications you can run. For PCs, the most popular operating systems are DOS,
OS/2, and Windows, but others are available, such as Linux.
As a user, you normally interact with the operating system through a set of commands. For
example, the DOS operating system contains commands such as COPY and RENAME for
copying files and changing the names of files, respectively. The commands are accepted and
executed by a part of the operating system called the command processor or command line