User's Manual

C-2
A
ppendix C
Description of Terms
Ethernet
A representative method of interconnecting LANs was using a transmission cable of
10BASE standard. Three companies, i.e., Xerox, Intel and DEC develop this method, in
cooperation. Its transmission rate is about 10 Mbps, and employs a CSMA/CD access
method in which a node monitors signals over a transmission line and sends data after
confirming that the other nodes do not send signals.
Hub
A communications interface used for interconnecting a series of devices on a network.
This retransmits a signal, which is received from a device, or segments a received signal
and transmits the segmented signal.
FTP (File Transfer Protocol)
A protocol for transferring files from one host to another or from a host to a personal
computer over a network.
Gopher
An interface that has been used as the easiest interface before the WWW service was
developed. The gopher constructs a menu by classifying the contents of information by
topic or type, thereby allowing even people, whom is not familiar with the Internet, to
easily search information. In addition, other functions of the Internet such as remote
access, file transfer, news, etc. can be performed in the gopher menu. A series of gopher
servers are interconnected so that a user can search for desired information moving
from one gopher server to another.
IP (Internet Protocol) Address
An address of a host or a device on the Internet. It is composed of 4 bytes. Each byte is
divided by a period. An IP address is assigned by IANA (Internet Assigned Numbers
Authority) to avoid duplication.
PPPoA (Point-to-Point Protocol)
The standard protocol for providing the serial interface between nodes, e.g., between a
PC and a RAS or between routers, on the Internet. PPPoA provides an Internet access
rate, and is widely used substituting for a SLIP (Serial Line Internet Protocol) which is a
previously used serial interface protocol. PPPoA is designed to transmit various network
protocols including IPX. PPPoA performs various and useful functions including
negotiation of a receiving maximum packet size over a serial line.