Glossary of Internet Service Related Terms

Backbone

A backbone is a high-speed line or series of connections that forms a major pathway within a network. For example, UUnet is a backbone of the Internet.

Backlinks

Inbound links pointing to a page are referred to as backlinks, or backward links. The Google toolbar can make it easy to view what backlinks your site has coming in, or pointing to your site.

Backup

To make a second copy of a file as a safety measure. The copy may be held on a floppy disk, a zip disk, or on CD-ROM.

Bandwidth

Bandwidth is the maximum amount of data that can travel a communications path in a given time, usually measured in seconds. If you think of the communications path as a pipe, then bandwidth represents the width of the pipe that determines how much data can flow through it all at once

Banned

When pages are removed from a search engine's index specifically because the search engine has deemed them to be spamming or violating some type of guidelines.

Baud

The baud rate of a modem is how many bits it can send or receive per second.

Baud rate

The speed at which a modem can deal with information, measured in bits per second, 56Kbps is currently fastest.

BBS

A byte is a series of bits of a particular length, usually 8. Computer storage space is measured in bytes. A Kilobyte (or 1 K) represents 1024 bytes and a Megabyte (1 Mb) represents one thousand "K" bytes, or one million bytes.

BBS - Bulletin Board System

Bulletin Board System is an announcement and meeting system that allows users to upload and download files, make announcements and carry on discussions without the people being connected to the computer at the same time. Bulletin board cgi-scripts often come pre-installed with web hosting packages for easy set-up.

BFN

This is an abbreviation for bye for now. Used in various online communications, such as e-mail messages or postings to newsgroups or BBSs, it usually appears in brackets like this: .

Billing Contact

When signing up with a web host or registering a domain name, the billing contact must be provided to the registrar/host when completing the registration form. The billing contact is responsible for receiving the bills and paying the registrar/host any fees.

Binary

Files which contain eight-bit bytes (as distinct from ASCII files which contain seven-bit bytes). Some systems can only accept ASCII.

Binary File

A binary file, unlike an ASCII file, contains more than plain text. It may contain additional code information for photos, sounds, a spreadsheet, or formatted word-processing text. Like an ASCII file, a binary file is made up of machine-readable symbols that represent 1s and 0s. Binary files include sound files, graphics files, and software, and are frequently called binaries. If you want to transmit a file over the Internet, such as downloading a piece of software, a sound or picture file, or a formatted word-processing document, choose the "binary" option. If the file is simply unformatted text, choose the "ASCII" or "text" option.

Binhex

Binhex is short for Binary Hexadecimal. Binhex is a method for transferring non-ASCII, or non-text, files into ASCII. The transformation to ASCII is necessary because internet email only handles ASCII files.

BIOS

Basic Input-Output System. This is the small but fundamental program which starts up your computer and allows you to access your software programs.

Bit

Short for binary digit, a bit is the smallest unit of data a computer can handle. Bits are used in various combinations to represent different kinds of data. Each bit has a value of 0 or 1.

Bitmapped Image

A bitmapped image is one made from an array of dots rather than continuous lines or areas.

Bitnet

An autonomous network of academic and research sites.

Blog

The latest and greatest online craze, Blogs, derived from Web Log, is a journal that is available on the web. Blogs are updated daily using simple software that allows users of all technical experience levels to add to, update and maintain the blog. One who uses a blog is called a blogger and the act of adding a post to the blog is called blogging. Bloggers usually arrange posts in chronological order and have the newest posts featured first

Bookmark

A word or picture ‘marked’ so that you can jump to it by name from within a list. Also used by browsers to mark frequently visited web sites.

Boot

To switch on a computer. If the machine is re-started whilst running, this is called 're-booting'.

Bot

Derived from the word "robot," a bot is a software program that performs repetitive functions, such as indexing information on the Internet.

Bounty

Payment an affiliate receives for sales, leads, or traffic to a merchant. Can be a set dollar amount, percentage of sale, price per click or other various forms of payment.

Bps

This is an abbreviation for bits per second and a measurement of how fast data is transmitted. Bps is usually used to describe modem speeds or the speed of a digital connection.

Bridge Page

Another name for a doorway page, which is a A Web page submitted to individual search engine spiders to meet specific relevancy algorithms. The doorway page presents information to the spider while obscuring it from human viewers. The purpose of doorway pages is to present the spider with the format it needs for optimum rankings while presenting a more appropriate version to human viewers. It's also a way for Webmasters to avoid publicly disclosing placement tactics. The use of doorway pages customizes submission to each individual search engine. Also known as gateway pages, entry pages, portals or portal pages.

Browser

A browser is a software program that allows you to view and interact with various kinds of Internet resources available on the World Wide Web. A browser is commonly called a web browser. Internet Explorer or Netscape, are browser

BTW - By The Way

A common abbreviation used in online forums, chat and email standing for, by the way.

Bulk Registration

When registering multiple domain names many registrars will offer bulk registration where you can register them all at once instead of individually.

Byte

A byte is a series of bits of a particular length, usually 8. Computer storage space is measured in bytes. A Kilobyte (or 1 K) represents 1024 bytes and a Megabyte (1 Mb) represents one thousand "K" bytes, or one million bytes.