Broadband Glossary "G" Definitions

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Welcome to our Broadband Glossary. We compiled a comprehensive collection of Broadband and Internet related terms and definitions. To look for a definition or term, simply click on the letter that matches the first letter of the word you are searching for. If the term you want is a numeral, you will find it under the 0-9 listing.

We intend for our Broadband Glossary to be ever expanding. As new technology is released, we will add these definitions to our Glossary. If you cannot find the term you are searching for, please contact us and we will add it to the Broadband glossary as quickly as possible. We hope that you find this Broadband Glossary easy to navigate and that you find the term you're looking for.

Gateway

In networking, a gateway is a combination of hardware and software that allows two different types of networks to communicate. Gateways between e-mail systems, for example, allow users on different e-mail systems to exchange messages.

Gigabit

In data communications, a gigabit is one billion bits, or 1,000,000,000 bits. It's commonly used for measuring the amount of data that is transferred in a second between two telecommunication points. For example, Gigabit Ethernet is a high-speed form of Ethernet (a local area network technology) that can provide data transfer rates of about 1 gigabit per second. Gigabits per second is usually abbreviated Gbps.

Gigabytes Per Second or GBPS

A network transfer speed measurement. It is 1,073,741,824 bits per second.

Gigabyte

A gigabyte contains 1000 megabytes, or 1,048,576,000 bytes of data storage space. The size of a computer's hard drive is generally measured in gigabytes of disk space.

Gigapop

Gigapop is short for gigabit-point-of-presence, an access point to Internet2, the network collaboration between universities and partners in industry and government to develop advanced Internet technologies and applications such as telemedicine and digital libraries. Currently, over 170 U.S. universities take part using approximately 30 gigapops for access. Gigapops are distributed geographically across the United States and generally support data transfer rates of at least one gigabit per second (Gbps). One gigapop is intended to serve up to 12 participating institutions.

Graphics Interchange Format or GIF

GIF is a way of storing color and black-and-white photographs on computer disk.

Graphical User Interface or GUI

The pictures and words that appear on your computer screen, whether they're originating from a Web site you're viewing through your browser, or from a stand-alone software application you're running, such as a spreadsheet or word processing package. This term is also used to refer to the look and feel of a Web site.