Broadband Glossary "I" 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.

Icon

A small graphic symbol that represents a program, file, or folder on a computer. Clicking on an icon with a mouse generally causes the program to run, the folder to open, or the file to be displayed (if possible).

Internet

The Internet, sometimes called simply "the Net," is a worldwide system of computer networks - a network of networks in which users at any one computer can, if they have permission, get information from any other computer (and sometimes talk directly to users at other computers). It was conceived by the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) of the U.S. government in 1969 and was first known as the ARPANET. The original aim was to create a network that would allow users of a research computer at one university to be able to "talk to" research computers at other universities. A side benefit of ARPANET's design was that, because messages could be routed or rerouted in more than one direction, the network could continue to function even if parts of it were destroyed in the event of a military attack or other disaster.
Today, the Internet is a public, cooperative, and self-sustaining facility accessible to hundreds of millions of people worldwide. Physically, the Internet uses a portion of the total resources of the currently existing public telecommunication networks.

Internet2

Internet2 is a collaboration among more than 100 U.S. universities to develop networking and advanced applications for learning and research. Since much teaching, learning, and collaborative research may require real-time multimedia and high-bandwidth interconnection, a major aspect of Internet2 is adding sufficient network infrastructure to support such applications.

Although Internet2 is not envisioned as a future replacement for the Internet, its organizers hope to share their developments with other networks, including the Internet.

Internet Address

A term used for domain name address, IP address, and e-mail address.

IP or Internet Protocol

A protocol (method) within TCP/IP by which computers communicate with one another (and identify one another) over the Internet.
Every computer on the Internet has a unique Internet Protocol address (IP address) that identifies it to other computers on the Internet.
Specifically, an IP address is a series of four numbers, each from the range of 0 to 255, separated by periods, which uniquely identify a computer on the Internet. Although the underlying Internet Protocol relies on these numeric addresses, people usually use host names, which are easier to remember and are automatically converted to IP addresses by the Domain Name System (DNS). All resources on the Internet must have an IP address, or else they are not on the Internet at all.

Internet Service Provider or ISP

An organization that offers access to the Internet.

Intranet

A private network based on TCP/IP protocols belonging to an organization, usually a corporation, accessible only by the organization's members, employees, or others with authorization. An intranet's Web sites look and act just like any other Web sites, but the firewall surrounding an intranet offers security from unauthorized access.

IP Address

Short for Internet Protocol address. A string of four numbers, each ranging from 0 to 255, separated by periods, that uniquely identifies a specific computer on the Internet. For example: 123.026.178.28
When you're on the Internet, your computer must have an IP address so that data from across the Web (e-mail messages, text and images from Web sites, etc.) can reach you. Normally when you're using an Internet Service Provider (ISP), your computer receives a dynamic (temporary) IP address that lasts only for the length of your session on the Internet. If you reconnect to the Web later, you will receive another temporary IP address.

Computers with fixed (static) IP addresses use the domain name system to let others on the Internet reach them by entering just an identifying name, not some cumbersome four-part series of numbers.
For example, you can type http://www.DSL-Experts.com in the address window of your Web browser to visit our Web site.