BASIC WEB TERMINOLOGY
ANSWERS To...
WHAT IS...?
1....A SERVER:
A server is a provider of services; a computer that contains the information requested by a client
that can deliver that information upon request of the client. Oriented to providing resource sharing
with the necessary rules, organization and integrity, a server can serve the needs of multiple users
in a consistent fashion.
2....A CLIENT:
A client is a requester of services; a computer that is typically oriented to the desktop. This means
that each individual user is free to organize, manage and use their client in a way that is customized
to their unique needs. Anytime you use your computer to connect, access and use information on
another computer, you are a client.
3....A WEB PAGE:
A single Web Page (document) contained within a Web Site contains text, commonly written in
HTML (Hypertext Markup Language). A Web Page can be downloaded and viewed by any web
browser.
Note: Text instructions will tell the browser to load a graphic, but the file does not contain any
graphics.
4....A HOME PAGE:
A Home Page is the first Web Page of a Web Site (or subset) that contains an introduction to the
Web site (or subset) and links to all other Web Pages (or subsets) on that site. It is also the initial
page a browser will open to.
5....A WEB SITE:
A Web Site is a set of individual documents (Web Pages) interrelated by some common thread (all
the Web Pages created for PVCC - Instruction, Student Services, etc.) Some Web Sites consist of
only one page. When going to a URL through your browser, you are going to a Web Page at a Web
Site.
6....URL:
URL is an acronym for Universal Resource Locator. A URL is a Web address that contains four
main parts:
1. Protocol type
o
o
o
o
http:// Hypertext Transfer Protocol - http is the normal protocol (language) used by web
browsers.
ftp:// File Transfer Protocol - Protocol (language) used to access a file (program) that can
be downloaded from a remote server.
telnet:// - Protocol (language) used to access a remote server to use the resources (programs
and files) located on that server.
gopher:// - Protocol (language) used to access a searchable index of information located on
many servers.
2. Server Name (also called Domain Name) example: www.pvc.maricopa.edu - the computer name at PVCC.
3. Directory or Path (folder name) example: ~franco - The name of the folder located on the PVCC server which contains
Jeanne Franco's Web Pages.
4. File name example: franco.htm - The file name of Jeanne Franco's personal Web Page.
Example:
The URL (address) of Jeanne Franco's personal Web Page:
http://www.pvc.maricopa.edu/~franco/franco.htm
protocol:server name/path or folder or directory/file name
7....A BIT:
A bit is a binary digit (i.e., a digit in a binary numbering system) and is the most basic unit of
information in digital computing and communications systems.
Binary refers to any system that uses two alternative states, components, conditions or conclusions. The binary,
or base 2, numbering system uses combinations of just two unique numbers, i.e., zero and one, to represent all
values, in contrast with the decimal system (base 10), which uses combinations of ten unique numbers, i.e., zero
through nine.
Most computers are designed to operate internally with all information encoded in binary numbers. This is
because it is relatively simple to construct electronic circuits that generate two distinct voltage levels (i.e., off
and on) to represent zero and one.
The rate of data transfer in computer networks and telecommunications systems is referred to as the bit rate or
bandwidth, and it is usually measured in terms of some multiple of bits per second, abbreviated bps, such as
kilobits, megabits or gigabits (i.e., billions of bits) per second.
8....A BYTE:
In most computer systems, a byte is a unit of data that is eight binary digits long. A byte is the unit most
computers use to represent a character such as a letter, number, or typographic symbol (for example, "g", "5", or
"?").
A byte is abbreviated with a "B". (A bit is abbreviated with a small "b".) Computer storage is usually measured
in byte multiples. For example, an 820 MB hard drive holds a nominal 820 million bytes - or megabytes - of
data. Byte multiples are based on powers of 2 and commonly expressed as a "rounded off" decimal number. For
example, one megabyte ("one million bytes") is actually 1,048,576 (decimal) bytes.
9....A KILOBYTE (KB):
A kilobyte is 2 to the 10th power, or 1,024 bytes.
Most small files on your computer are measured in kilobytes. For example, thumbnail images might use only 5
to 10KB of space. A larger 900x600 pixel JPEG image can take up 250KB of space. Text files are often less
than 1KB. Most documents you save on your computer should be between 1 and 1,024KB. Anything larger than
1,024KB is measured in megabytes.
10....A MEGABYTE (MB):
The term remains ambiguous and it can follow any one of the following common definitions:
1. 1,000,000 bytes (10002, 106): This is the definition recommended by the
International System of Units (SI) and the International Electrotechnical
Commission IEC. This definition is used in networking contexts and most
storage media, particularly hard drives, Flash-based storage, and DVD's,
and is also consistent with the other uses of the SI prefix in computing,
such as CPU clock speeds or measures of performance.
2. 1,048,576 bytes (10242, 220): This definition is most commonly used in
reference to computer memory, but most software that display file size or
drive capacity, including file managers also use this definition.
3. 1,024,000 bytes (1000×1024): This is used to describe the formatted
capacity of USB flash drives and the "1.44 MB" 3.5 inch HD floppy
disk, which actually has a 1,440 KB capacity, that is, 1,440×1,024 bytes,
or 1,474,560 bytes.
Depending on compression methods and file format, a megabyte of data can roughly be:


a 1024×1024 pixel bitmap image with 256 colors (8 bpp color
depth).
1 minute of 128 kbit/s MP3 compressed music.


6 seconds of uncompressed CD audio.
a typical book volume in text format (500 pages × 2000
characters).
11....A GIGABYTE (GB):
A gigabyte is 2 to the 30th power, or 1,073,741,824 bytes.
It can be estimated as 10 to the 9th power, or one billion (1,000,000,000) bytes. A gigabyte is 1,024 megabytes
and precedes the terabyte unit of measurement. Hard drive sizes are typically measured in gigabytes, such as a
160GB or 250GB drive. The term gigabyte is often often abbreviated as simply a "gig" in speech. For example,
if you have a 250GB hard drive, you could say, "I have 250 gigs of disk space." The prefix "giga" comes from
the Greek word "gigas," meaning giant.
A terabyte (or Tbyte) is a SI-multiple (see prefix tera) of the unit byte for digital information storage and is
equal to 10 to the 12the power (1 trillion short scale) bytes. The unit symbol for the terabyte is TB.
12....HEXADECIMAL:
In mathematics and computer science, hexadecimal (also base-16, hexa, or hex) is a numeral system with a
radix, or base, of 16. It uses sixteen distinct symbols, most often the symbols 0–9 to represent values zero to
nine, and A, B, C, D, E, F (or a through f) to represent values ten to fifteen.
Hex is short for Hexadecimal, a color model used within HTML and other Web programming languages. Just as
printers work primarily within CMYK, and scanners, monitors and digital cameras work within RGB, Web
pages work within Hex. When used in HTML, it stands for RRGGBB. The Hex colors are denoted by a "#"
followed by a series of six letters or numbers like this (0 being the lowest and F being the highest): #93DB70.
There are hexadecimal codes for the 216 web safe colors available to use and feel comfortable they will look
the same independent of the browser and system. Show me!
Basic Web Terminology Answers
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Comments to: Rick Sheets at rick.sheets@crla.net
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