Glossary
Internet and email terms
20 terms
- Domain
- A name such as example.com that people use instead of a server's number.
- DNS
- The internet's address book: it turns names into addresses and other records.
- IP address
- The number that identifies a device on a network, such as 203.0.113.10.
- Server
- A computer that answers requests, for example by sending a web page.
- Browser
- The program that requests web pages and shows them.
- URL
- A full web address, with the protocol, the domain and the path.
- HTTP
- The rules for how a browser and a server exchange web pages.
- HTTPS
- HTTP with encryption, so others on the network cannot read or change the data.
- Status code
- The three-digit answer a server gives to a request, such as 200 or 404.
- Cookie
- A small value a website asks the browser to store and send back later.
- Cache
- A stored copy of something, kept so it does not have to be fetched again.
- MX record
- The DNS record that names the servers receiving email for a domain.
- SPF
- A DNS record listing the servers allowed to send email for a domain.
- DKIM
- A signature added to each email so the receiver can tell whether it was changed.
- DMARC
- A DNS record telling receivers what to do with email that fails SPF and DKIM.
- Spam filter
- Software that sorts unwanted or dangerous email out of the inbox.
- Phishing
- A fake message that tries to get passwords, money or data.
- Two-factor sign-in
- Signing in with a second proof besides the password, such as a code.
- Encryption
- Turning data into a form only someone with the key can read.
- Bounce
- An email that comes back because it could not be delivered.