Internet Golssary & Popular Internet Terms

Internet Glossary

The world of SEO and Internet Marketing has gained considerable popularity in the last few years, and has its own language and dictionary of terms. We have compiled a list of some of the most used words in Search Engine Optimization and other Internet related terms to help you.

Select a letter to see the terms starting with this letter.

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Glossary starting with 'I'

Clicking on the glossary term will take you to information about that term.
• I seek you • i-way • IANA • IC • ICANN • ICE • ICMP • ICP • ICQ • ICSA • ID • IDS • IDSL • IE • IEEE • IEPG • IESG • IETF • IFIP • IGMP • IGP • IGP • IGRP • iHDTV • IIOP • IIS • ILEC • IM • Image Map • IMAP4 • IMC • IMHO • IMO • in the wild • Inbox • Independent Content Provider • INET • Infection • Infobahn • Infomediary • Information Appliance • Information Center • Information Engineering • Information Highway or information highway • Information Industry Association • Information Resource Management • Information Services • Information Superhighway • Information Technology Industry Council • Information Theory • Information Warehouse • Information Warfare • Infoseek • Infrared • Infrared Data Association • Infrared Device • Infrared File Transfer • Infrared Network Connection • Infrared Port • Inline • inline discussion • Inline Graphics • Inline Image • Inline Stylesheet • Inmarsat • Inoculate • INS • Insider Attack • Instant Messaging • Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers • Integral Modem • Integrated Services Digital Network • Integration • Intellectual Property • Intelligence • Intelligent Cable • Intelligent Concept Extraction • Intelligent Database • Interactive Television • Interactive Video • Interapplication Communication • Interior Gateway Routing Protocol • Internal Modem • Internet • Internet • Internet Access • Internet Access Device • Internet Access Provider • Internet Account • Internet Address • Internet Backbone • Internet Broadcasting • Internet cramming • Internet Directory • Internet Draft • Internet Engineering Steering Group • Internet Explorer • Internet Foundation Classes • Internet Gateway • Internet Group Membership Protocol • Internet Home • Internet Information Server • Internet Mail Consortium • Internet Protocol • Internet Protocol address • Internet Protocol next generation • Internet Protocol number • Internet Protocol Security • Internet Relay Chat • Internet Research Steering Group • Internet Research Task Force • Internet robot • Internet Security • Internet Security and Acceleration Server • Internet Server Application Programming Interface • Internet Service Provider • Internet Society • Internet Software Consortium • Internet Synchronization • Internet Talk Radio • Internet Telephone • Internet Telephony • Internet Telephony Service Provider • Internet Television • Internet Traffic Distribution • Internet Traffic Management • Internet World • Internet Worm • Internetwork • Internetwork Packet Exchange • Internetwork Packet Exchange • InterNIC • Interstitial • Intranet • Intraware • Intruder • Intruder Attack • Intrusion Detection • Intrusion-detection System • IP • IP Address • IP Address Classes • IP Filter • IP Multicasting • IP number • IP Security • IP Splicing • IP Spoofing • IP Telephony • IP Tunneling • IPng • iptables • ipvs • IPX • IPX • IR • IRC • IrDA • IRL • IRSG • IRTF • ISA Server • ISAPI • ISAPI filter • ISC • ISDN • ISDN Terminal Adapter • ISMA • ISO • ISOC • ISP • IT • ITM • ITSP • ITU • iTV

#	Term and Description
1.	I seek you See "ICQ".
2.	i-way See "Information Superhighway".
3.	IANA Internet Assigned Numbers Authority.
4.	IC In Character. Used to refer to events going on within a roleplaying game, such as MUD, as opposed to events in real life. It is also used in the context of online chat, e-mail, and newsgroup postings.
5.	ICANN Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers.
6.	ICE Information and Content Exchange.
7.	ICMP Internet Control Message Protocol.
8.	ICP Internet Cache Protocol.
9.	ICQ A downloadable software program developed by Mirabilis, and now owned by AOL Time-Warner Inc., that notifies Internet users when friends, family, or other selected users are also on line and allows them to communicate with one another in real time. Through ICQ, users can chat, send e-mail, exchange messages on message boards, and transfer URLs and files, as well as launch third-party programs, such as games, in which multiple people can participate. Users compile a list of other users with whom they want to communicate. All users must register with the ICQ server and have ICQ software on their computer. The name is a reference to the phrase "I seek you".
10.	ICSA International Computer Security Association.
11.	ID Intrusion Detection.
12.	IDS Intrusion-detection system. A type of security management system for computers and networks that gathers and analyzes information from various areas within a computer or a network to identify possible security breaches, both inside and outside the organization. An IDS can detect a wide range of hostile attack signatures, generate alarms, and, in some cases, cause routers to terminate communications from hostile sources.
13.	IDSL Internet Digital Subscriber Line. A high-speed digital communications service that provides Internet access as fast as 1.1 Mbps (megabits per second) over standard telephone lines. IDSL uses a hybrid of ISDN and digital subscriber line technology.
14.	IE Information Engineering. A methodology for developing and maintaining information-processing systems, including computer systems and networks, within an organization.
15.	IEEE Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. A society of engineering and electronics professionals based in the United States but boasting membership from numerous other countries. The IEEE (pronounced "eye triple ee") focuses on electrical, electronics, computer engineering, and science-related matters.
16.	IEPG Internet Engineering and Planning Group. A collaborative group of Internet service providers whose goal is to promote the Internet and coordinate technical efforts on it.
17.	IESG Internet Engineering Steering Group.
18.	IETF Internet Engineering Task Force. A worldwide organization of individuals interested in networking and the Internet. Managed by the IESG (Internet Engineering Steering Group), the IETF is charged with studying technical problems facing the Internet and proposing solutions to the Internet Architecture Board (IAB). The work of the IETF is carried out by various Working Groups that concentrate on specific topics, such as routing and security. The IETF is the publisher of the specifications that led to the TCP/IP protocol standard.
19.	IFIP International Federation of Information Processing. An organization of societies, representing over 40 member nations, that serves information-processing professionals.
20.	IGMP Internet Group Membership Protocol.
21.	IGP Interior Gateway Protocol.
22.	IGP Interior Gateway Protocol.
23.	IGRP Interior Gateway Routing Protocol.
24.	iHDTV HDTV-over-IP.
25.	IIOP Internet Inter-ORB Protocol.
26.	IIS Internet Information Server.
27.	ILEC Incumbent Local Exchange Carrier. A telephone company that provides local service to its customers.
28.	IM See "Instant Messaging".
29.	Image Map An image that contains more than one hyperlink on a Web page. Clicking different parts of the image links the user to other resources on another part of the Web page or a different Web page or in a file. Often an image map, which can be a photograph, drawing, or a composite of several different drawings or photographs, is used as a map to the resources found on a particular Web site. Older Web browsers support only server-side image maps, which are executed on a Web server through CGI script. However, most newer Web browsers (Netscape Navigator 2.0 and higher and Internet Explorer 3.0 and higher) support client-side image maps, which are executed in a user�s Web browser.
30.	IMAP4 Internet Message Access Protocol 4. The latest version of IMAP, a method for an e-mail program to gain access to e-mail and bulletin board messages stored on a mail server. Unlike POP3, a similar protocol, IMAP allows a user to retrieve messages efficiently from more than one computer.
31.	IMC Internet Mail Consortium.
32.	IMHO In My Humble Opinion. IMHO, used in e-mail and in online forums, flags a statement that the writer wants to present as a personal opinion rather than as a statement of fact.
33.	IMO In My Opinion. A shorthand phrase used often in e-mail and Internet news and discussion groups to indicate an author's admission that a statement he or she has just made is a matter of judgment rather than fact.
34.	in the wild Currently affecting the computing public, particularly in regard to computer viruses. A virus that is not yet contained or controlled by antivirus software or that keeps reappearing despite virus detection measures is considered to be in the wild.
35.	Inbox In many e-mail applications, the default mailbox where the program stores incoming messages.
36.	Independent Content Provider A business or organization that supplies information to an online information service, such as America Online, for resale to the information service's customers.
37.	INET 1. Short for Internet. 2. An annual conference held by the Internet Society.
38.	Infection The presence of a virus or Trojan horse in a computer system.
39.	Infobahn The Internet. Infobahn is a mixture of the terms information and Autobahn, a German highway known for the high speeds at which drivers can legally travel.
40.	Infomediary A term created from the phrase information intermediary. A service provider that positions itself between buyers and sellers, collecting, organizing, and distributing focused information that improves the interaction of consumer and online business.
41.	Information Appliance A specialized computer designed to perform a limited number of functions and, especially, to provide access to the Internet. Although devices such as electronic address books or appointment calendars might be considered information appliances, the term is more typically used for devices that are less expensive and less capable than a fully functional personal computer. Set-top boxes are a current example; other devices, envisioned for the future, would include network-aware microwaves, refrigerators, watches, and the like.
42.	Information Center 1. A large computer center and its associated offices; the hub of an information management and dispersal facility in an organization. 2. A specialized type of computer system dedicated to information retrieval and decision-support functions. The information in such a system is usually readonly and consists of data extracted or downloaded from other production systems.
43.	Information Engineering See "IE".
44.	Information Highway or information highway See "Information Superhighway".
45.	Information Industry Association See "SIIA".
46.	Information Resource Management The process of managing the resources for the collection, storage, and manipulation of data within an organization or system.
47.	Information Services The formal name for a company's data processing department.
48.	Information Superhighway The existing Internet and its general infrastructure, including private networks, online services, and so on.
49.	Information Technology Industry Council Trade organization of the information technology industry. The council promotes the interests of the information technology industry and compiles information on computers, software, telecommunications, business equipment, and other topics related to information technology.
50.	Information Theory A mathematical discipline founded in 1948 that deals with the characteristics and the transmission of information. Information theory was originally applied to communications engineering but has proved relevant to other fields, including computing. It focuses on such aspects of communication as amount of data, transmission rate, channel capacity, and accuracy of transmission, whether over cables or within society.
51.	Information Warehouse The total of an organization�s data resources on all computers.
52.	Information Warfare Attacks on the computer operations on which an enemy country's economic life or safety depends. Possible examples of information warfare include crashing air traffic control systems or massively corrupting stock exchange records.
53.	Infoseek A Web search site that provides full-text results for user searches plus categorized lists of related sites. InfoSeek is powered by the Ultraseek search engine and searches Web pages, Usenet newsgroups, and FTP and Gopher sites.
54.	Infrared Having a frequency in the electromagnetic spectrum in the range just below that of red light. Objects radiate infrared in proportion to their temperature. Infrared radiation is traditionally divided into four somewhat arbitrary categories based on its wavelength.
55.	Infrared Data Association See "IrDA".
56.	Infrared Device A computer, or a computer peripheral such as a printer, that can communicate by using infrared light.
57.	Infrared File Transfer Wireless file transfer between a computer and another computer or device using infrared light.
58.	Infrared Network Connection A direct or incoming network connection to a remote access server using an infrared port.
59.	Infrared Port An optical port on a computer for interfacing with an infrared-capable device. Communication is achieved without physical connection through cables. Infrared ports can be found on some laptops, notebooks, and printers.
60.	Inline 1. In programming, referring to a function call replaced with an instance of the function's body. Actual arguments are substituted for formal parameters. An inline function is usually done as a compile-time transformation to increase the efficiency of the program. 2. In HTML code, referring to graphics displayed along with HTML formatted text. Inline images placed in the line of HTML text use the tag <IMG>. Text within an inline image can be aligned to the top, bottom, or middle of a specific image.
61.	inline discussion Discussion comments that are associated with a document as a whole or with a particular paragraph, image, or table of a document. In Web browsers, inline discussions are displayed in the body of the document; in wordprocessing programs, they are usually displayed in a separate discussion or comments pane.
62.	Inline Graphics Graphics files that are embedded in an HTML document or Web page and viewable by a Web browser or other program that recognizes HTML. By avoiding the need for separate file opening operations, inline graphics can speed the access and loading of an HTML document. Also called "inline image".
63.	Inline Image An image that is embedded within the text of a document. Inline images are common on Web pages.
64.	Inline Stylesheet A stylesheet included within an HTML document. Because an inline stylesheet is directly associated with an individual document, any changes made to that document�s appearance will not affect the appearance of other Web site documents.
65.	Inmarsat International Maritime Satellite.
66.	Inoculate To protect a program against virus infection by recording characteristic information about it. For example, a calculated value used to test data for the presence of errors (a checksum) on the code can be recomputed and compared with the stored original checksums each time the program is run; if any have changed, the program file is corrupt and may be infected.
67.	INS See "WINS".
68.	Insider Attack An attack on a network or system carried out by an individual associated with the hacked system. Insider attacks are typically the work of current or former employees of a company or organization who have knowledge of passwords and network vulnerabilities.
69.	Instant Messaging A service that alerts users when friends or colleagues are on line and allows them to communicate with each other in real time through private online chat areas. With instant messaging, a user creates a list of other users with whom he or she wishes to communicate; when a user from his or her list is on line, the service alerts the user and enables immediate contact with the other user. While instant messaging has primarily been a proprietary service offered by Internet service providers such as AOL and MSN, businesses are starting to employ instant messaging to increase employee efficiency and make expertise more readily available to employees.
70.	Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers IEEE.
71.	Integral Modem A modem that is built into a computer, as opposed to an internal modem, which is a modem on an expansion card that can be removed.
72.	Integrated Services Digital Network See "ISDN".
73.	Integration In computing, the combining of different activities, programs, or hardware components into a functional unit.
74.	Intellectual Property Content of the human intellect deemed to be unique and original and to have marketplace value and thus to warrant protection under the law. Intellectual property includes but is not limited to ideas; inventions; literary works; chemical, business, or computer processes; and company or product names and logos. Intellectual property protections fall into four categories: copyright (for literary works, art, and music), trademarks (for company and product names and logos), patents (for inventions and processes), and trade secrets (for recipes, code, and processes). Concern over defining and protecting intellectual property in cyberspace has brought this area of the law under intense scrutiny.
75.	Intelligence 1. The ability of hardware to process information. A device without intelligence is said to be dumb; for example, a dumb terminal connected to a computer can receive input and display output but cannot process information independently. 2. The ability of a program to monitor its environment and initiate appropriate actions to achieve a desired state. For example, a program waiting for data to be read from disk might switch to another task in the meantime. 3. The ability of a program to simulate human thought. 4. The ability of a machine such as a robot to respond appropriately to changing stimuli (input).
76.	Intelligent Cable A cable that incorporates circuitry to do more than simply pass signals from one end of the cable to the other, such as to determine the characteristics of the connector into which it is plugged.
77.	Intelligent Concept Extraction A technology owned by Excite, Inc., for searching indexed databases to retrieve documents from the World Wide Web. Intelligent Concept Extraction is like other search technologies in being able to locate indexed Web documents related to one or more key words entered by the user. Based on proprietary search technology, however, it also matches documents conceptually by finding relevant information even if the document found does not contain the key word or words specified by the user. Thus, the list of documents found by Intelligent Concept Extraction can include both documents containing the specified search term and those containing alternative words related to the search term.
78.	Intelligent Database A database that manipulates stored information in a way that people find logical, natural, and easy to use. An intelligent database conducts searches relying not only on traditional data-finding routines but also on predetermined rules governing associations, relationships, and even inferences regarding the data.
79.	Interactive Television A video technology in which a viewer interacts with the television programming. Typical uses of interactive television include Internet access, video on demand, and video conferencing.
80.	Interactive Video The use of computer-controlled video, in the form of a CD-ROM or videodisc, for interactive education or entertainment.
81.	Interapplication Communication The process of one program sending messages to another program. For example, some e-mail programs allow users to click on a URL within the message. After the user clicks on the URL, browser software will automatically launch and access the URL.
82.	Interior Gateway Routing Protocol IGRP
83.	Internal Modem A modem constructed on an expansion card to be installed in one of the expansion slots inside a computer.
84.	Internet Internetwork. A set of computer networks that may be dissimilar and are joined together by means of gateways that handle data transfer and conversion of messages from the sending networks' protocols to those of the receiving network.
85.	Internet The worldwide collection of networks and gateways that use the TCP/IP suite of protocols to communicate with one another. At the heart of the Internet is a backbone of high-speed data communication lines between major nodes or host computers, consisting of thousands of commercial, government, educational, and other computer systems, that route data and messages. One or more Internet nodes can go off line without endangering the Internet as a whole or causing communications on the Internet to stop, because no single computer or network controls it. The genesis of the Internet was a decentralized network called ARPANET created by the U.S. Department of Defense in 1969 to facilitate communications in the event of a nuclear attack. Eventually other networks, including BITNET, Usenet, UUCP, and NSFnet, were connected to ARPANET. Currently the Internet offers a range of services to users, such as FTP, e-mail, the World Wide Web, Usenet news, Gopher, IRC, telnet, and others.
86.	Internet Access 1. The capability of a user to connect to the Internet. This is generally accomplished through one of two ways. The first is through a dialing up of an Internet service provider or an online information services provider via a modem connected to the user's computer. This method is the one used by the majority of home computer users. The second way is through a dedicated line, such as a T1 carrier, that is connected to a local area network, to which, in turn, the user's computer is connected. The dedicated line solution is used by larger organizations, such as corporations, which either have their own node on the Internet or connect to an Internet service provider that is a node. A third way that is emerging is for users to use settop boxes with their TVs. Generally, however, this will give a user access only to documents on the World Wide Web. 2. The capability of an online information service to exchange data with the Internet, such as e-mail, or to offer Internet services to users, such as newsgroups, FTP, and the World Wide Web. Most online information services offer Internet access to their users.
87.	Internet Access Device A communications and signal-routing mechanism, possibly incorporating usage tracking and billing features, for use in connecting multiple remote users to the Internet.
88.	Internet Access Provider See "ISP".
89.	Internet Account A generic term for a registered username at an Internet Service Provider (ISP). An Internet account is accessed via username and password. Services such as dial-in PPP Internet access and e-mail are provided by ISPs to Internet account owners.
90.	Internet Address See "domain name address", "e-mail address", "IP address".
91.	Internet Backbone One of several high-speed networks connecting many local and regional networks, with at least one connection point where it exchanges packets with other Internet backbones. Historically, the NSFnet (predecessor to the modern Internet) was the backbone to the entire Internet in the United States. This backbone linked the supercomputing centers that the National Science Foundation (NSF) runs. Today, different providers have their own backbones so that the backbone for the supercomputing centers is independent of backbones for commercial Internet providers such as MCI and Sprint.
92.	Internet Broadcasting Broadcasting of audio, or audio plus video, signals across the Internet. Internet broadcasting includes conventional over-the-air broadcast stations that transmit their signals into the Internet as well as Internet-only stations. Listeners use audio Internet software, such as RealAudio. One method of Internet broadcasting is MBONE.
93.	Internet cramming See "Web cramming".
94.	Internet Directory 1. Online database of sites organized by category where you can search for files and information by subject, keyword, or other criteria. 2. Storage place for information such as names, Web addresses, organizations, departments, countries, and locations. Typically, Internet Directories are used to look up e-mail addresses that are not in a local address book or a corporate-wide directory.
95.	Internet Draft A document produced by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) for purposes of discussing a possible change in standards that govern the Internet. An Internet Draft is subject to revision or replacement at any time; if not replaced or revised, the Internet Draft is valid for no more than six months. An Internet Draft, if accepted, may be developed into an RFC.
96.	Internet Engineering Steering Group The group within the Internet Society (ISOC) that, along with the Internet Architecture Board (IAB), reviews the standards proposed by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF).
97.	Internet Explorer Microsoft's Web browsing software. Introduced in October 1995, the latest versions of Internet Explorer include many features that allow you to customize your experience on the Web. Internet Explorer is also available for the Macintosh and UNIX platforms.
98.	Internet Foundation Classes A Java class library developed by Netscape to facilitate the creation of fullfeature, mission-critical Java applications. Internet Foundation Classes (IFC) comprises user-interface objects and frameworks intended to extend Java's Abstract Window Toolkit (AWT) and includes a multifont text editor; essential application controls; and drag-and-drop, drawing/event, windowing, animation, object persistence, single-thread, and localization frameworks.
99.	Internet Gateway A device that provides the connection between the Internet backbone and another network, such as a LAN (local area network). Usually the device is a computer dedicated to the task or a router. The gateway generally performs protocol conversion between the Internet backbone and the network, data translation or conversion, and message handling. A gateway is considered a node on the Internet.
100.	Internet Group Membership Protocol A protocol used by IP hosts to report their host group memberships to any immediately neighboring multicast routers.
101.	Internet Home See "smart home".
102.	Internet Information Server Microsoft's brand of Web server software, utilizing HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) to deliver World Wide Web documents. It incorporates various functions for security, allows for CGI programs, and also provides for Gopher and FTP services.
103.	Internet Mail Consortium An international membership organization of businesses and vendors involved in activities related to e-mail transmission over the Internet. The goals of the Internet Mail Consortium are related to the promotion and expansion of Internet mail. The group�s interests range from making Internet mail easier for new users to advancing new mail technologies and expanding the role played by Internet mail into areas such as electronic commerce and entertainment. For example, the Internet Mail Consortium supports two companion specifications, vCalendar and vCard, designed to facilitate electronic exchange of scheduling and personal information.
104.	Internet Protocol See "IP".
105.	Internet Protocol address See "IP address".
106.	Internet Protocol next generation See "IPng".
107.	Internet Protocol number See "IP address".
108.	Internet Protocol Security See "IPSec".
109.	Internet Relay Chat See "IRC".
110.	Internet Research Steering Group The governing body of the Internet Research Task Force (IRTF).
111.	Internet Research Task Force A volunteer organization that is an arm of the Internet Society (ISOC) focused on making long-term recommendations concerning the Internet to the Internet Architecture Board (IAB).
112.	Internet robot See "spider".
113.	Internet Security A broad topic dealing with all aspects of data authentication, privacy, integrity, and verification for transactions over the Internet. For example, credit card purchases made via a World Wide Web browser require attention to Internet security issues to ensure that the credit card number is not intercepted by an intruder or copied from the server where the number is stored, and to verify that the credit card number is actually sent by the person who claims to be sending it.
114.	Internet Security and Acceleration Server A software application from Microsoft Corporation to increase the security and performance of Internet access for businesses. Internet Security and Acceleration Server provides an enterprise firewall and high-performance Web cache server to securely manage the flow of information from the Internet through the enterprise's internal network.
115.	Internet Server Application Programming Interface See "ISAPI".
116.	Internet Service Provider See "ISP".
117.	Internet Society An international, nonprofit organization based in Reston, Virginia, comprising individuals, companies, foundations, and government agencies, that promotes the use, maintenance, and development of the Internet. The Internet Architecture Board (IAB) is a body within the Internet Society. In addition, the Internet Society publishes the Internet Society News and produces the annual INET conference.
118.	Internet Software Consortium A nonprofit organization that develops software that is available for free, via the World Wide Web or FTP, and engages in development of Internet standards such as the Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP).
119.	Internet Synchronization 1. The process of synchronizing data between computing and communication devices that are connected to the Internet. 2. A feature in Microsoft Jet and Microsoft Access that allows replicated information to be synchronized in an environment in which an Internet server is configured with Microsoft Replication Manager, a tool included with Microsoft Office 2000 Developer.
120.	Internet Talk Radio Audio programs similar to radio broadcasts but distributed over the Internet in the form of files that can be downloaded via FTP. Internet Talk Radio programs, prepared at the National Press Building in Washington, D.C., are 30 minutes to 1 hour in length; a 30-minute program requires about 15 MB of disk space.
121.	Internet Telephone Point-to-point voice communication that uses the Internet instead of the public-switched telecommunications network to connect the calling and called parties. Both the sending and the receiving party need a computer, a modem, an Internet connection, and an Internet telephone software package to make and receive calls.
122.	Internet Telephony See "VoIP".
123.	Internet Telephony Service Provider See "ITSP".
124.	Internet Television The transmission of television audio and video signals over the Internet.
125.	Internet Traffic Distribution See "ITM".
126.	Internet Traffic Management See "ITM".
127.	Internet World Series of international conferences and exhibitions on e-commerce and Internet technology sponsored by Internet World magazine. Major conferences include the world�s largest Internet conferences, Internet World Spring and Internet World Fall.
128.	Internet Worm A string of self-replicating computer code that was distributed through the Internet in November 1988. In a single night, it overloaded and shut down a large portion of the computers connected to the Internet at that time by replicating itself over and over on each computer it accessed, exploiting a bug in UNIX systems. Intended as a prank, the Internet Worm was written by a student at Cornell University.
129.	Internetwork A network made up of smaller, interconnected networks.
130.	Internetwork Packet Exchange See "IPX".
131.	Internetwork Packet Exchange See "IPX".
132.	InterNIC NSFnet (Internet) Network Information Center. The organization that has traditionally registered domain names and IP addresses as well as distributed information about the Internet. InterNIC was formed in 1993 as a consortium involving the U.S. National Science Foundation, AT&T, General Atomics, and Network Solutions, Inc. (Herndon, Va.). The latter partner administers InterNIC Registration Services, which assigns Internet names and addresses.
133.	Interstitial An Internet ad format that appears in a pop-up window between Web pages. Interstitial ads download completely before appearing, usually while a Web page the user has chosen is loading. Because interstitial pop-up windows don't appear until the entire ad has downloaded, they often use animated graphics, audio, and other attention-getting multimedia technology that require longer download time.
134.	Intranet A private network based on Internet protocols such as TCP/IP but designed for information management within a company or organization. Its uses include such services as document distribution, software distribution, access to databases, and training. An intranet is so called because it looks like a World Wide Web site and is based on the same technologies, yet is strictly internal to the organization and is not connected to the Internet proper. Some intranets also offer access to the Internet, but such connections are directed through a firewall that protects the internal network from the external Web.
135.	Intraware Groupware or middleware for use on a company's private intranet. Intraware packages typically contain e-mail, database, workflow, and browser applications.
136.	Intruder An unauthorized user or unauthorized program, generally considered to have malicious intent, on a computer or computer network.
137.	Intruder Attack A form of hacker attack in which the hacker enters the system without prior knowledge or access to the system. The intruder will typically use a combination of probing tools and techniques to learn about the network to be hacked.
138.	Intrusion Detection See "IDS".
139.	Intrusion-detection System See "IDS".
140.	IP Internet Protocol. The protocol within TCP/IP that governs the breakup of data messages into packets, the routing of the packets from sender to destination network and station, and the reassembly of the packets into the original data messages at the destination. IP runs at the internetwork layer in the TCP/IP model� equivalent to the network layer in the ISO/OSI reference model.
141.	IP Address Short for Internet Protocol address. A 32-bit (4-byte) binary number that uniquely identifies a host (computer) connected to the Internet to other Internet hosts, for the purposes of communication through the transfer of packets. An IP address is expressed in "dotted quad" format, consisting of the decimal values of its 4 bytes, separated with periods; for example, 127.0.0.1. The first 1, 2, or 3 bytes of the IP address identify the network the host is connected to; the remaining bits identify the host itself. The 32 bits of all 4 bytes together can signify almost 232, or roughly 4 billion, hosts. (A few small ranges within that set of numbers are not used.) Also called "Internet Protocol number", "IP number".
142.	IP Address Classes Short for Internet Protocol address classes. The classes into which IP addresses were divided to accommodate different network sizes. Each class is associated with a range of possible IP addresses and is limited to a specific number of networks per class and hosts per network.
143.	IP Filter Short for Internet Protocol Filter. A TCP/IP packet filter for UNIX, particularly BSD. Similar in functionality to netfilter and iptables in Linux, IP Filter can be used to provide network address translation (NAT) or firewall services.
144.	IP Multicasting Short for Internet Protocol multicasting. The extension of local area network multicasting technology to a TCP/IP network. Hosts send and receive multicast datagrams, the destination fields of which specify IP host group addresses rather than individual IP addresses. A host indicates that it is a member of a group by means of the Internet Group Management Protocol.
145.	IP number See "IP address".
146.	IP Security See "IPSec".
147.	IP Splicing See "IP Spoofing".
148.	IP Spoofing The act of inserting a false sender IP address into an Internet transmission in order to gain unauthorized access to a computer system.
149.	IP Telephony Telephone service including voice and fax, provided through an Internet or network connection. IP telephony requires two steps: conversion of analog voice to digital format by a coding/uncoding device (codec) and conversion of the digitized information to packets for IP transmission.
150.	IP Tunneling A technique used to encapsulate data inside a TCP/IP packet for transmission between IP addresses. IP tunneling provides a secure means for data from different networks to be shared over the Internet.
151.	IPng Internet Protocol next generation. A revised version of the Internet Protocol (IP) designed primarily to address growth on the Internet. IPng is compatible with, but an evolutionary successor to, the current version of IP, IPv4 (IP version 4), and was approved as a draft standard in 1998 by the IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force). It offers several improvements over IPv4 including a quadrupled IP address size (from 32 bits to 128 bits), expanded routing capabilities, simplified header formats, improved support for options, and support for quality of service, authentication, and privacy.
152.	iptables A utility used to configure firewall settings and rules in Linux. Part of the netfilter framework in the Linux kernel, iptables replaces ipchains, a previous implementation.
153.	ipvs IP Virtual Server.
154.	IPX Internetwork Packet Exchange.
155.	IPX Internetwork Packet Exchange. The network and transport level protocols used by Novell NetWare, which together correspond to the combination of TCP and IP in the TCP/IP protocol suite. IPX is a connectionless protocol that handles addressing and routing of packets. SPX, which runs above IPX, ensures correct delivery.
156.	IR See "infrared".
157.	IRC Internet Relay Chat. A service that enables an Internet user to participate in a conversation on line in real time with other users. An IRC channel, maintained by an IRC server, transmits the text typed by each user who has joined the channel to all other users who have joined the channel. Generally, a channel is dedicated to a particular topic, which may be reflected in the channel's name. An IRC client shows the names of currently active channels, enables the user to join a channel, and then displays the other participants� words on individual lines so that the user can respond. IRC was invented in 1988 by Jarkko Oikarinen of Finland.
158.	IrDA Infrared Data Association. The industry organization of computer, component, and telecommunications vendors who have established the standards for infrared communication between computers and peripheral devices such as printers.
159.	IRL Acronym for in real life. An expression used by many online users to denote life outside the computer realm, especially in conjunction with virtual worlds such as online talkers, IRC, MUDs, and virtual reality.
160.	IRSG Internet Research Steering Group.
161.	IRTF Internet Research Task Force.
162.	ISA Server See "Internet Security and Acceleration Server".
163.	ISAPI Acronym for Internet Server Application Programming Interface. An easyto- use, high-performance interface for back-end applications for Microsoft's Internet Information Server (IIS). ISAPI has its own dynamic-link library, which offers significant performance advantages over the CGI (Common Gateway Interface) specification.
164.	ISAPI filter A DLL file used by Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS) to verify and authenticate ISAPI requests received by the IIS.
165.	ISC See "Internet Software Consortium".
166.	ISDN Integrated Services Digital Network. A high-speed digital communications network evolving from existing telephone services. The goal in developing ISDN was to replace the current telephone network, which requires digital-to-analog conversions, with facilities totally devoted to digital switching and transmission, yet advanced enough to replace traditionally analog forms of data, ranging from voice to computer transmissions, music, and video. ISDN is available in two forms, known as BRI (Basic Rate Interface) and PRI (Primary Rate Interface). BRI consists of two B (bearer) channels that carry data at 64 Kbps and one D (data) channel that carries control and signal information at 16 Kbps. In North America and Japan, PRI consists of 23 B channels and 1 D channel, all operating at 64 Kbps; elsewhere in the world, PRI consists of 30 B channels and 1 D channel. Computers and other devices connect to ISDN lines through simple, standardized interfaces.
167.	ISDN Terminal Adapter The hardware interface between a computer and an ISDN line.
168.	ISMA Internet Streaming Media Alliance. A nonprofit organization promoting the adoption of open standards for the streaming of rich media over Internet Protocol (IP) networks. ISMA membership consists of a number of technology companies and groups including Apple Computer, Cisco Systems, IBM, Kasenna, Philips, and Sun Microsystems.
169.	ISO International Organization for Standardization (often incorrectly identified as an acronym for International Standards Organization), an international association of 130 countries, each of which is represented by its leading standard-setting organization for example, ANSI (American National Standards Institute) for the United States. The ISO works to establish global standards for communications and information exchange. Primary among its accomplishments is the widely accepted ISO/OSI reference model, which defines standards for the interaction of computers connected by communications networks. ISO is not an acronym; rather, it is derived from the Greek word isos, which means "equal" and is the root of the prefix "iso-".
170.	ISOC See "Internet Society".
171.	ISP Internet service provider. A business that supplies Internet connectivity services to individuals, businesses, and other organizations. Some ISPs are large national or multinational corporations that offer access in many locations, while others are limited to a single city or region.
172.	IT Information Technology.
173.	ITM Internet traffic management. The analysis and control of Internet traffic to improve efficiency and optimize for high availability. With ITM, Web traffic is distributed among multiple servers using load balancers and other devices.
174.	ITSP Internet Telephony Service Provider. A business that supplies PC-to-telephone calling capabilities to individuals, businesses, and organizations. Through an ITSP, calls initiated on a PC travel over the Internet to a gateway that, in turn, sends the call to the standard public switched phone network and, eventually, to the receiving telephone.
175.	ITU International Telecommunication Union. An international organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, that is responsible for making recommendations and establishing standards governing telephone and data communications systems for public and private telecommunications organizations. Founded in 1865 under the name International Telegraph Union, it was renamed the International Telecommunication Union in 1934 to signify the full scope of its responsibilities. ITU became an agency of the United Nations in 1947. A reorganization in 1992 aligned the ITU into three governing bodies: the Radiocommunication Sector, the Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-TSS, ITU-T, for short; formerly the CCITT), and the Telecommunication Development Sector.
176.	iTV Interactive television. A communications medium combining television with interactive services. iTV offers two-way communications between users and communications providers. From their televisions, users can order special programming, respond to programming options, and access the Internet and additional services such as instant messaging and telephone functions.

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