Glossary of Terms

Archive File

A file that contains a collection of files that need to be kept together. Most archive formats are capable of storing directory structures as well as just plain files. Popular archive formats include tar and zip.

FTP

File Transfer Protocol, a protocol for moving files from one computer to another over a network (including the Internet) [RFC 959].

HTML

HyperText Markup Language, an SGML-based markup language used for World Wide Web documents.

HTTP

HyperText Transport Protocol, the network/Internet protocol used by the World Wide Web.

IETF

Internet Engineering Task Force, the group responsible for technical aspects of the Internet.

Mail Client

A program/application for interactively composing, sending, receiving, viewing, and managing e-mail. A typical mail client will include a Mail Submission Agent(MSA), Mail Retrieval Agent(MRA), and a Mail User Agent(MUA). Many include spam filters as well. Popular examples include Eudora, Kmail, Lotus Notes, Netscape Mail, Outlook, and pine.

MIME

Multipart Internet Mail Extensions, a series of encodings and rules for sending binary content and structured documents through e-mail. Without MIME, only plain text messages can be sent by e-mail. [RFCs 2045-2049]

MRA

Mail Retrieval Agent, a program or subprogram that moves mail messages from a remote mailbox to a local one. Usually part of a mail client.

MSA

Mail Submission Agent, a program or subprogram for composing and sending email messages. Usually part of a mail client.

MTA

Mail Transfer Agent, a program responsible for delivering and routing email through the Internet from source to destination. MTAs typically run on ISP or network servers, not on users' desktops.

MUA

Mail User Agent, a program or subprogram for displaying and managing received mail messages. Usually part of a mail client.

OLSS

Offline Logging and Storage System, an accurate, reliable logging solution designed by ePriority for high-volume logging conditions.

OSM

Optimized Spooling Mechanism, a high-volume mail spooling mechanism designed by ePriority for efficent, high speed access.

POP

Post Office Protocol, a protocol for the retrieval and management of email from a remote server. [RFC 1939]

Protocol

A set of rules governing the exchange of data between computers.

RFC

Request For Comments, a document presented to and published by the IETF in order to facilitate the Internet standards process. Each RFC describes a technical aspect of the workings of the Internet.

SGML

Standard Generalized Markup Language, a markup language used primarily for defining more specialized markup languages. Nothing is ever written in "pure" SGML. "Descendants" of SGML include HTML and XML.

SMTP

Simple Mail Transport Protocol, a common mechanism for exchanging mail across a network. Usually SMTP is incorporated in a MTA. [RFCs 2821-2822]

Spam

Something(?) posing as mail. Unsolicited commercial e-mail (UCE). The S-word in the acronym varies from dictionary to dictionary and this is one of the nicer options. SPAM^TM spelled in all capital letters is a trademarked brand of canned pork; the trademark holder asks that this distinction be made clear as they do not wish to be associated with unsolicited e-mail.

SQL

Structured Query Language, a standard programming language for database systems.

Tar

Tape Archive, an archive file format originally designed for magnetic tape but now widely used for moving bundles of files around on the Internet. Tar archives are sometimes referred to as "tarballs".

XML

eXtensible Markup Language, a markup language used primarily for data modelling. XML is derived in part from SGML.

Zip

A compressed archive file format.