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List of netowrking, wireless, broadband, satellite, telephony, general computing and other technical terms used throughout the site.
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Term Description
IANA IANA (Internet Assigned Numbers Authority) assigns and coordinates the use of Internet Protocol (IP) parameters such as IP addresses, domain names, protocol numbers, and more.

The IANA website is at: http://www.iana.org/
A list of IANA assigned ports can be found here: http://www.iana.org/assignments/port-numbers
ICMP ICMP (Internet Control Message Protocol) is a protocol designed to allow hosts to send error and control messages to other network devices. Basically ICMP provides communication between the Internet Protocol (IP) software on network devices. The short ICMP messages use IP packets and are usually processed by the IP software, rather than presented to the user at the application level.
ICS ICS (Internet Connection Sharing) enables a Windows computer to share its Internet connection with other client computers on a local area network.

To setup ICS, the host/server computer generally has two network adapters: one for the Internet, and one for the local area network. The Internet connection may be dial-up, ISDN or broadband. The LAN connection can be a wired, wireless, or even an USB ethernet connection.
ICSA ICSA (International Computer Security Association) formerly called NCSA (National Computer Security Association), is an organization founded in 1989, devoted to computer security issues in corporations, associations, and government agencies worldwide.

It is dedicated to continuously improving commercial computer security through certification, sharing of knowledge, and dissemination of information.

Check the ISCA website for additional information, publications, conferences, seminars: http://www.icsalabs.com/
IDS IDS (Intrusion Detection System) refers to a system that aims at detecting network attacks by analyzing traffic flow and looking for known malicious signatures, then matching them with a comprehensive database of exploits. This is refered to as rule-based IDS. More advanced and complex IDS systems might also use anomaly-based solutions for detecting not just known paterns but unknown attacks as well.

IDS are generally concerned with external attacks, and are only as effective as their databases/pattern recognition. They can prove a valuable tool in troubleshooting network problems and detecting/alerting about potential attacks.
IDSL IDSL (ISDN Digital Subscriber Line) is a cross between ISDN and xDSL. It uses ISDN-based technology to provide a data communication channel across existing copper telephone lines at a rate of 144 kbit/s, slightly higher than a bonded dual channel ISDN connection at 128kbit/s. The digital transmission bypasses the telephone company's central office equipment that handles analogue signals. IDSL uses a single-wire pair to transmit full-duplex data at at distances of up to RRD range.
IEEE Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
IETF Internet Engineering Task Force - an open international community that standardizes most Internet communication protocols. http://www.ietf.org/
IGMP IGMP (Internet Group Membership Protocol) is protocol used by IP hosts to report their host group memberships to any immediately neighboring multicast routers.

The use of IP multicasting in TCP/IP networks is defined as a TCP/IP standard in RFC 1112. In addition to defining address and host extensions for how IP hosts support multicasting, this RFC also defines the IGMP version 1. Version 2 of IGMP is defined in RFC 2236. Both versions of IGMP provide a protocol to exchange and update information about host membership in specific multicast groups.
ILEC ILEC (Incumbent Local Exchange Carrier) refers to the dominant phone carrier within a geographic area according to the FCC. The Telecommunications Act of 1996 defined an ILEC as the carrier that provided local exchange in a specified area when the act was passed.
IMAP IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol) is email protocol similar to POP3, used for receiving of email from a local mail server.

IMAP differs from POP3 however, in that email resides on the server while working with it, requiring continual access to the server during the time that you are working with your mail. In POP3 on the other hand, email is downloaded into your client system.

Both IMAP and POP3 are protocols that deal with receiving mail from a local IMAP/POP3 mail server with a system that's not continuously conencted to the Internet. Sending/transfering email between nodes on the Internet is assumed to be done via some other protocol, such as SMTP.
ingress ingress refers to the passage of outside signals into a nominally closed/shielded coaxial cable distribution system. Ingress can originate from broadcast signals, electrical noise, or equipment that the end-user has connected to the network. Ingress noise often originates within an end-user's premises and is, therefore, difficult to locate or correct.
Interleaving Interleaving is DSL forward error correction by spreading your packet bits in time and interleaving them with bits from other packets. This is a feature designed for more robust video streaming (ADSL was originally developed for "cable TV on copper loops"), in theory a noise spike would have lower impact on data loss...

Since TCP/IP has it's own error correcting interleaving is not as important. Fast Path (fastcells, fast switched) disables or greatly reduces the interleaving "spread" of the bits, decreasing latency. Lower ping time/latency improves overall performance, makes browsing more snappy, and is critical for online gaming.
IoT IoT(Internet of Things) is a term for all connected "smart" devices, and other computing objects. It relates to any gadget, appliance, or device that is connected to the internet and can communicate with other devices without human intervention.

Some examples of smart devices:
smart TVs - stream video/audio/photos from local computers or online services.
smart thermostats - learn and adapt to your lifestyle for both comfort and energy efficiency
IP security cameras - send feeds to online servers and can be viewed from smartphone apps
smart lighting - can be controlled remotely, set on schedule, etc.
smart door locks - send alerts to your smartphone, can be controlled remotely, log entries, etc.
IP Address IP Address (Internet Protocol Address) is used to identify a computer to a network. It is, in essence your address on the Internet. Each packet of data on the Internet contains the source and destination IP address, so information can be routed accordingly.

The Internet Protocol (version 4) identifies each host with a 32-bit IP address. IP addresses are written as four dot-separated decimal numbers between 0 and 255, e.g., 63.217.30.70. The leading 3 bytes of the IP identify the network and the remaining bytes identify the hosts on that network. The network portion of the IP is assigned by InterNIC Registration Services, under the contract to the National Science Foundation, and the host portion of the IP is assigned by the local network admins.

Note: Some IP addresses are internal to your local network, and not routable to the Internet. The following 3 blocks of the IP address space have been reserved by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) for private Intranets:

10.0.0.0 - 10.255.255.255 (10/8 prefix)
172.16.0.0 - 172.31.255.255 (172.16/12 prefix)
192.168.0.0 - 192.168.255.255 (192.168/16 prefix)

If your PC is assigned an IP address in one of the above ranges, it is most probably behind a firewall, running NAT or SOCKS. In this case, the IP packets sent to the Internet are addressed from the firewall, and not from your PC.
IPC IPC (Inter-Process Communication) is in essense exchange of data between one process and another, either within the same computer or over a network.
IPSec IPSec (short for IP Security) is a group of related protocols for negotiating encryption and authentication at the IP (host-to-host) level. IPSec is a security extension of IPv4 and a requirement for IPv6 that encrypts all transmissions over a TCP/IP network.

The IPSec protocols are defined in the new RFC 2401-2411 and 2451 (the original IPSec RFCs 1825-1829 are now obsolete).

IPSsec tunnels use port 500/udp for Internet Key Exchange (IKE), as well as port 50 for Encapsulation Header (ESP), and/or port 51 for Authentication Header (AH).
IPTV IPTV (Internet Protocol television) is a system through which digital television service is delivered over a packet switched network, i.e. the Internet and broadband internet access networks, instead of being delivered through traditional radio frequency broadcast, satelite signal, or CATV (cable television) formats.
IPv4 IPv4 (Internet Protocol version 4) is still the most commonly used Internet Protocol (IP) version, initially deployed in 1983.

IPv4 addresses are 32-bit numbers often expressed as 4 octets in "dotted decimal" notation (for example, 192.0.32.67).

IPv6 is the newer version of the Internet Protocol (deployment began in 1999) that offers many improvements over IPv4, such as 128-bit IP addresses, and will eventualy completely replace IPv4.
IPv6 Currently there are two types of IP addresses in active use: IP version 4 (IPv4) and IP version 6 (IPv6).

IPv6 (Internet Protocol Version 6) is the newest version of the Internet Protocol (IP), based on a set of IETF specifications.

IPv6 has been designed as an evolutionary set of improvements to the current IPv4, one of the main being a larger IP Address space. IPv6 addresses are 128-bit numbers (as opposed to the 32-bit IPv4 IP addresses) and are conventionally expressed using hexadecimal strings (for example, 1080:0:0:0:8:800:200C:417A).
IRDP ICMP Router Discovery Protocol (RFC 1256).

Using router discovery, clients dynamically discover routers and can switch to backup routers if a network failure or administrative change is needed.
ISDN ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network) is an older form of broadband connectivity that transports voice, data, and other applications over digital telephone lines and normal telephone wires at 64 Kbps. ISDN lines can also be bonded to form a 128 Kbps pipe.
ISO International Organization for Standartization which is based in Geneva. Publishes national and international standards for data communications.

http://www.iso.ch
ISP Internet Service Provider
ITSP ITSP (Internet Telephony Service Provider) refers to a service provider that offers an Internet data service for making telephone calls using VoIP (Voice over IP) technology.
ITU International Telecommunication Union
IXC IXC (Inter-Exchange Carrier) refers to a carrier with national backbones - the term indicates that such carrier provides connectivity over a wide area between local LEC networks. Examples include AT&T, Qwest, Sprint and other national backbone carriers.
Term Description
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