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N
NAS
: Abbreviation for Network Attached Storage. The term describes a hard disk
which is independently linked to the network (i.e. without a PC).
R
Router:
Device for connecting up several networks, e.g. home network and
Internet.
S
Switch:
Device for connecting several computers to a network.
U
UPnP AV
: Abbreviation for Universal Plug and Play - Audio/Video. Is used to control
network devices from all manufacturers. Has become a wide spread standard for
home networking.
USB
: Universal Serial Bus. Serial bus system for connecting external devices
(USB card reader, USB stick).
W
WEP
: Abbreviation for Wired Equivalent Privacy. Former standard process in the
WiFi encryption, now outdated.
WiFi
: Abbreviation for Wireless Local Area Network. Also abbreviated as wireless
network.
WMA
: Abbreviation for Windows Media Audio, Microsoft own audio data format.
As with MP3 files, the content is compressed here as well.
WPA
: Abbreviation for Wi-Fi Protected Access. Replaced WEP as standard encryp-
tion for wireless networks.
Wired network
: see LAN.
Wireless network
: see WiFi.
Glossary
C
Channel (WiFi)
: The channel is a certain part of the WiFi frequency band. Devices
that want to communicate with each other have to use the same WiFi channel. In
Europe the WiFi frequency band is currently divided into 13 channels.
Client
: Also referred to as network client; describes an end device such as your
TV set that is connected to the network and gets data from a (media) server to
make it accessible to the user.
D
DHCP
: Abbreviation for Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol. DHCP allows auto-
matic assignment of IP addresses with the aid of a DHCP server.
DHCP-server
: Network service which takes care of automatic assignment of IP
addresses to clients.
DRM
: Digital Rights Management. Processes to control copyright protected data.
To be used correctly, DRM protected contents require not only a DRM capable
device but also the possession of a license issued by the provider (to be paid for).
E
Ethernet
: Cable linked data net technology for local networks (LANs). Also covers
standards for e.g. plug connectors and transfer speeds.
H
Host
: Computer that the server services are provided from, i.e. that makes data
available. Refer also to media server.
I
ID3 tags
: Additional information on MP3 files. Among other things, data related
to the artist, title, album and Covers can be saved here. This data is then processed
by the PC using an ID3 tag editor.
IP Address
: IP addresses (Internet Protocol Addresses) are used to identify devices
in an Internet Protocol (IP) network. IP addresses are made up of four groups of
numbers of three digits each.
L
LAN
: Abbreviation for Local Area Network. Mainly used as a name for networks
with cabling (Ethernet).
M
MAC address
: Hardware address of a network adapter, e.g. the network card in
the PC. It is permanently assigned by the manufacturer and is used to uniquely
identify devices in networks.
Mbit/sec
: Information about the transfer rate in networks in megabits, i.e. millions
of characters per second. With WiFi the maximum speed is 11 (IEEE 802.11b) or 54
(IEEE 802.11g) Mbit/sec, in wired nets 10 Mbit/sec or 100 Mbit/sec (Fast Ethernet).
Media-server
: Stands for the device which multimedia contents are stored on,
but is also the name for the service provided by the device that makes this data
available to the network.
MP3
: Data format for compressed audio data.
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