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DNS (Domain Name Service): A computer program running on a web server, translating domain names into IP addresses.

DNS Server: A web server running DNS.

DOM (Document Object Model): A programming model for web page objects. (See HTML DOM and XML DOM)

Domain Name: The name that identifies a web site. (like: Capitalsal.com)

Download: To transfer a file from a remote computer to a local computer. In web terms: to transfer a
file from a web server to a web client. (see also Upload).

DSL (Digital Subscriber Line): An Internet connection over regular telephone lines, but much faster. Speed may vary from 128 kilobit per second, up to 9 megabit per second.

DTD (Document Type Definition): A set of rules (a language) for defining the legal building blocks of a web document like HTML or XML.

Dynamic IP: An IP address that changes each time you connect to the Internet. (See DHCP and Static
IP).

E

E-Commerce: The ability to sell goods and services over the internet. To enable your website to sell goods and services, you need a merchant account (to process credit cards), a secure server for your form, and (if you have more than one product) a shopping cart program to "remember" what your customers want to purchase. If you anticipate a large volume of purchases, you may need a separate company to provide real-time processing of your credit card transactions.

.edu: Suffix indicating an educational domain.

Email: Electronic mail. A wonderful, free marketing tool and a great way to keep in touch with friends, family, business associates, and website visitors. If you don't have an email address, what are you waiting for? Your internet service provider should give you one, your web host should give you one if you have your own domain.

Email address: The first part of an email address is the username, which identifies the person you want to contact. The @ symbol is after the username, and before the host name. The host name identifies the computer or email service the person uses. A three letter suffix is added (separated with a dot) after the host name. The most common suffixes are: .com (commercial), .net (network), .org (non-profit organization), .edu (educational), .gov (government), and .mil (military). Any two letter suffixes after the three letter suffix identify a country: .us (United States), .uk (United Kingdom), .de (Germany), .ca (Canada), .se (Sweden), etc. The host name and country suffix are unnecessary if your information is the same. (If you use AT&T Worldcom and so does your best friend, you can address email to just her username, and if you live in the United States, you'll never see a .us suffix.)

Encryption: A program that scrambles and unscrambles data on a network, so personal information located there is unintelligible to unauthorized people. Even if a website's form data is encrypted, if it is sent via email it becomes accessible to anyone. If you are setting up E-Commerce on your website, be sure to store your customers' data on a secure server.

Ethernet: The most common method of networking computers in a local area network, since it can be used with any kind of computer. It also provides fast connections and (if the network has a direct connection to the internet), can provide fast and constant connections to the internet. Most University campuses now offer Ethernet connections to their students in the dorms for free - all they need is an Ethernet card in their computer.