The Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) key terms

Socket

An endpoint for network communication identified by an IP address and a port number.

MAC address

An address associated with a network interface and used to identify a device for communication on a local network.

Application layer protocol

A protocol used by applications to communicate over a network, such as FTP, HTTP, HTTPS, POP3, SMTP or SSH.

Remote management

Using SSH to log in securely to a remote computer and execute commands, or to connect to a remote port and send commands.

Network identifier

The part of an IP address that identifies the network to which a host belongs.

Host identifier

The part of an IP address that identifies a particular host within a network.

Subnet

A smaller logical network created by dividing a larger network.

Subnet mask

A value used with an IP address to identify the network identifier part of that address.

IPv4

One of the two current standards of IP address.

IPv6

One of the two current standards of IP address, introduced to provide more available IP addresses because the supply of IPv4 addresses was becoming insufficient.

Routable IP address

An IP address that can be used to route data across the public internet; in this context, it is a public IP address.

Non-routable IP address

An IP address that cannot be routed across the public internet and is used within a private network; in this context, it is a private IP address.

Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP)

A system that automatically provides devices with network configuration.

Network configuration

The settings a device requires in order to use a network.

Network Address Translation (NAT)

A process that translates IP address information between an internal network and an external network.

External IP address

An IP address used to represent a network or device when communicating beyond the internal network.

Port forwarding

A network rule that sends incoming traffic received on a specified port to a particular device or service inside a network.

Incoming traffic

Network communication arriving at a network from an outside user or system.

REST API

An Application Programming Interface created and run on a server that allows browser JavaScript to communicate with the server through HTTP request methods.

WebSocket

A protocol whose specification defines an API establishing a persistent, full-duplex socket connection between a web browser and a server over TCP.

Thin client

A user's device that relies mainly on a server to process applications or tasks.

Thick client

A user's device that performs much of the processing for applications or tasks locally.